Coming Home From Vacation

I am back from Costa Rica. A week of bliss truly! I was staying in a beautiful little-itty- bitty town, Santa Teresa. As I was getting ready to go I was thinking, how will I share this with my nephew? What can I bring him? There were no bookstores here to find a book on Costa Rica. I thought that the airport might have a little, 'recuerdo', that I wold be able to bring back. As I walked along the shores with my friend B we were picking up and noticing the wonderful rocks and beautiful shells.

We found many sand dollars! That of course sparked another line of questions, what exactly is a sand dollar!?

They are so beautiful and have such precision and beauty in their design. We found so many of them on the beach, they looked unreal.

So I decided to bring my nephew back a sand dollar. We started to discuss, what is a sand dollar? "A sea urchin", I began. "It is like the left over skeleton of a sea urchin."

"What's a sea urchin?" my nephew replied. And so the conversation has started. We got the computer open to start searching for the different kinds of sea urchins and what they look like and how they move. "How do they move on it's spine? What do they eat? Why do they look like that?"

Gifts come in all shape and sizes. How you talk about them and let the gifts grow into something larger is all up to you! Hope you are enjoying your summer and reading!

The Ethicist

I was visiting Mommy Mentor S, Mentor Daddy R , and Little Boy J out at Grandma’s L’s house at the beach a couple of years ago. We had such a wonderful time together, sipping coffee at the beach while LBJ played in the sand and in the afternoon reading magazines and watching LBJ and Cousin M splash about in the pool. The part for me though, that was most memorable, was Sunday brunch. The the entire family gathered around the table reading and discussing the Ethicist, from the NYTimes. This was a family ritual on Sundays. MMS or MDR would read the first letter to the Ethicist in the NYT out loud. They weren’t allowed to read ahead to the response, but instead, put down the NYT magazine and asked- “What would you do? What would you say? What is the ethical thing to do?”

Everyone, including Cousin M and even sometimes LBJ (2 or 3 years old at the time) would join in and discuss what they think should be done.

You know me, I love a reading ritual. I also love the challenge of reading and reacting and discussing with others ideas that shape and form who we are. Having the adults as mentors, the kids are honored to be included and yet, get a window into how to think and react to the world.

Articles I Posted For You In February on Facebook That You Might Have Missed

You can Become a Fan of The Literary Family on Facebook!

Please join! I have been posting articles on the fan page that I have read this month. I didn't have a chance to include them all on the blog. Here they are below.

American Indian Children's Literarture Blog:

Do All Indians Live In Tipis?

Book Court Bookstore in Cobble Hill Brooklyn:

Awards in Children Literature.

It's also very exciting that Grace Lin and Julia Alvarez both won awards this year.

Joy Harjo wrote about another novel that has won critical acclaim in Children's Literature.

Between The Deep Sea and Me Book Award

Mosaic Magazine- Is a wonderful literary magazine for young adults! I am so glad I found this. It is written for educators.

Reading Reptile Bookstore- Is a great bookstore in Kansas City Kansas. It has really become a national hub for attracting authors to and give readings for kids. The website is fun for all to visit.

Preschool Issues NYtimes- The NYTimes has been publishing some good articles on education. In the face of changing no child left behind- there is a chance that educational policies could improve.

Playing to Learn Op/Ed NYTimes- But we are mostly hoping for more rigor and less testing!

Both of these education articles suggest we should consider educating versus test them.

Songs about Peace and Love!
Read about great songs for you and children to listen to. Beth has a wonderful blog you should follow her too!

I hope you decide to officially "Follow" the blog here on Blogger. Just click on the button on the right side of the screen. "Follow". Join the other 9 people and the blog will automatically be sent to you!

Thanks for all your reading and feedback! Can't wait to read your comments this month!

Who Are We?

Dear Member of your own Literary Family,

We are friends and relatives of children at every age! We probably have a love of both the spoken and written word. As we shower the children in our lives with love, who can help but drop pieces of literature, songs, and passion about the world into the hearts and minds of those around us.

Think about who makes up your Literary Family- your own children, nephews/nieces, grandchildren, students, babies and kids of your closet friends? You have the power to help this young person develop into a wise, wordy, intellectual from such a young age. Teach them through different literary genres how to love the world, love themselves and build loving relationships with others!

Weekly, I will try to give you different ways to connect to these kids to help build your own literary family! A family that loves to learn, loves to read, and loves to be with eachother!

Sending you literary joy!