Children's Books BlogEarly Discoveries Through Reading

The Importance of Reading to Children

Growing up, my parents read a story to me every night. I always assumed it was the standard in every child’s bedtime routine across the country. As a teacher with my degree in Early Childhood Education, I know the importance of reading to children. The benefits associated with a simple daily bedtime story seem endless. Imagine my amazement when I read the statistic stating that only 39% of parents read to their children on a daily basis (Young, Davis, and Schoen, 1996). In a word, I was flabbergasted. I’ve witnessed the struggling readers and the impact that has on their daily lives. When a child has difficulties reading, everything in school suffers as a result. Would something as simple as a daily ten minute bedtime story interaction between a parent and child prevent these kids from struggling throughout their school years? Could it really be that simple? I want parents to know how vital it is to read to their children everyday.

Benefits

Teaches Basic Reading and Writing Skills

When children are being read to, they are taking in so much at once. Simple things experienced readers may take for granted are introduced during the first few years of life while listening to a story. Children who are familiar with books know how to hold a book and turn the pages from left to right. They know that the book has a title. Pre-readers also understand that the book contains pictures and words and they start distinguishing words and letters. They begin to recognize that the printed text is read from right to left and top to bottom, which is directly related to beginning writing skills. School districts expect children to be reading simple word texts by the end of kindergarten, and having these basic skills can propel them toward success.

Teaches Basic Listening Skills

It’s true, as I experience it in the classroom everyday. Some children don’t have the ability to sit still long enough to listen to a story. It can be possible that some children may have trouble because of a disability, but others may simply lack the insight to what story time is all about. Making story time at home a daily, fun and engaging activity can encourage children to get excited about story time at school which can also discourage behavior issues.

Promotes Vocabulary and Language Skills

Just think of all the new words children hear from books. Our daily conversations do not require much use of complex language or vocabulary and can hinder the development of a child’s oral language. Reading to a child can introduce so many new words, especially nonfiction titles. Children’s literature provides great models of language for children. In hearing the flow of the writing and the innovative words, especially in repeated readings of the same text, can nurture children’s language development.

Builds Knowledge of the World

As in language development, reading exposes children to worlds of new information. As a teacher, I used books to teach children about a topic, such as a place, or a person, or a topic. The amount of information a child can learn from books is never-ending, which leads into the next benefit.

Fosters a Love of Reading

Enabling children to enjoy reading is one of the most important gifts a parent can do. Kids will learn reading skills in school, but they will come to associate reading with work, not pleasure. As a result, they may lose their desire to read, effecting their schoolwork and desire to learn. When a parent shares an exciting story with a child, and in turn, gets excited with the child, the parent is showing how much fun reading can be. Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, encourages parents to lead by example by stating; “Make sure your children see you reading for pleasure other than at read-aloud time. Share with them your enthusiasm for whatever you are reading”.

Encourages Parent-Child Bonding

Reading aloud also creates a special time for parents to bond with their children. Cuddling together for a bedtime story, you’ll be helping your children develop a lifelong appreciation for reading. (Reading Aloud, n.d.) Builds Self-Esteem Children often want to hear the same story over and over. Just as adults may need to hear something more than once to remember or understand, children are the same way. Trelease (2001) makes a very interesting point, “Those of us who have seen a movie more than once fully realize how many subtleties escaped us the first time. Even more so with children and books”. He also points out that repeated readings can turn a child into an expert on a particular book. The child feels good about himself and connects that good feeling with reading (Trelease, (2001).

About the Author

Written by Constance Anderson
Teacher
University of South Florida Grad Student
Mom
co-owner of http://www.tinytotboutique.com

Kids book to be made into movie

Children and the Movies $63.98 Children and the Movies analyzes the first and most comprehensive study of the influence of movies on American youth, the Payne Fund Studies. First published in 1933, these studies–reproduced here in their entirety–are intrinsically important for their insights and conclusions regarding the effects of movies on behavior. They are, moreover, an important landmark of modern social science research, demonstrating the rapid evolution of this discipline in American academic institutions over the first three decades of the century.

Television and Movies (High Interest Books) $5.48 Television and Movies (High Interest Books) by Philip Abraham Published in 2004 by Children’s Press (CT)

Turned On $3.48 Turned On is the definitive book on leading ordinary companies to extraordinary customer satisfaction and profits, using eight insights practiced by the best and brightest organizations. Dow and Cook focus on how these star companies grew profits a stunning 600 percent in the last five years. They also demonstrate how cutting-edge hospitals and inner-city communities rekindle the commitment of individuals to achieve phenomenal results. With action checklists, brainteasers and firsthand accounts, Turned On shows managers how to create long-term vitality. Turned On explains how managers can let their employees take control of their jobs, think in new ways and find commonsense solutions to insurmountable challenges. Insights from the front line provide the much-needed clarity, faith and hope vital to working in today’s tumultuous, high-stress environment.

