Parents, teachers, caregivers. Grandparents, counselors,
aunts. Lend me your ear.
Knowonder, an online children’s magazine, is announcing its
relaunch. It is bigger and better than ever! Promising a story a day, Knowonder
is a valuable partner for parents and educators in promoting literacy. Some of
the exciting features the newly redesigned site offers is:
§New stories every day
§3 new non-fiction articles each week
§8 content categories, including classic favorites, kid
stories and kid art
§Contests & prizes; your opinion matters! Vote for
your favorites to assure you see more like them in the future!
§IPhone app available
§Android app coming soon!
I am thrilled to be a staff writer for this newly designed
site, but they are still open for submissions. Check the site for guidelines.
TODAY is the big day. Click on over to the newly designed Knowonder website. Browse, read, vote,
read, download apps, read. Like what you see? Share, share, share. I’d love if
you would help paper the internet with the news. Post a link on your Facebook
page. Tweet about it. Email it to family and friends.
Then, visit daily and share a new story each day with your
children.
Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights
authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the
publishing industry.
This week author, Mary Cunningham, joins us. Mary, tell
us a little about yourself.
I grew up in the sleepy little town of Corydon, Indiana. And
I really mean “in the town!” My house was just beyond the main intersection
that took Southern Indiana cars and trucks from north to west. That was well
before Interstate 64 zoomed traffic just north of town, so you can imagine the
teeth-grinding sound 18-wheelers made navigating the tight Walnut Street turn,
then downshifting as they passed my house. Winter? Not so bad. Summer with the
windows open? Countless sleepless nights were spent sitting on the porch with
my dad telling me stories and pointing out the constellations.
After 10 years as a bank teller, followed by a horrifying
stint as a travel agent and more rewarding experience teaching travel and
tourism and the airline computer reservation system, I finally realized my
heart belonged to writing. Childhood experiences, and a recurring dream about a
mysterious attic, inspired me to create characters, Cynthia and Augusta Lee,
for the award-winning ‘Tween series, “Cynthia’s Attic.”
Tweens love a series. Tell us more about Cynthia’s
Attic.
Cynthia had an attic. Not just an ordinary attic.
Cynthia’s attic was magic.
Cynthia and I came into the world just three months
apart. We grew up on the same quiet, sycamore-lined street, our friendship as
close as our houses. Fifty years earlier our grandmothers were best friends.
However, we didn’t realize the extent of their friendship until after our
experience in Cynthia’s attic.
You can buy all four of the Cynthia’s Attic books:
Now, for the Threes. Share with us your top 3’s to help
us know you a little better.
Top 3
tools of the trade you couldn’t live without.
1.The
most obvious tool of the trade is the computer
I use to write and create. I can't imagine being a published author had I been
forced to write longhand. No editor would be able to read my writing since I
can't even read it myself! How J. K. Rowling did it is beyond me! Plus, the
research I get from the Internet is invaluable. While all stories are set in my
hometown (1964-1914) and many of my ancestors are main characters, all must be
authentic relating to historical elements.
2.Social marketing is the best
promotional tool and something I lean on heavily to market my books and my
writing. When Cynthia's Attic: The Missing Locket (Book One) was published in
2005, most marketing sites were just coming online, and it was much more
difficult reaching my target audience. Now, I have to budget my time between
sites. I've also come to rely on the social aspect, too. The world would seem
so isolated without Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc., friends and fans!
3.I
wouldn't be published without networking.
A writers' club in SW Florida gave me the confidence to finish the first 2 Cynthia's
Attic stories and the know-how to write a professional query letter. I can't
over-state the value of writers clubs and critique groups. I'm certain that my
present writers club in Carrollton, GA has made me a much better writer.
Top 3
leisure activities.
1.Oh,
this is a fun one. We recently adopted our furry daughter, Lucy. Part of my day
is set aside, at her insistence, for walks and playtime. She's not quite two,
and is a 17-lb bundle of energy. She also forces me away from my computer to
stretch and clear my mind.
