Just 20 Minutes...

Research has shown that just 20 minutes of reading a day can help prevent a child from losing literacy skills. Try this: Take 20 minutes every day as a family to turn off the TV and read – either silently to yourselves, or aloud to one another. You’ll notice a difference! [source - Parade Magazine interview with Lavar Burton]

Unless you've been living under a rock, I'm sure you've heard about Lavar Burton's Kickstarter campaign to bring back the PBS show Reading Rainbow.  It was a roaring success - he raised 5 million dollars!

Yesterday's Parade Magazine featured an interesting interview with Lavar.  Among other things, he was asked about the importance of summer reading.  I loved his answers...

Parade: Kids are out of school.  But studies show that if they don't read during the break, they go back to class behind.  What can parents do?

Lavar: There's a critical window where a child either becomes a reader or not -- for life.  Between the ages of 7 and 9 is when that decision is made.  Parents ask me, "How can I get my kid to read?"  I say, "How much time do you spend reading in front of your kid? How many books do you have in your house?  How often do you have an evening where you don't watch TV and it's family reading night?"  Insist by example so your child gets that reading is an important aspect of life.

My Summer Reading Lists

Summer reading is so important!  I did a recent post on good book choices for summer, here.  "But you don't have to take my word for it!"  I've listed Lavar's picks below.

Lavar's Top 10 Summer Reads:
1.  George and Martha by James Marshall
2.  The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
3.  How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills
4.  Miss Martin is a Martian by Colleen Murray Fisher
5.  Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
6.  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
7.  Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrew Beaty
8.  There's an Alligator in My Bed by Mercer Mayer
9.  Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
10. The BFG by Roald Dahl

School May Be Out, But Reading is Not!!

Summer colds are the worst, and I've got a doozy!  So this will be a quick post.  I thought I'd share some of my past summer reading recommendations and also give you a quick photo update on my "Bookish" space at the Brick Basement...

Isn't this antique school desk charming???  It's the perfect place for my daughter and me to display some of our fun vintage children's books...

...and finds, like this "Daniel Tiger" hand puppet from the '60's (remember him from Mister Rogers?)...and these cute Ex Libris labels.

Say "good-bye" to school for the summer, but not to books!
Have you come up with any good summer reading strategies for your kids?  It's helpful if you can use resources like Jim Trelease's Read Aloud Handbook and William Kilpatrick's Books That Build Character to plan fun, engaging book lists for your kids to choose from.

Or, for quick reference, click on the links below to check out a few of my past posts: 

"I'm Hooked" (Best Opening Lines from Kids' Books - Part II) and Part I

Make this the Summer You Read Aloud J. M. Barrie's PETER PAN

Dragon Tales

Take a Trip to the Beach in a Book!

Lessons Learned: Looking Back on Harry Potter

Books for Children About Friendship

Chapter Books My Daughter Loved

Good Books For Teen Girls

Chapter Books Even Busy Boys Will Come Inside For

Good Books For Pre-Teen Boys

Good Books For Teen Boys

I'm Hooked! (i.e. Best Opening Lines, Part Two)

Beyond "Once upon a time"...
Today I'm highlighting some classic books whose exceptional opening lines are "hooks" that will grab kids' attention and make them want to keep reading...

"The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another his mother called him 'WILD THING!' and Max said 'I'LL EAT YOU UP!' so he was sent to bed without eating anything." Where The Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak 

"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines."  Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans 

"Way out at the end of a tiny little town was an old overgrown garden, and in the garden was an old house, and in the house lived Pippi Longstocking." Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren

 

"The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff. How far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where had he come from? Nobody knows. Taller than a house, the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff, on the very brink, in the darkness."  The Iron Man (changed to The Iron Giant in 1968), Ted Hughes

 

"The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world." The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Barbara Robinson

 
"Up until I was fourteen years old, no boy on earth could have been happier."  Summer of the Monkeys, Wilson Rawls

 
"'Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,' grumbled Jo, lying on the rug." Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

  

"Once on a dark winter's day, when the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted and the shop windows blazed with gas as they do at night, an odd-looking little girl sat in a cab with her father and was driven rather slowly through the big thoroughfares." A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett

"Most motorcars are conglomerations (this is a long word for bundles) of steel and wire and rubber and plastic, and electricity and oil and gasoline and water, and the toffee papers you pushed down the crack in the back seat last Sunday." Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, Ian Fleming

 

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”  The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

It's not too early to start planning your child's summer reading list!  I love re-visiting favorite childhood books - often reading their opening lines brings the whole story rushing back into my mind!