Lives Turned Upside Down $3.48 Lives Turned Upside Down : Homeless Children in Their Own Words and Photographs by Jim Hubbard 1st ed Published in 1996 by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

Children And The Movies $51.55 Buy and sell [Children And The Movies] at great prices.

Children and Movies (Supplement) $20 Volume: Supplement Publisher: [New York, J. S. Ozer Publication date: 1971 Subjects: Motion pictures Motion pictures and children Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there.

A World Turned Upside Down $26.98 * Authors with wide-ranging experience with children in war zones across the globe* Looks at the psychology of children’s experiences in conflict in the context of their families and communitiesA World Turned Upside Down looks at the experiences of children in war from a psychological and social ecological perspective, offering thoughtful observations and dispelling myths about what results when children grow up in conflict situations.In contrast to individualized approaches, the volume offers a deeper conceptualization that shows the socially mediated impacts of war. Children exposed to the same traumatic experiences may have different reactions and needs for psychosocial support. Further, psychosocial assistance to war-affected children often occurs not through the provision of therapy by outsiders but via support from insiders. Each contributor has worked extensively with children in war zones in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. They refrain from common perceptions of children as victims of war-induced trauma to provide a holistic understanding of children’s experiences. Each helps pinpoint ways to reduce further violence, foster well-being and nurture the kinds of social connections that can liberate children from the pathologies of war so that they can mature into healthy and well-adjusted adults.Other contributors: Alastair Ager, Cairo Arafat, Catherine Chen, Amy E. Hepburn, Kathleen Kostelny, Siobhán McEvoy-Levy, Susan McKay, Dahab Musleh and Carl Triplehorn

Movies $3.48 Movies : A Crash Course (Crash Course (Watson-Guptill)) by John Naughton, and Adam Smith Published in 1998 by Watson-Guptill Publications

The Movies Are $5.48 The Movies Are : Carl Sandburg's Film Reviews and Essays, 1920-1928 by Carl Sandburg 1st ed Published in 2000 by Lake Claremont Press

How the Cows Turned Mad $4.58 Fear of mad cow disease, a lethal illness transmitted from infected beef to humans, has spread from Europe to the United States and around the world. Originally published to much acclaim in France, this scientific thriller, available in English for the first time and updated with a new chapter on developments in 2001, tells of the hunt for the cause of an enigmatic class of fatal brain infections, of which mad cow disease is the latest incarnation. In gripping, nontechnical prose, Maxime Schwartz details the deadly manifestations of these diseases throughout history, describes the major players and events that led to discoveries about their true nature, and outlines our current state of knowledge. The book concludes by addressing the question we all want answered: should we be afraid?The story begins in the eighteenth century with the identification of a mysterious illness called scrapie that was killing British sheep. It was not until the 1960s that scientists understood that several animal and human diseases, including scrapie, were identical, and together identified them as transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). The various guises assumed throughout history by TSE include an illness called kuru in a cannibalistic tribe in Papua New Guinea, an infectious disease that killed a group of children who had been treated for growth hormone deficiencies, and mad cow disease. Revealing the fascinating process of scientific discovery that led to our knowledge of TSE, Schwartz relates pivotal events in the history of biology, including the Pasteurian revolution, the birth of genetics, the emergence of molecular biology, and the latest developments in biotechnology. He also explains the Nobel Prize-winning prion hypothesis, which has rewritten the rules of biological heredity and is a key link between the distinctive diseases of TSE.Up-to-date, informative, and thoroughly captivating, How the Cows Turned Mad tells the story of a disease that continues to elude on many levels. Yet science has come far in understanding its origins, incubation, and transmission. This authoritative book is a stunning case history that illuminates the remarkable progression of science.

