Author Study: Roald Dahl

Best known for his wonderful characters from kids books -- Willy Wonka, Matilda, the Foxes and the BFG -- Roald Dahl was a many-faceted, multi-talented author. In addition to his books for kids, he wrote ribald and bone-chilling short stories for adults ("The Smoker") and the screenplay for the James Bond movie, "You Only Live Twice."

Dahl's writing for children draws on experiences he had growing up.  He often depicts kids encountering, and  enduring and outsmarting, badly behaved adults. Although his books have a fairy tale quality to them, Dahl never talks down to kids. His stories acknowledge the imbalance of power in the child/adult dynamic and the ridiculous situations kids face at the hands of grown-ups. He crafts his memorable characters and surprise endings in witty language and imaginative word play, making his books perfect for reading aloud.

Ask the nearest kid -- Dahl's books and characters will surely be cited as favorites. Kids love his mischievous characters, original word play and, last but not least, his "kid power" message. His books are also well known among kids because several have been made into successful movies.  ("Fantastic Mr. Fox,"  "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Matilda,"  "James and the Giant Peach" -- Hollywood has been a big Dahl fan!)  

His novels include the following:

• James and the Giant Peach
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• The BFG
• Matilda
• The Witches
• George's Marvelous Medicine
• The Twits

Try reading a passage from one of Dahl's novels to give kids a taste of his memorable characters and invented words. 

He also wrote several shorter works, quick reads perfect for novice readers and listeners.

• Esio Trot
• The Enormous Crocodile
• The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me
• The Magic Finger
• The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Quentin Blake illustrated most of Dahl’s books. Even Dahl's full-length novels have illustrations, but the shorter ones have illustrations on nearly every page.  For example, The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me is 79 pages long, but approximately 40 of those pages are illustrations.

Don't leave Road Dahl land without taking a look at his Revolting Rhymes. These edgy, fractured fairy tales may appeal to more sophisticated listeners who are already familiar with the original versions. (Beware: some contain PG-13 language. "Cinderella" is an example.) Read them all the way through yourself to assess appropriateness and your comfort level before you read them with kids.

Many of Dahl's stories have detailed passages about food that kids will love. His book, Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes, has recipes for many of the delightful dishes in his stories like stink bug eggs, lickable wall paper and eatable pillows. Kids will love cooking up some Dahlicious treats after hearing some of his stories.

If kids want to know about Dahl's life, they can check out his autobiographical works Boy and Going Solo. Boy explores his life up to age 20. Going Solo chronicles his experiences as young adult, including his time as a World War II pilot. They can also take a look at D Is for Dahl, a collection of biographical fun facts, arranged in alphabetical order and illustrated by Quentin Blake. 

The Roald Dahl website is chock full of information, photographs, timelines and activities, as is Quentin Blake's. A more basic fan site, RoaldDahlFans.com, has trivia, games and a gobblefunk translator where you can translate English into the language spoken by the Big Friendly Giant.  And last but not least, here's a quiz about Roald Dahl and his books from the BBC.

Roald Dahl's books are so beautifully crafted that they are beloved by children and adults alike.  His characters, inventive language and independent, problem-solving kids make his books a pleasure to read with children. Best suited for one-on-one bedtime reading or reading aloud to a group of older kids, he's one of the most beloved children's book authors of our time.

 To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Blue-footed boobies and whingdingdillies

If you are looking for a Read-Aloud theme that is light and fun, try this one about odd and unusual animals. This theme provides an easy way to include both nonfiction and fiction selections, as well as real and imaginary animals.

One volunteer's recent trip to the Galapagos Islands provided inspiration for a team from Next Steps (New Hope Housing). Some of the animals of the Galapagos Islands exist nowhere else on earth, and some have evolved to have highly unusual features. The kids loved seeing this volunteer's photos of animals she had seen and could tell stories about -- blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas and giant tortoises. Connecting the content with real-life experience helps kids understand the information and builds excitement.

If no one on your team has taken a trip to the Galapagos Islands, the library is a great source of books on the animals of the Galapagos; an internet search on "animals of the Galapagos Islands" will also yield wonderful photos.

Or, drop the Islands angle altogether and introduce the kids to your favorite quirky animals:  platypus, emus, angler fish, sloths or geckos that can regrow their tails. The animals section of the library will give you lots of options!  