2.I
was a tomboy; something that follows me to this day when it comes to sports.
The older I get, however, the more my participation centers on watching. I grew
up in Indiana, so basketball (Indiana Hoosiers!) is a prime focus. I also love
NFL football and golf (participating and watching).
3.Is
eating considered a leisure activity? LOL! Seems so for me, which is why taking
all those walks with Lucy is not only fun for her, but a necessity for me.
Fortunately, I live in West Georgia on the top of a mountain, so strenuous
walks up and down steep hills burn a few calories.
Top 3
pieces of advice for kids these days.
1.Read!
As an eight-year-old tomboy, lucky enough to have a library within walking
distance of my house, AND a beloved aunt serving as head librarian, I
gravitated toward sports biographies. I read from A-Z (Hank Aaron to Babe
Zaharias). After those ran out, my aunt made sure I read books that challenged
my reading level. I'll be forever grateful for that. So, kids, challenge yourselves!
2.Write!
Whatever you want to write is okay. Short stories about family (how I began my
writing career), fantasy, poetry…anything that inspires and makes you happy.
You'll be surprised how writing skills improve your over-all schoolwork. Plus,
it's fun and something you can do for the rest of your life. Every teacher from
3rd grade on said, "Mary, whatever you do, don't stop
writing." It ONLY took me 40 more years to write my first book. It's never
too late.
3.Teachers
may not like this next suggestion but I believe far too much emphasis is placed
on reading for points. I'll never forget talking to a 4th grader and
her father at a book signing. He prodded her to tell me how many reading points
she had and how many books she'd read the previous year. I couldn't help wonder
how much comprehension she gained from any one of those 300 + books. I'm not
suggesting AR shouldn't be used, but parents need to encourage their kids to
stretch beyond the list.
Great advice, Mary. Where can our readers go to keep up
with you and your writing?
Thank you for joining us on Three Times A Charm, this
week. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed hosting you on SoT. Hope you visit again. Best of
luck with your writing, Mary.
THANKS!
I am always looking for guests for Three Times A
Charm. If you are an author, illustrator or book reviewer, an agent or an
editor. If you have a book, a blog or a business related to children’s
publishing that you’d like people to know about, feel free to contact me about
a future appearance.
Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights
authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the
publishing industry.
This week author, Susan Kaye Quinn, joins us. Thank you
for agreeing to be a part of my weekly feature “Three Times a Charm.”
Thanks so much for having me!
I’m especially excited since today is your BIG launch day
for Closed Hearts the second book in your Mindjack Trilogy. Our lucky readers even get to enter your
giveaway! But first, Susan, let’s learn
a little about you.
I grew up in California,
where I wrote snippets of stories and passed them to my friends during class. I
pursued a bunch of engineering degrees and worked a lot of geeky jobs,
including turns at GE Aircraft Engines, NASA, and NCAR. Now that I writes
novels, my business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist" and I
don't have to sneak my notes anymore (too bad!). All that engineering comes in
handy when dreaming up paranormal powers in future worlds or mixing
science with fantasy to conjure slightly plausible inventions. I write
from the Chicago suburbs with my three boys, two cats, and one husband. Which,
it turns out, is exactly as much as I can handle.
Tell us about Closed Hearts.
When you control
minds, only your heart can be used against you.
This is the tagline for my second novel in the Mindjack
Trilogy, Closed Hearts, which
releases today! The Mindjack Trilogy is about a future world where everyone
reads minds, except one girl. She soon discovers she can control them instead
and is dragged into a hidden underworld of mindjackers. (Tag line for the first
book, Open Minds: When everyone reads minds, a secret is a
dangerous thing to keep.) The future of her, and her fellow mindjackers, is
explored even further in the second book. I’m excited to see what readers of Open Minds think of Closed Hearts, while I’m busy writing the third book in the
trilogy. All my novels and short stories can be found on my
blog. Open Minds and Closed Hearts are available in ebook and
print on Amazon
and Barnes and Noble.
