WRADvocate Profile: Debi Pfitzenmaier

Debi is a writer, media relations pro, mom to beautiful kids, psychologist wannabe, lifelong learner, book lover, and our WRADvocate from San Antonio, Texas! Debi writes a beautiful blog called SA Busy Kids, which answers this question for San Antonio parents: What am I going to do with my kids today? We wouldn't be surprised if Debi replied, "read"!

Learn more about Debi below:

1. Can you share some of your earliest memories of reading and how they impacted you?

My bedroom had a big closet, and in that closet was a set of shelves and those shelves were filled with books. I think I always had my nose in one. I loved Aesop's fables and The Great Brain books. And when my teachers would tell me to write, I would grab a book and emulate what I saw. I think this is why I became a writer. Because I loved to read, and I loved the way words could be woven together to tell a story.

2. Is there a particular book that has changed your life in some way and why?

George MacDonald's Unspoken Sermons. It's challenging to get through...one sentence can be an entire paragraph long. But he made me completely rethink everything I thought I believed through the beauty of his prose, the logic of his thought and the strength of his convictions. The man is nothing short of brilliant. Whether you agree with him or not, you must give thought to the ideas he puts forward when faced with his reasoning.

3. What advice would you give to teachers, parents and caregivers who want to reach their struggling readers?

Let go of the rules. Who said we have to read at a specific level? Let a child read a preschool book if the topic interests him. I just finished reading a 4th grade book, Shakespeare's Secret, and it was absolutely delightful! As C.S. Lewis said "A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a children's story in the slightest." I never understood why age or reading level mattered if the story interested you.

Who said we had to sit up straight at the table? Maybe your child needs to move. Put him on a giant exercise ball and let him bounce around while he reads or let her lay on her stomach.

And who ever said we had to read alone? Share the experience by reading together. Maybe you read the same book by taking turns reading the sentence. Laugh at how the words sound. Talk about what the story is about. Make up a different ending. Or maybe you just set aside a family reading night and everyone reads his or her own book in the same room at the same time.

Teach a child to love words, the sound of words, the way they tickle your tongue and roll around your mouth. Laugh at how the words sound. Balderdash, cockamamie and albondigas (a Spanish word for meatballs) are some really funny sounding words. Share some palindromes like civic, level, stats and solos. Create some rhymes or make a wordle (wordle.net) from the main words in a book. Words really are so much fun!

Find anything and everything (online and off) that caters to whatever your child is passionate about and put it in front of him to read.

This helps foster a love of reading, instead of leaving it on the line item listed as "chore."

4. What book do you think young people should not miss?

Any book about whatever it is they love. Because what I think you shouldn't miss doesn't matter; it's all about the person who is reading. Besides, I'd probably end up giving you a whole list. Too difficult to narrow down to just one.

5. What do you think is most essential for teachers, parents and caregivers to do in order to nurture a child to become a lifelong reader?

I think you have to let go of the notion that you can teach someone to read. You can only provide the conditions in which they can learn and maybe show them some basic tools, like sounding out words. Foster curiosity, however, and you open the door that fuels the desire to read. And reading opens the door to worlds unknown. This is why good readers are such interesting people!

WRADvocate profile: Caroline Leavitt

We are excited to introduce you to our WRADvocate in New Jersey, Caroline Leavitt!

Caroline Leavitt is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Pictures of You and 8 other novels. Pictures of You made the Best Books of 2011 List from the San Francisco Chronicle, Providence Journal, Bookmarks Magazine and Kirkus named it one of the Top 5 Books of 2011 on Family and Love. It was also a San Francisco Chronicle Lit Pick and a Costco Pennie's Pick. She teaches novel writing at UCLA Writers Program online and she is a book critic for the Boston Globe, People Magazine, Shoptopia and Dame Magazine. She lives in Hoboken, NJ with her husband the writer, Jeff Tamarkin and their son Max

Caroline will be joining our March 7th World Read Aloud Day Celebration at Book of Wonder, where she'll be reading selections from her favorite children's books. We're looking forward to having Caroline as a special reader on March 7th!

1. Can you share some of your earliest memories of reading and how they impacted you?  

I read in the bathtub, under the covers, and with a book in my lap at the supper table.  With a book, I could go anywhere and be anything.

I was a lonely, severely asthmatic little girl and books saved my life. While the other kids were out playing, I stayed inside and read for hours and hours. I lost myself in books. I wasn't asthmatic when I read. I was a dancer in Paris or a pilot in Africa. Reading calmed me, and it also made me feel that anything was possible, that illness didn't have to define me. My parents took my sister and me to the library every weekend and we were allowed to take home as many books as we wanted. I still remember the smell and feel and color of the books and nothing made me happier than to see a huge pile on my bureau. Even better, reading stories sparked me into wanting to write them!
   
