In my career, I’ve come to realize that the rumors about print and reading going out of style are just that – rumors. If you are lucky enough to work with children and books, you know that young people’s passion for stories is as strong as ever. But even I wasn’t completely confident about the […]
Category Archives: Reading Lives
July
10
Other Duties As Assigned by Emily Visness
posted by CBethM
Summer is here, and as the weeks of shuttling my kids to swim team practice, swim meets, and for-fun swimming consumes many of my waking hours, I also spend time chipping away at my enormous “To Be Read” list. Like many readers, my TBR list is an ever-growing mountain, and each time I read one […]
June
17
Where’s My Book? by Arika Dickens
posted by CBethM
“Mom, where’s my book?” A couple of years ago, my then-kindergarten son asked this question. No amount of searching could unearth the missing book from his school library, so we took $4.00 from his bank and paid the lost item cost. He was, naturally, frustrated – both that the book was missing and that […]
June
11
The Key to Summer Reading? Invest in Children’s Reading Lives All Year
posted by donalynm
It’s easier to maintain my reading life in the summer. Scorching Texas days provide excuses to lie under the ceiling fan and read all afternoon. Occasionally, I stay up all night binge reading—burning through epic historicals or fantasies in one sitting. I travel quite a bit during the summer, and books keep me company. […]
May
22
Classics, Colonization and a Call for Change by Padma Venkatraman
posted by donalynm
Last year, I gave in to horribly un-American behavior. Confident that my citizenship would not be revoked if indulged in censorship, I picked up a thick sharpie and blackened out offensive words in A Child’s Garden of Verse on my daughter’s shelf. Other “classics” just plain aren’t on her shelf. I’m confident her childhood can […]
May
16
Moon Shadow and the Magic of Author-Teacher-Student Collaboration by Erin Downing, Jason Lewis, and Lynn Flynn
posted by CBethM
Today’s Nerdy post is a joint essay from an author and two teachers about editorial collaboration. We wanted to share an example of how authors, teachers, and students can work together for mutual benefit. Our hope is that by writing this post, other authors and teachers might connect to create similar experiences for more student […]
May
07
Love and Books by Donalyn Miller
posted by donalynm
Yesterday, Don, Sarah, and I drove three hours to Cedar Park (near Austin) for Don’s sister and brother-in-law’s 40th wedding anniversary celebration. The trip got off to a rocky start. Sarah was grouchy and argued with me about her outfit of blue jeans, Gatsby t-shirt, and Converse, which I deemed inappropriate for the occasion. […]
April
24
Reading Aloud: Or How I Found My Voice I Thought to Have Been Lost by Paul. W. Hankins
posted by CBethM
I’m not well-known. Not famous for much. However, my bite wings, impressions, and molds placed in articulators have featured in at least two major universities in my lifetime. Professors gather around the display and wonder how a person with this kind of artifact may have survived to his middle-forties. They may also wonder why he […]
April
17
Storytime: What Matters Most Cannot be Measured by David Rockower
posted by CBethM
I remember fist-pumping and high-fiving my friends in two different arenas during elementary school: on the playground–during kickball or football–and when my teachers gathered us on the carpet to return to a favorite book. Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hang Tough Paul Mather. These were books that […]
April
09
Desertification by Donalyn Miller
posted by donalynm
Our oldest granddaughter, Emma, is eight. She looks just like her mother did at the same age. Long limbs accessorized with a rotation of Band-Aids that move from one knee to the next. Wind-blown dark blonde hair that needs brushing. Piercing blue eyes that have already mastered the skeptical shade throw passed down through generations […]