When Santa Turned Green $13.48 A creative holiday story that introduces kids to environmental awareness with ways that they can make a big difference. It's November up in the North Pole. Everything's going along smoothly at Santa's workshop until he discovers a leak in his roof. Santa soon learns that this little leak is connected to a far bigger problem. The North Pole is melting because of something called global warming! Faced with the reality of what this could mean for Christmas, not to mention the planet and the future, Santa is determined to turn things around. To do so, he calls upon the people he knows better than any other-the children. Much to Santa's joy, they respond in a way that makes all the difference . . . in the world. "When Santa Turned Green helps even the youngest child grasp the importance of caring for our planet and solving the climate crisis." Former Vice President Al Gore

The Movies $9.48 The medium of film has entertained audiences for more than 100 years. It has also intrigued scholars. What qualities give a film the complexity and resonance of high art? What effects do films produce in spectators and in society? How is our appreciation of a film dependent on such different elements as the screen, the stars, the zeitgeist, and even the petty business deals in Hollywood studios? Laurence Goldstein and Ira Konigsberg, the editors of The Movies: Texts, Receptions, Exposures, have sought to answer these questions by gathering writing and visual art from a variety of perspectives that describe the history, art, and technology of motion pictures in deep-focus detail.The book's first part, "Analyzing Films," offers essays on six important films: Secrets of a Soul, The Wizard of Oz, The Silence of the Lambs, The Last Emperor, The King of Comedy, and Menace II Society. Each reading uses a different methodology to reveal intricate structure and cultural provenance of the film narrative.The second part, "Making Films," takes the reader behind the camera for some expert testimony, including an interview with the great director Billy Wilder, a montage by screenwriter William Harrison of his fateful meetings in the film capital, a memoir by Arthur Miller, and an account by M-G-M producer Sam Marx of how the first film about the atomic bomb came into being.The third part, "Screening Films," measures the impact of movies on their audiences. Diane Kirkpatrick contributes an essay on how artists have responded to the movies. In short stories Laura Antillano, a Venezuelan, and Janset Berkok Shami, a Jordanian, dramatize the colonizing of other continents by the Hollywood dream factory. Leo Braudy assesses the treatment of the male body in the Brando and Dean flicks of the 1950s, while William Paul chronicles the narrative of the screen, that looked-at and overlooked monitor for the moviegoing public. A fourth part, "The Poetry of Film," collects some compelling recent poems about the movies: Margaret Atwood on Ava Gardner, Mordechai Geldmann on pornography, and Pier Paolo Pasolini on Marilyn Monroe, among others. Also included are archival essays by modernist poets H.D. and Vachel Lindsay, on Greta Garbo and the necessity of censorship, respectively.It is rare for a collection to investigate cinema with this much wit, creative play, and scholarly rigor. Common to all the contents, however, is a thoroughly contemporary manner of treating what Arthur Miller calls "the single great cultural invention of this civilization." Laurence Goldstein is the author of The American Poet at the Movies: A Critical History, editor of The Female Body: Figures, Styles, Speculations, and The Male Body: Features, Destinies, Exposures, and Professor of English, University of Michigan. Ira Konigsberg is Professor of English and Film/Video Studies, University of Michigan.

Turned Out $7.98 Turned Out by Angel Hunter FICTB Published in 2008 by Urban Books

My Very Own Name Personalized Plate $19.95 Now children can celebrate their names and birth dates at every meal with this unbreakable plate! For boys and girls ages 0-8.

My Very Own Name Personalized Floor Puzzle $29.95 Children love to find the pieces that spell out their name and birth date in this giant 24in x 28in personalized puzzle! For boys and girls ages 3-10.

Children's Novels & The Movies, $36.75 Buy and sell [Children's Novels & The Movies,] at great prices.

Extraordinary People in the Movies (Extraordinary People) $28.98 Extraordinary People in the Movies (Extraordinary People) by Judy L. Hasday Published in 2003 by Children’s Press (CT)

Children’s Books $59.95 Children’s Books

The 10 Greatest Movies From Books $9.32 The 10 Greatest Movies From Books

The Movie Mom’s Guide to Family Movies $3.48 What if you could teach your children about life with popcorn and wonderful movies? Here at last is the ultimate reference for every frustrated parent who knows that television can be more than an electronic babysitter.The Movie Mom’s Guide to Family Movies recommends hundreds of superb movies available on video-movies that offer more than mindless explosions, casual sex, and limiting stereotypes of women and minorities-movies that exercise the mind and spirit and bring the whole family closer together. Nell Minow understands that the stories movies tell can encourage children to think, feel, and question-and to share those thoughts and feelings with their parents What if you could teach your children about life with popcorn and wonderful movies? Here at last is the ultimate reference for every frustrated parent who knows that television can be more than an electronic babysitter.The Movie Mom’s Guide to Family Movies recommends hundreds of superb movies available on video-movies that offer more than mindless explosions, casual sex, and limiting stereotypes of women and minorities-movies that exercise the mind and spirit and bring the whole family closer together. Nell Minow understands that the stories movies tell can encourage children to think, feel, and question-and to share those thoughts and feelings with their parents

Who Loves Me? Personalized Book $24.95 It is often said that there is no better gift that you can give a child than love. Who Loves Me? features the names of family members and friends who love the child, and encourages the child to reach to the sky when asked how much each of one of them loves him or her. This beautifully illustrated book reassures the child that he or she is loved so much by each person, with melodious rhymes describing the depth of each individual’s love. Written by Jennifer Dewing, with colorful, whimsical illustrations by Maria Carluccio, this 8.5 x 8.5 hardcover book has 20 tear-free pages that are made for babies and young children to read every day!

