Reading- Building Hooks

We all know that reading and reading comprehension are paramount to success in our country or really anywhere in the world.   I was surprised to find out that my homeland (USA) ranks 21^st in literacy rates around the world.  We are behind Slovenia, Kazakhstan (wasn’t that where Borat came from?), Turkmenistan and Albania… just to name a few.  About 14% of Americans are functionally illiterate.

What’s going on?

I don’t really have a good answer, but think about this a lot.  I have talked with some illiterate folks and politely probed into what happened… most respond that they should have paid more attention in school, or in some cases did not do well in school so dropped out.  The surprising thing to me is that some of these folks actually graduated from high school!   I know my observations are strictly anecdotal, but I would not be surprised if this was a common thread.

Reading is indeed basic, but it is much more than just reading and understanding the words around you.  Reading and learning in general changes your brain:  I like to think of it like creating “hooks” that ideas, facts and thoughts can hang on to.   I used to be a professor and found that some of our older returning students really struggled with their first class back in school.  I would encourage them, having experienced the same feeling when I went back to school.  I believe that our “hooks” get rusty.  However, I found and many of these students also found that it got much easier as time went on.  I also believe that the original “hooks” were grown there from earlier learning experiences, mostly through reading.

Some children struggle with reading… I was one of them.   Reading was hard.   I could recognize words pretty well… but to sit down and enjoy reading…never!   Perhaps today, I would have been diagnosed with ADD, but I don’t know for sure.  I can tell you that I fumbled my way through reading time, often feeling traumatized in our reading groups.  However, I really loved Dr. Seuss.  Sadly, I was still reading and enjoying Dr. Seuss well past the target reading group… I think I was still popping out the “Dr. Seuss Sleep Book” or “If I Ran the Zoo” well into 5^th grade.   I enjoyed them… fanciful, rhythmic, easy!

I think I am still a slow reader, but can “sprint” when I need to—just not for long periods of time… I can scan a page in a few seconds, but to sit down and read through “Harry Potter” doesn’t appeal to me.  Consequently, I read principally non-fiction; and have learned a lot.  In spite of my challenges, I am passionate about reading the fundamental skill for life- long success… no matter where you live.

Now, I have turned the tables and am an author… not of novels, but children’s books.   I am trying my best to capture the fun that I did find in the books I read as a child… the silliness, the rhyme the rhythm. So, I have created Lunchpail Books.   I designed them for readers like me… it’s got to be fun… I want to be anxious to turn the page.

So, how do we improve literacy?

Encourage your child to read… have books in your house!  The library is great—but owning a book and being able to pull it out anytime, is a treat!  I have raised a bunch of kids… and I spent lots of time teaching them to read.   I am very proud that every one of them reads better than me.  Their minds have been expanded and their “hooks” are in place.

I have spent considerable time and effort bringing you high quality books that are designed for the beginner reader. The world of children’s books is quite competitive- so what makes us stand out?  Like the great Seuss, we use a very controlled vocabulary… this makes it easier for the young reader to read the words on their own.   Many other children’s books although delightful and more artfully illustrated—fail to use words appropriate for the early reader.  

Also, we have taken this one step farther, by including translations in Spanish, French, Italian, and even Chinese… written with the same careful vocabulary, rhythm and rhyme.  Take a look at our multiple languages.

To make book ownership, even more special we are offering personalization.   You can personalize each book with a message directed at him or her.  Think how special it will be for them to see their name in print!

See what you think… check it out and let me know!

http://www.lunchpailbooks.com

Key Is To Build Reading Activity Into Routine

Parents are continuously urged to have their children read or be read to… through out the year.  Now that summer is upon us, can we work reading into our “busy” schedules? 

Children who maintain their reading skills or younger ones who are read to on a daily basis will be on target for back-to-school or back-to-regular routines in the fall. Those who don't typically have to pay catch-up in the classroom, which can set the stage for a challenging year.

Do you have a reading routine?  Is there a set time each day to read?  Do your children see you read?  Some of us don’t necessarily run a tight schedule, and reading (which can appear boring) often gets left off the “to-do” list.  So how do we jump the boring hurdle?  Is it like eating your spinach?  Making your bed… let’s put some spark into reading.

