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Dear Parents and Other Adults Who Spend Time with Kids,
The words "read" and "succeed" are often linked in
our world. We may hear it on the news, and think to ourselves, "Sure,
you have to read to get a job, or write checks at the grocery store."
But reading can be more than that. Reading with kids and spending time
with them makes them feel very important, and feeling important and confident
is a key to success in the world. Not only that, but connecting reading
with other activities makes reading fun, and not like a chore. By making
reading fun, you're introducing your kid to a lifelong friend. Reading
together, and doing activities, also makes the relationship between you
and your kids stronger. Maurice
Sendak, the famous author of Where the Wild Things Are says
it best when he says:
"I think it's an easy physical thing: When my father
read to me, I leaned into him so I became part of his chest or his forearm.
And I think children who are hugged, and children who are held on laps--nice
yummy laps--will always associate reading with the bodies of their parents,
the smells of their parents. And that will always keep you a reader. Because
that perfume, that sensuous connection is lifelong.
...
If there's any advice I have to give, I would say it's that. If you're
looking for a way to get closer to your kids, there ain't no better way
than to grab 'em and read. And if you put them in front of a computer or
a TV, you are abandoning them. You are abandoning them because they are
sitting on a couch or a floor and they may be hugging a dog, but they ain't
hugging you." Maurice Sendak, interview with Marion Long from
HomeArts, the publisher of many magazines
such as Good Housekeeping, Redbook, etc.
There are many organizations that stress the importance of reading with kids, and spending time with them. I'll list their web sites here, with brief highlights of their contents. Each of the sites has something different to offer.
Some helpful links about children's literature:
Association for Library Service to
Children
http://www.ala.org/alsc/
This is the children's division of the professional organization for librarians,
the American Library Association. The American Library association
recently unveiled a huge project called
Great Sites: Amazing, Spectacular, Mysterious, Wonderful
Web Sites for Kids and the Adults Who Care About Them, in which they
have organized over 700 web sites for kids. You can also find an explanation
of two awards given to children's books, the Caldecott and the Newbery
Award, as well as a list of books and authors which have won these awards.
Bulletin of the Center
for Children's Books
http://edfu.lis.uiuc.edu/puboff/bccb/
This site has evalutions of children's literature. It also has a nice archives
of book lists on different themes. For example, one month the list might
be on ghostly stories, and the next month it might be on poetry. As this
site is the companion to a print publication, you can find here the books
to which they gave star reviews in the print version of their journal.
Children's Book Council
http://www.CBCbooks.org
Both parents and teachers will find resources at this site, including tips
on how to encourage kids to read, reading activities, and a variety of
book lists for use with kids either at home or in the classroom. Each month,
you'll find a new book list. Past topics have included The
African American Experience, Science and Nature, and more. The site also
has pages dedicated to publishers, authors/illustrators and booksellers.
The Children's Literature
Web Guide
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown
This site is a comprehensive guide to children's literature. It has links
to children's authors, illustrators and stories on the web. Their awards
page features the largest collection of lists of children's literature
award winners that I know of, which represents the diversity that some
of the other sites might lack. It includes resource for parents, teachers
and storytellers, and even for illustrators and authors. It's probably
the site I would recommend the most!
Cooperative Children's
Book Center
http://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/ccbc/
This site has some good book lists, including "Thirty Multicultural
Books Every Child Should Know." The CCBC emphasizes multiculturalism
and maintains a list of "Small Presses Owned and Operated by People
of Color: Publishers of Children's Books." Their reference section
also contains valuable multicultural resources.
U.S. Department of
Education--Helping Your Child Learn to Read
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Reading/
Here you'll find ideas and activities for helping your kids to read. Includes
suggestions on reading poetry with kids, too.
Helpful links about children's web sites and activities:
The Internet Public Library
http://www.ipl.org/youth
This is a collection of children's web sites. Students at the School
of Information at the University of Michigan maintain the site. It includes
many fun pages with links to all kind of stories, activities, and experiments.
Yahooligans
http://www.yahooligans.com
This is a web directory/search engine that especially collects children's
web sites. They include lots of links to stuff for kids to read and do.
The folks at Yahoo update this site weekly, so it is very current.
Family Fun Magazine
http://www.familyfun.com/
Full of activities, this is an excellent site for parents or other adults
and kids to read together. It has activities for every season and for every
interest that you can imagine. This is a magazine put out by Disney. I
especially like their Activities
page, which has a link to 365 Outdoor and TV-Free activities.
Aunt Annie's Craft Exhange
http://auntannie.com/
While not addressed especially towards kids, this site has a lot of crafts
that kids would love to do! The site is continuously updated by the people
who use and read it, so the craft suggestions on it almost always reflect
the season!
Kids Craft
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~teasdale/craft.html http://www.wwvisions.com/craftbb/index.html
This site has activities that are put up by the authors of the site. These
activities have diagrams and detailed instructions. This site also
includes a long list of activities that readers have sent in. You'll
find recipes here, and instructions for some old-fashioned games that were
played before computers even existed!
These are just a few of the many sites that are out there. Combine the reading and the activities with some time spent together, and you'll really have something special.