Jen Robinson's Book Page

The Loud Book: Deborah Underwood

Book: The Loud Book
Author: Deborah Underwood
Illustrator: Renata Liwska
Pages: 32
Age Range: 2-5

The Loud Book is a companion to The Quiet Book, written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Renata Liwska. The Loud Book doesn't have a narrative story. Instead, each page features one of the many different kinds of "louds". These range from "last slurp loud" to "fire truck at school loud". My personal favorite was "deafening silence loud" (two kids confronted over a stolen cookie jar by a disapproving mother".

The types of loud that Underwood has come up with are a nice mix of expected, kid-friendly tropes (home runs, dropped lunch trays) and unexpected (ants cause "loud" when they make you cry by getting all over your picnic").

Liwska's illustrations add considerably to Underwood's already humorous framework, as a variety of warmly fuzzy animals experience the various loudnesses. "Surprise loud" shows rabbit and bear characters encountering a skeleton around a corner at school. "Dropping your lunch tray loud" features a mortified hedgehog, stickers fully extended. The animal characters are generally wide-eyed in surprise (or insomnia), as loud things happen around them.

The Loud Book is a fun read-aloud, perfect for preschoolers who are just old enough to understand the humor, and young enough to be interested in learning about all of these different kids of noise. I think this would make a nice library storytime read. Recommended for the preschool set.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (@hmhbooks)
Publication Date: April 4, 2011
Source of Book: Library copy
Nominated for 2011 Cybils in Fiction Picture Books by: Sally Gee

© 2011 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Lois Lowry's Number the Stars in US/Turkey Political Storm

I find it striking when other hot-button issues in my life pop up in the children's literature world, as happened today. I read a School Library Journal article by Rocco Staino about how children's author Lois Lowry "may be caught in the middle of an international storm between the United States and Turkey."

I had actually seen Lowry's blog post, in which she shares a letter from a teacher about the banning of Lowry's book Number the Stars by the Turkish Department of Education. However, I hadn't made the connection between that and another important issue in my home, the conflict between the US and Turkey over recognition of the Aremenian Genocide. This is a personal issue for me because Mheir, my husband, is Armenian. I've learned over the past 20 years how important this issue is to people of Armenian descent, and how the genocide continues to affect Armenians today, some 95 years after the events took place.

In his article, Staino says:

"Why would the Turkish government remove a modern classic that’s been taught in many school curricula? Lowry wonders if it’s connected to a recent move by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, which, despite protests from Turkey and urgings from the Obama administration not to offend its NATO ally, voted 23-22 to endorse a resolution on March 4 declaring the Ottoman-era killing of Armenians as genocide. The resolution now goes to the full House, where prospects for passage are uncertain.

Minutes after the vote, Turkey, which plays a pivotal role for U.S. interests in the Middle East and Afghanistan, recalled its ambassador, Namik Tan, from Washington.

“Turkey is a largely Islamic country,” says Lowry. “And although Number the Stars espouses no religious or political view, it does tell a true story of compassion toward persecuted Jews, and its unstated theme is clearly that of integrity and humanity between people of differing faiths. Perhaps that is a story that the Turkish government does not currently want told to children.”"

Fascinating. Do go and read the article. Lois Lowry's quote at the end is brilliant. I'll be interested to see what happens with this.

Book-Related News About Univ. of Texas

Yesterday I wrote about some book-related news stories that struck particularly close to home for me. I noted at the end of the article that "(a)t least I haven't heard of any book-related scandals associated with The University of Texas at Austin, or The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, my other two alma maters."

Chris Barton was kind enough to comment this morning, and bring to my attention a book-related story about The University of Texas. It seems that the UT Undergraduate library no longer contains any actual books. Last summer, all 90,000 volumes were transferred to other libraries, and the library was renamed the Flawn Academic Center. Apparently, books are no longer considered essential to undergraduate college learning, to be replaced instead with comfortable chairs, computers, and a cafe. So basically, they turned the undergraduate library into a particularly well-equipped Starbucks.

I wonder if anyone has missed the books? I know that when I was an undergraduate I would wander around the stacks of the various libraries at Duke, finding things of interest. Of course I didn't have a laptop then. Sigh!