I can’t wait to read it myself! Now, for the Threes.
Share with us your top 3’s to help us know you a little better.
Top
3 tools of the trade you couldn’t live without.
Scrivener for Windows - I use it for keeping all my research
organized, including pictures and links, and notes on bestsellers, my current
draft, outlines about edits, all kinds of stuff. The only thing I don’t use it
for is writing - for that I’m an old fashioned Word gal.
My moleskine notebooks - I have a dozen of them in all shapes and
sizes and I tote them everywhere. I especially use them to work through
difficult plot points or any kind of struggle I’m having with the story.
Writing long hand is a great creativity booster for me.
My corkboard - My newest addition to the “must have” category! I’m
using it now to outline my third novel in the Mindjack trilogy. I have
different colored cards for scenes, structure, love story, etc. It’s really
cool to see it all visually laid out and also works as a creative booster.
Top
3 personal and/or professional goals.
My Writer’s Mission Statement has four
components to it that guide my overall professional goals. From that, I have
three (short, medium, long term) professional goals (recently updated in my
Market Plan for Closed Hearts):
1) (short term) Finish and publish
the Mindjack Trilogy, while also writing a series of short stories as a
companion to the series
2) (medium term) Plan/write another
series that my readers will enjoy
3) (long term) Make enough money
from my indie publishing that it will pay comparably to a part-time engineering
position (so I can justify, in a money sense, continuing to write). While it’s
not possible to control sales or income, I can control output, so my plan to
reach this goal is to continue putting out approximately 2 novels a year (and
possibly more titles in short stories), building a backlist that will provide
that kind of ongoing income to support my writing career.
Top
3 professions you wanted to be when you grew up.
Veterinarian (changed my mind when
I discovered that blood made me squeamish)
Astronaut (applied; they didn’t
want me :))
Engineer (check!)
Susan, where
can our readers go to keep up with you and your writing?
Announcing the release of Closed Hearts, the sequel to Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn.
Book Two of the Mindjack Trilogy
When you control minds, only your heart can be used against you.
Eight months ago, Kira Moore revealed to the mindreading world that mindjackers like herself were hidden in their midst. Now she wonders if telling the truth was the right choice after all. As wild rumors spread, a powerful anti-jacker politician capitalizes on mindreaders’ fears and strips jackers of their rights. While some jackers flee to Jackertown—a slum rife with jackworkers who trade mind control favors for cash—Kira and her family hide from the readers who fear her and jackers who hate her. But when a jacker Clan member makes Kira’s boyfriend Raf collapse in her arms, Kira is forced to save the people she loves by facing the thing she fears most: FBI agent Kestrel and his experimental torture chamber for jackers.Now available!$2.99 Ebook at Amazon (and Amazon UK) and Barnes and NobleRequest a Kindlegraph
Paper copies available at Amazon or get signed copies from the author
Thank you, Susan, for sharing such an exciting day in
your life with us. I hope millions of readers discover your Mindjack Trilogy.
Happy release day to you and Closed Hearts!
When the box of books for my first published middle
grade novel, The Weaver, arrived at my house, I tore into it and the very first thing I did
was open a book and smell the pages. Ink and paper, I’d smelled them many times
in my life, but it was the utmost satisfying to know this time the ink formed my
words.
I handed a book to
my (then) 11-year-old daughter and she carefully pulled back the cover so as
not to crack the spine, knowing these books were to be sent out to reviewers
and contest winners. She flipped pages, admiring the chapter art, the large
print and reading a few of the chapter titles. Then she looked at me and said,
“This is so cool!”
How do you instill
that kind of appreciation for books in your children? First it is important to
be clear that you don’t have to be a writer yourself. I’ve been raising kids
for almost twenty years and writing professionally for seven. All four of my kids spend many hours
immersed in alternate worlds and routing for their favorite hero or
heroine. Why? Habits.
