Category — Reading

Just read a couple of articles that I found very interesting.

1. Presto Book O – Why I went ahead and self-published.

2. Room for Debate: Do School Libraries Still Need Books?

#1 showcases a guy with a good attitude and a good plan. Self-publishing the way it should be done. And a business model and marketing plan that makes sense for him.

#2 bums me out. Even though most of the experts they queried said yes, books are still needed, I think it’s worth noting that with the exception of one school librarian and the headmaster of that private school that threw out its entire library collection, all the rest are experts on new technology. So I guess that makes it all that more meaningful that they think books are still needed. I did find it very odd that the people in the debate were the aforementioned technology experts and 2 people who work for private high schools. Why didn’t they talk to to the people who work with the rest of the world - i.e. the majority? Why only exclusive private schools where you can assume the kids all have access to technology 24-7? The rest of the world isn’t like that. The digital divide actually exists, folks. But maybe not to the readers of the NYTimes…

When I was a little girl my mom and dad read to me all the time. They also read books for pleasure themselves, as well as magazines and newspapers and the backs of cereal boxes. Once I could read, I read books. I had lots of books, we went to the library all the time, and I was praised for reading. Bedtime always involved a story – either from a book or from my mom and dad’s memory. My dad, in particular, was great at bedtime stories and I learned all the Greek myths before I was 6 years old from his night-time re-tells.

I was little in the 70s and I don’t remember ever having cable, if it even existed, and we got 3 channels in most of the places we lived if we were lucky. So – lots of books, no TV, and obviously, no video games or computers (because I’m too old for that), and people who modeled that reading was an activity better than pretty much anything else you could do.

That’s how to raise a reader! I’m a professional in the book industry (writer, publisher, and librarian) but I’m also a mom who is raising 2 readers of her own. Both my boys have access to stuff I didn’t have – computers, video games, and way more channels on TV than a person could ever need – but we limit their access to screens and we never limit their access to words. If given the choice, guess which thing they spend more time doing?

You’re right: reading.

There are some FABULOUS websites out there that you can use to read good quality picture books with kids – completely free! At school, I’ll often use these sites when I want to read a book I might not have in the library, or sometimes I have books about a certain topic in the library but I know the teachers want to use them (like when all of 1st grade is learning about the gingerbread man, for example), or I know kids want the books (like holiday books). I’ll also project books that we have in the library because sometimes it’s just fun to see them really, really big.

I probably use Lookybook the most, since it has a good search engine and the most possibilities, but Storyline will read the book to kids, which is great for a center activity, or for a tired teacher or librarian  It also makes the books more like a movie if someone else is reading it, which could make little ears a little more attentive. As a parent, I could see reading from these sites with my child in my lap, and as someone who often tries to get work done at home with my kids running around, I would use these sites as a way to include my child in whatever I was trying to get done on family time.

Here’s a list of sites where you can get full text picture books on-line:

International Children’s Digital Library
Storyline Online
Clifford Stories (English & Spanish)
Kids Corner (Classics)
Lil’ Fingers
Between the Lions
Room 108 Kids Stories
Big Universe