Royalty, Monarchs, and Tyrants

In an earlier post on this blog I posed the question -- "do any readers out there know of children's books that do NOT use a monarchy form of government as the premise for their storyline?" You know -- Cinderella marries Prince Charming while the peasants look on with big smiles.

Yes I know, elected democracies (like the US Congress) are not as romantic as a Walt Disney castle, but it is far better in my thinking to rid our children of the elitist propaganda that having a royal/noble class is a good thing for the unwashed masses.

So the next time parents plan to read another royal fairytale to their children perhaps they can read this poem by Carl Sandburg to themselves first:

A Million Young Workmen, 1915

A million young workmen straight and strong lay stiff on the grass and roads.
And the million are now under soil and their rotting flesh will be in the years feed roots of blood-red roses.
Yes, this million of young workmen slaughtered one another and never saw their red hands.
And oh, it would have been a great job of killing and a new and beautiful thing under the sun if the million knew why they hacked and tore each other to death.
The kings are grinning, the kaiser and the czar - they are alive riding in leather-seated motor cars, and they have their women and roses for ease, and they eat fresh poached eggs for breakfast, new butter on toast, sitting in tall water-tight houses reading the news of war.
I dreamed of a million ghosts of the young workmen rose in their shirts all soaked in crimson...and yelled:
God damn the grinning kings, God damn the kaiser and the czar.

Well said Mr. Sandburg,

Todd

First Book

This week I read about a children's literacy group called "First Book" which announced the results of their survey which asked readers -- "Which book got you hooked?" (www.firstbook.org/whatbook) The survey received nearly 93,000 votes from readers who stated which book turned them on to reading when they were children.

Books that made the list as the most inspirational for readers included:

1. Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene
2. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
3. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
5. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

So congratulations to Dr. Seuss for scoring 2 of the top 5 books in this list -- I enjoyed reading both of these books as a child and again with my god children.

I did not cast a vote in this survey but my personal choices would have been:

• Winnie the Pooh
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
• The Iceberg Hermit
• National Geographic magazine

Of course the first three are actually books -- I have a hard time deciding which one "hooked" me on reading but if pressed I would vote for Winnie the Pooh. Now granted National Geographic is NOT a book but a magazine but I have very fond memories of our copy arriving in the mail when I was growing up. Having grown up in small town Iowa in the age before the Internet this magazine exposed me to entirely new worlds and cultures which hooked me on traveling and the value of learning.

I hope my blog readers turn off the TVs and read to their children every day -- such a foundation is essential for their future success.

Enjoy the chapters of your life,

Todd

Storyline

My local newspaper had a small article in today's paper that promoted a free "dial-a-story" service called Storyline. This service provides recordings of children's books produced by Minnesota authors so if you want to utilize it just dial into this telephone number:

+1 952.352.1350

Storyline's recorded book for this week (featured books change each Sunday) is "Earth Mother" by Ellen Jackson since the theme for the month of April is "nature."

Storyline appears to be a nice supplement to reading to your children but never should become a substitute for printed books.

Todd

Reading to Children

Quoting a quote of an excerpt here [Source: The Week magazine (UK) quoting The Times newspaper (UK) ] but still useful information for anyone with a child in their life:

Jim Trelease, author of The Read Aloud Handbook, offers these tips for making your child enthusiastic about reading --

• It is never too early too start - reading to a baby in utero helps it associate its parents' voices with comfort and security
• Read books with repetitions to infants and toddlers
• Encourage involvement - ask the child to turn pages and fill in key words
• Occasionally challenge children by reading above their intellectual level
• Try to set aside at least one regular time each day for reading
• Don't read stories you don't enjoy. Your dislike will show and defeat the purpose
• Don't stop reading aloud to children too soon. Children understand on a higher level than they can read themselves. Read aloud to adolescents

Overall my wife and I follow these guidelines with our daugther today and have already seen the "reading above their intellectual level" effect. Our daughter likes to have me read a history/profile book of the State of Iowa which is probably written at a high school reading level but she likes to discuss the photos with me and to have me sing the Iowa song to her.

For opportunities to help children read in some of the world's poorest countries please visit this website for Room to Read which builds libraries -- www.roomtoread.org

Open a new chapter for your child,

Todd

Helping Children

While working in Phoenix, Arizona last week I had some free time on Sunday so I stopped by a Borders book store in my old neighborhood -the Biltmore area.

As I was paying for my books I noticed a small box of book markers on the counter that shoppers could get for making a donation to the "First Books" (www.firstbook.org) program which works to donate new books to poor children. What could be better!!

First Book has an impressive roster of corporate, non-profit, and campus partners which range from Time Warner Cable to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. As you consider supporting charity groups for an end of the year contribution this might be a good way to support if you are shopping in Borders.

See you in the bargain books section :)

todd