Category: News

woman reading a book to the children

What is Dialogic Reading?

If you’ve never heard the term before, dialogic reading can seem a bit daunting. We didn’t do that when I was a kid. What kind of sorcery is this? Is this new math related? Believe it or not, these are all comments I’ve heard in relation to a relatively easy, valuable tool that you can use to improve your child’s reading comprehension skills, starting at the preschool level and continuing even through middle grade! [Honestly, even full-fledged adults can have fun with dialogic reading.]

PLUS: A look at 5 Wordless Picturebooks!

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sailboat sailing on water near island

Sailing: Will it Help Your Child Find Their Place in the World?

We label sailing as a sport but as one sails the longer journey, it becomes so much more. They hear the sails and water against the hull just as the ancient mariners did thousands of years ago. The motion of the boat and the visuals connect us to something much larger. It can bring peace, tranquility and more.

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A Flurry of Reviews!

Sometimes, books arrive a little late to the bookshelf; but, we want to bring them to your attention, just in case you need to make a last minute run to the store or want to add them to (or keep them away from) your library. Here are some titles from Simon & Schuster that were published for the Christmas holiday. One, is already a perennial favorite. We’ll start with that one.

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Return to Where the Wild Things Are

At aged six or so, my dreams began as I disappeared through the headboard of my bed. My headboard was made of black, shiny plastic, think patent leather, but cheaper, with a mirror like surface. I thought I could make out my reflection. Like Alice, but before I’d heard of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, I’d somehow slip from my bed into an alternate world in my headboard’s reflection.

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Review: Marching with Aunt Susan (Susan B. Anthony and the Fight for Women’s Suffrage)

So why am I so thoroughly disappointed in this book? It comes down to a few choices made to erase Anthony’s racism in the supplemental materials included in the back of the book.

While it is actively noted that Anthony and her friend/fellow activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton started the suffrage movement in conjunction with their involvement in the abolition movement, there is no mention of the subsequent rift between the two movements over Anthony’s bitterness that the Fifteenth Amendment was making greater headway than women’s suffrage. No mention of the racist speeches Anthony made, or her chosen alliances with George Train (“Woman first and negro last.”), or avowed white supremacists like Belle Kearney.

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Review: The Wind Called My Name

Margarita and her family move from New Mexico to Fort Steele Wyoming, where her father has been able to secure a job working on the railroad. Leaving the life she has known for all of her ten years behind, she embarks on a new adventure where she tries to make new friends, navigates growing up and faces discrimination, while at the same time remains true to her Hispanic Heritage.

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