WRADvocate Profile: Martha Steward

Martha Steward is an award-winning author of  two children's books inspiring pet adoption, blended family issues, and the courage to be a Marine Mom. 

Darby's Story and Bangle Bear are both MCA Silver recipients for Best in Pet and Animal Care. Martha 's blog Darby's Story and More shares information for would-be pet adopters, literacy programs, and features stories to inspire. 

As our WRADvocate, Martha Steward will be reading out loud at 2pm, Lakeport Public Library on High Street, Lakeport, California.

Read more about Martha below!

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

“The Yearling” By Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, (now celebrating 50th edition). My word, the book was big, over four hundred pages, I was in 8th grade and wanted to run and hide. There was no way I could finish, yet I was willing to take the challenge that griped my heart with pounding thunder.

I had settled in the living room on the coach with a blanket, and opened to the first page. I was hooked like a gold-fish, turning the pages turned into chapters. Stopping was not an option, I was transformed to the setting in Florida, the boy in the story, and the adventures. I wanted more.

I finished the book in two weeks, and thought about the book for a few days before writing the book report,  (a required part of Mr. Bob Kay’s English class) which was the best mountain I could ever climb. I submitted the book report and waited.

The waiting just killed me. My weak writing skills made me feel less of a person. I dreaded the poor grade I just knew I was going to receive. 

The day approached when the book report got handed back, and I wasn't sure if Mr. Kay wanted to tease me or what, but I got the paper last, and with a not so pleasant expression on Mr Kay’s face, he handed me the report that had been folded in half, to provide privacy. I looked up at my teache and opened to find a giant  “A”!

When in doubt, I recall what I accomplished that day. It keeps me going.

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

Find the topics that interest the reader, start slow and allow the reader to build from there. With the lasted technology  from E books, reading along books, interactive story books, audio books stimulate the young reader to image being there or being that person.

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?

There is always a message to the reader within the pages of a book. Stories were created to share values, the lessons of right and wrong, how to stand up for the powerless. I cannot think of a single book that stands out, yet I can say that each book I read provides an insightful value to apply to my life.

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

Between the latest technology and the variety of  books being published, we have an endless selection, including the classics. One concern is that the past generation has spent more time playing video games than reading. I hope that with the latest Apps for books, the apps will provide a reading opportunity for this generation of young readers.

5. Will you share with us some final meditations on the power of the read aloud and of reading in general to the emotional lives of children and for all people?

Storytelling is the oldest form of sharing who we are as a culture, a family, and a person. Reading out loud to your children, students, and the elderly continues that long tradition. A means to discover new lands, take a time-capsule back, or step into the future. Readers grow by transforming their minds to expand our knowledge and share what we have learned. When reading at the local library, the best apart is watching the little light bulbs turn on among the kids around me.

Follow along with Martha Steward on Darby's Story and More Blog:

WRADvocate Profile: JoAnn Kairys

JoAnn Kairys is an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s books.

She is the founder of a website called StoryQuest Children's Books, a site that connects children with science and nature. She co-authored a book with her son Daniel, a general surgeon in south central Florida. JoAnn believes strongly in celebrating the rich cultural diversity of our lives and heritage. She is deeply committed to eco-friendly and child safe products, and her books are lead-free and made in the USA.

Passionate about storytelling, she will be reading to children on the inpatient unit at the K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune, New Jersey, in celebration of World Read Aloud Day. We're happy to have her on board as a WRADvocate! Read more about her below:

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

I was fascinated by picture books long before I could read. I stayed up long after bedtime, just looking at the beautiful illustrations in picture books that my older sister brought home from the library. I had a soft cover version of "Beauty and the Beast," and couldn't take my eyes away from the vivid colors. My sister taught me a few letters, and that was all I needed to get started reading on my own. I was about 4 years old. Little did I realize that many years later, creating children's picture books for my grandchildren would become a true passion. From those earliest books, a lifetime of joyful reading unfolded.

2. How has what you've read influenced you professionally?

As an early reader, I developed a love of writing. Professionally, I became a medical/science writer, with many first-authored articles published in leading peer-reviewed journals. As my technical writing skills developed, I realized that even the most data-driven, and what might be considered "dry" writing, must tell a compelling story!

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

 I taught English to underserved high school students with reading challenges. I had no formal training in special education, but loved sharing stories. I used music to help engage my classes. I told them the basic story and we acted out "Romeo and Juliet" in the classroom with music of the students' choice. Everyone participated. Then we read parts of the play they expressed the most interest in. This was fun and a great way to bring students into reading without "making" them read.  They were already hooked on the story.

4. 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?

As an early reader I devoured just about every book I could get from the library. A turning point was "Little Women"--my first "big" book. I loved the characters, their interactions and their love of storytelling. Mostly, I loved the focus on family and the playful sisters. I have two older sisters, so the story was especially appealing. The value of "family" jumped off the pages for me -- perhaps simplistically at first. But, looking back, I understand how this inspired my desire to write. I've had the good fortune to travel extensively as a health care professional. In every country, I visit schools and medical centers. In Russia, I visited many orphanages and read to children in Russian and English, with books donated by US organizations. No surprise, then, that I love writing for my grandchildren, creating stories about their loving relationships with each other and family.