Children’s Books in Children’s Hands $137.4 Children’s Books in Children’s Hands

My Very Own Name Storybook & Personalized Puzzle Gift Set $59.9 This beautiful gift set includes the personalized storybook My Very Own Name and personalized floor puzzle for boys and girls ages 3-10. In My Very Own Name, animals bring letters one by one to spell out your child’s first and last names in rhyme. The floor puzzle features your child’s full name and birth date in the puzzle!

My Very Own Name Personalized Storybook $29.95 My Very Own Name is a beautifully illustrated personalized book in which entertaining animals bring letters one by one to spell the first and last names of your child. This award-winning book for boys and girls ages 0-8 has been featured in People and Good Housekeeping.

The World According To Your Child Personalized Book $29.95 Turn a child’s view of the world into a charming, personalized book! The book includes the child’s own illustrations and classic comments. For boys and girls ages 3-12.

My Very Own Fairy Tale Personalized $29.95 This personalized storybook is a powerful way to show a child how absolutely unique and special she is. My Very Own Fairy Tale transports little girls into a magical garden where flower fairies bring letters one by one to spell out her first and last name, and then the fairies crown her as their fairy princess. This award-winning storybook makes a keepsake gift for girls ages 0-12.

Personalized Animals Canvas Wall Art $49.95 Make a child feel special by displaying his or her name on the wall! Our animal wall art is a fun, original way to bring personality to any bedroom, bathroom or playroom. You can elect to personalize or not personalize each piece.

My Very Own ABC’s & Personalized Animal Plate Gift Set $45 This delightful gift set includes the My Very Own ABC’s board book and personalized animal plate, featuring the child’s name and birth date. In My Very Own ABC’s, entertaining animals speak the child in rhyme and encourage him or her to learn the ABC’s. For boys and girls ages 0-5.

Personalized Fairy Canvas Wall Art $49.95 Personalize this adorable fairy canvas wall art with your child’s own name! Our fairy wall art is a fun, original way to bring personality to any bedroom, bathroom or playroom. You can elect to personalize or not personalize each piece.

My Very Own ABC’s & My Very Own Name Gift Set $54.95 This complete educational set includes the My Very Own ABC’s personalized board book to teach the ABC’s and the My Very Own Name personalized storybook to teach the child how to spell his or her name. For boys & girls ages 0-8.

My Very Own Fairy Tale & Personalized Fairy Plate Gift Set $49.95 This gift set includes the personalized storybook My Very Own Fairy Tale and a personalized fairy plate. In My Very Own Fairy Tale, beautifully illustrated fairies bring letters one by one to spell out the first and last names of the girl whom they’ve chosen to be their fairy princess. For girls ages 0-12.

My Very Own Name & Personalized Animal Plate Gift Set $49.95 melamine plastic. In My Very Own Name, entertaining animals bring letters one by one to spell out the first and last names of your child and then they celebrate because they’ve created the perfect name. For boys and girls ages 0-8.

My Very Own Fairy Tale Personalized Plate $19.95 Little girls will be thrilled to see their name and birth date at every meal with this unbreakable plate! For girls ages 0-12.

My Very Own Name Gift Set $49.95 The gift set includes the My Very Own Name storybook, a beautiful gift box, a My Very Own Animal t-shirt embroidered with the letter of your choice from A to Z, and Kirby the Frog..all tied together with a bow. It’s a perfect gift that’s guaranteed to make a child smile! In My Very Own Name, entertaining animals bring letters one by one to spell out the first and last names of your child and then they celebrate because they’ve created the perfect name.

My Very Own Animal T-Shirt $14.95 This beautifully embroidered t-shirt features an entertaining animal character holding the letter of your choice from A to Z. Your child will be delighted to find that the animal featured on the t-shirt matches one of the animals illustrated in his or her My Very Own Name personalized storybook.

You and Me $29.95 You & Me is a personalized book that makes it easy to celebrate your relationship with your grandchild and share your childhood memories and photos. This 11 x 8 1/2 hardcover book with 20 colorful pages will build self-esteem in your grandchild and will be cherished forever!

