I was delighted to come across this workshop for adults called Fostering Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Skills Through Reading. It looks wonderful, sponsored by a group I didn't know about before, the Bay Area Discovery Museum. They are dedicated to igniting children's imagination and creativity, through their Center for Childhood Creativity. What a great resource.…
So what to do when I read something, and it just doesn't have that affect on me? There are SO many children's books out there...
Published 1952 Theme: Friendship Best for: Ages 8 and up "After all, what's a life anyway? We're born, we live a little, we die...By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle." A simple and moving story of friendship and humane treatment of animals...
Published 1886 Theme: Power of Love and Kindness Best for: Ages 6 and up, especially boys Five Stars "His greatest charm was this cheerful, fearless, quaint little way of making friends with people. Finding this children's book, the first ever written by Burnett, was like going to the pure, unpolluted, ancient source of story itself...
Published 1991 Theme: Freedom of Expression Best for: ages 11 and up Five Stars This brilliantly written story by Salman Rushie both enchants children and makes adults think deeply about the importance of stories, writers and freedom in keeping a culture alive...
A bit late, but not too late, I discovered World Read-Aloud Day is this week, March 6. What a great idea. Check out their website for activities, including a lovely downloadable book perfect for reading outloud. Wonderful way to increase literacy. Sponsored by LitWorld, and their many partners, all of whom seem committed to literacy,…
Published 2003 Theme: Courage to Love Best for: 9 and up "Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light." A story that doesn't shy away from the dark, but brings the beauty of light into the world...
Published 1908 Theme: Friendship Best for: Any Age Five Stars "At last over the rim of the waiting earth, the moon lifted with slow majesty till it swung clear of the horizon and rode off, free of moorings..."The lyrical nature of the writing alone would be enough to rave about the book. But that's just the beginning...
Published 1994 Theme: Loss and Healing Best for: 12 and older "Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins." If young readers came away from this profoundly moving children's book with only the above as their understanding, that alone could change the world. Imagine how our culture would develop...
Published 1992 Theme: Expectations Best for: 5-6 years old "There was a man called the Thinking Man of Moha, and there was a woman called the Writing Woman of Maho, and they were friends." Thus begins this very small, simple book by Le Guin, combining fantasy and reality seamlessly...
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