Rereading and Reviewing The Read-Aloud Handbook - Chapter 7: The Print Climate in the Home, School and Library

Chapter 7 of The Read-Aloud Handbook is about "the print climate" at home, and at the end of the day, it's the reason I collect children's books so passionately. It's also the reason I love Jen's latest post about setting up a reading nook for your kids! And why I'm always drawn back to Read-Aloud Dad's post about the "benefits" of boredom.

This chapter convinced me that one of the greatest gifts I can give my kid is "books on hand." For all those hours of the day when nothing is scheduled, let the default entertainment be a book. (There are disadvantages to this plan, however: A major source of disarray in this house is books scattered everywhere all the time. Oh well.)

Anyway, in this chapter, Trelease outlines the ways that living in a book oasis or a book desert effects the intellectual nourishment or starvation of entire populations and certainly specific children. He writes, "The last two decades of research...unmistakably connect access to print with high reading scores and, conversely, lack of access with lower scores."

And here's a quote from literacy activist David Mazor that hits home with me every time: "I live in this community [Amherst, Mass.] where we have all these books that no one's read since junior was in fourth grade. So out they go to the yard sale go the books on a weekend. If nobody buys them, they get thrown out. It's like having all these oil wells in your backyard. 'What a nuisance! How are we going to get rid of all this excess oil?' Books in affluent homes don't get reread or worn out." I find this to be so very true. I come across the most amazing books in the most amazing condition, and they are invariably inscribed with gift dedications to little children from doting aunties or grandmas. The book lay fallow and unread for five or so years, and then was quietly sent to Goodwill. These books are in virtually new condition and at $1 each, I wouldn't dream of passing them up. Trash to treasure and all that.

The most important section of this chapter, however, is the rain-gutter bookshelves suggestion. Basically: Display books with the covers out, which appeals to kids much more strongly than barely readable spines. Pinterest exists to show you a million fantastic examples of rain-gutter bookshelves or the trendy new Ikea-spice-rack bookshelves alternative. The spice-rack thing is totally on my list for next time I hit the labrynthine nightmare that is Ikea, but I'm not braving that store just for spice racks!

Illustrations from Tales & Legends, Golden Treasure Chest

I try not to be an illustration junkie, because I have waaaaay too many random hobbies as it is, not to mention that illustration is not really the focus of this blog, but this book was too interesting not to scan. Here are some selections from the Tales and Legends volume of the Golden Treasure Chest set edited by Bryna and Louis Untermeyer (Golden Press book number 15602). There's so much imagination and diverse inspiration in this book that it's a little dazzling!

Evil stepsisters, evil stepmother, cute kitty, Cinderella. As the kids on the Internet would say: "HATERS GOTTA HATE." Illustration by Gordon Laite.

Bluebeard and Mrs. Bluebeard, illustration by Kanako Tanabe.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, illustration by Seymour Chwast

Image from Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamb, illustration by Lowell Hess

Image of the evil queen and her mirror, from "Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs," illustration by Sheilah Beckett.

Cover of the Golden Treasure Chest, Tales and Legends, edited by Bryna and Louis Untermeyer.

Long-Ago Literacy

Oh, My Hand: Complaints Medieval Monks Scribbled in the Margins of Illuminated Manuscripts | Brain Pickings

My favorite one isn't a snarky one, but this: "Let the reader's voice honor the writer's pen."

Joe Kaufman's Big Book About Earth and Space

Joe Kaufman's Big Book About Earth and Space - Golden Book 16845 - Published 1987.

So after I discovered Joe Kaufman's Big Book About Things Work, I decided (in the interests of the child's future STEM education, of course) that I had to have his other "big" science books. I got our scanner set up (whee!), so here are some selections from his Big Book About Earth & Space, which was originally published as Joe Kaufman's About the big sky, about the high hills, about the rich earth...and the deep sea.

It's basically a combination earth science and astronomy book, and the topics covered are: Early ideas about our world, the stars, the planets, the sun, the moon, the earth, gravity, energy from the sun, the air or atmosphere, the weather, weather instruments, clouds, lightning, thunder, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, the seasons, climate, plains, plateaus, hills, mountains, mountain climbing, trees, forests, jungles, deserts, the polar zones, moving continents, earthquakes, volcanoes, underground, caves, rocks, minerals, crystals, water, the oceans, seashores, rivers and lakes, ponds, bays, streams and the Future (featuring, of course, Kaufman's trademark future people wearing personal antennas).

Life without gravity looks way more fun, yes?

This 1970s weatherman has such character.

There's waaaay too much going on this illustration, but the energy and whismy (and the emo animals) are a good example of Kaufman's overall illustration style.

In addition to How Things Work, Human Body and Earth & Space, I've found Joe Kaufman's Big Book About Mammals and Birds and Joe Kaufman's Slimy, Creepy, Crawly Creatures, which covers invertebrates, insects, fish, reptiles and amphibians. Are there any other Kaufman books out there that you've enjoyed? Inquiring minds want to know!

Music to Learn By: Classical Music for Ensmartening Your Child

Here's another one. Someone suggested Smart-Wiring Your Baby's Brain as an adequate, less-expensive substitute for Bright from the Start, and that person was wrong, but as the world's most musically ignorant person, I really appreciated their list of recommended classical music. No one still really adheres to the idea that Mozart inherently improves brain function, but (a) it can't hurt, (b) early exposure to all the arts has to be brain-building on some level, (c) I had no idea before this list what would be a good idea to share with the kid!

So anyway, this is page one and this is page two of Winifred Conkle's classical music selections for your small person.

Child Labor! AKA Practical Life Tips

I'm clearing out some books and scanning key pages that I wanted to save even though I didn't love the whole book. First up, the list of age-appropriate chores from Barbara Curtis' Small Beginnings book. I haven't seen anything like this elsewhere, but I'm finding that developmentally targeted lists (of books, chores, activities, projects) are invaluable. You can work out the pace yourself, but you know which age to target.

Anyway, here's the list of age-appropriate chores, part one (age 1.5 to 4) and here's list of age-appropriate chores, part two (age 5 to 10). Enjoy. :)

Handedness

The Gessell Institute book about two-year-olds says that handedness may not be defined until age three, but over the past few weeks I've become virtually certain that Jackson is a righty. Both of us are righties so it makes sense, but my middle brother is a leftie born of two right-handed parents, so it can always be a surprise.


I'm mostly interested in what this means about his "brainedness," i.e. will he be more noticeably "left-brained" because he is right-handed? I think I've noticed a certain asymmetry in myself--my right side is physically overdeveloped compared to my left, and I'm not great at typical "right-brain" activities. 


I'm hopeful I do a better job on J than I did on myself in terms of integrating his "sides." When he was a baby I was supposed to do "crossing the midline" activities with him and I never did, but hopefully at the ripe old age of (almost) two it's not too late!


Further reading: Wikipedia's lateralization of brain function article