Catching up...

Congratulations to our own Lana Krumwiede who is teaching this week at Richmond Young Writers (July 12 - 20). We know all the young writers (ages 12 - 17) in her class will have a lot of fun and be inspired to be very creative! Speaking of Richmond Young Writers, regretfully they did not win the i.e.* Start-up Competition, an initiative of the Greater Richmond Chamber. But we congratulate the group on competing successfully with 143 companies, putting them among the 13 finalists who competed for the top prize at the end of June. Visit Richmond Young Writers at www.richmondyoungwriters.com to find a list of programs offered this summer. There's still lots to do!

Summer Reading List Strategies

Terry Doherty of The Reading Tub has just shared a few tips in her latest newsletter for helping children with their summer reading lists. Her three step program to summer reading success is as follows:

1. Let them pick. Let them decide what material they want to read, and when. Maybe they like to get stuff done in the morning, maybe at lunch ... pick a time that works. By letting your reader read something they like (magazines and manuals count!) , keeps those skills polished.

2. Set the limits. You should set a minimum time, both per reading session and how many days a week. Most school districts have guidelines. For example, ours is 90 minutes per week. That still allows plenty of time for summer fun.

3. Divide and conquer. Just because the process sounds easy and fair to us, doesn't meent that it will be interpreted that way. Our suggestion is take that agreed upon time and split it in half. Your reader can start with their favorite and then do the required reading or vice versa.

To sign up for Terry's newsletter or to read reviews of the latest children's books, please visit The Reading Tub. (And while you're there, recommend one of our books for review!)

Kim Norman goes wee wee wee to NY Times

Our dear friend and occasional mentor, Kim Norman, has just had her book, I KNOW A WEE PIGGY, featured in the New York Times Sunday book review! Based on the "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Spider" story, Kim's little piggy wallows instead of swallows. Check out the feature on the New York Times online. Congratulations Kim! We hope your little piggy goes wee, wee, wee to the bestseller list!