The habits of a
reading family start with board books and picture books, but they don’t stop
there. To stoke the hunger for words,
it is important to read to your child regularly before they can read
themselves. You don’t have to be a good reader yourself, but I promise with
practice your reading skills will improve. After you’ve read a treasured
picture book 35 times in one week, your child will be able to “read” it back to
you, starting – oh so subtly – their own reader education with word
recognition.
After reading
enough stories, you and your child will have a pretty good idea of how to
cobble a story together, so get them involved in storytelling. When our kids were young, my husband and I
would gather them around a cozy fire with blankets, stuffed animals and hot
chocolate. I’d start a story and then
we’d take turns adding to it, one sentence at a time. It was so much fun not
knowing which direction the story would turn next and such a challenge figuring
out how to wrap up the tale with a satisfying ending. The boys were rather fond
of saying, “And then everybody died. The end.” But we wouldn’t let them get
away with that.
One of my children
was a reluctant reader. He had to overcome some complications with his vision
and it put a damper on his desire to sit and read a physical book. It was just
too much work for him. So when he was
expected to do his first book report, I asked his teacher if he could listen to
the book on c.d. She agreed and it
opened up the literary world for him and for us as a family. We started
listening to books on c.d. on road trips. A book is so much more interesting
when discovered in a group. It was like
a traveling book club. Sometimes we
would be so enthralled with the story, we would bring the book into our hotel
room and continue to listen in the evening.
Or, we’d arrive at a family gathering, just to sit in the driveway until
we got to a chapter break. As a parent, I appreciated that the kids’ minds were
occupied during the trip so they didn’t argue or incessantly ask, “Are we there
yet?” Plus they were free to enjoy the beautiful scenery we traveled through
instead of hanging their heads over a handheld device.
Another important
habit of a reading family, frequent visits to the library. We will even go out
of our way to drive to another library (Redmond, Sunriver) if one of the kids
expresses an urgent desire for a title not available at the downtown
branch. By frequently curling up on the
couch ourselves, me with my Kindle, my husband with a book loaded onto his
smart phone and his earbuds plugged in, and various forms of books readily
available in the house, we’ve modeled the importance and the enjoyment of
reading.
Yet, the main reason I wanted to raise readers was
because no matter what our children grow up to do in life, the most useful tool
they will have in order to be successful at it, is reading. If they love to read, then they will be
quick to learn more about what they are interested in. They will be able to
research resources; they will be comfortable attending classes. They will be
better communicators. So, give your kids the ultimate weapon. Give them the
love of reading. And maybe, like me,
you’ll discover a new career path in the meantime.
***
Now it's your chance. How to enter our giveaway; become a GFC
follower of this blog, like my facebook page, KaiStrand,
Author and leave a comment on this post. Remember to sign up through
Rafflecopter:
Illustrator, KC Snider, and Julie
reading the contest entries
Continuing my theme of children’s literacy for the
Children’s Book Week blog hop, I sat down with Redmond Community Librarian,
Julie Bowers. Julie and I first met when we were involved in the Redmond 4th
Grade Writing Contest. Now, who doesn’t LOVE a community minded librarian who
wears really cute skirts? Julie works at the Redmond Branch of the
Deschutes Public Library.
Julie, I’m a huge fan of the Deschutes Public Library System,
the children’s library in particular. I have four children and have found the
library an invaluable resource.
Thank you. Me too. I can’t imagine parenting without the
library. When my son was little we used to the library for so many things –
story time, books for fun, books for projects, music magazines, and movies. Our
budget was tight, and I was so grateful to have this wonderful destination
where we could pass a pleasant afternoon of discovery and not have to pay anything!
Plus, we’d take home entertainment in so many forms to enjoy all week.
What is the age range of the children your library is
serving?
