Celebrating and Supporting Women Who Lead this Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day is less than a week away, and this year we are celebrating by shining a light on some of the many incredible women in our LitWorld family who help their communities stay strong - through COVID-19 and beyond!

From sewing and distributing face-masks to reading aloud with children and creating a new generation of leaders, we are beyond thankful for these role-models and honored to support their journeys with Moms LitClubs.

Kenya Connect, Kenya

Laughter and chatter filled the room during the last Moms LitClub session at Kenya Connect as LitMoms worked together word-by-word to tell a story, then used book illustrations to create their own stories! Afterwards, each LitMom borrowed a picture book to replicate the activity with their children and grandchildren, passing the knowledge and joy on to the next generation.

According to LitMom Anna, "The skills that I have acquired from LitClub have made me a teacher, and I am very confident that I can now teach my grandchildren... I have gained so much interest in reading. Whenever I go out to graze my cattle, I carry a book with me. What we are doing in Moms LitClub is really helping me a lot."

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Seeds of Hope Foundation, Pakistan

In the wake of COVID-19, LitMoms at Seeds of Hope Foundation took action by starting a friendly sewing competition to make face masks! Safia and Anum won with 230 and 150 masks made respectively, which they distributed to the community for free.

Safia told our partners that "she is really grateful to LitWorld and Seeds of Hope Foundation for giving her this opportunity to use her skills for the betterment of humanity in such a crucial circumstance." She also added that "in this epidemic, everyone needs to be optimistic and to act courageously to fight against this adversity."

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Ready for Reading, Rwanda

When LitClub mentor Sylvie was unable to join other Ready for Reading LitClub members for World Read Aloud Day this February, she did not get discouraged. Instead, she celebrated at her own home and led a read aloud with her family, encouraging a culture of learning and joy!

Like Sylvie, many LitMoms have been working hard to share skills they learned in Moms LitClubs with their families. Check out Josephine, Francoise, and Fortune reading aloud with their kids, instilling in them a love for reading and giving them the tools they need for a brighter future!

Memorable Read Aloud Moments

Guest post by Abigail Calkin, author of The Soul of My Soldier. Read more of her writing by visiting her blogs here or here.

My grandson loves ocean fishing and caught his first salmon and first halibut as a preschooler. However, even as a nine-year-old, he doesn’t love schoolwork and had not brought a book with him for our weekend together. He decided the book I was reading, Crawford’s Mariner’s Weather, reading level probably technical university graduate, would do fine and opened to the first chapter. He slowly read the first two paragraphs to me, then interpreted them to tell me we live on the vast ocean floor of the atmosphere.

At one school where I was principal, we had twenty minutes of silent reading every day after lunch. Occasionally a teacher would read to the classroom during that time. Yes, students reading out loud would have been better but far noisier. In today’s world, perhaps 20 minutes of twenty-five children reading aloud in one room might work, but we didn’t think of it then. In the school, we also had a gallon jar in the office that held all positive tickets any staff member had given a student whether for good learning, good behavior, or a special kindness. By the end of the week, the jar had always filled.

One March during Read Aloud Month, I said if the slightly more than 200 students from very nonacademic homes read 1,000 books, I planned to spend a day doing my work on the roof of the school. The students made lists of books read at school and home. Parents signed for those at home. We vastly exceeded our aim as they collectively read over 5,000. I drew a name from the jar for one student who would get to eat lunch on the roof with me. Ten-year-old Kim climbed the ladder and we had a delightful, chatty lunch in the sunshine. Some 1990s Topeka Capital Journal has a photo and short article of the rooftop event.

Waiting for laundry to finish—two parents, two children, two books.

Another memorable reading moment occurred when I watched my son, daughter-in-law, and their infant daughter cuddle between them to listen to her nightly bedtime story. Reading aloud doesn’t have to occur at bedtime only, though. Laundromats in an Alaska winter are fine.  

When I was a graduate student supervisor, Daisy, in the graduate program, had a high school student who wanted to be on the football team, but his grades were too low. When he came to the university reading clinic, he had a beginning second grade reading level, not high enough to absorb the content of high school texts and pass all courses.

