Literacy Now

We met Dana Reisboard at a recent International Reading Association (IRA) event and were immediately impressed by her enthusiasm and dedication to literacy education. In this Member of the Month interview, she shares her path from a special education teacher to an assistant professor at Widener University in Pennsylvania, how to engage students in reading, and of course her excitement for the IRA 59th Annual Conference in New Orleans! 

How did you begin your career, and what led you to your current position?

I began my career as a teacher at the Benchmark School, a primary and middle school devoted to teaching students who learn differently. It promotes reading development through research based best practices. Since I have two Masters Degrees, one in applied psychology and the other in special education, Benchmark provided a great opportunity to practice what I had learned in school and to develop new reading instruction methods that I’ve incorporated into my critical literacy teaching as an assistant professor of education.

What are you reading (personal, professional, or even children's/YA)?

I read a lot of children’s books. I regularly go to my favorite children’s bookstore and select books that demonstrate good character development and critical literacy. For example, I presented R.J. Polacio’s Wonder to my adolescent literature class at Widener University. We discussed how August Pullman, a 10 year old boy with facial deformities, coped with school bullying and social ostracism. These are issues which my students will have to address in their careers as teachers. I have two young children, 10 and 8. They are valuable book critics. The key to teaching reading is to find books that are authentic and engage the student while they access critical literacy skills. Personally, I’m re-reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, a book that has been on my “must read” list for years.

What do you consider to be your proudest career moment?

I have been fortunate to work with great educators at Benchmark School and to be a ninth-grade reading teacher in a public school in an urban area. As a teacher, I had proud career moments when I saw my reading methods having real success in practice. I would apply cognitive strategy instruction pedagogy and saw my students succeed. I always knew I would be a teacher, and earning my Ph.D. at Rutgers University was certainly a proud moment. However, my proudest career moment occurs every time when I see my students applying what I have taught them with success. Now, as an education professor, I enjoy seeing students learn how to be great teachers. When my student teachers win awards for being great teachers, this will be my proudest career moment. I am still early in my career and cannot wait to see that happen; I know it will.

At Widener, our students are teaching at an urban charter school. I experience proud moments when I see how we are both helping our community while learning how to be great teachers together.

What can literacy educators do to motivate kids to want to read?

Dana Reisboard with her students and their
"literacy polyannas"

We must engage students with authentic literature that highlight reading as a powerful transformative tool that can change their lives and views of the world. We are reading specialists who have learned how to teach literacy strategies. Our work and methods are constantly evolving. Through professional associations, like IRA, we can learn new practice methods and developmental tools to help us motivate kids to want to read.

Motivation starts with recognizing student diversity. Engagement occurs whenever students have the opportunity to read books that speak to their unique situation or others where they have personal interests. Classrooms provide the best learning environment where we can engage students to learn from one another and about the world we share together. Providing access to an engaging learning environment requires group teaching methods, such as read arounds, which provide a great way to introduce a new text.

What do you believe is the biggest challenge in literacy education today?

Providing access to education to children who learn differently and others who are economically disadvantaged is the biggest literacy challenge today. The news is filled with facts demonstrating that America’s income stratification is an impediment to literacy education. For example, today’s newspaper presented a story about how America’s middle class has, for the first time, lost economic ground when compared to other developed countries. Literacy education is a key ingredient necessary for America’s economic development. As educators, we possess the power to evoke real change by teaching effective reading methods. Public policies promoting preschool education and full day kindergarten are also steps which will help to bridge these social and economic gaps.

As literacy professionals, our biggest challenge is to engage students to master phonics when they enter the formal primary literacy environment. This is the key to their learning through our society’s text-based education pedagogy, used in secondary education and through professional development. The inability to access text content because of underdeveloped literacy skills is an achievement gap that presents our biggest literacy challenge.

The longer I am in the field, the more convinced I become of the need for affordable, high quality, early childhood education. An enormous challenge educators at all levels face is that children arrive to kindergarten and/or first grade without the prerequisite emergent literacy skills needed for reading. Without these skills and emergent literacy experiences, children enter school at a significant disadvantage to their peers who have engaged in early childhood education programs and have been exposed to the prerequisite concepts and experiences to facilitate reading.

How long have you been a member of IRA? How has membership influenced your career?

Delivering books on World Book Day, April 23, 2014

I have been a member of IRA for fourteen years. Dr. Lesley Morrow was my primary faculty advisor and chair of my dissertation committee when I attended Rutgers as a Ph.D. student. She encouraged me to attend the annual conference. I am grateful for this suggestion and also for her sharing her professional relationships with me. My experience with the IRA has had a profound impact on my career.