We aim to catch them early. The Redmond Friends of the
library give books and story time invitations to parents of newborns in the
hospital! We serve children with story times and books right from birth.
Reading with your baby every day is important to building a reader, and also to
create strong emotional bonds.
We’re really excited right now about our upcoming Summer
Reading Program. Summer is so much fun for us because it gives us a chance to
reconnect with school age kids and teens (beyond the classroom and school
projects). The programs this year are going to have a “night” theme – we expect
to have a visiting planetarium, a rocket program, all kinds of great stuff. And
of course we’ll be giving away LOTS of books and other great prizes to summer
readers of all ages. Word is that the grand prize for the winner of the adult
drawing will be an e-reader, so be sure to participate!
Oh my gosh, the Summer Reading Program has been a
favorite with my kids (and of course me) for YEARS!
What section of the library has experienced the most
growth?
Our digital collection is experiencing incredible usage. The
number of mobile device users is up over 50% this year alone. And it continues
to grow – in February we had well over 500 new digital download users. I’m a
fan of the paper book myself, but I’m seeing some wonderful benefits to
e-readers. It’s great to be able to load your slim e-reader up with vacation
reading when traveling – goodbye heavy satchel full of books! For some people
the technology makes it possible to continue reading, because they can no
longer see the print or hold the weight of a print book. We had a woman in the
Redmond branch who hadn’t read for years because even large print books were
much too small. We helped her set the font on her e-reader to “gigantic” and
she was reading again. It was really moving to see this technology return
someone to reading.
Along with e-books we’re also offering audiobooks in mp3 and
other formats. And I’d like to mention that we also offer free and legal music
downloads though, Freegal, our music partner. Unlike the e-books and
audiobooks, which expire at the end of the loan period, these songs are yours
to keep as long as you like. There were 5000 music downloads from Freegal
during the last month!
I’m like your target audience! I recently stocked my
Kindle with library books for my Alaskan cruise and I’ve begun checking out mp3
books on my iPod to listen to while I exercise. Thanks for the Freegal tip!
Julie, what’s the annual circulation for the library per
year? Children’s library?
In 2010-11 the Redmond Public Library saw over 450,000
circulations. About 177,000 of those were children’s items. The county as a
whole circulated almost 2.5 million items for the same year. (The county
reported a population of 157,733 in the 2010 Census. Wow! That’s an average of
15.8 items per person!!)
In your experience what benefits does a child who reads or
is read to often have over a child who doesn’t have a lot of reading in their
life?
People who grow up reading have so much more experience with
ideas and language than people who don’t. It’s so important to develop critical
thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as imagination. Household where
adults read with their kids spark a love of reading that will give children
such an advantage though out their lives. On a global level, we see increased
literacy linked to lower crime. I think that a literate and informed citizenry
is key to successful democracy.
Finally, Julie, in this age of shrinking budgets, what is
the children’s library’s biggest challenge in the next fiscal year and how can
patrons help?
We’ve had to mothball the bookmobile, which has had a huge
impact on our outreach efforts. The library foundation is working to raise
money to bring back the bookmobile, along with other great projects. If you’re
able to make a financial gift of any size to the DPL Foundation, please do!
Our library enjoys a
wonderfully supportive community; we rely heavily on library volunteers to keep
us going. You can also help by donating books to the Friends of the Library. Or
join them! The Friends of the Library does great fundraising work through the
bookstore. The Friends’ Art Committee also brings art to the people with our
wonderful library gallery shows.
Julie, I can’t thank
you enough for visiting with us during this special Children’s Book Week Blog
Hop! You’ve been such a fabulous and informative guest. I hope you and all your
fellow librarians enter for your chance to win the bag of books for the
library!
Listen up readers and librarians! To enter, become a GFC
follower of this blog, like my facebook page, KaiStrand,
Author and leave a comment on this post. Remember to sign up through
Rafflecopter:
Come back tomorrow when I talk about Raising A Reader.
