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10 to Try: Juneteenth

by Book Reviews and RecommendationsBooksParents and FamiliesReadingResourcesVolunteer Readers

Juneteenth is the anniversary of June 19, 1865 when the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the enslaved people of Texas, the last state to get the news. We decided to celebrate this Juneteenth by collecting a list of book recommendations from our volunteer classroom readers and supporters.

Our readers know the importance of exposing children to diverse texts. It helps every child find books with characters that look like them and their communities, but it also ensures that children are exposed to new cultures, ideas, and experiences that will help them become more accepting, empathetic adults. That’s why it’s important for books like these to be staples in your library all year long, not just today.

Nobody Owns the Sky: The Story of “Brave Bessie” Coleman by Reeve Lindbergh (Grades 2 and up)

Every year I read this book about “Brave Bessie” Coleman to my school group to let them know that with persistence, dreams are possible. Bessie Coleman became the first licensed African-American aviator in the world.

— Jeannie Plumley, Kanawha County

Jackie & Me (Baseball Card Adventures) by Dan Gutman (Grades 4-6)

— Helen Herlocker, Morgan County

Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson by Katherine Johnson (Grades 4-6)

I read the Jackie Robinson book to 6th graders at PawPaw Elementary (they loved it so much that I read it again to the following year’s class) and I’m planning to read the Katherine Johnson autobiography in the fall. Both are particularly relevant to our current Black Lives Matter national issue.

— Helen Herlocker, Morgan County

Juneteenth For Mazie by Floyd Cooper (Grades 1-4)

The illustrations were beautifully done. We enjoyed how the importance of Juneteenth was translated into a way children could understand it. It was done in such a way that I was able to open up with my children about how the history of Mazie’s family was different than our own. It allowed them to sympathize with a social issue by sympathizing with another child. It helped them to grasp the benefits they have that others did/do not.

— Nicole Walls, Marion County

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices edited by Wade Hudson & Cheryl Willis Hudson (Grades 3-7)

What do we tell our children when the world seems bleak, and prejudice and racism run rampant? With 96 lavishly designed pages of original art and prose, fifty diverse creators lend voice to young activists.

— Caitlin Gaffin, Kanawha County

Zoey & Sassafras series by Asia Citro (Grades 1-5)

— Tess Jackson, Putnam

Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol series by Andres Miedoso (Grades K-4)

Both “Zoey and Sassafras” and “Desmond Cole” feature people of color as main characters without the narrative being based around race. Zoey and her cute cat Sassafras use the scientific method to care for mythical creatures. Desmond and his best pal, Andres, investigate paranormal happenings.

— Tess Jackson, Putnam County

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor (Grades 6 and up)

This book poignantly tells the story of how 9-year old Cassie Logan and her close-knit family face violence and racism during the depression era. I read this book to my high school seniors and they loved it. A great book to read aloud!

— Meg Ashby, Nicholas County

New Kid by Jerry Craft (Grades 5-8)

I suggest you search the Corretta Scott King Book Awards Web Site for many wonderful books with their descriptions for all ages. This is a valuable resource any time of the year. Why wait for Juneteenth for diversity?

— Ghee Gossard, Kanawha County

What Color is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Raymond Obstfeld (Grades 3-7)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball legend and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, champions a lineup of little-known African-American inventors in this lively, kid-friendly book. Offering profiles with fast facts and framed by a funny contemporary story featuring two feisty twins, here is a tribute to black inventors whose ingenuity and perseverance against great odds made our world safer, better, and brighter.

— Peshka Calloway and her 9-year-old son

The links above will route you to the online store of Charleston’s Taylor Books. You can still have your books sent to you, as with most online retailers, and your purchase will benefit a West Virginia small business and help to keep local bookstores open!