This is the second installment of my favorite opening lines (you can see Part 1, here).  I tried to include good examples for both boys and girls...Do you have any to add?

Mystery Photo

Don't you think this sweet grandmother reading with her grandchild looks at home on my blog?  I'm guessing the photo is from the early 1900's; but who its subjects are will always be mystery...

You see, I just couldn't leave behind this old fashioned, cardboard mounted photograph after I found it in a little antique mall I was exploring with my Mom and my son on a recent trip to Bloomington, Indiana.  So it came home with me!

I've been trying to think of a caption for it. Which quote do you think best suits it? (they're all favorites!)

1- No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.  - C.S. Lewis

2- To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.  -Victor Hugo

3- There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we believe we left without having lived them, those we spent with a favorite book.  -Marcel Proust

4- At one magical instant in your early childhood, the page of a book - that string of confused, alien ciphers - shivered into meaning. Words spoke to you, gave up their secrets; at that moment, whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, a reader.  -Alberto Manguel, A History of Reading

5- There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island.  -Walt Disney

6- Richer than I you can never be - I had a [Grand]Mother who read to me.  -Strickland Gillian 

Ultimately, I guess the details of where, when, and who in regards to this precious photo don't really matter: reading with children is timeless and universally enjoyed!

Summer is a Time for Stories! Don't Miss These...

Giveaway time! What have I got to make that summer road trip a little bit easier?  Story Recordings!

I've partnered with Greathall Productions to give away three Jim Weiss Storytelling CDs!

My SUMMER GIVEAWAY STARTS TOMORROW, but today I want to introduce you to Jim Weiss and review some of his recordings.

"Jim Weiss is a master narrator especially when it comes to 
conversation…he takes on persona easily, 
male or female, young or old…" 

—AudioFile 

Jim Weiss brings stories to life with his voice, which is at once soothing and spellbinding.  He doesn't have the benefit of costumes or props, yet he has no trouble holding kids' (or their parents') attention. And he plays the part of a wide range of characters!

As I listened recently to Jim Weiss' skillful telling of The Jungle Book I was transported to Kipling's jungle - Jim does all the voices, of course: Mowgli; his "brothers" the Wolves; Bagheera; Baloo the Bear; Shere Khan; Messua (Mowgli's human mother); and more! 

Our family first came across Jim Weiss' stories back in the 1990's, through our homeschooling connections. The audio recordings (cassettes in those days!) were perfect to listen to on summer road trips. Our kids were entranced! 

Jim and his wife started Greathall Productions ("Intelligent entertainment for the thinking family") in 1989 and to date have produced over 47 storytelling recordings! You can navigate their website and not only find CD recordings grouped by age listening level, but also hear samples of many of the recordings.

Our family's favorite Jim Weiss storytelling recordings:
ARABIAN NIGHTS (ages 5 and up) We were definitely transported by these eloquently told tales of Scheherazade, including Jim's retelling of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves".

SHE & HE: ADVENTURES IN MYTHOLOGY (ages 5 and up)  This collection of several well-known Greek Myths was a perfect compliment to our unit study of Greece.

SHERLOCK HOLMES (ages 8 and up).  My husband and I were as entranced by Jim Weiss' retelling of these Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson stories as our kids!

Not to be Missed:
THE JUNGLE BOOK - If you think you know the whole story from the Disney movie, guess again!  Your kids will love Weiss's tellings of the stories of Rudyard Kipling: "Mowgli's Brothers"; "Tiger! Tiger"; "Red Dog"; and "The Spring Running". (ages 7 and up)

AMERICAN TALL TALES - These uproarious American folk stories will have you laughing out loud...You'll meet Paul Bunyan, taller than the trees and mightier than the rivers; Johnny Appleseed, whose gentle generosity make him a beloved legend; and Pecos Bill, whose outrageous Texas-sized exploits make him the greatest of all cowboys. (ages 5 and up)

BEST LOVED STORIES IN SONG AND DANCE - Three favorite tales (for girls and boys): "The Twelve Dancing Princesses"; "The Sleeping Beauty"; "Snow White and Rose Red".