University terms were ten weeks, thus Daisy would work with him for ten weeks. Daisy did one thing I thought was crazy. She had him read Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Oral reading fluency is 200 to 250 words per minute. The young man read 40 words a minute. At the end of ten weeks, neither gave up. Daisy volunteered her time for the next six and a half months to continue to teach him to read better. Yes, with the training she had, they did more than just read from the book. She also worked to improve his phonic and comprehension skills. Nine months after they started, the young man finished Of Mice and Men, still at a frequency of 40 to 45 words per minute. He improved his reading scores from beginning second grade to mid-fourth grade level, a two and a half year gain in nine months. He got on the team and graduated from high school.

The benefits of reading aloud are at least twofold—teach the love of reading and teach the habit of reading. Have books in your house. Let your children and others see you read a book or magazine. Let people see you absorbed by the words, pictures, and stories.  

Reading Aloud: A New Appreciation

Guest post by Scott Rubin. Scott Rubin’s super nerdy and uplifting baby name book, Naming Your Little Geek, was published by Familius in 2020.

We can all agree that books are the best. I grew up with parents and grandparents instilling in me a deep love and respect for books, and as a geek and author I’ve only grown in that appreciation. My favorite books take me to fantastical worlds and into the depths of space, and to meet ancient evils, secret societies, and superheroes hiding in plain sight. For most of my life, reading was a solitary endeavor, best enjoyed by myself in quiet surroundings. Recently, though, I’ve gained a huge appreciation for reading aloud, and you should too. 

Why read out loud? Let’s start with the obvious; it’s crucial for kids. I have two young sons, 2 and 6 as of this World Read Aloud Day. Before becoming a parent, I expected to read them a lot of silly stuff, marking time until I could start filling their heads with “real” science-fiction, fantasy, and the like. Boy, was I wrong! There is so much incredible kid literature out there, and a lot of it is really fun to read out loud. I’m not just talking about rhymes and goofy sounds, but unique characters, interesting stories, and emotional beats that will stick with you and them.

Best of all, reading to my children has given me a new love and appreciation for reading out loud. It’s a whole new way to enjoy your favorite stories! During the pandemic I started livestreaming, and reading aloud has become a major aspect of what I do. Whether it’s slogging through the complex prose of Frank Herbert’s Dune novels or channeling my inner bard with ancient epic poetry, I’m bringing to life incredible tales.

Heroes and villains speak through me, and I get to enjoy the richness of the author’s words like I never have before. Sounds and onomatopoeia literally become audible, and sometimes unintentionally hilarious. I’ve even discovered some instances when homophones can create alternate (hidden?) meanings in texts that you’ll only experience when reading out loud or listening to the reading!

 No matter what kinds of books you enjoy, I highly recommend doing some out loud reading. Even when doing it by yourself, the experience can be very different and offer you a new way to connect with stories, histories, and more. Even better, find yourself a kid and share the love of reading with a new generation!

Some of my favorite books to read aloud include Frank Herbert’s Dune, epic poetry like the Iliad, Prose Edda, and the Epic of Gilgamesh, and children’s books like Girl and Dragon series by Barbara Joosse and Randy Cecil and My Truck Is Stuck by Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk.

The Book of Mistakes and Reading Aloud: Jenn Curtis

Guest post by Jenn Curtis.

My house is littered in white printer paper, and it’s been like that for years. Clear Ziploc baggies made colorful with ragtag hodgepodges of crayons, pens, markers, and colored pencils are tucked away in every single room. Both my girls love the creative process, whether it involves writing stories about The Friendship Club (modeled after the Babysitters Club) or coloring for hours.

Several years ago, when my oldest daughter was 4, I started to notice just how difficult it was for her to make a small mistake, particularly when she was writing or drawing. I feared that, in time, her mistake aversion might inconveniently spill out into the rest of her life. A slight shift of the hand, revealing a misshapen “o” or lopsided eyes, led to a meltdown—or at the least to an insurmountable obstacle that made crumpled up printer paper overtake our trash cans. Frustrated with my own inability to help her see the beauty in her mistakes, I turned to books. I still remember the day The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken arrived on our front doorstep.