5. Will you share with us some final meditations on the power of the read aloud and of reading in general to the emotional lives of children and for all people?

For me, the power of reading is interacting and sharing thoughts, impressions and wonderfully expressive vocabulary. Even without a book in hand, we read aloud through conversation, using the experience of the moment: at a check out counter, waiting at a red light, doing the most mundane things... we make up stories. The more animated I am, the more the children are engaged and jump in. Some of my grandkids are trilingual, so we mix up words and phrases in fun ways. We sing a lot. We're just plain silly. The best question they can ask me is, "Can we do that again?" When I hear them laughing and truly enjoying the experience, it's the best music to my ears!

Learn more about JoAnn's work by visiting her on her website, StoryQuest Children's Books:

WRADvocate Profile: Katy Farber

Katy Farber is our WRADvocate from Vermont!

Katy is a teacher, and she's getting all her students involved in World Read Aloud Day. All this week, her sixth graders are creating bookmarks that support reading as a life changer.  They will sell these bookmarks on March 7-9, to support Litworld and global literacy. On World Read Aloud day, her class will read aloud to every elementary student at Rumney Memorial School throughout the day.

 

In-between reading aloud, her students will reflect on the importance of reading through poetry, and writing.  They hope to share these reflections at an all school meeting in the coming weeks.

Katy is also the founder of a website called "Non-Toxic Kids" in 2007 after the birth of her second daughter. She was constantly reading about environmental health, green living, and parenting issues, and wanted to share what she learned with other parents. 

Thank you so much Katy, for all your work in supporting the growth of healthy young ones, young ones who have a healthy appetite for reading and learning as well!  Read more about Katy below:

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

One of my favorite memories about growing up was having my parents read The Monster at the End of this Book to me over and over again. I loved turning the pages and having Grover call me strong. It was always a cuddly time for my parents and I, among busy days. They took turns reading it to me and would really ham up Grover’s voice—it was so joyful. This is such a simple, sweet, and short book—which shows you don’t have to hold up bedtime for 30 minutes to read aloud to your child.

I also remember having these encyclopedias all about animals. They were yellow with fancy embossed gold on the covers and spines. I loved to look at all the pictures of exotic and interesting animals, and read about them. These books seemed like a key to another world, one of flamboyant flamingos and saber-toothed tigers.

2. How has what you've read influenced you professionally?

Jonathon Kozol’s books had a profound impact on my wanting to be a teacher and work for equality in education. I read his book, Savage Inequalities, in college—and its mark has never left me. For the first time I became painfully aware how much less money, effort, and time was allotted per student in poor communities and schools. Much later, I read Letters to New Teacher, which I quoted often in my own book, Why Great Teachers Quit. I continue to be moved to action by quotes such as this, about the responsibility of teachers “…..to act, no matter what their shyness or their modest self- effacement, as outspoken warriors
for justice.... A battle is beginning for the soul of education, and they must be its ultimate defenders.” (p. 207- 208)

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

Keep searching for books that spark that interest. And read, read, read. Read in front of your child. Laugh out loud when reading. Gasp and hoot and holler. Show your child the pictures in magazines and discuss the articles.

Find the gripping stories like Harry Potter, and hook them in. Read aloud. Every.Single. Night. Eventually your child will grab the book from you to read, or beg you to read more.

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

So many! Here are some books for early readers I have read to my two young daughters recently, and we love, love them:

Weslandia by Paul Fleischman
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama
My Name is Not Isabella by Jennifer Fosberry
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Imogene’s Last Stand by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Nancy Carpenter
Seven Brave Women by Betsy Hearne

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 teach sixth grade, and read aloud time is one of my students’ favorite times of day. I love seeing their faces pique with interest as I read an exciting scene. And pausing to “think aloud” about my reading strategies, connections, and reactions models for them what a good reader does, and invites them to join
me. In my view, reading aloud exciting, grade level text, with” think alouds” from the reader should be part of every classroom literacy program. Right now, I am reading The King of Mulberry Street by Donna Napoli to my students. Through this exciting book, and other non-fiction text, students are learning all about the
immigrant experience in a real and meaningful way.

Giving students time to read is essential, and absolutely critical to developing children into life long readers. Also, parents and teachers modeling a geniune love of reading and eternal curiousity is a wonderful example for kids.

6. Will you share with us some final meditations on the power of the read aloud and of reading in general to the emotional lives of children and for all people?

I will never forget one powerful interaction I had with a student about reading. She was a small, shy, fifth grade student. After I read Tangerine, by Edward Bloor, to the class, she wrote a response in her journal. In the book, the main character describes how hard it is to see someone who has died at a funeral--
how surreal, confusing, and troubling it is. This little girl had an uncle who had recently died, and she said that reading that scene made her feel normal and not so alone.