The key is to make reading an event!  Make it special in some way… something to look forward to!  Here are some suggestions I found in About.com

Take advantage of weather by dangling the reading carrot in fun ways. Be adventurous and make it a game as to where you should read to your child and how. In warm weather, read next to a pond or lake, under a tree, by the pool, or even in the tree house. Be bold and carefree. One mother reads to her young child in their blow-up children's pool in the backyard during the summer months. Another mom finishes the much-anticipated daily trip to the park in the spring or fall by reading a book before they leave. Cold months can mix reading activities by having books about snowmen, snowfalls, winter holidays, or sports such as ice-skating. Day care centers or child providers can add reading fun into the mix by tying it into a planned activity for the week. If the theme for the week is "Under the Sea," then the books can be about the ocean or fish.

Consider a reading series. There are countless book series tailor made for your child's age, and a good experience with one means there is a high likelihood your child will enjoy others about the same characters. There are series on action heroes and princesses, popular characters such as Bob the Builder, the classic Dr. Seuss collection, and about young heroes and heroines. There are series about beginning school for the first time or about going on vacation. Older children like series such as Harry Potter.

Build reading into the schedule. Parents and child providers can and should build a reading activity into the daily schedule. While evening or before-bedtime are popular times to read, reading after breakfast or before children go to an activity, sets a routine that most children embrace. Providers can set a daily story time and let parents know what book is being read and how it matches enrichment and learning activities for the week.

Plan ahead with exciting books on vacation. Vacation is a prime time for reading enjoyment, when family is together and fun is in the plans. Reading is a great activity for around the pool or in the hotel room in the evening.

Build a reading activity into life's planning. Children of all ages should learn the connection between reading and knowledge. If your family is adding a flowerbed, have children read about how to prepare a bed and what flowers and shrubs are optimal for the area of the country and whether it is in sun or shade. Getting a new family pet? Read up on varieties of dogs, care required, and even stories about children and their pets first. Traveling somewhere? You guessed it, read all about your destination first and you and your children will have the added benefit of knowing more about the area when you arrive.

Involve the entire family. Studies show that moms have the tendency to read more to their children then dads, robbing both children and fathers of positive reading experiences. Make reading time with dad or grandpa a priority. Dads read books aloud with children differently then moms do, and children will flourish with the perspective and experience of both.

Ask for your child's feedback. Evaluation and discussion is an important part of a positive book-reading experience. Ask your child simple questions, such as: Did you like the book? Why or why not? Who was your favorite character? What was your favorite scene? Did you like how it ended? Would you like to read it again someday? Don't be surprised if your child wants to re-read the same book again! That means you did your job well and helped foster a love of reading.

Also, don’t forget to get the right book.  Find something with age appropriate vocabulary that a child we feel proud to know that they can read the book all by their selves.  There are many sources to find such books.   You may wish to star with Lunchpail Books, which promises books that are both fun and easy to read. 

You Tube Channel

Lunchpail Books is pleased to announce its official YouTube Channel.   Take a view at...

http://www.youtube.com/user/LunchpailBooks

Make sure you check out story time by SamECircle (Peep Peep).

You Tube Channel

Lunchpail Books is excited to launch our YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/LunchpailBooks

Let us know what you think-- would love to have some feedback to make it better.

Thanks!!
Johnnie

More on Where Stories Come From

On a previous blog, I shared a personal story that still makes me laugh.  However, the fabric of our lives is woven of tougher thread.   Our lives are a beautiful mix of tragedy and comedy.   Where we focus our mental and emotional energies has a profound impact on the way we perceive life in general.  We are here to learn, and it never hurts to ask ourselves “what did I learn from that experience”.

Here is an example from my life….

Date August 9, 1991:

Just celebrating my youngest son, Seth’s 8^th birthday. ..  We had just got home and were sitting around the table, and I was busy serving cake and ice cream.   Suddenly, there was a strange sound—sort of a rumbling.  As we lived out in the country, my first inclination was that a truck must be coming along our gravel lane.  Looked out the front… no truck.   Still carrying a plate with cake and ice cream, I casually looked out the back and same a little smoke.   My first assumption was that our neighbors were burning some leaves… but the rumbling still persisted.   It seemed to be coming from the garage.   I zipped over to the door into the garage and to my horror; the garage (with two cars) was in flames –floor to ceiling!