Fourteen years ago, at the IRA conference in New Orleans, I met Dr. Michael Pressley. He became my “unofficial” advisor and helped craft reading lists and guided me as I learned more about reading comprehension instruction. At an IRA conference in San Antonio, I met Dr. Gerald Duffy. Like Mike, Gerry provided ongoing and substantive support during my doctoral education and helped me to better understand and use direct explanation methods. He also served on my dissertation committee.

IRA supports a great professional learning environment. It has helped me to achieve professional goals and has provided many examples of great student teacher relationships.

We hear you're attending the IRA Annual Conference in New Orleans. What are you looking forward to doing there?

Apart from eating delicious food and enjoying New Orleans culture, I am looking forward to two LEADER-SIG events. I am the President of this IRA special interest group. We have exciting events planned in New Orleans. The LEADER-SIG Awards and Reception on Friday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Marriot Hotel will be a great opportunity to meet new people, including IRA LEADERS, past and present. At this event I will happily present the well deserved, Distinguished Service Award to a colleague who is also mentor, and friend.

I am also looking forward to participating at the LEADER-SIG symposium on Sunday, May 11 at 3:00 p.m. in the Ernest N. Morial Conference Center, facilitated by LEADER Vice President Jenny Roca Mills. Notable reading scholars Patricia Edwards, Kathy Headley, David Monti, Elfrieda Hiebert, Rita Bean, and Bonni Botel-Sheppard will share their teaching experiences.

What do you like to do when you’re not wearing your educator hat?

I enjoy being with my family. My kids are very active. My son does karate and soccer. My daughter does gymnastics. Together, we travel, go to the beach, ride bikes, play tennis, garden, and cook. We like to laugh a lot. Personally, I also enjoy meditation and yoga.

What’s the best advice you could offer someone new to the profession?

Teaching is a hard profession, but the rewards are great. Don’t compromise your ideals or belief in a better tomorrow. Be yourself and keep working towards this goal.

During this process, take care of yourself. Self-care is often overlooked, yet it is an essential characteristic of all happy and healthy educators. Keeping yourself physically and mentally healthy and personally inspired is imperative if educators are to convey these qualities to our students.

Sara Long is a content manager at the International Reading Association. 

Seeking to attract all kinds of readers: eager readers, aliterate readers, reluctant readers, readers stuck in one genre, and even adult readers? Try a Choices Chat or book discussion!

After constantly listening to the same tired dialogue about why kids aren’t reading—they don’t have time anymore, they’d rather be gaming, books are so long and boring, and (my favorite!) boys don’t read—I introduced several informal opportunities for kids and adults to read, gather, and talk about books. The response was positive and sometimes overwhelming. Some of the chats attracted up to forty readers at a session!

My book discussion groups grew from two needs from teachers and one request from students. The teachers’ request stemmed from the Children’s Choices project, a joint venture between the International Reading Association (IRA) and Children’s Book Council (CBC). The fifth and sixth grade students weren’t reading and voting enough, she said. Beyond making the Children’s Choices books easily available to students in the classroom or putting them on display in the library, students needed encouragement to read and vote. Yet teachers and librarians are not permitted to book talk or promote the titles since the students must be free to select, comment, and vote on the books without any influence from adults.

The student request came from kids complaining about the Newbery Award books, and how they are selected by adults who couldn’t understand what kids like to read and what is “distinguished” literature for readers ages birth to 14.

Thus, the “Choices Chats” and “Mock Newbery Book Club” were created to give students a forum to present and talk about the Children’s Choices books and Newbery contenders they read with peers. These discussion groups offered a safe community to express views and ideas. Oh, some also had food!

We selected lunch time for the chats. This is the only time that didn’t interfere with anything else. Three librarians agreed to host them in their libraries. Kids brought their lunches into the library once a week for 25 minutes to talk about the Children’s Choices selections. Each librarian publicized the chat with their fifth and sixth graders. To our great surprise we had 10–15 students weekly at the elementary school, 25–30 at one middle school, and an entire third grade class at a second elementary school.

Here’s how it worked: Students received a pass from their language arts or homeroom teacher to be able to leave the lunchroom. They walked to the library with trays/bag lunches, signed in, grabbed a snack, and prepared to talk and listen. Everyone was required to bring the book they were reading to show as they talked. To keep discussions from getting stale, colored candy (Skittles, M & M’s, Sour Patch Kids) were used as discussion starters. Kids sat at library tables or on the floor and ate lunch while taking turns presenting their current read.