And that is what reading aloud does. It connects us, it validates us, it enriches it empowers us…and so much more.

You can find more of Katy's work on her website, Non Toxic Kids:

 

WRADvocate Profile: Vincent Ventura

We are very excited to have Vincent Ventura on board as our WRADvocate from the American School Foundation of Monterrey in Mexico (alongside fellow WRADvocate Greta Guerrero)! The American School Foundation of Monterrey is a private, non-profit, independent, international day school providing a U.S.-type education to international and Mexican students.

Vincent is the Assistant Principal of Curriculum & Instruction for Literacy (Nursery - 2nd Grade) at the school. He is also a Literacy Consultant at the International School of Curacao. Having been a former literacy coach and elementary school teacher, Vincent has been an inspirational advocate for youth literacy for years. He has been a wonderful friend of LitWorld for some time now, holding World Read Aloud Day events in his community in 2010.

To learn more about Vincent, read on below:

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

My fondest memory of reading was my 3rd Grade teacher who read Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.  I remember that it was a "treat" since we were only in 3rd grade, and that since we were in a combined grade class, we had the honor of hearing the book.  It was at that point I fell in love with reading.  The idea that one can be transported to another time & place was simply amazing!

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

I think like many kids anything from Judy Blume & Beverly Cleary influenced my life!

4. How has what you've read influenced you professionally?

As an educator, I realize that reading simply opens doors to "what if" for everyone.  It allows us to experience, empathize, and enjoy the lives of others.

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

Determine the struggling readers interests - and find books that relate to that subject.

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

I love Crash by Jerry Spinelli. 

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

It goes back to question #2.

8. 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?

I think the book Who Moved My Cheese was a life changer for me - I was at a point in my life where I didn't know where to go.  I read the book, and it really opened up my eyes to the idea of figuring out where to go.

9. 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?

READ to your children.  SPEND time at the library.  READ!

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

I think that the digitalization of reading will prove to be very interesting.  I think we need to embrace the age of digital books!

11. Will you share with us some final meditations on the power of the read aloud and of reading in general to the emotional lives of children and for all people? 

A bit cheesy but... The world can sometimes seem scary and confusing.  But if you're going to get lost, why not do it in a book!

To find out more about Vincent and the American School Foundation of Monterrey, visit them on their website here!

Read Aloud Builds Community

Today, we are pleased to be joined by a special guest blogger, Mary Lee Hahn. Mary joins us from Stenhouse Publishers, one of our partner organizations for World Read Aloud Day!

I have been considering and reconsidering read-aloud in print for ten years and in classroom practice for almost thirty years. When I attempt to distill the power of read- aloud, it always comes down to community.

Read-aloud builds a community of readers.

Read-aloud is the common thread that ties together all of the listeners in the classroom. It gives them books in common, authors in common, stories in common, and characters in common. Read-aloud is when we think together, laugh together, and sometimes cry together.

Read-aloud is the dock where we tie up all of our reading canoes, the airport where we land our reading airplanes, the parking lot where we park our reading cars.

Read-aloud is a movie theater where everyone in the audience hears the same soundtrack, even though the screen and the pictures are inside each head.

Read-aloud is what solitary readers can do together. It’s a book club, only better, because the conversations don’t just happen after everyone has read the book in isolation. We talk about the book all the way through. Sometimes there’s no time left over to read the book because we’ve spent so much time talking about it. And that’s okay, because read-aloud has a permanent spot on the classroom’s daily schedule. The book will be there, waiting for us tomorrow. We can plan on read-aloud. We can depend on read-aloud.

Read-aloud builds readers.

Read-aloud is the constant in the changing swirl of classroom content. It’s the learning time that demands both the most and the least of a learner. It’s a time, I was told by a student once, to “learn without trying.” The listener takes from the read-aloud what he or she can or will on a day-to-day basis.

Read-aloud might be the book that none of the listeners would ever read independently. Read-aloud provides a life vest, a climbing harness, a parachute, a safety net to support readers through topics or ideas or genres or events in history that they could never or would never attempt on their own. Read-aloud stretches minds. Read-aloud opens doors. Read-aloud breaks down barriers.

Read-aloud cannot be measured or programized or standardized or equalized or regimented. It is organic. Everything depends on the teacher, the book, and the listeners.

Read-aloud can never be the same thing twice. Read-aloud is an art, not a science. The reader paints meaning with book choice, inflection, intonation, sound effects, pauses, and discussion. The listener begins by viewing the reader’s paintings but often ends up inhabiting the paintings—becoming the characters, experiencing the settings, living the story.

Build can mean “construct,” “establish,” or “increase.” Read-aloud builds community, and read-aloud builds readers.

Mary Lee has been teaching fourth or fifth graders for more than twenty years. She is the author of Reconsidering Read-Aloud (Stenhouse 2002). She and her colleague in the Dublin City Schools, Franki Sibberson, blog about their reading lives at A Year of Reading. (http://readingyear.blogspot.com)