Listen Up! Kid Lit With a Quiet Message That Needs Heard

September 16, 2019 Blathering interrupters are exhausting. We’ve all been cornered by them, whether it’s an over-talking, sentence-finishing workplace colleague, an opinionated family member at a … [Read more...]

The Berenstain Bears Legacy Lives On Through Sons Mike and Leo

Feb. 27, 2012  Upon hearing of Berenstain Bears’ co-founder Jan Berenstain’s passing at 88 this past Friday, I’d like to send deepest condolences to the family, especially sons Mike (illustrator) and … [Read more...]

Selling Reluctant Readers: 10 Marketing Tactics To Amp Up Fun

Feb. 14, 2017 Valentine's Day Update: More ways to encourage reading, with therapy dogs (via MindshiftKQED Learning)  and a few "Kidlit" picks for Valentine's Day that streamed across my desk, here … [Read more...]

Reading Rockets Kids Into Their Future (Pt.1: Kalimah Priforce)

Aug. 18, 2011 Virtual show of hands, please... If it’s not on the "must read" summer reading list for back to school prep, how many kids cracked a classic this season? How ‘bout a kidlit … [Read more...]

Shaping Youth: Freecycling Kids Books Throughout December

Dec. 4, 2010 Black Friday? Cyber Monday? Bah. Other than maybe beach towel joke gifts (silly kilt wraps, hula skirts for our wakeboarding tribe) they didn’t get much outta me this round, as I … [Read more...]

Is There A “Decline” In Kids Reading Or Is It Just Shifting Forms?

Nov. 16, 2010 When I lobbed the “what do you read just for fun” query at some middle and high school kids recently, reactions ran the gamut from quizzical, “what do you mean by “for fun” to … [Read more...]

Refreshing Media Mashup: Using Library Cards for Freebie Fun!

June 4, 2010 It’s hard enough to get kids thinking about ‘summer reading’ when kids are gearing up to break loose from school for fun in the sun, but this cool idea prompting families into libraries … [Read more...]

Author Rosalind Wiseman Brings Youth Editors Into YA KidLit Process

Feb. 8, 2010 I bought a copy of the new YA novel by renowned author Rosalind Wiseman of Queen Bees & Wannabes bestseller fame, called “Boys, Girls & Other Hazardous Materials” ...As soon as it … [Read more...]

Media Morsels for Lil’ Goblins: Next to New BOOks as Treats!

Oct. 29, 2009 Every year I try to come up with ‘green Halloween goodies’ or attempt to find ‘healthier’ ideas that are not a snore or a bore... just to balance out the gobs of candy kids receive and … [Read more...]

Teen Book Publishers Premiere Louder Than Words TV

August 10, 2009 It doesn’t get more real than this. Louder Than Words teen series developer Deborah Reber hosts a live chat online all this week with the fresh voices and real issues of the teen … [Read more...]

Free Books For Kids From Shaping Youth’s Virtual Garage Sale!

July 6, 2009 Back to wrap up healthGAMERS Part 3 soon, but today my teen begrudgingly started three hours of summer school---(don’t ask, don’t tell, it was her own ‘deal’ gone awry at 'College for … [Read more...]

Teen Lit Day to ‘Rock the Drop’ And Leave Books In Public Places!

April 16, 2009 Quick post today as I’m on the road en route to L.A. so will ‘Rock the Drop’ in Santa Barbara my old alma mater and spread the word with our teen team, as we make our way down Highway … [Read more...]

Serious Fun! Making Media to Study for SAT Exams

Mar. 9, 2009 I’ll admit I had my doubts. When Jack at MIT told all of us on the Classroom 2.0 hub that BrainyFlix was asking kids to make viral videos for pass around fun about SAT vocabulary words … [Read more...]

A Salute to Seuss By Google: Read, Kids, Read

Mar. 2, 2009 When I saw today’s splendid nonsensical-Seussical-Google-doodle (say that three times fast) altering their home page again, I smiled realizing this guessing game has become a bit of a … [Read more...]

Twilight Teens, GirlChild Press & A Manifesta: Read, Kiddo, Read!

Whether you’re sucking up the plotlines with girls of all ages and stages as part of the Twilight saga book series or are completely unaware of Twilight author Stephenie Meyer as the up and … [Read more...]

Teen Read Week: Will Smith’s “Running & Reading” Kid Vid Endures

Sept. 8, 2016 Update For International Literacy Day, I'm reprising the award-winning Will Smith "Running and Reading: Key to Life" video as it still holds up even a decade later... Presented at the … [Read more...]