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The New York Times Book Review (8/19/11) published an essay by Robert Lipsyte entitled: Boys and Reading: Is There Any Hope? To me and I think to many prospective readers, today’s books for boys — supernatural space-and-sword epics that read like video game manuals and sports novels with preachy moral messages — often seem like cynical appeals to the lowest common denominator. Boys prefer video games and ESPN to book versions of them. These knockoffs also lack the tough, edgy story lines that allow boys a private place to reflect on the inner fears of failure and humiliation they try so hard to brush over.Read More →

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Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes, the follow up to the successful Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes is here-Come along with Pete to school, moving and grooving through all kinds of new places like the library, lunchroom, and more! In a rare but always welcome turn of events, the second Pete the Cat book is just as fun as the first. Author Eric Litman and Illustrator James Dean have again created a book and song that is sure to have youngsters singing along. The bright colors, cute characters, and fun story draw young readers (and almost-readers) back for more, whileRead More →

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Are you interested in catching up with the latest in using technology in the classroom?  Take a look at this class offered by Dr. Laura Turchi on Thursday nights at ASU Tempe starting in August: ENG 494/598 Special Topics Information Matters: Digital Teaching and Tools A course taught by Dr. Laura Turchi “Digital Teaching and Tools” is for English teachers who are intrigued by new media methods for creating and sharing information and art. This is not strictly a “how to” class, although we will address many practical classroom matters, and course members will gain a broadened knowledge of Web 2.0 opportunities for teaching andRead More →

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Library Journal/School Library Journal present the second annual Virtual Summit on Ebooks: The New Normala one-day virtual conference on ebooks and their role in the future of libraries. This live event brings together librarians, vendors and publishers, and industry experts and offers keynote presentations as well as three tracks designed for public, academic, and K-12 libraries to discuss how libraries are leveraging the ebook opportunityto improve service and reach more users than ever before. Public librarians will share successful ebook initiatives and discuss how ebooks will transform public libraries. Academic librarians will present how they are mastering the transition, from patron driven acquisition to discoveryRead More →

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Enter the Acer Book Report Contest for a chance to win a 21st Century Library Makeover from Acer! Program Details: Technology can help bring excitement and creativity to the traditional book report while still displaying students understanding of reading. This contest aims to marry traditional reading curriculum strategies with 21st Century skills in an attempt to make book reports and reading more interactive, fun and engaging for young learners. The Acer Video Book Report contest also provides an opportunity to educators to re-think the standard book report by producing videos that creatively illustrate the students’ comprehension of the book, along with teaching collaborative and criticalRead More →

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From Publisher’s Weekly (May 23, 2011): James Patterson, the bestselling author on Earth, doesn’t want to talk about writing today. He wants to talk about reading. For a man with scores of blockbuster books under his belt (it might be north of 70, but even the author isn’t sure how many he’s written at this point), Patterson is now fascinated with a new challenge: hooking kids on books. And his latest effort, “Read, Kiddo, Read,” aims to do just that. “For most kids,” Patterson tells PW, “The best way to get them to read is to find books that are going to turn them on.Read More →

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Sally Lodge of Publisher’s Weekly reports: This week—quite fittingly on March 15—novelist Patrick Carman debuted “3:15,” an app for Android and iPhone that introduces nine spooky stories and involves listening to an audio introduction, reading a text story, and watching its conclusion on video—the three components represented in the app’s title. The title’s reference to 15 indicates the approximate number of minutes it will take kids to listen to, read, and watch each story.   The first episode, Buried Treasure, is currently available for download and the second, Reflecting Pool, will be released on March 29. The subsequent stories will become available at two-week intervals,Read More →