A big thank-you to my new colleague, Marge, who shared this fascinating new study with me. Marge is Head of Children’s Services Extraordinaire here at Menasha Public Library. The Kids and Family Reading Report is interesting reading for anyone teaching children or serving them. It offers amazing statistics that show that children who read more have higher perceptions of themselves. Hurrah! My theory is that children use books both to understand that they are not alone in their own situations and feelings and that they also use books to better understand that others out there are different from them. Both very powerful things to comprehend as a child.
I was also fascinated to see that the number one reason kids cite for not reading more is that they can’t find books they enjoy! Librarians and teachers take note! This a huge opportunity for us! Step up, rally the troops, and both listen to the children about what they like to read and then get those perfect books that fill our shelves right into their hands.
There are many more points made by the survey. It is definitely worth reading on your own to see how it can inspire you as a parent, teacher, librarian. Oh, it is a pdf document so make sure you have Adobe loaded and remember that they work best on a fast Internet connection or with lots of patience.

Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales is this summer’s theme for many of the public libraries in the U.S.  The California Summer Reading Program has a nice series of “PAWEDCasts” that you can listen to online.  The podcasts have songs, books, and much more.  Great fun to add to your programming and to share with others. 

Yahoo! News tells us that Babar, elephant hero of children’s books, turns 75 this year. The article is wonderful and ends with this:
“Children of an age to appreciate Babar, that’s to say between two and seven years, haven’t changed that much even if they sometimes like playing with computers,” de Brunhoff said.
That’s right! They may enjoy computers, but those kids can and will read books as long as the adults around them make it a priority. Just think of all the great books new and old to share with one another. Makes you want to run right out to your local library, doesn’t it?

Here is one of the more important children’s literature blogs to come around in a long time. Debbie Reese is an American Indian who teaches American Indian Studies. Her blog: American Indians in Children’s Literature looks at recommended authors, websites, and resources for those interested in having accurate information in their libraries on American Indians.
Thanks to Cynsations for the link.

Chasing Ray is a blog by Colleen Mondor, a reviewer and author. It is named Chasing Ray because Ray Bradbury is her favorite author and inspiration. On her blog you will find insightful posts on children’s literature news mixed in with science fiction, and general fiction. Enjoy!

CBC Magazine has a very nice collection of summer titles: Summer Showcase 2006. It covers picture books, elementary grade books, teen, and graphic novels. Great fun!

The Ledger-Enquirer of Columbus, Georgia has an interesting article:Techtots generation. It eplains how today’s children are expecting interactive components in their media as well as cross-platform experiences where their TV shows become portable to iPods and to computer games.
Now I am not saying that children need to spend more time watching TV or playing video games. But as librarians, how does this change in media perception by children affect how we are going to serve them? One aspect is to take advantage of what publishers are already doing with their books by creating online games and activities with their popular characters and series. Do our own websites need to have more interactive features? Definitely. We see that in our teen users already.
But let’s not forget why we are here. Books. And though books may not have the flashy graphics or moving pixels, they have something even better. They have imagination which can take a child much farther than any online game or digital TV experience. The power of imagination has to stay alive and well in our children or else what is childhood?

Classic audio stories for children is a cool site. They offer classic children’s stories from authors like Beatrix Potter, Hans Christian Andersen, and Rudyard Kipling. Each story can be listened to as an mp3 or downloaded as a zip file. Plus, they offer the text so that children can read along as they listen.

TheNarniaForums is a discussion board for all things Narnia. It includes the movies and the books, as well as games, the TV series, fan art, fan fiction, and Christianity and the stories.