Best Friend Day falls on June 8, 2017. Though the day is still unofficial and not extensively celebrated everywhere, it serves as a suitable opportunity for us to share our favourite stories about having a best friend. We can make a best friend early on in life and sometimes, quite remarkably, this relationship can […]
You may have seen or at least heard about Donald Trump's now infamous tweet. If you haven't, here it is, in all its glory: Inspired by the U.S. President’s use of a nonsense word, I’d like to share my favourite children’s books that employ the same strategy. In these books, the authors purposefully make mistakes, […]
It is my turn to share ten of my favourite picture books written by Canadian authors. Of the chosen titles, you will recognize a few notable classics. These have stood the test of time, and I am young enough to remember my paren’ts, teachers, and librarians reading them to me – how fitting! Other books on this list are […]
The wide theatrical release of The BFG movie is set for July 1, 2016. Based on the popular children’s book written by Roald Dahl, The BFG tells the story of a young girl and the Giant who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country. Standing 24-feet tall, The BFG is a “big friendly […]
All children can benefit from an increased understanding of concepts from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, commonly referred to as STEM. Schools are preparing children for an increasingly STEM-driven workforce. Additionally, STEM is everywhere; its core concepts run through all of our everyday lives. As a paren’t or educator of a young child, you can start introducing STEM […]
Andrew Luck, the starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, has launched an online book club. Among his teammates and the media, Andrew is recognized for his passion for reading. He is often referred to as the “NFL’s unofficial librarian”. The mission of the new book club is simple: to share books that Andrew has enjoyed […]
It’s important to show young readers that reading can be a lot of fun. Children will show more interest in reading when they see that books are fun. When interest in reading grows, reading skills will improve through increased exposure and practice. Is there anything sillier and more fun to emerging readers than underwear? I […]
As a student, I did research in the field of reading development. One of my favourite studies involved an examination of narrative skills (the ability to describe events and tell stories) in young children. In order to measure differences in narrative ability, we asked children to tell us a story while flipping through the pages of […]
Like many kids, I spent a good deal of my childhood playing sports in my backyard. When it was too cold, I settled for the basement. When I wasn’t accidently knocking down the fruit on the backyard trees or shooting tennis balls against the basement furnace – much to my dad’s ire – I was […]
I’m not embarrassed to admit this: I can’t carry a tune. I generally avoid singing whenever possible, but when it comes to reading with kids, I’ll make an exception. Children have a natural love for music and singing and whenever I sing – no matter how poorly – I usually get their undivided attention. Songs […]