Hopefully by now, you are convinced that you need to encourage literacy for
your child from a young age. Tomorrow I’ll share some ways my husband and I
have done it with our four children.
Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights
authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the
publishing industry.
This week author, Mike Hays, joins us with some bonus
content in celebration of Children’s Book Week. Mike, tell us about you.
THE YOUNGER DAYS is my debut middle grade historical fiction novel from
MuseItUp Publishing. I am a husband, a
father of three, a lifelong Kansan and work as a molecular microbiologist. Besides writing, I have been a high school strength
and conditioning coach, a football coach and a baseball coach. I have published three football coaching
articles in a national coaching magazine and have co-authored over a dozen
scientific papers.
Tell us more about The Younger Days.
Summary
The tension in post Civil War Missouri builds to a boiling
point between 11-year old Boy Smyth and his mild mannered, devout father over
the father's embarrassing lack of support for Boy’s Border War heroes, the
outlaw Cole Younger and the notorious Border War phantom William "The
Butcher" Bryant.
The family farm is visited by Cole Younger and his injured
brother, Jim, of the infamous James-Younger gang, on the run after a train
robbery in Iowa. Much to his surprise,
Boy discovers the Younger brothers are childhood friends of his Ma and Pa. Cole
has come to their farm searching for the aid of Boy’s mother to nurse Jim’s
gunshot wound. As the Youngers rest and
heal, Boy learns about his family’s past and begins to understands why Pa is
the way he is.
After the Youngers leave for their Texas hideout, a new
band of visitors arrive at the farm intent on violent revenge. Everything the family built becomes
threatened by the strangers, forcing Pa to make the decision to unleash a long
hidden identity in order to save his family.
Cover Blurb
Even a decade after the Civil War, the evil deeds carried
out in the Border War for "Bloody" Kansas are not forgotten. Hate and
revenge still rule the hearts of some, while others wish only to forget and
disappear.
In the beginning, Boy Smyth has a dull Missouri farm life
and a burning desire to be an outlaw like his hero, Cole Younger.
In the end, Boy Smyth has five dead bodies and two burning
buildings at his farm and the most feared man in the United States crying
outside his front gate.
And that desire for the outlaw life? It's purged
completely from his system.
Now, for the Threes. Share with us your top 3’s to help
us know you a little better.
●Top 3 pieces of advice for kids these days.
The Three P’s: Purpose, Pride
and Passion
1. Purpose
Know who you are and stand there.
2. Pride
Put your mark on everything you do. Hard work is the
magic.
3. Passion
Commit yourself to things you
believe in. Make good choices and take ownership of all your choices.
●Top 3 authors.
1. Edgar Allen Poe
2. Rick Bass
3. Arthur C. Clarke
Picking only three is like
trying to pick a favorite child. So hard to leave out Gaiman, Pratchett.,
Crichton, Twain, Irving, Hemmingway, etc. etc. etc...
●Top 3 illustrators.
1. Chris Van Allsburg - Stack
his body of work in front of you, start flipping through the pages without
reading a single word and without even a single work you’ll see the definition
of what illustration is.
2. Mary GrandPre’- Her
illustrations of the Harry Potter series were magnificent and such a huge (and
unsung, in my opinion) part of the book series’s success.
3. Jerry Pinkney and Ezra Jack
Keats illustrations for their two JOHN HENRY books.
Because it’s Children’s Book Week, Mike graciously agreed to
answer some bonus questions about children’s literacy!
In you humbe opinion, Mike, what are some of the benefits
children gain by becoming a comfortable reader?
A comfortable reader is a lifetime reader. The world opens
up for a lifetime reader. Confidence blooms in the reader. Confidence, which
allows the reader to dream, then use the available tools to learn a way to get
it done. Boredom is easily defeated with a book in reach. The reader’s imagination
regularly gets cultivated and fertilized and in the process, which is never a
bad thing. Readin really is fundamental.
