Celebrate National Reading Day with the children in your life, and read, read, read!

Here’s a great way to start! Check out this adorable and entertaining book!

Read the review here on Good Reads with Ronna.

I made a bookmark for my daughter’s friend, Simone’s birthday. She works in a biology lab in college and catalogues beetles, so used a beetle theme.

Materials:

• 2 1/2 inch X 9 inch piece of thick watercolor paper
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Black Sharpie Pen
• Glue Stick
• Watercolor paints
• Stickers of insects of your choice or photo cutouts from a magazine or calendar
• Decorative paper or calendar page for backside of bookmark
• Beading wire
• Beads of your choice (I used seed beads and one turquoise bead, one special glass bead at the top)
• Crimping Beads
• Crimper
• Laminator (I went to Fed Ex Copy Center for this)
• Hole Punch

How to make your bookmark:

• Draw a 1/2 inch border around the front of the bookmark with a pencil
• Paint the person’s name inside the bookmark. I chose to divide the space evenly by six for the number of letters in the name.
• Paint the background with watercolor paints.
• Draw letters of the name with pencil and color them with the Sharpie pen. I copied a font I found on line.
• Cut out the insect shapes or use stickers and glue down along the border.
• Cut out coordinating decorative sheet the size of the bookmark and glue to back.
• Take your bookmark to a laminator.
• Laminate and trim.
• Use hole punch to punch hole at the top.
• Seal bead wire with a crimp bead and add beads of your choice.
• Loop top of string through punch hole and seal with a crimping bead.

Our journalist friend, Dallas Woodburn is the founder of “Write On! For Literacy“, a nonprofit organization that encourages kids to discover confidence, joy, self-expression and connection with others through reading and writing endeavors. In the past eight years, they have donated 11,117 new books to disadvantaged kids. They also teach writing workshops in schools, hold poetry, fiction, and essay contests, and award scholarships for young writers in middle school and high school to attend summer writing camps.

Write On! is one of seven national finalists for a $5,000 grant through the Glamour Magazine/Sally Hansen “Best of You” contest. They need your vote!!

Dallas with  stack of new books for her awesome Write On! For Literacy Program

Dallas Woodburn/Write On is the final contestant listed. All it takes is thirty seconds of your time to vote. The website asks for your name and contact information to ensure that every e-mail address only votes once, but they will not use your information or give it away to anyone.

Click here to vote.

For every vote they receive, $1 will be donated to DKMS, the World’s Largest Bone Marrow Donation Center. Just by voting, you make a difference!!

If everyone could vote and then pass along the link to two or three friends, this could really take off.

Dallas said, “Thank you in advance for your support. This grant really would mean the world to us. It would help bring Write On! to a national level, creating more chapters of Holiday Book Drives, awarding more scholarship money for young writers, AND helping increase the confidence of young people by giving them an outlet for creative expression by publishing their work.”

If your elementary age child is struggling with reading, try a fun, indirect approach!

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1. Bake or cook something together and have your child read the recipe with you.
2. Have your child read traffic and street signs for you while in the car.
3. Pull out some old letters or cards you have and read them together.
4. Buy a kid’s activity book and do some fun games together.
5. Look for misspellings together in the newspaper or magazines.
6. Write a silly poem together and then have your child read it to the family.
7. Watch a movie you know your child will love and then do some research online or in the library on the actors or the subject of the movie.
8. Get a hobby kit of some sort and read the directions together.
9. Plan a trip and read with your child about where are going and what you’ll do there.
10. Take out the comics section from the Sunday paper and read away.

Making a bookmark is fun and easy to do! And bookmarks make great gifts for every reader in your life.

Here is one I just made for a friend’s birthday. Notice – it is not perfectly rectangular. How cool is that? Who ever said a bookmark must be boring?!