But I do thank Chris for bringing the story to my attention. I'm afraid to Google to see what unhappy book news there is at UMass...

News Stories Hit Close to Home

Three current news stories, all with some book-related tie-in, strike particularly close to home for me.

First, there was the Duke lacrosse scandal. I did my undergraduate degree at Duke. I had a wonderful experience there, and maintain a strong loyalty towards the school. I have been reluctantly following the current story. I was intrigued to read recently (in this Examiner article, for example) of parallels between the current incident and the 2004 Tom Wolfe novel I Am Charlotte Simmons. I doubt that Mr. Wolfe is clairvoyant, but he did write about the lacrosse culture at his fictional Gothic university, which many have thought to resemble Duke. Wolfe's daughter also attended Duke, heightening the speculation. However, at the recent NC Festival of the Book, Wolfe stated publicly that "Charlotte Simmons" was NOT based on Duke. According to Wikipedia, Wolfe actually did research for the novel by talking with students at Stanford University (where I have another connection - Mheir did his surgical residency there), as well as several other schools.

There's an interesting discussion of the Charlotte Simmons connection on the TrueTalk Blog. I tend to agree with Tom Guarriello that "Duke's lacrosse culture reaped what it sowed." That is, if you put athletes up on pedestals and tell them that they can have anything that they want, it's not earth-shakingly surprising when what they want goes too far. Sad and horrifying, but not surprising.

(On a happier note, the 2006 NC Festival of the Book was recently held at Duke, and in surrounding areas. There's a detailed story about it by James Bailey in The Independent Weekly. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to attend.)

The other two recent incidents have to do with my hometown. I grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, home of the first battle in the Revolutionary War. "The shot heard round the world" was fired in Lexington (you can check out the Wikipedia entry about it here). Lexington recently celebrated the annual Patriot's Day holiday, which I remember fondly from my childhood. I rarely got up for the battle re-enactment at dawn, but I loved the Pancake Breakfast, and the parade.

Sadly, Lexington has been in the news lately because of the King & King controversy, in which parents are suing the school district because a teacher at Estabrook School read the book (about two princes who fall in love) to second graders. I have been impressed with the Superintendent of Schools, Paul Ash, for standing up for the teacher in question. You can find a current Boston Globe story here.

The other Lexington-related story, and this is a tiny bit of a stretch, concerns the recent plagiarism of Raytheon CEO William Swanson. The story is Lexington-related because, until recently, the Raytheon corporate headquarters was located in Lexington (it has since been moved to the adjacent town of Waltham). Apparently Mr. Swanson distributed a booklet to hundreds of thousands of people called "Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management", consisting of a series of 33 aphorisms. It turns out that at least 16 of the 33 aphorisms were copied from a 1944 book written by California engineering professor W. J. King. Swanson has acknowledged that the King's work was "not properly credited." You can read the Boston Globe story about the incident here. According to the May 3rd Boston Herald, "Raytheon Co.’s overseers today froze Chief Executive William Swanson’s salary and cut his stock perks to register the board of directors’ “deep concern” over his cribbing material from other sources for his own management booklet."

Does it seem like plagiarism is everywhere these days? I will say that on the blog sites that I visit, people seem to be painstakingly careful to reference (complete with links) anything that they write that comes from somewhere else. Guess the corporate world just isn't up to the same standards as the blogosphere. Sigh!

At least I haven't heard of any book-related scandals associated with The University of Texas at Austin, or The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, my other two alma maters.

Children's Literacy Round-Up: April 13

Here are some community literacy activities that I noticed for this week:

• Teresa Mallam of the Prince George Free Press wrote on April 7th about the Prince George Public Library's  Babies and Books calendar initiative. "The calendar is a parent’s guide to the first 18 months of a child’s life and provides information and suggestions to introduce language and books to babies and toddlers. Babies and Books calendars will be presented to parents of babies born at Prince George Regional Hospital". I love this idea! Wouldn't it be amazing if all hospitals could do something like this?
• I learned from an April 7th press release that April 30th is national El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day). "Sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, Día celebrates the importance of advocating literacy for every child, regardless of linguistic and cultural background. It is a celebration of children, families, culture, and reading and is held annually on April 30." For multicultural book lists, Día brochures and tips on how to encourage children to read, visit the Día Web site at http://www.ala.org/dia.
• I found a great article in the Tallahassee Democrat, by Dr. Lee Sanders and Dr. Barry Zuckerman, about the Reach Out and Read program. This is a program by which doctors give books to children to take home during their well-baby visits, and talk with parents about the importance of books and reading. While I was already familiar with the program, I loved the real-world example given in the article, written by two doctors who are active in the Reach Out and Read program.
• There's another article about the Read Out and Read program in the April 10th Boston Globe, written by Adrian Walker. This one is about Dr. Perri Klass at the Dorchester House Multi-Service Health Center.
• Leslie Wright had an excellent article in the April 9th Burlington, VT Free Press about a prison program that inspires parents to read with their kids. The program is an offshoot of the Children's Literacy Foundation, a non-profit based in Waterbury that works to foster a love of reading.

Children's Literacy Round-Up: March 10

Here are some stories about community literacy efforts that caught my eye this week:

• Out of the many wonderful stories about community programs for last week's Read Across America Day (March 2nd), I particularly enjoyed this article by Paul Johnson about programs in New Jersey. Among other details, the article quotes Patricia DiDonato, a retired teacher who dresses up as the The Cat in the Hat and visits schools. Ms. DiDonato says: "Anything any adult can do to inspire children to read is beneficial." I agree! The article also includes a list of children's books that take place in New Jersey.
• I also liked this article from the Peterborough (UK) Evening Telegraph, about Peterborough's celebration of World Book Day (also March 2nd). According to the article, by Rachel Gordon, "education chiefs in Peterborough aren't just putting literacy at the top of their agenda today – they have a long-term strategy to improve the lives of everyone in the city through the Read, Write, Inspire campaign." The article outlines the philosophy behind the campaign, as well as many of the specific efforts being undertaken, and concludes with an invitation for local residents to vote for their top 10 favorite reads. How wonderful it must be to live in a city that cares this much about reading!
• Another fun celebration of World Book Day took place at DEEPCAR School in Sheffield, UK, where the school organized activities based on a Roald Dahl theme, and both students and teachers dressed as characters from Roald Dahl books. Personally, I've always identified with Matilda, but it sounds like these kids and teachers enjoyed a full range of characters.
• The March 9th Sand Mountain Reporter (Albertville, AL) discussed the success of Big Spring Lake School's literacy initiative, part of the Alabama Reading Initiative. For this year's winter benchmark tests, 90 percent of the school's students reached the benchmark target. "There were a lot of tears shed when we got those results," Counselor Deidra Tidwell said. "Our goal was 80 percent and we thought we had a good chance, but when we saw 90 percent, we threw a party." Good for them, I say.
• And speaking of throwing parties, Bright Horizons, a provider of child care and early eduction, will be hosting five free children’s literacy festivals for families throughout the Raleigh Durham area on April 1 and April 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. You can find more information in this news release, or on the Bright Horizons website. Bright Horizons will also be hosting literacy festivals in Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey between now and May (depending on the state).
• Though more of an opinion piece than a news story, this column by David Lecam in the Weymouth, MA news caught my eye. The title is "What happens when you are not a reader?" Mr. Lecam gives an example of a person who thought that it would be possible to take a train to Hawaii. He goes on to review current literacy statistics, and to quote extensively from Jim Trelease's The Read-Aloud Handbook. The overall recommendation of the article is to "remove the TV and the Game-Boy as well as the cell phone from the bedroom during homework time and start reading to the kids. Begin in their first year of life. Make them desire reading."