You'll find fiction treatments of silly animals just as much fun.  

William Wegman's famous Weimaraners dressed as humans are a great example of visual humor that kids can appreciate. In this video, he introduces his new book, Flo & Wendell.  

Bill Peet and Dr. Seuss are authors famed for their imaginary animals. Peet, an animator for Walt Disney, develops a story around his imaginary animals.  Seuss' animals are more likely to appear as a name and a drawing in a larger narrative.   

Book list

Flo & Wendell by William Wegman

If I Ran the Zoo and other books by Dr. Seuss

Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent, The Whingdingdilly and other books by Bill Peet
But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton

Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French

The Cow That Went Oink by Bernard Most
Animal Tails by Beth Fielding

Never Smile At a Monkey by Steve Jenkins
Creature Features by Steve Jenkins
How to Clean a Hippopotamus by Steve Jenkins

In the activity portion of the Read-Aloud, the team at Next Steps worked with the kids to make silly animal masks from paper plates. When the children were told that they were free to make the masks as crazy as they wanted, they got very creative. The volunteers cut the centers out of the plates and stapled tongue depressors (handles) ahead of time. At the Read-Aloud, the kids used colored foam, paper, cotton balls and cotton-tipped swabs to make their imaginary animal masks. It was loads of fun!

To add some movement, play silly animal "Simon Says." "Simon says waddle like a penguin. Simon says show your feet like a blue-footed boobie. Puff up like a puffer fish!" 

For a song, make up a mixed-up version of "Old MacDonald" based on the mix-ups in the book, The Cow That Went Oink. Together with the kids, make up funny combinations of animals and sounds, and then sing your song.

Don't forget to congratulate everyone on their imagination and silliness!

 To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Summer Read-Aloud outlines

School is out and kids are set to celebrate! But that doesn't mean it is time to stop learning. Summer vacation allows kids the time to explore new things and new places -- going to the beach, visiting the zoo,watching a soccer game or many other possibilities. Unfortunately, not all families have the resources or the time to go on these adventures.

Fewer resources doesn't mean that kids have to miss out on fun experiences that also build their knowledge base. Books and a well-planned Read-Aloud can make these adventures easily accessible. 

Here are some great options for exploring something new with the kids at your Read-Aloud this summer.

Animals and animal homes

Some animals come out in full force in the summertime (fireflies and bats, for example). Why not read about different ecosystems and the animals that live in each?

Ocean Animals

Nocturnal Animals

Bugs

Dinosaurs

Tropical Rain Forests

Zoos and Aquariums

Sports

Summer is the perfect time to get outside and run around. This summer, the FIFA World Cup in Brazil provides a great hook for a soccer Read-Aloud. Cycling, swimming and running are also popular summer sports. 

Summer Sports
Soccer
Running and Racing




New Places

Why stay at home over summer vacation if you can go on a trip to the beach, Europe or another planet?  Can't actually make the trip? Travel somewhere new through books! There are so many things to learn by exploring new places.

Beach
Paris and France
Space

Weather

Summer is all about the temperature heating up and people and animals finding ways to cool down. Sometimes that heat brings thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes. Explore the science behind the weather and what it means to endure it or embrace it.

Heat
Extreme Weather





Food

Gardens are blooming with fruits and vegetables in summer. Try to find a garden near your site and see if the kids can name the different vegetables growing there. Gather some ingredients and make tasty dishes. Cooking is a great gateway to talk to kids about measurement and nutrition.

Gardening
Chefs and Cooking

Types of books

Exploring books that feature interesting design or word play can excite kids at your Read-Aloud. Some books have no words at all. Allowing the kids to tell the story through the illustrations really gets their creative juices flowing. Other books feature figures of speech that make hearing the book read aloud extra fun. Some authors have written so many great books that you can devote an entire Read-Aloud to their work.

Onomatopoeia
Wordless Books
Doreen Cronin

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Author Profile: Don and Audrey Wood

Husband-and-wife team Don and Audrey Wood have created many picture books together, individually and with their son, Bruce. Their lush illustrations, rollicking rhymes and rhythmic pacing and repetition make many of their works perfect for reading aloud.