Here’s what you need:

• Sheet of watercolor paper (preferably on a block so it does not wrinkle)
• Watercolor pencils or paints
• Pencil
• Black Sharpie
• Ruler
• Hole puncher
• Assorted beads of your choice (I used glass and turquoise)
• Bead stringing wire
• Crimping  beads
• Crimper
• Small key ring to attach string of beads to bookmark

Directions:

• Draw a basic rectangular shape on watercolor paper with pencil. I made mine rather large – 2.5 inches wide by 8 inches tall.
• Sketch out the design of your choice also with pencil. Go ahead a draw outside the lines as I did. Use a coloring book or clipart if you need inspiration. Ideas: Make a design using the person’s name you are giving the bookmark to; Choose a theme for the recipient’s favorite genre of books; make the bookmark look like a book!
• Use your watercolor pencils or paints as you wish. Do not use heavy amounts of water, as this will wrinkle the paper. Bold, saturated color looks best for this project.
• After it is completely dry, outline your design with a black Sharpie to really make it stand out.
• Cut along the edges of your bookmark carefully in the shape you want it.
• Take it to a copy shop that has a laminator, and laminate it.
• Cut around the edges to get rid of the excess laminated plastic. leave abut a 1/8 border around the entire piece.
• Punch a hole at the top of  the finished bookmark to hang your beads.
• Cut a long strand of stringing wire.
• Choose the beads and the order in which you want to string them. A variety of shapes and sizes will make them more interesting.
• Secure 3 crimping beads at one end of the string. You may want to make a loop with the wire first.
• String your beads.
• Trim your wire when you are finished stringing it, leaving it long enough to loop back into the top 2 beads and leave a 1/2 inch loop at the top. Slide 3 crimping beads over the loop and secure with crimper. Make sure the wire stays tucked into the top beads before you crimp! Tug lightly on the crimping beads after crimping to make sure they are solidly in place.
• Use the small key ring to secure the strand of beads into place wit the loop on the strand of beads.

Voila! It’s Time to Read!

During my author visits for both elementary and middle school, I talk to students about the importance of reading, and I ask them about things they would not be able to do if they could not read well.  If your child is not so thrilled about reading, there are ways to encourage him without being forceful:

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1. Have that special, comfy place in the house where you read together, with no distractions. Make reading time %100 positive and special.
2. Read a simple, funny book together.
3. When your child is young, don’t concentrate too much on the content. It does not have to be purely educational. Rather it can be entertaining. It is more important that he just finds reading fun.
4. If your child has a hobby or plays a sport, have him read about that or his favorite athlete.
5. Don’t limit reading to books only. Comic books, magazines and old letters might interest a reluctant reader.
6. Start a conversation with your child about a topic she finds interesting. Then check a book out about it from the library. Read it together, taking turns.
7. Let your child see you reading – and enjoying it – often.
8. Tell your kids about your favorite stories growing up, and why you like them so much.
9. Take your child to the library or bookstore for story time.
10. Talk to your child about the benefits of reading. (i.e. entertainment and learning to do so many things.)
11. Ask your (not too young) child to read instructions to you while you are busy with your hands fixing something.
12. Make handmade bookmarks together. It is easy and fun and your kid will want to use it!
13. Find out if there is a Reading Dog program at your child’s school or public library. Kids can read to specially-trained service dogs, and the results can be phenomenal. The dogs love it, and the kids do not feel insecure when they struggle with words.
14. If you suspect your child actually has a reading disability, talk to her teacher and find out how she can be tested for it by the school. Then find out what special programs are available.

Downtown Fort Myers came to life yesterday at the Reading Festival! There were thousands of visitors, and the Badilly family got to speak to hundreds of children and their parents and grandparents and sell books. There were authors, illustrators, entertainers, crafts, food and more. And the event was held along the beautiful waterfront downtown. We had a great time! Every city in America, big or small, should have a reading festival every year!

Check out the photos from the event.

A gorgeous day & great event along the waterfront in downtown Ft. Myers.

Setting up our booth

Our booth attracted a lot of local teachers

Grandpa Willy and Lilly

The Lee County state-of-the-art BookMobile – Incredible!

Inside the BookMobile 4,000 titles, including Lilly Badilly!

Susan Roseberry, librarian extraordinaire!