2. Is there a particular book that has changed your life in some way and why?

I was hospitalized for two weeks with a secondary lung infection and asthma when i was in 9th grade. My English teacher sent me over a book, A High Wind in Jamaica and I immediately started reading. I had never read a book like that before--where the morality was up for grabs (these were very proper English children with a decidedly mean streak), where the pirates were kinder than the kids, and where the writing seemed to grab you by the throat. That novel made me think about life in ways that I had never thought about it before. I couldn't forget this book, and in fact, in almost every novel I've written, i have a character reading it. I pay homage to a book that stayed with me.
 

3. What advice would you give to teachers, parents and caregivers who want to reach their struggling readers?
 
I didn't think my oldest son would ever learn to read.  It was hard and he had no desire to learn.  But that didn't stop me from reading aloud to him.  Finally, in fourth grade I read him Redwall.  But I didn't read it fast enough.  Before long, he couldn't wait.  He had to read ahead and find out what happened next.  That started an avalanche because he is never without a book now.  I believe the key is trying different types of books because each child will fall in love with a different story.  And my son who didn't want to read?  He is now getting his doctorate!

4. What do you think is most essential for teachers, parents and caregivers to do in order to nurture a child to become a lifelong reader?  Reading aloud stories that you enjoy will draw students into loving reading as well. 
 
Have all sorts of books around in every area. We have books in every room of our house, and before our son was even born, we put in a built-in bookshelf filled with books in his room. We thought this was the best "Welcome to the World" gift we could give him. Make sure kids see you reading and loving books. Get enthusiastic about what you are reading and share that enthusiasm. Read aloud passages. Find out what a child is interested in and you can find a book to match that interest. Above all, don't push. Don't make reading a chore. I know that our son saw our delight in books and he picked up on it.

5. What do you think the future holds for readers?

Some people think that paper books are on their way out and that may be true.  I have a Kindle and my husband reads his novels on his I-Pad.  But reading is reading, no matter what the form!
 
I think we are hard-wired to love stories and to need them. I don't think reading is going to go away, but I do think there will be different forms for it. When videos came out, everyone in the movie business was terrified no one would want to see films on the big screen, but they still do, and I imagine it will be the same for books.  I happen to love paper books. I love the weight of them, the smell of them, the way they look. I love the whole experience of browsing in a bookstore. My son grew up in bookstores, sprawled on the floor reading! But I admit, the last time I toured, I took a Kindle because I couldn't carry all the weight of all the books I needed to have with me, and it was incredible. It was so lightweight, so portable, and the only thing I hated about it was I couldn't use it at the beginning of my flight or at the end.

I also think the low price points of e-books garners more readers--and more kids. But nothing will ever replace a book with movable pieces for children (I'm thinking of Pat the Bunny), and nothing will ever replace for me the experience of holding a book in my hand.
 
To learn more about Caroline, visit her website at: www.carolineleavitt.com

Book Recommendations from NYC Youth Poet Laureate Ishmael Islam

Above: Video of Ishmael performing his poem, "Daydreaming at the Voting Booth"

Last week, when we aired our Live Orange Broadcast Episode, we had the pleasure of having New York City's youth poet laureate Ishmael Islam as our guest. During the episode, he mentioned a few book recommendations he had for educators interested in teaching spoken word poetry in the classroom. Here below is his complete list, which we are happy to share with our LitWorld community: 

• Teeth by Aracelis Girmay
• Kingdom Animalia by Aracelis Girmay
• Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
• Black Boy by Richard Wright
• On the Road by Jack Kerouac
• The Twentieth Century by Howard Zinn
• Homegirls and Hand Grenades by Sonia Sanchez
• Neon Vernacular by Yusef Komunyakaa

To learn more about Ishmael, follow him on Twitter on @IshEye. Thanks again to Ishmael for being our first Live Orange guest of the year! 

WRADvocate Profile: Vincent O' Keefe

Vincent O' Keefe is a writer and a stay at home dad from Ohio. He earned his B.A. from Canisius College, hisM. A. from Temple University, and his Ph. D. in American literature from Loyola University Chicago. His literary criticism has appeared in a variety of academic journals, including African American Review, Response: A Contemporary Jewish Review, and European Romantic Review. His author interviews have included Charles Baxter, Sue Monk Kidd, Edwidge Danticat, Fenton Johnson, and Herbert Gold.

To celebrate WRAD, Vincent is working on hosting a Family Story Time at his local library, the Avon Lake Public Library, on March 7th. We can't wait to hear all about it!

He also enjoys photography and showcases his work in and around Cleveland. Read on to learn more about Vincent:

1. Can you share some of your earliest memories of reading and how they impacted you?
 
Some of my earliest memories of reading involve my first few days in kindergarten. I remember feeling shy, so I spent a lot of time in the “Reading Corner” with various Curious George books. Because the books were funny, I quickly became friends with a few other kids who liked laughing at the books with me. Ironically, the solitary act of reading became a bridge to social activity.