Their website has lots of interesting information and useful resources. You’ll find biographies of them, activities and videos for their books, as well as a “secrets” tab that provides intriguing backstory for some of their books.

Here are some of our favorites for young children

The Napping House
Probably the Woods' most famous book, this cumulative tale pairs repetition with detailed illustrations to describe a quiet house “where everyone is sleeping.” That is, of course, until they are not. Little kids will want to chime in and list the nappers, as well as search the illustrations for the tiny flea hiding in nearly every picture.

Piggies and Silly Sally

Wacky illustrations, repetition (Piggies) and rhyme (Silly Sally) invite kids to participate by wiggling their fingers, acting out the story, finishing predictable lines and words or predicting what will come next.

King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub

Little kids will love this silly spin on bath time. When the king stays in the bathtub all day, the court doesn’t know what to do. A perfect book for making connections to a small child’s daily experiences (bath time, learning about time) talking about the time of day (morning, noon, afternoon, evening, night), King Bidgood also provides an excellent example of a kid solving a problem when adults fail.

Books that work with young and older kids

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear

Simple text and big pictures make this a quick and fun read-aloud for the pre-K set. Older kids can explore the emotions of the mouse, the motives of the narrator and the existence of a bear.


Quick as a Cricket

Little ones will love acting out the phrases in this book. With older kids, explore the many facets of one’s personality or introduce the concept of similes.

Blue Sky

This nearly wordless book encourages readers to notice the changing moods and drama of our sky. Younger listener will like the progression from day to night. Older ones might like to imagine and draw their own skies.

For the more sophisticated listener

Heckedy Peg

An original fairy tale based on a 16th century game involves seven kids, a mom, a witch and a riddle. Audrey was the model for the mom and Don was the model for the witch. 


Weird Parents

Kids, especially preteens, will relate to this story about a boy who wishes his parents weren’t so weird. It would be a great addition to a Read-Aloud about feelings, families or not fitting in.

This list only scratches the surface of the books the Woods have created. Check out your local library for more titles and experience the talent and versatility of this creative pair.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Author Profile: Mo Willems

“Always think of your audience, never think for your audience.”

This week, we’re featuring an author who has been called a master of children’s literature: the brilliant, award-winning Mo Willems. Since receiving a Caldecott Medal Honor in 2004 for his now-classic picture book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Willems has written and illustrated over 40 books for children. 

 

His books are deceptively simple, as if any parent could have made them, but there is more than meets the eye behind the illustrations that Willems uses. They express the story clearly and allow the reader to focus more closely on the text. Instead of imitating life, he uses his illustrations to help create joy and magic in his stories.

Although his books appear to be written for a very young reader, he has said that he doesn’t write for a certain age because he wants to have as large an audience as possible. His clever humor and the way he writes about emotions like jealousy, sadness and joy make it easy for readers of any age to connect to his books, and parents especially will be able to relate. The tactics that the sly Pigeon uses to try to convince the reader to let him drive the bus, stay up late or get a puppy are strikingly familiar to anyone who has tried to bargain with a child.

The work of Willems could easily become a theme for a Read-Aloud. While his most famous picture book characters are Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny, he also created an extensive series of early readers focused around the relationship between Elephant and Piggie. These books can spark discussions about different situations and can help children learn to be more empathetic. There are also a number of craft and activity ideas to go along with these books that could be used at a Read-Aloud. 

At a recent Read-Aloud, a WMATA bus driver read Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! to the children. The Pigeon books lend themselves to interaction, as the Pigeon speaks directly to the reader and asks to drive the bus. He tries to persuade the reader by saying he'll be their best friend or even give them five dollars if they let him drive the bus. The kids love to shout out “NOOOO!” when asked if they would let the Pigeon drive the bus!

Regardless of age, any reader will enjoy the vast array books by Mo Willems.


This post was written by The Reading Connection's intern Margaret Fogarty.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here. 

My First Day

Many animals give birth in the spring. As the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, spring is the perfect time to use Read-Alouds to present the idea that spring is the season for animal babies to be born. 

