Seeing a group of children reading a book I wrote just warms my whole heart, all the way to my toes! Cultivating a love for books and education at an early age is the surest way to make sure a student wants to continue to study, and seek a higher education, after mandatory schooling ends. At…
The Curse of the Magic Mirror is finally a book! Bursting onto bookstore shelves everywhere in less than a week! It has been a long process. It starts with the idea (of course!) put into words. It progresses to a video phone call with the famed and talented illustrator, David Trumble. We brainstorm and inspire each…
As one of the poster-girls for United Way’s literacy program United2Read, I once again had the pleasure of going to the Yonkers’ public library in New York to find some summer reading buddies. It was amazing and gratifying to see how many kids and how many volunteers were there. The place was a magical madhouse of…
A STROLL THROUGH A STORY! Educators have come up with an ingenious way to use a kid’s innate love of the outdoors as a hook to connect them with and foster a love of reading. On two separate walks, in two separate local parks, in two separate states, I saw two of my favorite things…
While many mothers look forward to the first day of school (think of the phenominal succsss of the STAPLES! It’s the most wonderful time of the year commercial) I did not. I hated it. I was the mother crying at the bus stop or the classroom door as it closed behind my child. Gone were the carefree days…
I love visiitng classrooms and lending wings to kids to help their imaginations take flight. If I don’t have enough real wings for everyone, I teach them the WINGS UP! sign.* I thought it was just me – because I love magic and the magical possibilities created through reading. But no! Now there is a study…
My granddaughters, Rachel and Allison live on Kodiak Island, Alaska, courtesy of the US Coast Guard. Thanks to Skype, we can read to them weekly. With ballet and buses as current interests, the local library is a source for books on those topics. During our visits, we can have reading marathons. In between, we read them…