Indian_in_the_Cupboard_collage2

Letter: Smiles, hugs and thanks

by Letters

Good afternoon,

Attached, please find a collage of several drawings from the sixth grade students where our daughter teaches at Robert L. Bland Middle School in Weston, Lewis County.
I read there once a week, and they know how much I enjoy artwork. I love The Indian in the Cupboard and hand out plastic cowboys and Indians about halfway through the book and tell them that, all they are missing is the cupboard.
You can see the little wheels turning. I love to stimulate the imagination — what if…?
What a rich history our country has – and life’s lessons that go along with it.

I also read in three  pre-K classes with Upshur County Head Start in Buckhannon, including one which my wife teaches.
The smiles and hugs are the most wonderful rewards.

Thanks and best wishes,

Donald W. “Woody” Martin, II
French Creek

BUZZ: New Read Aloud video a call to action

by NewsReadingResourcesSupportersVideosVolunteer Readers

By Sara Busse

Although one goal of Read Aloud is to limit screen time, a new video produced by West Virginia State University’s Extension Service is creating a buzz about reading aloud across West Virginia.

Lynn Kessler, director of communications and development for RAWV, said the group needed a tool to spread its message. A conversation with West Virginia State University extension agent and Summers County Read Aloud coordinator Stacy Ford at the Read Aloud summer conference led to a collaboration between RAWV and WVSU.

“Matt Browning and Megan Sheets in West Virginia State University’s communications and media departments took it and ran. They were such an incredible help to us in creating a tool that we could not have created without them,” Kessler explained.

Browning and Sheets, both graduates of WVSU and self-proclaimed “total book nerds,” described the video as a call to action to recruit volunteer readers.

Browning and Sheets filmed readers in Summers and Kanawha county, as well as “b-roll” footage featuring extension agents in the library and reading to children. The video was an in-kind donation to Read Aloud, and Sheets said it’s the first time they were able to branch out and do work for another entity besides the University.

The video also features an interview with Read Aloud Executive Director Mary Kay Bond.

“She came to our studio on campus, and she’s like a brochure for Read Aloud in person,” Sheets said, laughing. “She was great.”

Browning said the readers and children were very comfortable in front of the camera because they were engrossed in the reading.

“There was one gentleman, he was an absolute hoot!” he said. “The reader had so much fun with those kids, and they were having so much fun, it made it easy.”

Who is watching you?

by ReadingVolunteer Readers

By Melody Simpson

I am being watched. More significantly, somebody is listening to me. It has been going on for some time, and occurring on a fairly regular basis. At first I didn’t pay too much attention to it, but as time went on, it became more and more apparent. Someone is … observing me. What should I do?  Call the media? Complain to my representatives? Sue the NSA? Fortunately, based on some compelling guidance and advice, I know exactly what to do.

I signed up to become a volunteer reader for another year.

Anyone who regularly reads to an elementary school classroom knows exactly what I’m talking about: children leaning forward, lips parted, mimicking the actions of the characters as I describe them, joining in loudly and joyfully when phrases are repeated. Reminding everyone where we left off last week. Guessing what will happen next. Laughing, gasping, and (for the class I read to last year, who liked all things scary), shivering ….

This is one of the true joys of reading aloud to children, and why I have done this for about 18 years. This, and the chorus of greetings I get when I show up, the hugs that I’m offered. Heck, it’s just plain fun! But when I stop to think about what is happening each week, I realize that it is also serious stuff.

We are modeling the joys of reading. We are sharing, not only great stories, but the fact that we love great stories, and love to read great stories. And this modeling doesn’t just happen in classrooms.

Do you have children, or grandchildren? Do they know that you love to read? Do they see you reading? Do you still read aloud to them? I bet if you tried, you could even read aloud a favorite childhood book to your adolescent or teenage child – or try an audiobook in the car while traveling. I have read aloud to seventh graders, and while they don’t give you the hugs that elementary school kids give, and usually appear bored, they are listening – trust me, I know, because they have told me.

This is the magic, the simplicity, of Read Aloud. All it takes is good stories, and someone who loves to read being willing to share that love with others. The results are remarkable, and the benefits flow both ways. So … who is watching you?

What happens when you read to children?

by Resources

What happens when you read to children?

