Summer Reading

According to Chartbeat, 55% of visitors spend fewer than 15 seconds on a website. This statistic has me thinking about what it takes to absorb an idea— 15 minutes is not even enough time to stretch out a muscle let alone ponder and reflect on an idea.

Concentration and mindfulness are in short supply when we speak of Internet use but they are in abundance when it comes to reading a book. Statistics and scientific findings clearly show how reading is good for the brain. Dan Hurley’s featured 2013 PBS documentary feature, “ Smarter Brains,” tells a very compelling story.

In addition to helping develop healthy brains, working to full capacity, reading works to enlarge our humanity. It brings to mind a quote from Barry Lopez:

“The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed.  Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other’s memory.  This is how people care for themselves.”


The calendar tells us summer has arrived and when it comes to reading, many children experience the summer slide, something that happens when young minds sit idle for three months. We know that children who do not read over the summer will lose more than two months of reading achievement. Summer reading loss is cumulative. By the end of 6th grade children who lose reading skills over the summer will be 2 years behind their classmates. AND think about the cumulative loss of hours of pleasure, the pleasure found while being lost and absorbed in a book.

Tips to make summertime reading pleasurable
Help kids find time to read
Continue to read aloud
Combine activities with books
Visit the Library
Relax the rules for summer, encourage children to read what they choose
Lead by example: children need to see parents reading

The ALA website http://www.ala.org/alsc/compubs/booklists/summerreadinglist is a wonderful resource for families, offering book recommendation for all ages.

Mothers and the Grandmother Hypothesis

Last year my Mother’s day Musing was “ All children should be so lucky—to have a mom that leads the way. Make Way For Ducklings, lives on!” That pretty much sums it up but here are a few more additions to what we might consider when pondering feelings embedded in what being a good mother might mean. No surprise these ideas come from the world of story, poetry and song lyrics that tell a story,

The first comes from words and music by Joan Baez, Honest Lullaby.  It is easy enough to find the complete song but the final refrain says is all:

“And if you should ever wonder
How the years and you’ll survive
Honey, you’ve got a mother who sings to you
Dances on the strings for you
Opens her heart and brings to you
An honest lullaby”

The next gem comes from a father who tells his daughter, ” I am sure one of the reasons we’re here for is to make certain that those whom we love fall asleep each night assured of that love, ”
From To Be Sung Underwater, Tom McNeal

A Mother’s Day Greeting could not be complete without adding a line from the infamous poem, The Reading Mother:
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be
– I had a mother who read to me.

And if that is not enough, lets add one piece of information that comes from the world of Science “ Thank You, Grandma, for Human Nature.” The findings come from a biological theory: “the grandmother hypothesis” that shows that biological mothers can’t keep babies going all by themselves. They need help and that help comes from grandmothers.  The idea is that grandmotherhood developed in tandem with our long childhoods, that long immaturity which allowed us to grow large brains and become smarter.   So on Mother’s Day, lets toast mothers and think to add an extra toast for the grandmothers behind the scenes. Children need both.

Does anyone ever really outgrow a great picture book?

Earlier this month, at the ABC Children’s Institute in San Antonio, there was a lively discussion about the unfortunate current trend to push children toward chapter books—maybe a bit too early—and away from picture books.

Lets not forget the book that makes us exclaim:  “Oh, I loved that book as a child!” Picture storybooks are a child’s first love and the books they will remember. They are the books they will return to as adults with their own children. Don’t even think of making the mistake that as soon as children learn to read we need to wean them from one of mankind’s greatest achievement—the picture book! Noting lasts longer in memory than a child’s fist love of a story. These books become their literary inheritance. Here are a list of some of my favorite picture book that will surely enchant children, and adults, of all ages.

And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, by Dr. Seuss
Animal Faces, by Akira Satoh and Kyoko Toda
Doctor De Soto, by William Steig
Harry the Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion

The House on East 88th Street, by Bernard Waber
Leo the Late Bloomer, by Ruth Krauss
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes
Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gag

The Moon in My Room, by Uri Shulevitz
Mr. Gumpy’s Outing, by John Burningham
Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen
Seven Blind Mice, by Ed Young

A book goes out into the world...

An author writes a book but it takes a reader to bring a book to life. In honor of National Poetry Month, here is a poem by Billy Collins that speaks to the journey a book takes as it goes out into the world.

Envoy

Go, little book
out of this house and into the world,

Carriage made of paper rolling toward town
bearing a single passenger
beyond the reach of this jittery pen
and far from the desk and the nosy gooseneck lamp.

It is time to decamp,
put on a jacket and venture outside,
time to be regarded by other eyes,
bound to be held in foreign hands.

So off you go, infants of the brain,
with a wave and some bits of fatherly advice:

stay out as late as you like,
don’t bother to call or write,
and talk to as many strangers as you can.

Readers are all powerful

If kids only knew how much power they wield when it comes to bringing a book to life. In the same way that it took love to make the Velveteen Rabbit become Real, it takes readers who love a story or a poem, to make it real and bring it to life. “Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

(Velveteen Rabbit).

When a child loves a story, that story becomes part of their emotional DNA. Those books, passed on by word of mouth turn children into lifelong readers. The real workhorses of children’s literature are books that are passed from child to child, by word of mouth, out of love and affection. If you ask an author what they wish most for the books they write, I think many writers would opt for enthusiastic and passionate readers, over and beyond awards.

Tap into a person’s love of stories and you most likely will find a lover of poetry as well. Poems often need to be read aloud to come to life. They paint a visual picture with words and the sounds of the words are part and parcel of the picture the poem paints.

In honor of April being poetry month, here are a few poems that readers will be sure to love, and bring to life.

“ Rain beats down
roots stretch up
They’ll meet
in a flower
~ Raymond Souster

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
and dances with the daffodils.
~ William Wordsworth