Host a Literary Sleep Over

Why not? Get out some sleeping bags, dig around for some flashlights, create a campground at home! Gather up stacks of books. Let kids read and talk all night!

Why not?

:) Enjoy.

Welcome to Our World

Readership around the globe, welcome!

Where are you from? What are you and the children in lives reading! Thanks for reading the blog and sticking around! Feel free to email us at theliteraryfamily@gmail.com for book suggestions or activities that you and the special little ones in your life share around books! We would love to hear form you! Spread the word about the blog!

photo by Daniel Galan

Argentina

Belgium

Brazil

Bulgaria

Canada

China

Colombia

Costa Rica

Cyprus

Denmark

Egypt

England

Estonia

Germany

India

Indonesia

Ireland

Iran

Israel

Kyrgyzstan

Lithuania

Malaysia

Mexico

Nepal

New Zealand

Poland

Portugal

Qa'tar

Russia

Singapore

Saudia Arabia

South Korea

South Africa

Spain

Switzerland

Sweden

Taiwan

Thailand

The Netherlands

Turkey

UAE: Dubai

UAE: Abu Dhabi

United States

Viet Nam

Smile, Eat Ice Cream, and Read!

Enjoy the weekend!

Happy reading to you and your literary family! Take your books out into the world together!

Host a Literary Party: Poetry Open Mic

It's poetry month. Why not celebrate by hosting a literary party! What kind of literary party? Why not host an "Open Mic Night" at your house. Get a microphone (it could be from one of those toy karaoke machines) and gather up all your favorite poems. Invite your family and friends to your house. Ask them to bring their favorite poems. They may even want to bring one that they have written.

Invite the children and the adults, one by one, to get up on the microphone and read. Celebrate by snapping fingers. Have some paper and pens available, in case you and your friends are inspired to write. Provide some snacks and refreshments while you listen and are moved by the words you hear.

You may even decide to video tape it so that you cans end it to friends and family and everyone is able to watch and re-watch the special evening at home.

Celebrate poetry, celebrate the spoken and written word. Happy Poetry Month to You!

Traveling With a Pre-Teen:Reading and Writing in Cafes

For AB's thirteenth birthday this year, the two of us decided to fly across the country, to Seattle, to travel, site see, and read and write together! We started working on our itinerary in the airport so that we would know what we could expect to do each day- almost like a little list of hopeful accomplishments!

Each day we included looking for a new cafe so that we could read, her from her Kindle, me from my paperbacks. We also included each day sometime for AB to work on her writing and I could work on my blog.

AB loved the idea -both of sitting in cafes and reading and writing everyday. Luckily, here in Seattle, we have spectacular views, awesome natural world, fun activities, and a zillion cafes filled with other readers and writers.

We also planned a quick trip to Elliot Bay's Bookstore in Pioneer Square in Seattle. We are already running low on materials!

Happy reading and writing to you!

Call Your Aunties!

Last weekend I got a 630 am phone call and one at noon.

I was out of town, in a different time zone. When I turned my phone on, I saw all these missed calls. No messages. I was worried. They were all from Mama B's phone, M's and A's mom.

When I called back, M answered, "It was me who was calling, don't worry! I want to tell you that I finished Frindle and I wrote my book report about it!"

Now we won't discuss the value or non value of writing a book report here and now.

What I want to say is, "You did! Did you love it? Did you love that book up!?"

She did! Apparently her book report is winning some acclaim in school!

We live for these moments- Aunties and Uncles, Grammies and Pop Pops. I remember when Little Boy J would call and leave a song on my voicemail. It always brought a smile to my face. Now his sister, Little L leaves sweet little messages.

Nothing is sweeter than my nephew calling and saying,

"Where are you? Do you want to Skype?" When the screens all connect there he is, sitting with a book (Llama Llama Red Pajama), reading it in his 2 year old way!

Precious! Pick up the phone or turn on your computers- call and share!

Have You Picked Up a Magazine Recently?

When I travel, I like to load up my 'carry on' with a few magazines! I also subscribe (online now) to magazines and blogs. I enjoy reading short essays, stories, and even doing a puzzle now and then. My sister and Nana are big puzzle people as well. I remember growing up with many magazines coming to the house that I loved to browse and skim and read.