What are two things adults (parents, granparents, coaches,
etc) can do to increase a child’s interest in reading?
Read.
Read anything and everything. Read to your kids every day, especially at
bedtime. Read newspapers, magazines, cereal boxes, books, and have all the
above around your house in plentiful amounts at all times. When not
reading, talk about the things you’ve read in a relaxed, informal
environment (Remember: It’s fun. It’s not a quiz; it’s not a test).
Let is
happen. Don’t push or rush your reader. Don’t throw material in their face
just because of formal grade level or other fixed parameters. Let it
happen. Let the kids find something they like to read, let them find the
bait to hook themselves as a lifetime reader. I was a slow reader. I am
fairly sure there were many adults who worried about me. But one day, in a
special session with a parent volunteer, she gave me a mimeographed copy
of TO BUILD A FIRE by Jack London. I sat at a folding table placed between
walls of textbook boxes in a storeroom and ran my finger and eyes over the
first line “Day had broken cold and grey, exceedingly cold and grey...”
Everything in the room disappeared. I found myself in the Yukon looking
over the shoulder of the “new-comer” in his struggle for survival. I was
transformed, the locked door to books kicked open; snapped from its
hinges. Life would never be the same again.
For a chance to make that wonderful experience happen for a
child in your life, become a GFC follower of this blog, like my facebook page, KaiStrand,
Author and leave a comment on this post. Remember to sign up through
Rafflecopter:
Thank you for joining us on this very special Children’s
Book Week edition of Three Times A Charm. Best of luck with your writing, Mike.
****
I am always looking for guests for Three Times A Charm. If
you are an author, illustrator or book reviewer, an agent or an editor. If you
have something related to children’s publishing that you’d like people to know
about, feel free to contact me about a future appearance.
Tomorrow, Children’s
Book Week continues on SoT with an interview with a librarian! You don’t want
to miss it, so be sure to come back again.
To celebrate Children’s Book Week, I am focusing on the
benefits of children’s literacy in order to encourage parents, grandparents,
caregivers, siblings to model strong reading habits to the younger children in
their lives.
In my experience, children who have grown up reading, being
read to and listening to audio books not only have a well-developed vocabulary,
but they are also better communicators.
As a writer I often hear, “Know your audience.” What this
means is that if I am going to write a short story for the 5 – 8 year old crowd
I have to use age appropriate vocabulary and I have to keep the storyline
linear. Younger children can't follow multiple storylines
within a single story. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not dumbing down to
the 5 – 8 year olds. The story itself can be complex and emotional.
I use this as an example because if that 5 – 8 year old
continues to develop their reading skills over the years, they will eventually
be reading books with a diverse cast of characters, which address social issues
or personal struggles, failure, success. Some characters will be well spoken
and articulate. Some will speak an urban language they learned on the streets.
Some might say or do things that shock the reader and others may fail to do
what the reader expects, in turn disappointing them.
Hmmm, sounds like life. And that’s my point.
A child who reads, is read to, or listens to audio books is
exposed to the world in a safer, more controlled environment. One day,
that reader is going to be out in the real world experiencing real world
situations that will mirror things they’ve read about. Based on their reaction
to the fictional or non-fictional retelling, they will be able to act or react
with the benefit of having had some experience in the situation. And when I say
“one day” I actually mean everyday.
In my book, The Weaver,
which is included in the tote bag of books being given away at the end of this
week, the main character Mary feels different from her friends and family. Then
something happens to make her feel like even more of an outcast. Yet, instead
of burying her head in the sand and blending into the background, she works and
works and works until she finds a way to no longer feel like an outcast.
It is my hope that the children (and adults!) who read The
Weaver will benefit not only from the lyrical language, but from the
overall message of persistence. A child who read The Weaver in 5th
grade might need to dwell upon the lesson again in 6th or 7th
grade, but will be more equipped to do so having witnessed how Mary handled her
own situation.
****
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