Read Across America Day is an annual nationwide reading celebration held on March 2, founded in 1998 by the National Education Association (NEA) to motivate children and teens to read. Over the past two decades, the program has transformed from a single-day event centered on Dr. Seuss’s birthday into a year-round initiative that celebrates diverse … Read more
Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read, held October 4-10 in . Organized by the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom and a coalition of more than 20 partner organizations, the week highlights attempts to remove books from libraries and schools. I’ve spent years covering literacy and library issues, … Read more
If you have ever wondered about the difference between banned and challenged books, you are not alone. The two terms get used interchangeably in news headlines, on social media, and in school board meetings, but they describe very different things. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials based on the objections of … Read more
Last month, my nephew finished his first chapter book. He sat cross-legged on the living room rug, turned the final page, and immediately asked, “Do they have another one?” That single question captures exactly why book series help build reading stamina in kids better than almost anything else I have seen in fifteen years of … Read more
If your toddler wants the same bedtime book every single night, you’re not alone. Research shows that reading the same book over and over helps toddlers in powerful ways, from building vocabulary and confidence to creating emotional security right before sleep. I remember reading Goodnight Moon so many times I could recite it in my … Read more
I have two kids, a tablet that lives on the kitchen counter, and a stack of library books I keep renewing in a panic every three weeks. Some weeks the books win. Other weeks a YouTube rabbit hole wins, and I find myself reminding a six-year-old that Lego does not need a screen to be … Read more
I remember the moment I realized screen time had changed my son’s relationship with books. We were halfway through a chapter book at bedtime, and he kept losing the thread of the story. A few years earlier, my older daughter had sat through the same book without a single prompt. The only difference? Two more … Read more
If your child has read the same series for the fifth time, you are not alone. Many parents watch their kids latch onto one type of book and refuse to budge. The good news is that learning how to encourage a child to read across different genres does not require force, bribes, or endless battles … Read more
Last month I sat with my friend Sarah, who was half-proud and half-puzzled by her seven-year-old son Jake. He could read entire chapter books fluently, yet his spelling tests looked like a foreign language. “How can he read ‘elephant’ perfectly but write ‘elefnt’?” she asked. Her frustration is one I hear constantly from parents, and … Read more
When I started looking into literacy research a few years ago, one finding kept jumping out at me: a child’s vocabulary size in the toddler years can predict how well they will understand what they read in third grade, fifth grade, and beyond. The connection between vocabulary and reading comprehension is one of the most … Read more