The Book of Mistakes is a beautifully illustrated book about an artist who makes a mistake while drawing. That mistake leads to others—splotches, incongruous limbs, an unfortunate “frog-cat-cow thing”—which lead to others, which ultimately reveal a gorgeously unique piece of artwork that never would have existed were it not for the initial mistake. Mistakes are beautiful, it taught. The creative process is exciting and mysterious, it said. The first time I read it to my daughter, she listened intently. She leaned into me. But she didn’t say much. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if she was absorbing the point, but I hoped that she’d grasp the lesson over time.

Every few weeks, for quite some time, she’d go back to that book. She fixated on the art, but she remained quiet even as we discussed what the book taught us. Over time, though, as she became more interested in reading independently, The Book of Mistakes was tucked away on the bookshelf, replaced by chapter books with zany plotlines and curiosity-piquing mysteries.  

Last week, my daughter, now 7, set to work on a picture for her teacher. Armed with a fine black pen (eerily similar to that used in The Book of Mistakes), she started in on creating her piece—a simple depiction of her and her teacher. Within minutes, she realized that her legs in the picture were not nearly long enough to rest on the same plane as the legs she’d drawn for her teacher… but they were supposed to be standing right next to one another.

With a level of calm that I wasn’t expecting, her eyes turned upward. Rather than crumpling the paper with an exasperated snarl, she softly said, “Oops. I guess I’ll have to draw in some floor tiles to fix it.” She incorporated her classroom’s blue and yellow tiles under their feet, an unplanned addition. Several minutes later, her attempt to draw an object (I’m not sure what) went awry. She paused to think, then morphed the object gone wrong into a stack of books, then housed the floating stack of books on a sturdy bookshelf. An error while drawing her fingers led to the pair sharing ice cream cones together. Satisfied, she colored in her creation, and before placing it in an envelope to gift to her teacher the next morning, she took me on a tour through her creative process. When she was done? “It’s just like The Book of Mistakes, mom.”

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Jenn Curtis, MSW, is an educational consultant, author, and speaker. She is the co-author of The Parent Compass: Navigating Your Teen’s Wellness and Academic Journey in Today’s Competitive World. As owner of FutureWise Consulting, a college counseling company in Orange County, California, she is most passionate about empowering students to find their voice and their purpose. Jenn also co-hosts The Parent Compass x Smart Social Podcast, where she explores parenting amidst a competitive academic environment. On it, she chats with bestselling authors, parenting experts, and education thought leaders. Jenn lives in San Clemente, California with her husband and two daughters.

Reading Aloud Creates Lasting Memories

Guest post by Pam Lobley, author of ‘Why Can’t We Just Play?’

On the surface, I might seem like the worst person to talk about reading to children. My sons, who are now ages 23 and 20, don’t read at all unless they have to: if it is required for a college course or a job. They are able to read; they are intelligent, successful people. They just don’t find reading fun.

This is so hard for me, because reading is one of my greatest pleasures. Sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree. In this case, it fell in another country.

When they were little boys, I read to them avidly on a daily basis. I spent hours at the library combing through books to find stories they would relate to, topics that aligned with their interests, and authors they would relish. My husband, an actor, would put on elaborate voices for the characters. The kids loved our read alouds.

When it came time for them to read their own books, however, they stalled. They read the exact minimum they needed to for school and not one sentence more. They were not allowed to watch TV or play video games after dinner most school nights, so it was not that books were competing with screens. It was simply that they did not enjoy reading. They played with Legos or made up games with their stuffed animals instead.

Undeterred, I started to read aloud longer books. Once they got a taste of deep, wonderful storytelling, I figured, they would be hooked. We read Harry Potter, Peter and the Starcatcher, and old favorites like My Side of the Mountain. At the urging of his sixth grade teacher, Jack and I tried Little House in the Big Woods (the first in the Little House on the Prairie series). I wasn’t sure an 11-year old boy would like it, but he did, and we went on to read every single one in the series. I had never read them as a child, so the stories were as new and delightful to me as they were to him.