Unabridged Narrated Books (these will not be included in my Giveaway, but I had to mention them!):
CARRY ON, MR. BOWDITCH (unabridged, ages 8 and up). A Newberry winner, the book is based on the the real life of Nathanael Bowditch, inventor of a new method for sea navigation: lunar reckoning. The story is set during the American Revolution, and is a touching biography of a worthy hero. I read this book to my kids, but I wish we would have had this recording! (6 1/2 hours on 6 CDs)
COME ON, SEABISCUIT!  - This is not the Hollywood version of this remarkable story! read my past post here.  (3 1/2 hours on 4 CDs)

Be sure to stop back by my blog tomorrow for details about how to enter my SUMMER GIVEAWAY of Jim Weiss Storytelling Recordings (giveaway runs 6/25 - 7/2/13)...  good luck!

Take a Trip to the Beach in a Book!

Here in Southern California, graduation parties are in full swing and beach weather has arrived. Whether or not you live anywhere near an ocean, nothing screams "summer" more than the thought of the sand and surf! Take a trip to the sea in one of these unique books...

RHINOS WHO SURF, by Julie Mammano (for ages 3-5) A bright picture book, with playful text, and even a surf lingo glossary! Hilarious!

WAVE by Suzy Lee. (ages 3-5) Discover with your child the sense of wonder that the ocean inspires through a little girl's day at the beach in this wordless picture book.

FLOTSAM by David Wiesner. Another beautiful wordless picture book. (ages 4 and up) A boy finds a camera at the beach and the film inside reveals fascinating underwater pictures as well as children around the world, so the boy takes his own picture and returns the camera to the sea where it will journey to another child. (Caldecott 2007)

BATS AT THE BEACH by Brian Lies. (ages 4-8) An unconvential beach story about bats visiting the beach in the moonlight.  This fun picture book is full of stunning illustrations, revealing how the bats travel silently throught the night with picnic baskets, moon-tan lotion, and kites.

KERMIT THE HERMIT by Bill Peet (ages 5-8) Wonderful story told in rhyme (Dr. Seuss style) about a Hermit Crab. Kermit is a "selfish shellfish" who hoards all kinds of unnecessary things. He is saved from a near mishap by a boy and discovers the value of sharing. My kids asked for this story over and over. Mr. Peet was a top writer and illustrator for several of DISNEY'S animated films, before becoming a children's book author/illustrator in the 1960's.

HATTIE AND THE WILD WAVES, by Barbara Cooney (for ages 5-8) Read this picture book about a little girl who lives by the sea, off the New England Coast at the turn of the century. Her dream is to become an artist. You'll love the richly detailed paintings as much as your child will!

ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS, by Scott O'Dell (for ages 10-13) A 1961 Newbury Medal was awarded to this riveting novel. The book was inspired by the real-life story of a 12-year-old American Indian girl, Karana, and her fight for survival on the island of San Nicholas, off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA. Definitely in our Top-Ten-Family-Favorites!  

Do you have a favorite beach book?
You might also like Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha (click the title to read my past post.)

Books Even Busy Boys Will Come Inside For

Look at my muddy sons!  This photo brings back fun memories.  In our family, summertime meant lots of outdoor playtime, swim lessons, and jaunts to the beach.  But we also encouraged trips to the library and summer reading. 

How could books ever compete with sunny days full of bikes and mud??  With choices like the ones below (as promised, I'll be blogging about fun summer reading for the month of June).


Books Even Boys Will Come Inside For...eventually:
The Stories Julian Tells (series) by Ann Cameron. 

I immediately went out and found this book at the library after reading Jim Trelease's summary in his Read Aloud Handbook. "The author takes six short stories involving Julian and his brother and weaves them into a fabric that glows with the mischief, magic, and imagination of childhood. Though centered on commonplace subjects like desserts, gardens, loose teeth, and new neighbors, these stories of family life are written in an uncommon way that will both amuse and touch young listeners." It really engaged our boys' imaginations.


