The New York Times: Girl Power Fuels Manga Boom in U.S.
For the first time since the 1950s, girls are starting to buy comic books. This time, the comics are manga from Japan. This is an important trend for librarians to be aware of. The article lists some of the top publishers and series.

BBC NEWS: Toys have lasting impact on brain
Tests of baby owls show that things learned in youth transfer to adulthood. The study shows that “learning new skills very early in life prompts neurons in the brain to build new connections that still work into adulthood.”
Goodness, think what reading to kids at an early age is doing! Let’s go out and build more neural connections in the children we work with.