We used a stopwatch to limit each speaker to two minutes. It’s helpful as it gave everyone a chance to talk. Kids can easily run the stopwatch and gently remind the speakers when their time is up. By request from students, these chats have been extended to the end of the school year. Additionally, and upon request, seventh and eighth grade “Choices Chats” groups have been started. All of the chats feature books that are self-selected.

“Read ’n’ Feed” is a variation on a lunchtime book discussion group. Using the professional title “Fiction, Food, and Fun: The Original Recipe for the Read ’n’ Feed Program” (Closter, Snipes, and Thomas, 1998) as a guide, I collaborated with a local teen librarian to facilitate this book discussion. We initiated our “Read ’n’ Feed” program at my middle school library. We book talked four different titles and the seventh grade students checked out the book they were most interested in. Kids had a two-week deadline for reading the novel.

Through a grant from the school district we were able to purchase 20 copies of four different titles. We limited each discussion group to ten students and repeated the discussion (Tuesdays and Thursdays) over a semester. Subway pitched in and delivered sandwiches, a drink, and a cookie at a discount. Kids could place an order to comply with dietary needs. We also invited teachers and our administrators to assist us in facilitating discussions or sit in on the discussion.

We were able to fill each session and had strong support from the kids to continue it next year!

Our “Mock Newbery Book Club” was created to invite students to read and discuss books that could potentially win the Newbery Medal winner. My students had long complained since only adults select the Newbery winner, “How do they know what we like to read?” I also wanted students to improve discussion skills, read for recreation, read books they normally wouldn’t select, and be part of a community of readers.

I used the American Library Association’s Newbery and Caldecott Mock Elections Toolkit as a reference and my experience on the 2010 John Newbery Medal Committee to guide me. I have conducted this book club with several variations: at an elementary school for fourth and fifth graders at lunch time with one adult and no snacks, after school with both elementary and middle school students with two adults and snacks, and an after-school public library club with one adult and snacks. A blog is used to continue discussions as the clubs meet twice a month. Attendees learn about the history of the John Newbery Medal, as well as the guidelines and voting procedures the ALSC (Association of Library Service to Children) committee uses. Members read and discuss a variety of books deemed to be Newbery contenders. Voting and a pizza party takes place at the last meeting. The book club members anxiously await the results of the “real” Newbery Committee in late January.

We couldn’t let the students have all of the fun, could we? That’s why we started “Teachers Under Cover,” a teacher-only book club. Science and Social Studies teachers wanted ideas for novels for a collaborative unit with their teams. Teachers also wanted some good read-alouds for their classes that the kids hadn’t already heard that would also encourage recreational reading.

The “Teachers Under Cover” (TUC) book club started with six teachers. We met once a month, obtained professional development credit, snacked, socialized, and discussed two books. Teachers were encouraged to bring new faculty and administration was always invited.

Hosting book clubs is a great way to build recreational reading habits, assisting students to become confident in discussions and public speaking, and becoming part of a community that values reading. Book clubs also meet AASL (American Association of School Librarians) and Common Core State Standards. Book clubs benefit families by promoting family reading sessions and discussions.

Come see Nancy present “Let's Give 'Em Something to Talk About: Using Book Clubs to Promote Recreational Reading, Comprehension, and Discussion Skills” at IRA’s 59th Annual Conference on Saturday, May 10th, at 1 p.m.

Nancy Baumann is a retired school librarian and classroom teacher, literacy consultant, and author of “For the Love of Reading: Guide to K–8 Reading Promotions.” You can visit her online at mightyreaders.wordpress.com.

One of the greatest challenges for a reluctant reader is being able to become engaged in the story. When the reluctant reader cannot identify with a story or cannot relate to its characters, they quickly disengage. While a child may not show a natural interest in reading, this does not mean that he cannot become a skilled and even enthusiastic reader in the future.

As a former reluctant reader and member of reading Group C Grades 1 through 4, I suffered from this problem. Born to Spanish-speaking parents, I began speaking English after the age of four and as a result had a tough time in school. Back then, if teachers didn’t understand why you were not reading you were simply placed in Group C.

Actually, it was not as bad as you may think. I would look forward to reading time. Once the class would break up into our assigned reading groups I would spend my reading time drawing. Mostly I would draw and fantasize about stories I would rather be reading, stories with action and adventure, stories featuring characters that looked like me.