The Great Brain (series) by John D. Fitzgerald. (ages 8-12)

This book was an all time favorite of my oldest son, about the hilarious adventures of an Irish-Catholic family in Mormon Utah in 1896.  Tom - a.k.a. "the Great Brain" - is a 10-year-old genius con man, always interested in making a profit (and always learning a lesson.)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl (ages 8-12). 

These books made a huge impact on my oldest son.  Along with Norman Jester's The Phantom Tollbooth, Roald Dahl's books introduced him to imaginative fantasy through quirky humor and fun wordplay. Dahl's books are about childhood justice and delight, full of imagination and the best kind of storytelling. Charlie Bucket lives with his mother and four bedridden grandparents in their one-room home. Charlie wins a trip into the magical, fantastical world of Williy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. A satirical look at want and need, greed and generosity, all remedied through the methods of the eccentric candy maker. Not to be missed!

Maniac McGee, by Jerry Spinelli (ages 9-12). 

This is the story of a 12-year-old runaway boy. As a stranger to the town of Two Mills, he is naively ignorant of the racial divide between the East and West sides of town. He's also unaware that his life will become legend as he performs one amazing feat after another (like running 49 touchdowns in a single game!) You won't believe the miraculous things he does - the most courageous being the healing of the division in the town and the end of the racial prejudice there. Good contemporary fiction.

The Indian in the Cupboard (series), by Lynne Reid Banks. (Ages 8-12) 

Exciting, absorbing, and thought provoking story, alive with magic as two boys discover they can bring their toys to life by putting them in an old medicine cabinet that one of them receives - along with a small plastic Indian - for his birthday. They are faced with the responsibility of this tiny person and the consequences of their actions. Gives new meaning to the phrase, "the dignity of human life".

Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls.

I guarantee your boys won't be able to put this book down! (If you missed it, you can read my past post here). Independent Readers: grades 5 and up. Family Read Aloud: ages 9 and up.

MAY IS GONE AND IT'S TIME FOR NANCY DREW

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. ~John Lubbock

Memorial Day weekend is over and June has begun, bringing with it the promise of warm sunny days as the school year winds down.  Mom and Dad's taxi service gets a bit of a rest and there is unscheduled time for kids to be creative, get outdoors, and just lie around reading - for fun!

Starting the summer I was about nine or ten, a search began in earnest for "chapter books" that I could get lost in.  I think it all began with the adventuresome and wacky Pippi Longstocking books, moving on to the Little House series.

Finally, the summer I was eleven or twelve, I was solving mysteries with Nancy Drew. (What is it that we love so much about red-headed heroines? Have you read my post about Lauren Child's illustrations for Pippi Longstocking and Anne of Green Gables?)

Some of my old Nancy Drew books - remember Bess and George,
and Nancy's blue roadster convertible?

As my children became independent readers, I encouraged them to find fun books for summer reading.  It brought me back to my own childhood to see them curled up with a good book on a lazy summer day.

I've decided to dedicate my June posts to reviewing/reposting some of our favorite summer picks for independent readers who want fun chapter books.  I've started a list below - watch for my posts about these great books.  And let me know which of your favorites I've left out!

THE GREAT BRAIN
SUMMER OF THE MONKEYS
THE PENDERWICKS
TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN
PETER PAN
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
(and other books by Roald Dahl)

GIVING AWAY FREE BOOKS!

Have you heard? Barnes and Nobel's summer reading program is up and running -- between now and September 4, 2012, they're giving away free books! Read any 8 books, complete your Imagination's Destination Journal, and go to any B&N store to get a free book. (Details are HERE.) 

SOME GOOD BOOK LISTS TO GET YOUR KIDS' SUMMER READING STARTED:
I hope you visit your local library this summer as well - they have lots of fun incentives to get your kids reading.  Not sure what to read?

26 foot tall "READ" Across America sign on the steps of the NYPL, 2011.

Helpful Links:

THE TOP 100 PICTURE BOOK POLL RESULTS These books are for children ages 4-8.  The poll is from 2009.

THE TOP 100 CHILDREN'S NOVELS (CHAPTER BOOK) POLL RESULTS These are books for kids who can read full chapters on their own and who are under the age of 13.  The poll is from 2010.

