Happy Children's Book Week!

In 1919, the American Booksellers Association committed to organizing an annual Children's Book Week. A few months later, the American Library Association officially approved it during its first Children's Librarians session - and twenty five years after that, the newly-established Children's Book Council assumed responsibility for administering the event, planning official events and creating original materials. But the need for Children’s Book Week is as essential today as it was in 1919. The task remains the same as it was when Frederic Melcher made this fundamental declaration: “A great nation is a reading nation.”

You can celebrate Children's Book Week any number of ways. Join the official celebrations...

Tuesday, May 12 - Children's Choice Book Awards Gala
The second annual Children's Choice Book Awards, at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan. Individual tickets - $300. Call (212) 677-3173, ext. 240 or email CBC@PaintTheTownRed.net.

Tuesday, May 12 and Wednesday, May 13 - Children's Book Week in Chicago
Renowned storyteller Barbara Clark performs three events in Chicago to celebrate Book Week and the 40th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards. Free and open to the public.

Thursday, May 14 - Children's Book Week in Seattle
National Ambassador Jon Scieszka visits The Secret Garden Bookshop to celebrate Book Week.

Saturday, May 16 - Children's Book Week in Boston
Activities will be held at Copley Square, Boston, at the main branch of the Boston Public Library and also in neighborhood branch locations. Participating authors are Paul Carrick, Erin Dionne, Kate Feiffer, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Megan McDonald, Sara Pennypacker, Michael Rex, Linda Urban, and Alan Witschonke. Join the fun from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. just outside the Rey Children's Room on the main floor. Free and open to the public.

OR...

•Make your voice heard with the Children's Choice Book Awards! Click here to see the finalists, then vote for your favorite! Awards will be given to the winner in each age group and will be posted on the Book Week site.

•Test your skills with Children's Book Week puzzles!

•Great authors have started a story… help them finish the tale with Story Starters.

•Download the official Children's Book Week bookmark, or make your own charmed bookmark.

• Tell your teacher or librarian to check out the teachers and librarians page on the Children's Book Council website for great ideas for how to celebrate Book Week.

If nothing else, READ to a child! Remember that a love of reading starts with a connection between reading and pleasure - and the best way to cultivate that connection is to read something wonderful to a child, with love.

Technology + Books = Synergy

Don't worry - I haven't converted to an electronic reader (yet). I still prefer the tangible, tactile pleasure of a good old fashioned book. But I do believe that the technology of the digital age, used well, can be a great enhancement to literacy and reading pleasure. For instance...

"Trouble finding books they like" is one of the top reasons kids say they don't read more, according to Scholastic's recent Kids and Family Reading Report. Two new web sites provide terrific resources in this regard.

Jennifer Brown, children’s editor of the e-newsletter Shelf Awareness, has created the new TwentybyJenny site with the goal of "helping educators and caregivers build a child’s library one book at a time by guiding them to 20 books in each of four age groups (0–3, 4–7, 8–12, and teens)." The site also offers a weekly newsletter and a Twenty blog, which explores book-related themes. Brown focuses on trying to find "a mix of books people might be familiar with, alongside titles they might not have come across before,” as well as books that would appeal to both genders, and different interests and sophistication levels. Her hope is that the lists comprise a good "starter library" for a child, which can then be built upon.

Another great site in this regard - which I've written about here before - is James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead, an invaluable resource for kids as well as parents, caregivers and educators. Patterson's site not only provides scores of recommendations for books sure to engage young readers (or, in Patterson’s words, “great books, cool books, books they would absolutely, positively love… the crème de la crème of reading… very, very special books that kids will gobble up and ask for more”), it also leads young people towards other books and authors that may interest them through the “If You Love This Book, Then Try…” suggestions on each book page. In addition, the site provides reviews, thematic connections, and links to more information about the books and where they can be purchased. Perhaps most valuable, however, is the “Community” section of the site, where members of all ages can connect, discuss topics related to reading, read interviews with childrens book authors and get involved. Here, teachers manage discussion groups with students, reading specialists post blog entries, and parents as well as kids engage in lively discussion, post their reading experiences to forums and groups and get proactive about the role of reading in their lives.

There are also a number of terrific blogs out there with respect to childrens books, many of which are linked to this site. By managing all these with my Google Reader account (which I can then download onto my iPhone - oops, I guess I am reading electronically!) this is a great way to stay current and get new ideas about books my kids might love.

This, I think, is the perfect marriage between the digital world and the world of books - using modern technology to support and enrich the reading experience.

Reading Without Shame

I have a confession to make - and I hope the literary purists of the world forgive me.

My daughter Hope, age 5, loves the Disney Princesses, My Little Pony, and Barbie stories. Now, she also loves Ramona Quimby - and elected to read through the entire series twice, back to back, this summer - as well as both Winnie the Pooh's, and a score of wonderful picture books, from Olivia to Miss Rumphius.