Alas, my read aloud theory didn’t work. The boys grew into men who don’t enjoy books.

Isn’t that just like parenthood? We work so hard to give our kids all the advantages and to share our joys and interests with them, but we never know what is really going to “take.” They are free to choose their own joys and interests and will not fail to do so.

However, reading is not just a means to an end; I was not only reading so that they would read in the future. I was reading because I wanted to share books in that moment. And boy, did we! During their middle school years we read tons of books including classics like Black Beauty (try it!) and little-known gems like Nothing to Fear (stirring portrait of growing up in the Depression in New York City). The last book I read aloud to my son, just before he started ninth grade, was Gentle Ben. It was a revelation for both of us. A classic that almost no one reads anymore, it has violence, sadness, longing and beautiful descriptions of the pristine Alaskan wilderness. And of course, it has a truly wondrous animal adventure at the center of it.

I consider our read alouds one of my most cherished parental accomplishments. Once upon a time we were swept away during nights of laughter and adventure and wonder; we listened to tales we would never have otherwise heard. We lingered in quiet, one-on-one time while the rest of the world was kept at bay. We held our breath, wondering what would happen on the next page. Reading is magic, and we happily surrendered to its spell.

During those years I filled my children’s heads with stories and their hearts with memories. And we have lived happily ever after.

Podcasts for World Read Aloud Day

Imagination is kids’ superpower, and what better time to celebrate it than during the annual World Read Aloud Day celebration, when their minds are filled with the wonder of stories? 

This World Read Aloud Day, discover the magic of imagination and storytelling in all forms with The Story Seeds Podcast! Story Seeds brings kids from ages 6-13 together with their favorite authors, who help them grow their ideas into a story. In each episode, authors and kids collaborate to show the magic that happens when adults make time to deeply listen to young people.

There’s a whole season of Story Seeds for you to enjoy, featuring 10 well-known and diverse American children’s book authors such as Dan Gutman, Veera Hiranandani, Aram Kim, and Rajani LaRocca, along with 10 super creative and smart kids. There’s even an episode with Jason Reynolds, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature!

A fun starter episode for WRAD is Episode 9: Look Before You Eat, which features storytelling champion Bil Lepp and 12 year old Keshav from New York City collaborating to create a fun story that puts a delicious, chocolate-y spin on the classic Three Little Pigs folktale. Listen here at www.storyseedspodcast.com, and find bonus photos and fun facts about Bil and Keshav to share!

Click Here to Listen Now

If that’s not enough to get you hooked, here are a few more reasons to listen to Story Seeds this World Read Aloud Day:

• A catchy theme song that will get kids singing “I’m in control of my destiny.” Who doesn’t need an affirmation like that in 2021? 

• An immersive storytime segment that you can play in your classroom or home to inspire kids to start imagining and writing their own stories.

• Host Betsy Bird weaves all sorts of fun facts and writing tips into each episode

• The podcast comes with an activity book, Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity, which is available worldwide and includes writing, reading, and STEAM activities for each episode. 

• It provides an aural experience for young people’s ears that helps them spend time off screens while introducing them to new authors and the writing process. 

• It can inspire kids to dream up their own stories. A recent Kids Listen survey reported that 74% of young podcast listeners remain highly engaged with the material they listen to, either by telling others what they’ve learned, seeking out more information after listening, or requesting to do an activity inspired by the podcast.

• You can listen wherever you are. In fact, podcasts require very little streaming bandwidth which allows for greater accessibility and easy listening on your mobile devices.

But what other fun storytime podcasts are there? We asked the producers of Story Seeds—Sandhya Nankani and Anjali Sakhrani—to put together a playlist to help you and your family get into the storytelling mood! They are big fans of popular podcasts like Julie’s Library, Circle Round, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, and Story Pirates that you may have already heard of. Here are some of their top picks of some other shows for you to discover! 

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For Little Ears, check out …

500 Words’ Bedtime Stories

Based on the famed 500 Words BBC Radio 2 short story writing competition for kids, this podcast is made up of funny and heartwarming bedtime stories written by kids ages 6-13.