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful weekend! -- Jen

Children's Literacy Round-Up: March 3

Here are some highlights from this week's community literacy news:

• HEB (a Texas grocery store chain) is launching a literacy program "to promote literacy and learning across Texas". You can see a Feb. 23rd article about it in Austin Business Journal. As a former Texas resident and HEB shopper, this caught my eye.
• There's a fun article in the Chambersburg, PA Public Opinion about the "reading superhero, a program sponsored by the American Literacy Corp." Executive Director Floyd Stokes portrays Super Reader, hiding his identity with a blue cape and bright yellow mask. He encourages kids to read, and particularly emphasizes reading books over watching TV.
• Stoke City (UK) has football (soccer, to people in the US) players and coaches visiting libraries to talk about books and literacy. "The idea behind the project is that the children will be encouraged to read more once they see people who they look up to enjoying it as well." You can see the full article, with quotes from interested kids, at the UK Sentinel's website.
• A Cedar Falls, Iowa elementary school has started a program called Books and Brunch. "The literacy program targets preschooled-aged children, their parents and any siblings in the home." The idea is to expose families to books, and to make the book-reading experience fun for kids. You can read about it at the WCFCourier.com.
• Students from Arizona State are are volunteering "to work in public schools with underprivileged children who struggle with their reading skills." Volunteers meet for weekly sessions with fifth grade "reading buddies." I would imagine that, as with the football players mentioned above, having "cool" college kids encourage reading is a great motivator. Read more on the ASU News site. 
• A March 2nd article in Hernando Today online (Brooksville, FL) describes Goodwill Industries-Suncoast's annual BookWorks book drive. The program runs now through April 30th. Local residents "are asked to donate new or nearly new children's books to their local Goodwill stores. During the BookWorks drive, Goodwill is also searching for volunteers to read to groups of children ages 2-5 at local Head Start centers and other locations. At the end of the 30-minute story time, each child will receive a donated book as a gift."

Children's Literacy Round-Up: Feb. 24

This week's children's literacy round-up highlights recent news articles about community efforts for children's literacy and love of books.

• In a February 19th article, the Arizona Daily Star (Tucson) profiles Nancy Pitt and Libby Hoffman, two friends who established the First Page Literacy Fund to help launch children on the path to success. The two friends, and avid readers, were motivated "to start First Page in 1999 after reading A Hope in the Unseen : An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League by Ron Suskind." Since 1999, their fund "has provided more than $170,000 to 94 literacy projects, including support for family literacy nights; books for students, preschools, schools and libraries; and money for tutors and reading instruction." You can read more in the Arizona Daily Star article.
• The Observer (UK) has a February 19th article about young reading and writing prodigy Adora Svitak. Adora is a prolific reader and writer, with a 296-page book published, and hundreds of stories and poems written. She is on a personal mission to encourage other children to read and love books. According to the article, she hopes to visit Britain to "convince children ... of the joy of reading." Some questions are raised in the article as to whether Adora will be as well-received in the UK as she is in American schools. You can decide for yourself by reading the article, or you can visit Adora's website.
• In a February 22nd article, the Washington File describes Dolly Parton's Imagination Library literacy program, which gives books to young children in Tennessee. "240,000 children under age 5 throughout the United States ... received 1.9 million books in 2005" through this program, founded in 1996. "Parton started the literacy program when she realized how few families have books in their homes to read to their children." Ms. Parton was also apparently inspired by the fact that her own father was unable to read or write. More information is available at the Imagination Library website.
• On Wednesday, February 22nd the Palatka (Florida) Daily News ran an article about the new Children's Reading Center Charter School in Palatka. This is a school focused on teaching children to be better readers. It sounds great to me!
• And finally, in a February 22nd article, the Bay Area's Daily Review describes Oakland A's co-owner Lew Wolff's visit to a Fremont school. "Wolff and his daughter Kari read baseball-themed children's books to nearly 130 first- and second-graders while taking part in the team's pro-literacy Home Run Readers Program at Pioneer Elementary School... "All learning programs are important, but reading is the key," Wolff said. "You're lost without it."' I couldn't agree more! Personally, I'd like to see the A's move down to San Jose. But that's another story.

Two Upcoming Days Dedicated to Reading

Two different celebrations of reading are scheduled for the next couple of months.

I learned from a Target newspaper insert this week about the National Educational Association's upcoming Read Across America Day. "NEA's Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on or around Dr. Seuss's birthday" (March 2nd). Hundreds of local events are planned as part of Read Across America Day. You can look for events in your local community here. Target is promoting the event as part of the Target Ready. Sit. Read! online book club. So, read books on March 2nd, in honor of Read Across America and Dr. Seuss's birthday.

