It hadn’t occurred to me before just how powerful women’s voices have been in shaping me as a reader, a writer, and a human being.
Read moreReview: Caspian & Breeze
Gunay Moon's poetic imagery brings the Bosphorus Strait, and the seagulls who call it home, to vivid life in Caspian and Breeze: A Tale of Courage and Adventure
Read moreMy Favorite Fictional Witch
In honor of Halloween I want to take a moment to celebrate my favorite fictional witch. There are a lot out there, from Macbeth's Three Witches, to The Grand High Witch, to Big Witch and Little Witch. But my favorite is, and always will be, Old Black Witch.
Read moreKids learn more “rare words” from books than from the adults around them
The other day, I came across a scholarly article called, “What Reading Does for the Mind.” It’s an oldie, originally published in 1998 in a journal from the American Federation of Teachers. It discusses kids’ unique sponginess, and the notion that most of the vocabulary we develop when we’re young comes from exposure in our environment, rather than through direct instruction. But it goes a step further, suggesting that written word has a much greater influence than spoken on kids’ developing lexicons.
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