2. What advice would you give to teachers, parents and caregivers who want to reach their struggling readers?

I was not an avid reader until high school, but then I went on to earn a Ph. D. in American literature. So my first advice would be to hang in there--many readers are late bloomers. I would also recommend trying to find a child’s passions and encourage him or her to pursue reading in those areas. In my case, reading about sports did the trick. For more elaboration, please see a piece I wrote on The Huffington Post about this question.

3. It is said that stories and poems teach values. Is there one value in particular that has inspired your life and your good work that might connect back to a book that was either read to you or that you read on your own?

The greatest value I associate with reading is empathy. As a boy, I was struck by travel narratives like Gulliver’s Travels because of their ability to immerse readers in multiple perspectives. As I read about the tiny Lilliputians and giant Brobdingnagians, I was forced to revise my assumptions repeatedly, a process that amazed me (and still does). Another illustration would be that memorable moment in Sinbad the Sailor when Sinbad realizes the island he stands on is actually a live whale! To this day, that’s what I love most about reading--those moments when a book enables us to travel beyond our blind spots, naivete, or limited mindset.

4. What do you think is most essential for teachers, parents and caregivers to do in order to nurture a child to become a lifelong reader?

It is very important to model enjoyment of reading, which can be difficult in our fast-moving, high-distraction culture. Reading now competes with many other activities, but I try to make time to show my children the joys of reading. Sometimes I’ll read aloud some passages of whatever I’m currently reading that they might find interesting or humorous. We also try to read aloud every night before bed. In addition, I make sure our house always contains quality books within quick reach, even if my kids may not pick up those books until a later age. Providing a comfortable environment with easy access to reading visibly demonstrates a long-term commitment.

5. What do you think the future holds for readers?

I am optimistic about the future of reading, though we are certainly in a transitional stage. As our culture becomes increasingly visual and media-saturated, there is a danger that the ability to read a written text critically and carefully may become devalued. On the other hand, in some ways the popularity and interactive nature of the internet has both children and adults reading and writing more than ever. In such a world, I think the ability to think critically about what one is reading will become increasingly valuable. Hopefully, readers of the future will continue to highlight the distinction between actively reading a text and passively consuming information.

Learn more about Vincent on his website HERE.

WRADvocate Profile: Caroline Grant

Caroline Grant is our WRADvocate in San Francisco, California. 

She is a writer, editor, runner, baker, mother, reader, and avid movie-goer (not necessarily in that order). These days, she devotes most of her energy to raising her two young sons, editing Literary Mama, and writing about food and movies.

Caroline's WRAD event will be a pajama party read aloud at Books, Inc in Laurel Village, San Francisco. She'll be reading with local writers Nicki Richesin and Samantha Schoech. For the details:

Celebrate World Read Aloud Day at Books, Inc.!

3515 California Street, San Francisco

6 - 7 PM

Learn more about Caroline below, and if you're in the Bay Area, join the fun!

1. Can you share some of your earliest memories of reading and how they impacted you?

When I was a kid, I had a bookcase right at the foot of my bed so on Saturday mornings I could stretch out and grab a book to read without even getting out of bed. One of my favorites was Laura Ingalls Wilder's FARMER BOY; I regularly reread the passages about the Wilder family's meals. The book I have coming out next year, THE CASSOULET SAVED OUR MARRIAGE: TRUE TALES OF FOOD, FAMILY, AND HOW WE LEARN TO EAT is just the latest incarnation of this abiding interest!

2. What advice would you give to teachers, parents and caregivers who want to reach their struggling readers?

I think some kids struggle because they're not so interested in the books they are being given. So if a beautiful picture book doesn't spark a child's interest, maybe a set of LEGO instructions or a nature magazine will. I used to struggle with my child's interest in nonfiction reading; he wanted me to read him a kid's encyclopedia at bedtime, rather than a story! But it's important to let children find their own way to what they want to read, and not limit their choices, especially when they are just starting out. They have a lifetime to read, and they'll be happier about it if they're not made to follow a lot of rules.

3. Do you have a memory of someone reading aloud to you that changed you in some way? How did that change you?

When I was a kid, the youngest of four children, my father read regularly to my siblings and me. Maybe some of the stories were a bit over my head or a bit easy for my oldest brother, but we all loved the time together, it strengthened the connection between us. Now, I continue to read to my two children together every night, even though (at 7 and 10) they are perfectly able to read for themselves. I hope they'll continue to let me read to them for a few more years!

4. What do you think is most essential for teachers, parents and caregivers to do in order to nurture a child to become a lifelong reader?

I think it's important to offer kids a range of reading materials -- books, magazines, catalogues -- and then simply create lots of time in the day for reading, whether reading aloud or side-by-side quiet reading. Kids learn to love reading by loving the time they spend reading, and seeing the people they love reading, too.

5. What do you think the future holds for readers?

I love the current proliferation of reading devices -- e-readers, reading apps for phones, etc -- but books and magazines will continue to form the foundation of my reading. I just think the more ways for people to read, the better.

To follow Caroline and her work, you can find her on Twitter on @carolinegrant and on her websites:

http://carolinemgrant.com

http://www.literarymama.com/