Most of us were quite content in Group C because as long as we were not disruptive to those wonderful students of Groups A and B, we could do pretty much anything except talk to one another. Some Group C students would just sit and stare at the images in the books, while some would play hangman with each other, and I would draw.

Sometimes the teacher would help and encourage us to read, but far too often they would be distracted by the more glamorous challenge of assisting an advanced reader in Group A or B. Just as the teacher would begin to get deeply involved with us in Group C, a cry from Group A or B would ring out, “Teacher, I need help,” and off she went, never to return.

Most of the members of Group C were African American newly from the south and Latinos newly from Latin America. And then there was me, of course.

Why was I a reluctant reader? It would take me 30 years to answer that question.

One of the problems was the reading material. Consistently not seeing myself represented in the reading material was a big turnoff. Worse was the fact that the few times I did see people of color in any books they were usually portrayed as slaves drawn as caricatures.

Our textbooks were filled with all types of stories. Some stories had an urban setting; however, the images consisted of an all-white cast. Oddly enough some of the children from Latin America identified with the white characters in the stories. Not only did it inspire them to read the stories, especially if the character was doing something cool, they would show off and say, “That’s me,” even though the character in the book at times was blonde.

If you were a child of African descent and attempted to do the same (that’s me) the other children would ridicule and torment you with, “That is not you—you are black!”

Why did they all take such joy in reminding me that I could not engage in the same fantasy as they did?

While drawing during reading time in Group C, I would often think, one day I am going create a story and it is going to reflect my world, my neighborhood, my parents, my friends, and my people. Someday a white child will read my story and say, “That’s me,” when he looks at my image and no one will torment him.

Today, one of the most rewarding experiences of being an author-illustrator is visiting schools and being able to offer children the opportunity to create their world. I have been conducting workshops in elementary schools on how to create a book dummy for about five years now, with amazing results.

A book dummy is a sample of a book, usually bound and hand-drawn with the text and the sketches in place—a fully paginated version of a story. The purpose of the book dummy is to give the editor and art director an idea of what the finished book will look like. Most book illustrators create a book dummy prior to creating the finished artwork for their books.

Prior to my school visit, children write an autobiographical manuscript of about 450 words or less. By not limiting the children to write only about their family, some children write about their friends, or the sports activities they are currently involved in. Some children even write about their pets.

On the day of the workshop I assist the children in constructing the book dummy. I also show them how to design a cover for their book. Then I show the children how to portion and divide their manuscript, eventually showing them how to cut and paste their text into their book dummy. Lastly, I assist the children in drawing the images. However, usually at this point they are off and running.

The workshop concludes with the children reading their stories out loud, sharing their world with their classmates and teachers.

One of the aspects I was drawn to in “Thirst for Home” was the fact that the story is seen from the perspective of Eva, a little girl from Ethiopia. The book reads almost as though Eva was given the assignment of writing an autobiographical story, the text of which she then cut and pasted into a book, and created the images. The book serves the purpose of telling us a little bit about her homeland, her birth mother, and her current family in America that loves and cares for her, her world.

I firmly believe that everyone has a story to tell. All stories are valid; however, whenever there is an overabundance of one type of story with a protagonist that always looks the same, we as a society run the risk of alienating a segment of the population.

Once a child is engaged they will not only read but will want to read more and about different things, including other worlds. After my workshops I usually get emails from teachers writing to tell me about that one reluctant reader who participated in my workshop that now likes to read.

Recently while visiting a school in Massachusetts a white child approach me and said that he liked my book “Grandma’s Gift” because the boy in the story was like him.

Inquisitively I asked, “How so?”

“Because I spend my winter vacation with my grandma and we cook together sometimes.”

Come see Eric Velasquez at IRA's 59th Annual Conference. He will be speaking at "Creating Teachable Moments that Increase Reading Proficiency and Engagement: Presenting Authors and Illustrators Whose Books Inform, Engage, and Inspire a Lifetime of Reading and Learning" from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 11th.

Eric Velasquez is the author and illustrator of “Grandma's Records” and the illustrator of “The Piano Man,” for which he won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award. His most recent collaborations with Carole Boston Weatherford include “I, Matthew Henson,” which received four starred reviews, and “Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive,” which received two starred reviews. He is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts and lives in New York. Visit him online at www.ericvelasquez.com.

