Writing About Reading Day 3 - Just the Facts: The Nonfiction Book Hook

Welcome to day three of Writing About Reading! The theme for today at Share a Story - Shape a Future's It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader is Just the Facts: The Nonfiction Book Hook.

Here are Terry's writing prompts/questions for the day:


    1.    Do you have an image (photo, chart, illustration) from a nonfiction book that has stayed with you, even though you don't remember many of the details about what you read?

Surprisingly, I remember more information I've read than pictures from when I was younger. This is the oldest non-fiction picture/cover I can remember from when I was younger. I owned most, if not all, of Jean Fritz's American History books.



    2.    What kind of reading material has inspired your dormant reader to become an avid reader and book seeker?

I guess my main inspiration has always been children's books. I was a reading fanatic when I was younger, and now that I have a job in the Children's department of a library, I have grown to love reading anything from picture books to young adult books again (as opposed to hating it as a result of reading too much for school and not enough for pleasure). I also enjoy reading even adult books, if they've been made into movies, so that is also a motivator.


    3.    Where is your favorite place to read? Do you share your secret spot with your child?

Like I've said before, I don't have children of my own yet. Part of me wants to say that I share my favorite place to read with my "kids" who come to storytime, because I do so enjoy presenting storytimes; however, for those of you who are old fashioned enough to think libraries are quiet enough to hear a pin drop, you obviously haven't been in a library lately - at least not the childrens section. I prefer places that are really quiet. Right now I guess my favorite place to read is the bathtub, and I don't plan on bringing my storytime "kids" there.

Writing About Reading Day 2 - Literacy My Way, Literacy Your Way

It's day two of Writing About Reading! The theme for today at Share a Story - Shape a Future's It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader is Literacy My Way, Literacy Your Way.

Here are Terry's writing prompts/questions for the day:

    1.    Does your child enjoy writing? How can we link reading and writing in ways that will motivate kids?


I don't have kids of my own, but I am hoping this summer I can start a successful writing club with my "kids" at work. I like the idea of using writing prompts. What better way to connect reading and writing than having a writing class in the library?! When I was younger, I connected reading and writing myself by reading a book, and then writing my own version of a sequel to it. (I "wrote" the 5th book in the Harry Potter series before J.K. Rowling had released hers, and had Dumbledore die and McGonagall take over the school - sound familiar?)

    2.    What is your favourite book to screen adaptation?

I don't know if I really have a favorite. I don't know whether to say P.S. I Love You because for once I enjoyed the movie more than the book, or A Walk to Remember because my love for the book and movie are about equal (although the book and movie are quite different), or Pride & Prejudice because the movie saved me from having to read the book, or I also really liked The Fellowship of the Ring (it's the only LOTR book I've made it all the way through), just because of the amazing visuals the movie gave to the book...Regardless of what my favorite is, I will confess (and hope this can be true for the current and coming generations) that a book being made into a movie gives me more of a desire to read the book.

     3.    Do you or your child have a story that you like to "act out"? What is the story? and who are the role players?

Again, I don't have kids of my own. Coincidentally, as with question 1, I was hoping to have a weekly improv program during the summer. As you probably know, improv is a story you have to make up almost completely on your own, except for maybe a few starter ideas/props/etc. All children who attend are going to be encouraged to join our comedy games!

Writing About Reading Day 1 - The Many Faces of Reading

Welcome to day one of Writing About Reading. The theme for today at Share a Story - Shape a Future's It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader is The Many Faces of Reading.

Here are Terry's writing prompts/questions for the day:

1.    What is the book from your childhood you can't wait to share with a child and why?

As much as I read when I was a child, I think most of the books I can't wait to share with children have come from my experiences as an adult working in a library. (This probably has something to do with my horrible memory.) Books that I can remember loving as a child include the American Girl series and Harry Potter. Having presented storytimes as an adult, my favorite experiences of sharing with the children have come from books by Mo Willems and Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester. If you can relax enough to not care about looking silly, Mo Willems's books can be very entertaining, and Tacky the Penguin can be a subtle vocabulay builder and a great exercise opportunity if you try to "show" children how Tacky likes to march.

    2.    Who is the person who influenced you most as a reader?

I moved to Florida when I was three and my mom started taking me to the library for storytimes. From age three to thirteen-ish, I would go to storytimes (early years) and other programs (8-13ish) by "Miss Melissa" (coincidentally my supervisor now is also a "Miss Melissa"). I would have so much fun at storytimes, I would take home the 10 books my mom allowed me to check out at a time, sit on a stool, and present my own storytime to either a group of stuffed animals or imaginary friends. I would say, therefore, that Miss Melissa had a great influence on me as a reader, but if it hadn't been for my mom I never would have got to the library in the first place.

    3.    Do you have any special reading-time rituals for reading aloud with kids?

I'm a little confused as to what is meant by "rituals", but as far as warming up or anything, I do not have any rituals. I am, however, very OCD when planning my storytimes. I would love to be able to use books, songs, flannel stories, a game, and a movie, but if they don't all somehow fit our weekly theme, I won't use them. This is probably best for my sanity anyway, because trying to get large groups of kids through all of those activities in an hour or less before our next group comes in, would probably be pretty difficult.

It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader (Literacy Blog Tour)

I found a Spring Break reading challenge that sounded fabulous, but then I found out it didn't start until the end of my Spring Break. So, I'm happy to say that I have found something blog-worthy that is going on during my Spring Break - Share a Story's annual Literacy Blog Tour "It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader".



(button created by Elizabeth Dulemba)

Unfortunately, I didn't find out about this event until almost my entire Spring Break was over. We're just going to pretend I was on top of things from the beginning and I'm going to date these posts in the order they should have been done, so as not to overwhelm you with six posts in one day.

Share a Story - Shape a Future 2010: It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader aims to (you guessed it) promote reading. Every day from March 8th - 12th has a different theme. To help get bloggers' gears turning, Terry provides some [daily], thought provoking questions about each theme under the heading "Writing About Reading". 

What are you waiting for? Join us, and be on the lookout for my "Writing About Reading" posts.