You might also find these two lists from the NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY website helpful:
100 PICTURE BOOKS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW (this list of recommended books is in alphabetical order and contains short picture book summaries).
100 FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS (This reading list allows you to look at the recommended chapter books according to genre).

Do have musically inclined kids?  Check out the CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY'S Noteworthy Books and Music LIST.

WHAT DO I LOVE ABOUT REAL BOOKS?

...from William Lyon Phelps (1865-1943), Lampson Professor of English literature at Yale University, distinguished lecturer, author, critic and ordained minister:

William Lyon Phelps speaks

On Books

(From a radio broadcast on April 6, 1933)

The habit of reading is one of the greatest resources of mankind; and we enjoy reading books that belong to us much more than if they are borrowed. A borrowed book is like a guest in the house; it must be treated with punctiliousness, with a certain considerate formality. You must see that it sustains no damage; it must not suffer while under your roof. You cannot leave it carelessly, you cannot mark it, you cannot turn down the pages, you cannot use it familiarly. And then, some day, although this is seldom done, you really ought to return it.

But your own books belong to you; you treat them with that affectionate intimacy that annihilates formality. Books are for use, not for show; you should own no book that you are afraid to mark up, or afraid to place on the table, wide open and face down. A good reason for marking favorite passages in books is that this practice enables you to remember more easily the significant sayings, to refer to them quickly, and then in later years, it is like visiting a forest where you once blazed a trail. You have the pleasure of going over the old ground, and recalling both the intellectual scenery and your own earlier self.


Everyone should begin collecting a private library in youth; the instinct of private property, which is fundamental in human beings, can here be cultivated with every advantage and no evils. 

Build a child's library one book at a time, starting when they are born.

One should have one's own bookshelves, which should not have doors, glass windows, or keys; they should be free and accessible to the hand as well as to the eye. The best of mural decorations is books; they are more varied in color and appearance than any wallpaper, they are more attractive in design, and they have the prime advantage of being separate personalities, so that if you sit alone in the room in the firelight, you are surrounded with intimate friends. 

My husband and daughter at Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris.

The knowledge that they are there in plain view is both stimulating and refreshing. You do not have to read them all. Most of my indoor life is spent in a room containing six thousand books; and I have a stock answer to the invariable question that comes from strangers. "Have you read all of these books?"
"Some of them twice." This reply is both true and unexpected.


There are of course no friends like living, breathing, corporeal men and women; my devotion to reading has never made me a recluse. How could it? 

Books are of the people, by the people, for the people. Literature is the immortal part of history; it is the best and most enduring part of personality. But book-friends have this advantage over living friends; you can enjoy the most truly aristocratic society in the world whenever you want it. The great dead are beyond our physical reach, and the great living are usually almost as inaccessible; as for our personal friends and acquaintances, we cannot always see them. Perchance they are asleep, or away on a journey.

But in a private library, you can at any moment converse with Socrates or Shakespeare or Carlyle or Dumas or Dickens or Shaw or Barrie or Galsworthy. And there is no doubt that in these books you see these men at their best. They wrote for you. They "laid themselves out," they did their ultimate best to entertain you, to make a favorable impression. You are necessary to them as an audience is to an actor; only instead of seeing them masked, you look into their innermost heart of heart."

(Source: William Lyon Phelps Foundation WEBSITE)

SUMMER READING CELEBRATION AT THE PLACENTIA LIBRARY

My table was full of information about good read aloud books.

I met and talked to at least 200 kids and their parents today that stopped by my table on their way to free pony and train rides, puppet shows, crafts, and free food (snowcones, hotdogs, pizza, and more!)

Marisa Timothy, Administrative Assistant

It's absolutely amazing to me what a good "Friends of the Library Foundation" can accomplish.  In Placentia, California, they were able to donate money to their library -- not only for an awesome computer center, but also to sponsor the library's 3rd Annual Summer Reading Celebration for the community, marking the end of their summer reading program.

The visionary library director, Jeanette Contreras, has a wonderful staff and team of volunteers to thank for all their help in putting together a wonderfully organized day.

Click HERE to read my past post about the Placentia Library and their great storytime for children.