By Rhonda Henderson With crisp leaves dancing around the Duck Pond, squirrels attempting to surreptitiously hide acorns (but fooling no one), and hoodies now a necessity to walk kiddos to school or make that quick coffee run, we know it’s (finally!) fall in Southwest. I believe it’s always time for […]
Young Readers: It’s Still My Favorite
By Kitty Felde It’s the hardest question in the world: what’s your favorite book and why? I ask it at book festivals, classroom visits, and tapings of the Book Club for Kids podcast. I’m often surprised when kids and adults name a picture book – and then recite from memory […]
Young Readers: The Conversations That Lead to Books
By Kitty Felde I was at a surprise birthday party last weekend for a friend and found myself sitting next to a 12-year-old who wasn’t a big fan of reading. He couldn’t remember the last book he read. I was determined to find something he’d love. By the time the […]
Young Readers: Stop and Start
By Kitty Felde Admit it. Our attention spans have shrunk in this era of social media. It’s even worse with kids. So how do you get a child to put down the phone and pick up a book? One solution, offered by our neighbors to the north, is perfect for […]
Young Readers: Book Clubs for Introverts
By Kitty Felde You might call them Book Clubs for Introverts. Imagine a room full of readers, sharing the experience of reading, but not talking. That’s the idea behind Silent Book Clubs. The rules are simple. There is no assigned reading, everyone brings whatever they want to read. Any format […]
Young Readers: Put Those Gift Cards to Good Use
By Kitty Felde It’s likely that among your children’s holiday gifts this year, there were more than a few gift cards. Left to their own devices, kids will head straight to the electronics store. But if there’s flexibility in what kids can spend their gift card money on, take them […]
Young Readers: No Book Shaming
By Kitty Felde I just got back from the American Library Association annual conference in Chicago. It was the perfect place to ask the experts about how to get a kid to pick up a book. Librarian Arlene LaVerde from Queens, New York says kids have been inundated with school […]