Literacy Tips
What does reading do for our brains? How can we encourage our children and students to make books a daily habit? How can we read aloud so that our audience really listens? Here you’ll find a host of practical tips, tricks, and articles to boost your literacy teaching.
Calling All Young Writers: Where to Submit Your Stories and Poems
From poetry prizes to student-run literary magazines, here is a guide to the best places for children and teens to share their writing with the world, with entry requirements for each.
8 Ways to Make Weekly Library Trips a Family Ritual
A library visit now and then is nice. A library visit every week becomes a habit, and habits are what make readers. Here are eight easy, fun, and mostly free ways to turn going to the library into a family event.
6 Things Librarians Wish Patrons Knew About Libraries
Educator Sarah Silverkey gathers the things librarians most wish their patrons knew, and shows how families and teachers can put them to use.
Read the Book, Watch the Movie: WILDWOOD
LAIKA, one of the few studios devoted to handmade animation, brings Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis’s fantastical Wildwood to the screen. Read the book, see the movie, and support art made by human hands.
Why Handwriting Matters: 4 Science-Backed Ways It Builds Stronger Readers and Writers
Educator Sarah Silverkey looks at what writing by hand does for children, from laying the foundations of reading to sharpening the skills that predict success at school.
The First Stories Ever Written: From the Epic of Gilgamesh to the World's Oldest Novel
For curious bookworms and young history buffs, a voyage through some of the earliest examples of literature, from a moon priestess’s hymn to Homer’s fantastical tale of magic and monsters, the Odyssey.
When Literature Resists: Instituto Poesiar Seeks to Build Latin America’s First School for Poets
Like many literary forms, poetry faces a crisis of under-appreciation. One institution in Brazil is working to create a space for it.
Summer Reading: The Cheapest Thing Your Children Will Do This Summer Has the Biggest Payoff
Educator Sarah Silverkey discusses the dreaded "summer slide" — when reading skills slip — and how simple, fun, and affordable it can be to make great habits a part of your children’s summer.
The 20 Bestselling Children’s Books of All Time
The all-time bestsellers in children’s fiction feature old and new classics alike, and share a number of interesting traits. How many have you read?