Our new friend and  next door exhibitor, Shari Rodgers from Barefoot Books

A love of reading starts at birth. And your home environment will dictate how often your child will choose to read. Here are some suggestions:

1. For reading to come naturally to your children, books should be a part of their lives from the day they are born. Do not wait until they are 2 to read to them. If  you start at infancy, they will love reading time forever. Even though they will be too young to understand what you are saying, they’ll love hearing your voice and spending time with you.
2. Make book buying a special treat and library time a habit.
3. Make a library at home just for your kids, preferably in their bedrooms. This does not have to be a 1,000 volume library. It can start with just one shelf.
4. Make sure your child has a comfy chair with proper lighting to read. A book light is a lot of fun!
5. Do your children see you reading often? Even if you are busy, (and what parent is not?) take the time to enjoy reading every day. Kids will follow suit.
6. Read together. This does not have to be a child’s book. How about a science or sports magazine, a newspaper article, recipes or even directions on how to use a new product?
7. Finding answers to questions of all sorts in books and online should be a part of every household. Assign the task of researching different topics to your kids. They will proud when they solve your problems and answer your questions. They will be more curious, and that is what makes a lover of books – curiosity!
8. Do not force reading or do anything that will make your kids feel like they are being punished with books.
9. Have your child read to a younger sibling often, or switch off if they are old enough to read.
10. Or how about a pet? Kids will love reading to the dog, the cat, a goldfish whatever.

I hope you are taking advantage of National Geography Week. In case you were wondering how to do that, here are some fun things you can do with your kids:

1. Pick a destination you have heard about and thought was interesting, but know very little about. Find it on a map. Research that place on line or at the library. Learn about the history, culture, climate, natural wonders, monuments and attractions.
2. Write a story about the attractions of your city for someone who is unfamiliar with your part of the country.
3. Write a letter to a friend or family member who lives in another country and ask that person an interesting question about where he or she lives.
4. Find your city on a map and figure out its latitude and longitude.
5. Study a map of the USA and identify each of the 50 states’ capital cities.
6. Put your finger on a globe, close your eyes and spin that globe around. Whatever destination your finger lands on, look that place up to learn more about it.
7. Look up the currency of every country on the planet.
8. Look up the names of all the world leaders.
9. Make a list of the 10 highest mountains on earth and find them on a map.
10. Research a nation comprised of islands such as Indonesia or the Maldives. Figure out how many islands there are and how many are inhabited. Learn about the flora and fauna.
11. Research the names of famous people who came from your state. Find out what they did to get famous.
12. Pick your favorite large city in the world and do some research to find out what life was like there 100 or 200 years (or longer) ago.
13. Identify the 7 Original Wonders of the World, learn all about them including what happened to make most of them disappear.
14. Find the city in the US with largest population, and the city with the smallest population.
15. Study the map of the world to identify all the different time zones. Then figure out what time/day it is at hour home when it is ___ time/day in a far away place.
16. Find every city in the world with the same name as your city – if there are any.
17. Look at a map and concentrate on only the largest bodies of water. Name them and remember their locations.

What is the most memorable lesson a teacher has ever taught you? One that you’ve used many times in your life? I am not talking about your 1st grade teacher who handed you “Dick and Jane” and then you began reading. I am referring to, well a life changing lesson, be it academic or otherwise.

I often think about a college professor I had at FSU. I am embarrassed to admit that I have no recollection of his name. But his words have stayed with me for well over 20 years. The students in my Short Story Writing Class received some exceptional writing direction when it came to character development. One day he said of my story, “You’ve got potential here, but I don’t know enough about your lead character. I mean, does this grumpy guy demand that his wife toasts his English muffins twice in the morning? And then does he make certain that the butter gets into every crevice of the English muffin’s craters before gobbling it up with his ill-fitting dentures and making a mess of crumbs all over the kitchen floor that his wife – not he- cleans up? These are things I need to know as a reader.”

For some reason, with this example, everything suddenly clicked. I realized I had been using characters in my stories without really developing them fully. I was describing with adjectives more than I was bringing them to life with specifics. So every time I write about a person (or millipede), I think about what I like to refer to as ‘The English Muffin Test.” What little quirky habits does this character have? What is her favorite novel? What strange habits might he have? And so on.

When I am asked to read what others have written, I often pass on the English Muffin Test to make my point. Yes, this does generate some puzzled looks, but on occasion I see an expression of “I get it now!” on the writer’s face.

I am forever grateful for the professor whose name I cannot recall.