Steve Jenkins and Robin Page (husband and wife in real life) explore animals' first days in their book, My First Day. This book examines a wide variety of animals species and their first hours of life. Some baby animals, such as the capybara, are able to swim and hunt within a few hours of birth. Others, such as the golden snub-nosed monkey, ride along with Mom on her daily adventures to stay safe and keep from getting lost. Kids will be fascinated by the ways moms identify their babies in a pack of what looks like identical animals. Zebras, bats and the California sea lions all have unique ways of finding their young.

Because the illustrations in Jenkins' books are so large, vibrant and detailed, the text isn't too long to read from beginning to end. Or, you can take a different approach by skipping pages and dwelling on only those that interest the kids. Amazon's "look inside" shows several of the book's pages, including the last three pages that provide more information about all of the animals featured in the book. This unobtrusive style of providing information makes fun facts easily accessible to kids of all ages.

Pair this book with others by Steve Jenkins, including What Do You Do When Something Wants To Eat You?, Sisters and Brothers and What Do You Do With A Tail Like This?.  

More information about Jenkins and his books can be found at http://www.stevejenkinsbooks.com. 



To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

2013 Of Wine & Words

Come help us celebrate another great year at TRC at the ninth annual Of Wine & Words. Each year, we gather our supporters and friends to celebrate children’s literature and TRC’s accomplishments. Food from favorite local restaurants, wine from a local wine shop and beer from a Virginia brewery make this a delicious and festive occasion. A silent auction offers treats for yourself, outings around town and perfect gifts for the children in your life.

Join us on Friday, March 8, 2013, at 7 p.m. at the Boeing Conference Center in Rosslyn, VA. The VIP reception begins at 6:30 p.m. The night will include an appearance by our Chef Chair, Adam Barnett, Executive Chef of Eventide Restaurant and our Literacy Honoree, Henry Cole. The emcee for the evening is Doreen Gentzler from the NBC4 News.

Henry Cole is a celebrated children’s book author and illustrator, with over 50 books to his credit. A native Virginian, Henry taught science for 16 years at a northern Virginia school before becoming a full-time artist and author. His books run the gamut from hilarious (Chicken Butt!) to challengingly thought-provoking (Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad).  

Henry Cole

Wine tasting will be provided by The Curious Grape from Arlington, VA. Lost Rhino Brewery from Ashburn, VA will offer beer tasting. All attendees will receive a TRC tasting glass to use and keep as a souvenir. Food will be provided by Artisan Confections, Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery, Eventide Restaurant, Green Pig Bistro, Lebanese Taverna, Lincoln, The Liberty Tavern.

We hope you’ll come enjoy this evening with us. Tickets for volunteers are deeply discounted at $35 each. Volunteers can get two tickets at this price.  Tickets can be purchased online here. See you there!

I don't get it

The Dalai Lama walks up to a hot dog vendor and says, "Make me one with everything."

I smiled broadly when I first heard this joke in college but only because everyone around me was chuckling. Really, I didn’t get it. I had only a vague idea of who the Dalai Lama was and didn’t connect the “one with everything” with Buddhism—which I knew nothing about.

You need a frame of reference to connect to new and existing information. And that comes from the things that you are exposed to. To me, “one with everything” was a hot dog with all the fixings (including cole slaw). To a Buddhist, becoming “one with everything” (or moving past a sense of individual identity), is a spiritual goal.

Growing up in southern West Virginia, I wasn’t exposed to Buddhism through my family, culture, surroundings, or schooling, so a spiritual leader ordering a hot dog with the works was funny only because a hot dog seems far from divine and the guy ordering it is wearing a robe.

Kids naturally have limited knowledge about the world. They have had fewer experiences. But with fewer experiences to draw on, making connections and learning from what they read is challenging.

The good news is that knowledge brings more knowledge and improves thinking. And the sooner kids start to build that store of knowledge, the better. Interesting experiences, reading and sharing books are great for building knowledge. 

Start with pre-reading activities that introduce unfamiliar concepts or vocabulary. You might show photographs, bring in props or costumes, play music, or do some role playing.

When you’re ready to pick up a book to activate and expand their knowledge, try these tips:

• Read the title, show the cover and ask kids to tell you what they think the book is about. 
• Talk about what kind of story it is—a fable, historical fiction, tall tale, nonfiction, poetry—so listeners know what to expect
• Give kids ideas about where to focus their attention. They will be excited when they recognize things you’ve asked them to look for or make a connection to a pre-reading activity. 
• Talk about the author to help kids recognize how authors may bring specific themes or characters to different books.
• Think aloud when you are reading to share your own experiences and connections to the story and encourage kids to do the same.
• Talk about what the story is about and ask kids to tell you what it personally reminds them of.