Recommended Episode: It’s Up To You How Far You’ll Go. If You Don’t Try, You’ll Never Know!

Listen Now

African Folktales

Narrated by the lyrical voice of storytellers Miss JoJo and Auntie Oni who take listeners on a magic jeep excursion to discover lands where animals talk and people lie. Each episode is under 10 minutes, features a folktale of the African and African American tradition, and comes with an activity guide.

Recommended Episode: The Rabbit and the Turtle

Listen Now

Stories for Wonderful Children

Host Dan Wendelin is a dad who used to imagine a new bedtime story for his children each night. Now, he shares the best of those stories with you and your family. These 10-15 minute tales for children 4-10, with a narrator whose voice is engaging and soothing with a once-upon-a-time charm.

Recommended Episode: Peggy the Ant

Listen Now

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For Tween and Teen Listeners, Try…

What Will She Do Next?

Women’s history set to music and performed by musical theater performers. If you already know and love Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, you’ll love this one

. Recommended Episode: Episode 1, Dr. Mae Jamison

Listen Now

Unspookable

Unspookable is a family friendly look at the histories and mysteries behind your favorite scary stories, myths and urban legends.

Recommended Episode: Episode #19, Dragons

Listen Now

This American Life

This American Life is a hallmark in public radio. Each episode is centered around a theme told in three stories, celebrating both the ordinary and extraordinary.

Recommended Episode: Act Two of The Magic Show

Listen Now

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And, if you can’t get enough … 

The Kids Listen Activity Podcast

The Kids Listen Activity Podcast is THE tasting menu of kids podcasts. It was created by Kids Listen (an organization that advocates for high-quality audio content for kids) in response to lockdown and the millions of kids being homeschooled around the world. Each week you’ll discover a new show and get access to a paired activity which helps kids dive deeper into the featured episode.

The Magic and Mystery of Reading: A Letter from Author Nancy Dearborn

Guest post by author and WRADvocate Nancy Dearborn. Nancy Dearborn’s picture book, Hugga Loula, will be published March 2, 2021 with Familius.

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Power of the Written Word 

I have a voice.

I want to be heard.

Each and every word.

Every human being longs to tell and share their stories because our stories are the very essence of who we are. Our lives and experiences are all stories waiting to be told. All of us have something to share, so each of us has a unique voice. Our voices may be bright and brilliant like a star or warm and wispy like clouds or they may be soft and smooth like freshly fallen snow.

And every one of us has a right to be heard regardless of our race, sex, age, etc. Through our words we can offer care, comfort, and hope to others and ultimately change the world for the better.

Our words can give others courage, strength, a spring in their step, and make them feel absolutely amazing. They can uplift and encourage others to keep going, to never give up, and to be the best person they can be.

Our words have hands that reach out and touch people deeply. And our words have breath, for they help people breathe and live. And ultimately, that is why most writers write – to share knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.

Life is a paradox – the more we give our words and ourselves to others, the more our own lives are enriched.

Why Read Aloud?

I look forward to reading every day because books bring me great joy.

Books are filled with magical, mystical pages that carry us to distant lands and faraway places. We can travel on an African safari, experience the rainforest in the Yucatan, and visit the great pyramids in Egypt – all within the comfort and safety of our home, school, or library. It is through books that we learn and come to understand more about others and ourselves as well. Books offer care, comfort, and hope. They help us realize that sometimes what seems impossible, is in fact, possible.

Books help us connect to those around us as well as those faraway. They help us realize that our lives are not so different from others after all. We are not alone in what we experience and in what we feel. Books help us to know and understand that we are not alone in this journey we call life.

Reading opens our hearts and our lives to imagination. Books make us more than what we were before we read them.

Reading aloud is music to our ears. It’s also a dance we listen to filled with rhythm, rhyme, and voice. Reading aloud helps stories come alive for others through facial expression, tone, voice, etc. Sharing and giving to others is the secret of life – that a person builds a life by what they give others.

So, grab one of your favorite books, your favorite reading buddy, and join us for World Read Aloud Day! 

Note: Three of my favorite picture books to read aloud are The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR by Audrey & Don Wood, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, and Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes by Eric Litwin.