One of the favorite children’s authors of every generation, Dr. Seuss authored 66 books in all, and only four of these were in prose. Dr. Seuss was a wonderful illustrator and poet with a heart for rhythm (which he acquired from his mother) and a prodigious imagination which helped him create wonderful books for children. He invented animals (the Dawf, the Kweet, Wogs [Scrambled Eggs Super, 1953]), alphabets (On Beyond Zebra, 1955), and rhythms that keep his books fresh and alive even today. There are plenty more fascinating facts to be found at the Dr. Suess official website.

This week, the International Reading Association's Children’s Literature Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) presents reviews of selected new books that are inspired by Dr. Seuss. The titles are imaginative, creative, and rhythmic. Their effervescent energies are certain to inspire the child in you to get dancing or dreaming!

Grades K-3

Byous, Shawn. (2014). Because I stubbed my toe. North Mankato, MN: Capstone Young Readers.

If your students need a smile, this is a great book to read. The story, narrated in first person, opens as a young boy stubs his toe. The impact of his toe shook the chair noisily and scared the dog. The dog scared the cat and the cat jumped out of the window. It landed on the head of girl, who dropped her ice cream cone that caused a biker to slide off the sidewalk and into a hive of bees. The bees attacked an old man who jumped into the pond. The splash surprised a woman, who tripped on a teeter-tooter. One unfortunate child got tossed high into the air and luckily landed on a crowded bouncy house. It sent the kids running and screaming straight into the zoo. It scared the elephants out of their cages and they were soon trampling down the street, and knocked over an ice cream truck. And guess whose window was open to grab the ice cream? A hilarious book, sure to get kids giggling!-

-Rani Iyer, Washington State University Pullman

Ering, T. B. (2014). The almost fearless Hamilton SquidLegger. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

If you want to engage your students in making up words and gently introduce them to the art of exploring the world on their own, this book is a great aide. During daylight hours, Hamilton has no problem slaying all the frackensnappers, skelecragons, or bracklesneeds in the swamp where he lives. However, at sundown, Hamilton has to escape into his secret hideaway!

That is until his father tempts him with his absolute favorite treat—a double-decker grasshopper worm-cake, with a snake-belly frosting. Hamilton had to stay in his mud all through the night to win it. At night, there is another downpour in the swamp, but Hamilton, shivering and nervous, stays in this mud. In an elaborate dream sequence, brilliantly illustrated, Hamilton meets other creatures, who take him on a ride over the ocean, an airship from where Hamilton can see the whole world—mountains, forests, animals, meadows, oceans, and rainbows! Excited and tired, Hamilton is ready for bed. And all his friends brush up and huddle to hear Hamilton’s dad read to them. Soon, they all sleep in their own mud, fearless at last!

-Rani Iyer, Washington State University Pullman

Hoberman, Mary Ann. (2014). You read to me, I’ll read to you: Very short tall tales to read together. Illus. by Michael Emberley. New York, NY: Little, Brown & Company.

Celebrating Dr. Seuss would be incomplete without the inclusion of the work of past Children’s Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman. The thirteen short stories in this volume retell stories of America’s heroes and heroines. Their deeds are amazing and larger than life.

The book presents the tall tales of Annie Oakley, Davy Crockett, John Henry, Slue-Foot Sue, Mike Fink, Casey Jones, Don-Jose Love-mad Lopez, Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan and many more in rhymes. The rhymes are meant for two voices, each portion indicated in different color. The rhymes present great opportunities for young students to practice early reading theatre activities, and even put up plays based on these rhymes. The characters presented are of various nationalities that settled the United States during the pioneer era, although there is a paucity of Native American and Asian characters in this volume. This is a wonderful volume for English language learners to practice their reading skills.

-Rani Iyer, Washington State University Pullman

Kennedy, Anne Vittur. (2014). The farmer’s away! Baa! Neigh! Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

The happy hours for the barnyard animals begin when the farmer leaves. They go rafting and picnicking, ride on a roller-coaster and a hot air balloon, and dance on the meadow during the sunset while everyone is dressed up. The dog’s cry, the signal to indicate farmer’s return, seems just like the striking sound of a clock for Cinderella. It reminds the animals to return to reality and they rush and dash back to the barnyard where they are supposed to be. Everything is like what it used to be.

The story primarily relies on the illustrations of the happy anthropomorphized animals to tell the story, while all written text is composed of onomatopoeia. The endpapers show the animal-sound index with which readers can consult. By following the animal rhymes, readers will enjoy the rhythmic lines!

-Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Levy, Janice. (2014). Thomas the Toadilly Terrible bully. Illus. by Bill Slavin and Esperança. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.