Got the family out the back and directly past the flaming garage just before the gasoline in one of the cars exploded shooting a fireball a hundred feet scorching the top of a nearby elm tree.   We watched in horror and disbelief as our house was engulfed in flames.  Fortunately a neighbor called the fire department (volunteer)… they were quite speedy, but I can tell you it seemed like an eternity as we watched this gas-fed fire start at one end of the house and rapidly burn it way across.   There we all stood, the kids frightened and shocked and me standing there barefoot on the gravel road.   The house burned for hours and the next day it was still smoldering.   It was a complete loss… nearly down to just the foundation.   Everything was lost…. Toys, pictures, albums, keepsakes, everything!   It was a tough time for all of us.   Now and then we would stop and just cry… that emotion needed to be released.  The youngest (Temple) was only 3 at the time.   She doesn’t have much recollection of the event.  At the time her favorite toy was one of those plastic Fisher-Price kitchen sets.  I took her back to her room to help understand.   I asked her… where is your kitchen?   She replied matter of factly, “It burned up.”   Where are your toys?  “They burned up” was her reply.  She did not seem to be upset. 

Perhaps she was just too young to comprehend what this all meant… or perhaps she knew what was really important.  We were all safe!  We made it out of a burning/exploding house… all safe.  We only had the close on our back—I didn’t even have shoes… but we were all safe.   Stuff is stuff.

I always knew that… it is just stuff…family is most important.  Deep down, I knew this, but to experience it was profound.   In Viktor Frankl’s books “Man’s Search for Meaning”, he discusses the meaning of life.  One way he writes, “… is to experience a value.”  This changed my life forever.   I am certain it did for the children as well… all six of them!  In different ways—Most of them still live a Spartan existence… not a lot of stuff accumulation, but comfortably.

There is much much more to the story, but for now this will suffice… experiencing a value does lead to the discovery of the meaning of life.

If you have had a life altering experience… please feel free to share it in the comment section.  Would love to publish them here.

--Johnnie
www.lunchpailbooks.com

 

Peep Peep ... quack quack

 Peep Peep's first rap video...

Peep Peep quack quack

The Moral of the Story

Seems like just about every topic of for children’s book has been covered.  What’s left to write about?  Are we near the end of ideas? Here in this blog, I have mentioned farting dogs, stepping in poo and variety of popular adolescent topics.  However, how important is it to have a “moral to the story?”  Should a message be straightforward or more subversively addressed?  Should there be a message at all?

Are there messages (morals) in our popular folklore?  How about “The Three Little Pigs?”  Aren’t we admonished to plan ahead and work hard…then bad things will pass by?   In a similarly themed fable “The Ants and the Grasshopper”, has a similar message about the benefits of hard work; but in this case adds the complexity of mercy and redemption.  Get’s kind of heavy!

What about my hero Dr. Seuss?   Surely he didn’t subversively preach us a message… or did he?
Did the great Seuss approach politically sensitive issues?

Many of Geisel's books are thought to express his views on a myriad of social and political issues: The Lorax (1971), about environmentalism and anti-consumerism; The Sneetches (1961), about racial equality; The Butter Battle Book (1984), about the arms race; Yertle the Turtle (1958), about anti-fascism and anti-authoritarianism; How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957), about anti-materialism; and Horton Hears a Who! (1954), about anti-isolationism and internationalism. Shortly before the end of the 1972–1974 Watergate scandal, in which United States president Richard Nixon resigned, Geisel converted one of his famous children's books into a polemic. "Richard M. Nixon, Will You Please Go Now!" was published in major newspapers through the column of his friend Art Buchwald.

Although Geisel never made any explicit or implicit mention of the abortion debate in his books, the line "A person's a person, no matter how small!!" from Horton Hears a Who! has grown, over the objections of his widow, into widespread use on the pro-life side of the issue.

So, back to my point… would we be better off having stories with no moral value other than that they are just fun… sort of like “Archie” or “Beetle Bailey”… is reading for the sake of reading or for practice a good reason to read?   Would it be better to read the ingredients of our favorite breakfast cereal (Wow 12% sugar!)?  Or perhaps good story telling on it’s own is adequate reason for a story to exist.   If they are reading, and enjoying the activity…that’s fine right?

What are your thoughts?  Should Children’s Books teach a message (have a morale)…If so what kind of message?  Where do we draw the line on appropriate and inappropriate messages?  Is it OK if it is buried deep?  Dr. Seuss viewed his own work as “Subversive as hell.”