The Library of the History of Human Imagination
What we wouldn’t give for a few lifetimes in this place! There is a place in this world that has a complete Velociraptor skelleton, a page from the Guetenburg bible, and Sputnik all in one room. That place The Library of the History Human Imagination. This 3,000+ square foot...
Emmy And Oliver: Smooth Sailing Over A Rough Sea
Emmy and Oliver, written by Robin Benway, dives headfirst into choppy waters. Emmy and Oliver are best friends until they are seven years old, when Oliver disappears, kidnapped by his father. Cut to ten years later. Emmy’s life is restricted by her parents’ fear and she has never stopped...
Saint Anything: Good, But Lacking Miracles
In Sarah Dessen’s new novel, we find the same thing we always find: a teenaged girl going through a big change. Sydney is used to living in her brother Peyton’s shadow. When Peyton goes to jail for paralyzing a boy while driving drunk, Sydney is left to pick up...
How Much Tech Is Too Much Tech?
If you walk into a preschool class, you will still most likely see children being children; jumping around, twirling, finger-painting (hopefully not the wall!), interacting with one another in various ways, learning how to fairly trade a teddy bear for a block tower. This is what they are supposed...
We Read Together on the Radio (Podcast)
Our kids made some great pieces of audio fiction. If you don’t like reading, fist donate to us and we’ll come show you how awesome reading is (if you’re wondering how awesome reading is, the answer is VERY). After you donate, you can scroll to the end of this...
Do Kids Need to Like What They’re Reading to Progress?
Written by: Ryan Spencer, Clinical Teaching Specialist; Lecturer in Literacy Education, University of Canberra. When we think of reading for our children, we are often misled into thinking that we need to focus on one type of book, such as picture books or novels in order to practice specific, reading-related...
Librarian Bans Blameless Book for Social Experiment
Last weekend marked the end of Banned Books Week, the annual book readers’ celebration of drawing attention to the dangerous history of literary censorship. In 2014, the American Library Association (ALA) Office of Intellectual Freedom received 311 challenges. When an individual finds a book unacceptable for any reason, they...
Elephants Make Fine Friends
Colter Jackson’s debut picture book is a heartfelt delight. Ella and her elephant were the best of friends. But when Ella begins to notice the differences between herself and an elephant, she wonders: is this really my best friend? Are we too different? It takes a lot of...
Learning Through War: The Refugee Children of Syria, Croatia and Beyond
Zagreb, Croatia, 9/29/2015 All month long, the Syrian refugees have been flooding my news feed and TV screen. I have a strong need to leave the political aside, to see them for who they are: humans. A World At School website says: Children trapped in conflict zones are the...
6 Tips for Stubborn Summer Readers
It’s that time of year. The birds are chirping. The teachers are packing up their classrooms. Trees and bushes are filling out, readying themselves for roles as home base or hiding place in epic hide-and-seek battles. The structure of your child’s day is beginning to look like a late-game...