I learned from the Kid's Lit blog about National Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R.) day. "National D.E.A.R. Day is a special reading celebration to remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a family priority." This event will be celebrated on April 12th, Beverly Cleary's 90th birthday. The "spokesperson" for the event is Ramona Quimby. In a letter on the D.E.A.R. website, Ramona says: "Because I know so much about it librarians (The Association for Library Service to Children), teachers (the National Education Association), a bunch of parents (National PTA), and some people who make books (HarperCollins Children’s Books) have asked me —Ramona Geraldine Quimby — to be in charge of telling everyone about National Drop Everything and Read Day on April 12." So, read books on April 12th, too, in honor of D.E.A.R, Ramona Quimby, and Beverly Cleary.

So many excuses to read! So many celebrations of books! Happy Reading! -- Jen

Children's Literacy Round-Up: Feb. 17

This week's children's literacy round-up highlights several recent news articles about community efforts for children's literacy and love of books.

• A February 13th press release announced that "children's author Patrick Carman, and Agros International, a Seattle-based, non-profit organization that works with poor, rural families to help them escape poverty, are teaming up with Scholastic to bring libraries to 25 communities in Central America and Mexico. Carman, best-known for his highly successful " Land of Elyon" book series, has made a commitment to put books into the hands of children in Central America and Mexico, many of whom have never experienced the pleasure of owning their own book." Spanish-language books will be purchased from Scholastic.
• As described in the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson celebrated Love of Reading week this week. "The annual literacy program puts literate adults — business and government representatives, retirees, and parents and grandparents — in local classrooms with books in hand. This patchwork group reads to children and shares its love of literature and the pure joy of the experience." The program has been in existence since 1987. The Star had 76 staff members volunteer to visit schools to read to children this year. The article describes how uplifting this experience is for the adults who read, and how wonderful it is for kids.
• A February 16th article in the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard describes an innovative program for fostering literacy. The program is called Reading Education Assistance Dogs. READ's mission is to improve children's literacy skills by having the children read to a dog. The idea is to give children practice at reading, while also associating reading with a pleasurable activity. The article says that "during interactions with therapy animals, children are inclined to forget about their limitations. Children find reading to a dog less intimidating. A dreaded reading experience can be transformed into something positive, rewarding and fun." I'm all in favor of anything that makes reading fun for kids.
• In a February 17th press release, Toyota announced the launch of a literacy program for Hispanic and other immigrant families in Detroit. This is an expansion of the Toyota Family Literacy Program (TFLP), and will be coordinated by the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL).

I hope that you find these community literacy efforts encouraging and inspiring! Have a great weekend! -- Jen

Banning Children from the Library?

I read on the Chicken Spaghetti website about an article on Tasha Saecker's Kid Lit website. Tasha writes about a public library in Ohio that has recently banned unchaperoned children under 14 from using the library in the afternoons. Tasha asks: "What message are we as libraries sending these future taxpayers and what message are we giving to the parents of the teens? Doesn't seem like a very positive one."

I completely agree (as does Susan Thomsen at Chicken Spaghetti)! I understand that libraries have conflicting patron needs, and that unaccompanied young teens can be difficult to handle. But if you have kids who want to be at the library, shouldn't you let them? Don't we want these kids to grow up reading books, and respecting libraries? The percentage of kids who read for pleasure drops off sometime around age 12 or 13 (per Paul Kropp in Raising a Reader; Make Your Child a Reader for Life). And no wonder, if libraries are going to kick these kids out. Do you readers have any thoughts on this? -- Jen

Tax Break for Books

I enjoyed Linwood Barclay's column in yesterday's Toronto Star. Responding to a Canadian tax break for children's physical activities, Mr. Barclay proposed an additional tax break for any money spent on books or other printed material. The idea being to make Canada more of a country that encourages reading, especially in children. Now, I don't know that something like this would be feasible in the U.S. (or in Canada, for that matter), but I think that it's a great idea nevertheless. Incidentally, Linwood Barclay has written a couple of mysteries: Bad Move and Bad Guys. I haven't read them yet, but they are now at the top of my list.