A Christmas Bear for Me $34.95 New! A Christmas Bear for Me is a beautiful, heart-warming, personalized story about a child’s Christmas wish for a special Teddy Bear friend. The child’s first name is featured on the personalized hardcover and throughout the story. Also, the child’s name and the names of his or her siblings or relatives are incorporated into intricate illustrations of stockings across the mantle and more! This 26-page very high quality book comes with a cuddly, mini 6 inch plush bear made by Gund® that is designed to match the bear in the story, and a personalized letter to the child from Santa! The bear comes with a tag that is personalized with the child’s name. Order between now and November 25, and your book will be signed by the author. Supplies of the bear are limited, so order now! For boys and girls through age 8.

A Night at the Movies, or, You Must Remember This $10.98 From Hollywood B-movies to Hollywood classics, A Night at the Movies invents what might have happened in these Saturday afternoon matinees. Mad scientists, vampires, cowboys, dance-men, Chaplin, and Bogart, all flit across Robert Coover’s riotously funny screen, doing things and uttering lines that are as shocking to them as they are funny to the reader. As Coover’s Program announces, you will get Coming Attractions, The Weekly Serial, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, and more, but turned upside-down and inside-out.

New Texas History Movies $9.98 Many will remember Texas History Movies, a cartoon booklet that was distributed to Texas history students from the 1920s through the 1960s by Mobil Oil with its familiar Flying Red Horse logo. For decades Texas History Movies taught thousands of school children the varied history of Texas, from Columbus to the discovery of oil. Though the original version is now considered racist, it was for many students their first and only taste of Texas history. It is with great pride that the Texas State Historical Association announces the publication of our newest version of this timeless Texas history classic by the late Jack Jackson, award-winning scholar and illustrator. The New Texas History Movies is a totally revised edition with new cartoon strips and text by Jackson. Jackson gained fame as an underground cartoonist in the 1960s and, later, as an independent scholar who specialized in the history of the Spanish presence in Texas. Jack took much pride in this revision, for the original Texas History Movies was a great inspiration to him. As Jackson states in the afterword, it was his objective "to create a ‘time-machine’ effect that would make readers feel like they were there when the events occurred." He hoped that his "rendition of the old classic, Texas History Movies, would ‘grab’ a few young minds and make them want to learn more about the interesting people and events briefly touched on in this booklet." It could almost be said that Jack’s love for Texas history began with Texas History Movies; and it is fitting that his work has come full circle with his rendition of this enduring Texas history classic. An Educator’s Edition with additional content by Jana Magruder is available to help teachers incorporate this book into the seventh-grade curriculum. The TEKS-based guide contains activities and TAKS-based assessments for each chapter. It is designed to facilitate interdisciplinary connections between history and language arts teachers while building student skills in reading, writing, and social studies. Included in this Educator’s Edition is a CD-ROM containing the materials necessary for easy classroom use.

The Best Old Movies for Families $14.48 If a child can watch Barney, can’t that same child also enjoy watching Charlie Chaplin or the Marx Brothers? And as they get older, wouldn’t they grow to like screwball comedies (His Girl Friday), women’s weepies (Imitation of Life), and westerns (The Searchers)? The answer is that they’ll follow because they’ll have learned that “old” does not necessarily mean “next channel, please.”Here is an impassioned and eminently readable guide that introduces the delights of the golden age of movies. Ty Burr has come up with a winning prescription for children brought up on Hollywood junk food. FOR THE LITTLE ONES (Ages 3—6): Fast-paced movies that are simple without being unsophisticated, plainspoken without being dumbed down. Singin’ in the Rain and Bringing Up Baby are perfect.FOR THE ONES IN BETWEEN (Ages 7—12): “Killer stories,” placing easily grasped characters in situations that start simply and then throw curveballs. The African Queen and Some Like It Hot do the job well.FOR THE OLDER ONES (Ages 13+): Burr recommends relating old movies to teens’ contemporary favorites: without Hitchcock, there could be no The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, without Brando, no Johnny Depp.

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies $14.48 Mouse is back for the holidays! A first sequel to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, starring Mouse! The famous little mouse from the children’s classic If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is back in another irresistible tale full of holiday antics. This time, if you take him to the movies, he’ll ask you for some popcorn. If you give him the popcorn, he’ll want to string it all together. Then he’ll want to hang it on a Christmas tree. In the fourth in this mega–selling series, Felicia Bond and Laura Numeroff have created another high–energy story featuring the adorable and demanding mouse that has delighted millions of readers. Ages 10+

Movies About the Movies $23.98 Movies About the Movies : Hollywood Reflected by Christopher Ames Reprint Published in 1997 by University Press of Kentucky