Time Warp Trio is now an animated TV show for kids. From Discovery Kids and NBC, the show features the trio traveling through time. The first episode is Pirates, 1718. Part of the appeal of the show will be the tie in with the website and its games.

Learn to Read at Starfall is a website that offers colorful movies and clickable games to teach kids to read using phonics. It also has printable materials and an online message board.

Loop is a game where you draw loops around butterflies to capture them. I could say that it teaches fine mouse skills, but really it is just a lot of fun to play!

When I saw the title of the article: Picture books can help youngsters learn, I thought, Hoorah! Someone actually gets it, books in general help kids learn. Wrong. The article is about a handful of books that the author of the article have decided are among the new releases that promote learning.
I am firmly of the opinion that every reading experience for a child helps them learn, that every book is of value at the picture book level. Whether it is a simple Dora or Blues Clues board book, or a more challenging picture book by an amazing author who truly creates art. All of these books can only help a preschooler or early elementary child connect with books and understand the joy that is there.

Finding what teen girls want, and producing it is an article about Alloy Entertainment, the company responsible for Gossip Girl, A-List and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The process at Alloy is a little different than authors approaching a publisher. In Alloy’s case, they approach authors (often authors without any experience) to produce an idea that Alloy has developed.

NJ Summer Reading offers a nice selection of studies In Support of Summer Reading. If you are ever asked again why public libraries spend money getting kids to read during the summer, this is a nice site to have bookmarked.

NPR : Getting Kids to Read was on Talk of the Nation yesterday. The featured guests were Paul Kropp, author of How to Make Your Child a Reader for Life, Esme Raji Codell, author of How to Get Your Child to Love Reading, Steven Johns, author of Everything Bad Is Good for You, and Jon Scieszka, author of many amazing children’s books.

Journal Gazette — Youth titles graduate from ‘Sweet Valley High’
Yikes! I hope they have progressed beyond Sweet Valley High and Fear Street too! The point of the article is that teen novels are becoming more risque and edgy. But also that teen publishing is one of the healthiest segments of the publishing industry, which is wonderful news for those of us who enjoy YA reading.
There is a passing reference to labeling teen fiction with a rating system, but no further comment is made about it. I would be livid if they started labeling teen books. Then we can all stand around wringing our hands and wondering why teens won’t read again. Shouldn’t we be thrilled that teens are reading?
The article concludes with a list of some new titles, including the controversial Rainbow Party and other important new releases.

Too Much TV May Hurt Kids’ Learning is an article about a new study that shows a correlation between the amount of TV children watch and lower test scores. The strongest recommendation from the study is that children not be allowed to have televisions in their bedrooms.
I do think that not all television is created equal and that there is a place in children’s lives for educational programming, but as always, all things in moderation. The study did not examine the content of the shows being watched, so it does not speak to whether there is a difference between educational programming and more commercial shows.