Remember that the experiences and culture of others may be very different from your own. In order to help kids make stronger connections, you may want to build your own knowledge of the foods, historical figures, musical traditions and geography of other countries and cultures. 

Apparently the Dalai Lama himself had the same problem with a different version of the joke that an Australian reporter tried on him in 2011, “So the Dalai Lama walks into a pizza shop, and says, ‘can you make me one with everything?’”

Rachael with 
Dr. Seuss' Horton

The Dalai Lama didn’t get it. He’d had no experience with pizza shops.  

Guest blog post by TRC Advisory Council member and Belle of the Book, Rachael Walker.



To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Books about books

When getting kids into the habit of reading and loving books, few themes are better than books themselves. There are a variety of books about books, that can get kids excited about reading. Some feature kids who dislike books and reading, others explore the variety of characters and themes explored in books and others talk about reading in libraries and at home.

Here's a list of some of our favorites:

Books for kids from birth to age three
¡Libro! Book! by Kristine O'Connell George 
Read to your Bunny by Rosemary Wells

Books for kids aged two to five
Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed by Eileen Christelow
Reading Makes You Feel Good by Todd Parr
Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn

Books for kids aged four and up
I Will Not Read This Book by Cece Meng
Wild About Books by Judy Sierra
The Bored Book by David Michael Slater
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
It's a Book by Lane Smith


Nonfiction titles for kids aged six and up
How a Book is Made by Aliki
What do Illustrators Do? by Eileen Christelow
The Art of Making Comic Books by Michael Morgan Pellowski




Once you've read a few stories about books, let the kids have a shot at it themselves! This website has tons of ideas for making different types by hand. The YouTube tutorials are especially helpful.

Start a discussion about how books have evolved over the years from oral storytellings to clay tablets, parchment and then eventually to the present day book and e-books. Touch on issues such as portability, durability, cost and amount of information that can be handled. 

A more extensive list of picture books about books and libraries can be found here and here.



To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Author Profile: Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Laura Vaccaro Seeger, author and illustrator
of The Hidden Alphabet, First the Egg,
Dog and Bear, and more.

This week we'll take a minute to appreciate a treasure of the children's book world: the award-winning Laura Vaccaro Seeger, whose twelve artfully conceptual books have captivated children since 2001. Seeger
has won many awards and recognitions, including the Caldecott Honor.


Seeger's books together would make a fantastic Read-Aloud as a set. Spanning a variety of topics that will capture the imaginations of children with different interests, Seeger's books are tied together by her distinctive artistic style: vibrant colors and simple images combined with flap-ups and pop-outs that can be counted on to go in a direction the reader does not expect. 

The Work of Laura Vaccaro Seeger

"Less is more" works like magic when it comes to the text in Seeger's books. Through minimalist dialogue and open-ended premises she creates books that invite the reader to imagine and create themselves. 

For example, in What If?, a book created with only six different words, readers themselves are prompted to answer the question when three seals have to decide how to share one ball among themselves. Different scenarios play out in the pictures but the simple text leaves a lot to the imagination--and the beautiful, bright paintings that accompany the text are sure to keep young imaginations awake!

ln Black? White! Day? Night!: A Book of Opposites, the brilliance of Seeger's illustrations really comes out. In this book, which has pairs of "opposite" words as its only text, the pictures for one concept are incorporated into the picture for its opposite. A flea becomes the tiny eye of an elephant; a dolphin that appears to be leaping over waves on one page is revealed to be swimming under them with the lift of a flap. 


In an interview, Seeger explained that she is inspired by simple threads of concept that can be tugged and pulled until they give way to books:

"In Lemons Are Not Red it was the concept of 'not' that intrigued me the most. What else is not red? What is never red? What else IS red? I always imagine the conversations that might evolve based on the words and pictures in my books, and I try to add something that will encourage such discussion."