My nephew is growing up to be quite the traveler. He is almost three and has been to 3 continents and 7 countries including: Poland, Oman, and England. As he travels, he brings his "penguin roll-ley backpack" that my sister has filled with his slippers, a snack, a couple books etc. I suggested getting him a couple of magazines at the airport to read and let him look through- it's lighter!

Well this year, in honor of the new year, Nana and Papa got my nephew a year's subscription to National Geographic. What a great idea! It really is a gift that keeps giving! National Geographic, like National Wildlife Federation, has a couple of different magazine subscriptions- depending on the age of the child. Imagine, you could get a subscription for the toddler, the 4th grader, and for yourselves! That sounds like a family reading together! You could do the same with Sports Illustrated For Kids. I remember that my high school English teacher always said that the best writing is in SI!

Ask and Muse are both examples of companies with multi- leveled texts. Both content rich (science and social studies) oriented! These would be a nice companion to your Smithsonian subscription. Even online websites, like Time For Kids, have content and texts that are designed for different ages of kids!

These are heavy on the genre of non-fiction informational texts. In many of them though there are poems and cartoons, and some stories that highlight the theme of the magazine. Of course there are literary magazines as well that do the same thing!

Magazines online, delivered to your home, picked up at a newsstand or an airport, make a wonderful addition to the library at home!

Help Kids See Where Books Belong

I have always wanted to do an episode about books for Oprah (I suppose now I have to dream of a new show) where I show and help parents build their child's libraries at home. One of the first things I would do is to seek out the number of places and space where their books could be shelved, housed and displayed for easy reading enjoyment: Books about food and cooking in the kitchen (Kitchen for Kids, Betty Crocker's Kids Cook, Omnivore's Dilemma For Kids), books about peeing and pooping, magazines, (Everybody Poops, Time To Pee, Ranger Rick, Ask, Muse) and other old favorites in the bathroom. Think about your own reading life. Do you have reading materials throughout your household? The beautiful art books near your piano, the stack of books about work near your desk, and the newspaper on your dining room table?

This weekend Mama J took me to meet her friend, Kristin Loffer Theiss- an amazing artist living in Mount Vernon Washington. She took me to her studio to see what things I needed to buy on Etsy and bring home for my nephew. Kristin sews and makes these beautiful pillows,plush dolls, shirts and more in the upstairs of her house in her studio. Throughout her home there are books for her two year old little boy- from the living room all the way up into her studio.

Her home is decorated with books! They are strategically and artfully placed. In her studio she has all of his art books: A Charley Harper ABC, Calder's life story, The Red Balloon to name a few. His books, are right next to her magazines. Studios are places where you work and you read.

The family that reads together, sticks together! Decorate your house with books. Make books accessible for kids and be able to see reading possibilties everywhere. What special rooms in your house do you have books for kids? Post here.

Read this blog to think more about spreading the love of books around your home.

A Throw Back to The 70s: An Interview with a Toddler and Her Mother

I am visiting with my friends in Mount Vernon Wa, an hour north of Seattle! In honor of Little Moon's birthday (2 years old) and the new year- I brought her three books- Tomie DePaola's, Te Amo Sol, Te Amo Luna, Opposites by Eye Like, and A Child's Day An Alphabet of Play, By Ida Pearle.

I decided that I would conduct my first interview with Little Moon (2 years old) and her mom- Mama J. I asked them, "What are Little Moon's favorite books here that she likes to read?"

Mama J pulled out a few favorites that tended to be the books that Little Moon would pull and read on her own or ask Mama J or Papi read!

I Can Blink

We Like Kindergarten

People In My Family

Hand Hand Fingers Thumb

The Pokey Little Puppy

I looked at Mama J and I was like, "You still have these? Golden Books?" She told me that her mother saved all of her childhood books (and more) so that when she had a daughter, she could have the same things as she did when she was a child. Yes- it was like going back in time!

Finally Little Moon emerged with her own books in hand- A big and little copy of Backyard Circus! Mama J started laughing! "She really does read that all the time- mostly on her own!"

We were on our way out the door, to go to brunch, when Little Moon rushed to get her books. Little moon then proceeded to get into her car seat with book in hand. When her straps were on, she opened Backyard Circus and read it- numerous times until we arrived at our destination.

What is so beautiful is not that she loves Backyard Circus but that she has interests and that she wants to carry on her interests in the car as we go to brunch. Oh, Little Moon! What a reader you are!