That's not the confession. This is: I have judgment about which of these reading choices are "better."

But the thing is, she LOVES to read - or, more precisely, to be read to. She loves it with a passion. She would rather listen to a story than watch a video, or play a game, or paint, or draw, or run around, or just about anything else. And I've realized I have to be very careful. Because if she sees me wince - even just a tad - when she asks for another My Little Pony story, or if she feels me 'suggesting' Miss Rumphius over Ariel again just a little too forcefully, she'll begin to pull away. Instead of being a way for her to revel, unbridled and unjudged, in all her dreams and delights, reading may become associated with right and wrong, with correctness, or - worst of all - with shame.

That's not to say I shouldn't keep providing her with all the best books I can. I do understand that one can't appreciate the good stuff unless one is exposed to it. But I have to lead her gently, lightly, without pressure. In the end, her appreciation for Beverly Cleary and A.A. Milne tell me that she'll get to it all - and evolve into a well-rounded, discerning and intelligent young woman in the process. After all, I've been known to enjoy junk food from time to time, and it never turned me off of a great gourmet meal.

Aaarggh! There's that judgment again! Breathe, release, count to three....

Reading on the Rise?

First the good news: according to Reading on the Rise, the latest survey sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the number of adult Americans reading rose to 119 million in 2008, compared to 115.5 million in 2002.

Now the bad news: If you crunch the numbers, and factor in the fact that the population increased by 19 million during that span, it puts the percentage of Americans who read any book in 2008 at 54.3%, which is actually down from 56.6% in 2002. Also, the latest survey includes online/electronic reading, which the previous surveys did not. NEA Chair Dana Gioia credits "...'Harry Potter' and 'Twilight' and Oprah and the Big Read and the Internet," but is quick to add that the battle is far from over.

My take? I think all of the above have been good for advancing the cause of reading. I also note that the timing and positioning of the report coincides with Mr. Gioia's departure from the Chairmanship. I'm not being cynical - Gioia has worked hard to initiate and advance many reading programs, the Big Read among them, and deserves to celebrate the contributions he has made to the cause. Were I in his shoes, I would welcome, and focus on, some good news at this juncture as well. But mostly I think we must be cautiously optimistic about what these things, and the change of administration, may signal for the future of reading... and carry on working tirelessly in homes, schools, libraries and bookstores to connect - and re-connect - reading with pleasure.

You can read more about this subject in this week's Publisher's Weekly - in Sara Nelson's column, Yes, He Can, and in More Americans are Reading, But..., which includes tables from the NEA study - as well as in the Wasington Post. You can also download the NEA's full report yourself at http://arts.endow.gov/news//news09/ReadingonRise.html

Obama and Reading

Great article by Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times today on how Obama's love of reading has shaped his values and his life: From Books, New President Found Voice

Lots of interesting comments posted on the Times' site as well. Here's mine:

"Clearly, Obama is already reading all the right books.

What I fervently hope is that he will convey his passion for reading to America's youth, and apply his gifts and resources to helping the next generation discover, re-discover or maintain a love of reading.

Obama is a stunning example of the direct relationship between reading skills and our ability to participate in the world with confidence as informed citizens, communicate effectively, succeed in our chosen career, enjoy rewarding relationships, achieve personal fulfillment and contribute to our society.

But America now ranks a distant last among eighteen nations with respect to literacy levels for high school graduates, and it is estimated that illiteracy costs businesses and taxpayers $20 billion each year.

Obama knows that our founders, living as they did in an age when the printed word was the primary means of communication, placed a high emphasis on protecting the “marketplace of ideas” so that public discourse could flourish. Today, that discourse is predominantly one-way... we “receive” information from our television sets, radios, computers, and iPods. Large media corporations pay vast sums of money to explore new ways in which we can be collectively massaged toward a certain purchase or perspective. And the more we sit and stare at the screen, the more we turn our back on the kind of thoughtful reasoning that interaction with the written word promotes…and, the more mute we become.

It’s abundantly clear that the digital age has radically altered the entertainment as well as the learning landscape for today’s young people. But according to the National Council on Teachers of English (NCTE), “in order to participate fully in society and the workplace in 2020 and harness the power of technology and all its implications, we will need powerful literacy skills – at levels currently achieved by only a small percentage of the population.” It would seem that our collective health, our capacity for reason, our very future as a connected, contributive society – and that of our fragile planet – depends upon it.

I pray that Obama shares the dream of reestablishing a society of readers- and by extension, a society of thoughtful, engaged citizens who play an active, positive role in their community and their world. I hope he makes it a priority to help kids access the innate joy and empowerment in exploring the ideas and insights of great writers, thinkers, artists, and philosophers, so that they can actually participate in their future world with active voices, informed opinions and the real hope of being heard.

Like him."