This, of course, is heaven-made for a Read-Aloud, where kids are bound to have something to say. For all their textual simplicity, the concepts behind Seeger's books are so complex that it's worth spending ten or twenty minutes on one story with a young child and taking time to talk as much as you and your reader want about each of the pictures. Ask questions like the ones Seeger herself posed, particularly: what else? and everything it implies.


To get a better idea of how the books work, mechanically, check out this book trailer for The Hidden Alphabet:

Seeger says that she knew she wanted to write and paint children's books from a very young age; she recalled being inspired by her grandmother's rendition of The Little Engine That Could.

Now there's something to think about--who knows what book you'll read today that will end up as inspiration for the next generation of children's literature?

For more information about Laura Vaccaro Seeger and complete list of her work, visit her website. 



To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Book Feature: Press Here

Next time you're looking for the ultimate interactive book for your Read-Aloud, head to your local library or book store and pick up a copy of Press Here by Herve Tullet.

The very simple text in this book gives the reader instructions for what do do with the illustrations. The book starts out with a white page with a yellow dot in the middle. The text asks you to "Press here and turn the page."  Any eager reader will want to press the dot and see what happens on the next page. On the second page there are two dots, as if by pressing the first dot, the reader created the second. This continues throughout the book as the reader is asked to perform a variety of actions including pressing and rubbing the dots, clapping and shaking the book in particular manners.



To engage all of the kids at the Read-Aloud, have each child come up to complete the action on the page. Or, assign each child a color; red, yellow or blue and have them act out their color dot's actions in the book. This site even has colored dots that you can print and tape or pin to each child as their color assignment.

There is even an iPad and iPhone app that allows kids (and adults) to play with the multicolored dots to create pictures, play games and imagine all of the things that colored dots can be.

Press Here has a website with videos, reviews and downloadable activities.  Print off a mini version of Press Here, play a matching game with the dots and the requested action or create your own pages with interactive ideas. Herve Tullet's website has even more videos about the book and shows covers of the book in a multitude of languages.

Use the book's theme, "It's not magic. It's the power of your imagination." to direct your choices of accompanying books.  Other interactive books that require audience participation would be great choices to go with Press Here at your next Read-Aloud.


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Arlington Kids Read: Community Read-a-Thon

The Reading Connection, in conjunction with Arlington Magazine, has created a new reading initiative, Arlington Kids Read. Its goal is to promote reading for Arlington kids and families and to raise funds to support TRC's ongoing reading programs for at-risk kids.


Arlington Kids Read will have events throughout the year, starting with a Community Reading Festival on May 12 and followed by a Community Read-a-Thon from May 12 through May 19.  

The festival will be an afternoon of reading fun from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy St, Arlington, VA 22201. There will be crafts led by TRC volunteers, goodie bags, face painting and read-alouds with guest readers including 

• Bilingual storyteller Mariela Aguilar

• School board member Sally Baird

• Meteorologist Adam Caskey

• Children’s book author Jacqueline Jules

• Children’s librarian Lisa Cosgrove-Davies

• Chef Rob Valencia

Clifford will even make a guest appearance, courtesy of WETA Kids. Goodie bags will include information about various summer reading programs offered throughout the county, the Read-a-Thon log book and other treats from the event's sponsors.

Many of the Arlington Read-Aloud sites, including Woodbury Park, the Berkeley and Virginia Gardens, will participate in the Read-a-Thon during the week of May 14. If you're reading with the kids at those sites that week, be sure to mention the Read-a-Thon and ask them how many minutes they've read so far that day. Time spent reading at a Read-Aloud counts towards the children's total minutes read for the day. Of the sites participating, the one with the highest average minutes read will win a pizza party and a book for each child. All children who participate will receive a certificate and will be entered to win one of several other prizes offered.


If you're interested in bringing the kids in your life to the festival, you can RSVP here. Feel free to pass this information on to friends and family. A flyer for the event can be found here. For more information about the Arlington Kids Read Campaign, check out the website at www.ArlingtonKidsRead.org.  


If you can't make it to the Community Reading Festival on May 12, don't fret, there will be more Arlington Kids Read events throughout the year. We'll be hosting several back-to-school story times throughout Arlington in September. We'll be looking for TRC volunteers to help as readers and activity coordinators for these events. If you know of a organization or place that might be a good host for one of these story times, please let Stephanie know.