It hardly seems possible that something so low-tech, so enjoyable, could actually boost children’s grades, test scores and lifetime achievement. But it does. When you simply enjoy books with the children in your life, a lot of things happen:

1. Children learn new words and ideas.
Without even realizing it, children of any age absorb great new words and more understanding of the world around them. Then, when they read on their own, whether for school or for fun, children recognize words they encounter, and the text has meaning. That’s why it is important to start reading to children from birth.

TIP: Prolong conversations with children, even small ones. Engage them in describing what they see or what they have done in a day. Books are great for this.

LINK: Make yours a read aloud home — 10 things parents should know.

2. Children increase their own reading comprehension.
Reading is more than sounding out words and pronouncing them quickly, like items on a shopping list. The words in each sentence relate to all the others to produce meaning and sensation. Some children – even those who can look at tough new words and pronounce them correctly – do not readily draw meaning from the text. You see this when children know all the words in a story, and they’re paying attention, but they don’t get the joke, or they don’t sense when the end of a story is near. Children who regularly listen to stories they enjoy tend to develop good reading comprehension.

TIP: Pause to discuss when your child wants to talk about the action in a story. Encourage children to predict what will happen next, but don’t quiz. This reading time is just for fun.

LINK: More about reading comprehension from Reading Rockets.

3. You share your passion with children.
We talk about reading stories, and that often means fiction – novels, chapter books, many picture books. But any kind of reading that you can enjoy with a child will work. If you love basketball or history or travel, non-fiction (true) books may be your best friend. Magazine or newspasper articles and biographies that you enjoyed are all good choices to share. Read what interests you and the child. Children’s author Jon Scieszka (rhymes with fresca) has observed that boys in particular respond to funny books, disgusting imagery and stories about real people.

TIP: If you have trouble getting a child interested in books, go to the library and ask for books about anything that interests you both — bugs, Star Wars, horses, basketball, Egyptian mummies. Browsing the pictures and reading what interests you counts.

LINK: Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read website is full of recommendations for all ages.

4. Children become readers themselves.
Parents find that if they make time for just 20 minutes of read aloud most days of the week, children grow to like it so much they ask for more. Then they ask to read the book on their own, or they want to look for other books. Children who read for fun do better in school and have higher test scores than children who do not read for pleasure. They also write better, have better vocabularies, know grammar, spell better, read faster, know more about literature, know more about science and social studies, have more cultural literacy, have more practical knowledge, get better grades in writing classes and have less anxiety about writing. Students who read regularly also do better on the Test of English as a Foreign Language.

TIP: Make a regular trip to your public library to check out and return books. Whether once a week or once a month, the habit will pay off.

LINKS: The National Assessment for Educational Progress (this one is from 2011) surveyed students and found higher test scores were associated with children who reported reading for pleasure more frequently.

“The Power of Reading” by Stephen D. Krashen documents other benefits of reading aloud with children.

5. You share your values with children.
While sharing stories, even funny or silly stories, sometimes children raise questions. These questions can lead to discussions of right and wrong, sportsmanship, courtesy, friendship, discrimination or other weighty subjects. Children – even older children – naturally look to parents and then to other adults around them for their opinions and judgment. It may not be obvious in the moment, but reading aloud regularly creates opportunities for parents to stay informed and be influential in a child’s life.

6. You nurture children’s health and well-being into adulthood.
Children who read for fun generally read better on their own and do better in school and on tests than children who do not read for pleasure. Children who thrive in school tend to go further, not only to finish high school, but to college or other post-secondary education and beyond. More education is associated with better employment opportunities and higher earnings throughout life. People of higher income tend to enjoy healthier lives. People who read well are better able to look after their health needs.

7. You give yourself a welcome interlude in the day.
Reading has been shown to cause relaxation and may help you fall asleep. Older people who continue to read show less memory loss and suffer fewer effects of dementia. When adults make time to read to children for the children’s benefit, adults often discover that they themselves feel richer and stimulated by the experience, and they miss it when their reading time is interrupted.