Moving to a new town, Thomas the Toad is craving attention. He dresses up to impress and acts as a bully in a hope of getting everyone’s eyes on him. However, no one cares because he isn’t scary and mean enough. When Gomer arrives, Thomas thinks that he has found a target he can bully. After making Gomer cry, Thomas feels guilty for what he’s done. However Gomer has bigger problems. He confesses that he has a bigger, stronger, and fiercer bully chasing after him. Thomas decides to help Gomer fight back against the bully. This story reminds readers that there are better ways to make friends instead of being a bully. Show your big heart and lend a hand to someone in need.

-Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Morris, Richard, T. (2014). This is a moose. Illus. by Tom Lichtenheld. New York, NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

An animal crew is filming the life of Mighty Moose, who wants to be an astronaut in the wood by the riverside. As the leading actor, Mighty Moose is always ready to fly to the moon in his space suit, but Duck (the director) asks the animal actors to behave like animals. Ignoring director Duck’s request, the animal crew launch Mighty Moose safely in outer space, and then the whole filming team follows Mighty Moose to space to shoot the movie there.

This is a humorous and hilarious story with anthropomorphized animal narrators and actors. The two-page, colorful illustrations created in ink, pencil, and gouache vividly capture the motion of animals with the use of movement lines, which is also featured in Dr. Seuss’s illustrations, to provide visual effect. The pleasure of reading this book is augmented by the endpapers and a glossary of filmmaking terms introduced in the book.

-Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Parenteau, Shirley. (2014). Bears in the bath. Illus. by David Walker. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

Although dusty, muddy, sweaty and stinky, the four little bears don’t want to take a bath! Getting dirty after a wrestle with four little bears, Big Brown Bear decides to jump in the tub first! Splish, Splash, Sploosh! How happy he is! Tempted by the big bear, four little bears finally hop into the tub and have a fun moment with bubbles and giggles.

The furry bear illustrations with warm colors invite young readers to read about an experience that many of them may share in their daily routine. The text is meant to be read aloud. The reverberating sound of the words adds to the joy of reading this story!

-Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Rissman, Rebecca. (2014). A dog’s day. Illus. by Becka Moor. Chicago, IL: Raintree.

Introducing young readers to point of view is difficult. In this lovely, upside-down book, the readers read the story from the perspective of Rusty the dog and Rosie the girl, who walks and plays with him every day. Rusty, without his leash and owner, decides to walk into the stores and jumps into the fountain in the town square. He is surprised and sad when nobody welcomes him. Sometime later, Rusty realizes that he is hungry and lost when he hears a familiar voice calling his name. At this point in the story, Rosy and Rusty meet and the reader must flip over the book to read Rosie’s part of the story.

The book is a great way to introduce characters and POV. The storyline is really simple and even the youngest readers can actually ‘see’ where the characters meet and the two strands ‘twine.’ This is a great book for the youngest readers.

-Rani Iyer, Washington State University Pullman

Spires, Ashley. (2014). The most magnificent thing. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.

In this story, a little girl decides that she will make the most magnificent thing in the world. She gathers few things and puts them together with the help of her pet dog. She knows how it will look, and she also knows how it will work. Easy-peasy! However, things are not the same when she starts working on the project.

It is not as magnificent as she wanted, it is not good, and it does not even work! She tries hard to make it better—change the shape, give it legs, maybe the antennae would do the trick, or maybe make it fuzzy. They are all different, but not magnificent. Her assistant helps her cool off her anger with a walk. And she comes back to create the most magnificent thing ever! Young readers will love the surprise ending. Readers learn that not everything comes out “just the right way” instantly.

-Rani Iyer, Washington State University Pullman

These reviews and resources are submitted by members of the International Reading Association’s Children’s Literature and Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Reading Today Online.

The CL/R SIG will host a special session entitled Children's Literature: The Perfect Teachable Moment on Saturday, May 10 at 3:00 p.m. at the International Reading Association 59th Annual Conference in New Orleans. The session celebrates award-winning children's and young adult books and authors. Author Nancy Bo Flood is the keynote session speaker. Her work encompasses more than a dozen books. Her recent historical fiction "Warriors in the Crossfire" is set in Saipan during WWII, and was selected on the 2011 Notable Books for a Global Society (NBGS) list. The NBGS list represents selections and authors from all genres K-12, with a focus on understanding of and appreciation for the world's full range of diverse cultures, ethnic, and racial groups. The session will also include presentation of the 2014 Notable Books for a Global Society (NBGS) list by members of the selection committee. Visit http://www.iraconference.org to learn more about IRA 2014 or to register.