The 89-Year-Old Who Wanted to Learn How to Read

100 Book Covers to Help Fight Illiteracy

A graphic design studio gathered 100 creatives from 28 different countries to help fight illiteracy.

See their designs, here.

Enhanced Ebooks Are Bad for Children

Unlike print versions or basic ebooks, enhanced ebooks distract children from the story and stop them remembering narrative details according to new research.

From a story in the Guardian...

"The enhanced ebook prompted more non-content related actions (eg behaviour or device-focused talk, pushing hands away) from children and parents than the print books," found Cynthia Chiong, Jinny Ree, Lori Takeuchi and Ingrid Erickson in their study. "The enhanced ebook was less effective than the print and basic ebook in supporting the benefits of co-reading because it prompted more non-content related interactions. When adults prompt children with questions pertaining to the text, label objects, and encourage them to discuss the book contents in terms of their own experiences and curiosities, this elicits increased verbalisation by the child and can lead to improved vocabulary and overall language development."

Children reading enhanced ebooks also "recalled significantly fewer narrative details than children who read the print version of the same story", said the researchers, speculating that the extra features may be distracting. But while "print books were more advantageous for literacy building co-reading", ebooks, and particularly enhanced ebooks, were better "for engaging children and prompting physical interaction".

How Big is America's Illiteracy Problem?

Pretty big.

Easy Reader Song

Dolly Parton's Quest to Get Kids Reading

For over 15 years Dolly Parton's been spearheading a campaign to get kids reading.

From a piece in the Guardian...

The fact that the scheme carries Parton's name has led some to think that Parton herself funds the library; in fact, while her Dollywood Foundation pays for all the administration costs in maintaining the database, it does not pay for the actual books. It is, however, able to ensure that the books are bought at a hugely discounted rate: Penguin, which supplies all the books, sells them to the scheme for an average price of £2, which is up to a quarter of their usual cost.

In Rotherham the cost of the scheme is met through donations from the Chamber of Commerce, the NHS and, this year, the local authority. In Luton, the scheme is being paid for by the Wates group and it is anticipated that around 24,000 books will be sent out each year.

While the scheme is undoubtedly laudable, is there any need to spend money giving families free books when they can easily visit their local library? "Not everybody is that way inclined", says Lilburn. "The difference with this scheme is that the book is addressed to the child and, based on all the parental feedback we get, the children are really excited when that book comes through the door."

When a Child Doesn't Read, Imagination Disappears

LITERACY FOUNDATION Cinderella (english) from Bleublancrouge on Vimeo.

Publishers as Partners in Literacy

The New York Times discusses how publishers are assisting in literacy efforts.

From the post...

There is nothing about reducing the price of books that competes with promoting the use of libraries; these efforts are not mutually exclusive; they are complementary. What is important to note, however, is that new books can be particularly powerful, especially for children who don’t grow up taking books for granted. Elise from Jackson, Miss. (8), who teaches in a Title I school, observed: “While … used-book donations and swaps are great ways to increase access to books for low-income families, I do think there is something special about a brand-new book that kids, especially, get excited about.”

That’s the experience of Martha Bernadett, who founded the Molina Foundation, based in Los Angeles, which has distributed more than 2.5 million books — more than a million of which were acquired through First Book’s book bank and marketplace — to schools, libraries, hospitals, after school programs, and even local medical and dental clinics. “My parents taught me, ‘Don’t ask people to come to you. Go to where they are,’ ” explained Bernadett. The foundation switched from using book drives to using First Book because donations were so inefficient, and because low-income children responded so powerfully to new books.

“There is a self-worth issue that’s important,” says Bernadett. “When a child receives a new book, it not only creates a value for the book, but the recipient also feels more valued.” Bernadett suggested that it’s difficult for some Americans to appreciate the depths of poverty that persist in the country. She recalled meeting a young boy who had been given the Dr. Seuss book, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” and had fallen in love with it. “He asked if he could keep it at school,” she recalled. “We learned that his family was living in their car. The teacher told us that he read it again and again at school.”

What is the Most Literate City in America?

Sadly, my town of Seattle slid slightly down the list. The winner? Find out, here.

And, in honor of the list, Flavorwire picks a piece of literature celebrating each city, here.

The Great Comic Book Heroes

Not only do they fight crime, they're good for your kids. In the Telegraph, there's a story about how comic books are good for children, about as good as any other type of literature the tot may read.

From the story...

"Any book can be good and any book can be bad, to some extent. It's up to the reader's personality and intellect. As a whole, comics are just another medium, another genre.

"If reading is to lead to any meaningful knowledge or comprehension, readers must approach a text with an understanding of the relevant social, linguistic and cultural conventions."

Is Twitter Ruining Literacy?

Quite possibly. MediaBistro has a brief story about it.

The New Literacy Revolution

Clive Thompson, in WIRED, talks about the new ways of literacy in the world due to all of the latest technologies.

From the piece...

As the school year begins, be ready to hear pundits fretting once again about how kids today can't write—and technology is to blame. Facebook encourages narcissistic blabbering, video and PowerPoint have replaced carefully crafted essays, and texting has dehydrated language into "bleak, bald, sad shorthand" (as University College of London English professor John Sutherland has moaned). An age of illiteracy is at hand, right?

Andrea Lunsford isn't so sure. Lunsford is a professor of writing and rhetoric at Stanford University, where she has organized a mammoth project called the Stanford Study of Writing to scrutinize college students' prose. From 2001 to 2006, she collected 14,672 student writing samples—everything from in-class assignments, formal essays, and journal entries to emails, blog posts, and chat sessions. Her conclusions are stirring.

"I think we're in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since Greek civilization," she says. For Lunsford, technology isn't killing our ability to write. It's reviving it—and pushing our literacy in bold new directions.

Schools Becoming Anti-Reading Zones

This, according to The Telegraph.

From the story...

...budgets for books and librarians are being continually cut as schools invest more money in IT equipment.

In recent months, attention has focused on one comprehensive in Chesterfield that announced it would be getting rid of its librarian in favour of a "virtual learning assistant".

Mr Cottrell Boyce said: "When I visit many schools, I see a big, fat, glaring, expensive anti-reading for pleasure signal.

"It stands where the library used to stand and it's called the learning resource centre. To turn your library into a learning resource centre, you generally have to chuck out a bunch of valuable, durable assets – books – and replace them with sub-prime computers which will quickly date."

A Correlation Between MySpace And Illiteracy

The Silicon Valley Insider has the story. Internet users in states with high illiteracy rates are more likely to search for MySpace, according to a site called StateStats.

Archeological Find Could Alter the History of Literacy

The New York Times reports, from Israel, where the Bible said David fought Goliath, a great find.

From the story...

Overlooking the verdant Valley of Elah, where the Bible says David toppled Goliath, archaeologists are unearthing a 3,000-year-old fortified city that could reshape views of the period when David ruled over the Israelites. Five lines on pottery uncovered here appear to be the oldest Hebrew text ever found and are likely to have a major impact on knowledge about the history of literacy and alphabet development.

The five-acre site, with its fortifications, dwellings and multi-chambered entry gate, will also be a weapon in the contentious and often politicized debate over whether David and his capital, Jerusalem, were an important kingdom or a minor tribe, an issue that divides not only scholars but those seeking to support or delegitimize Zionism.

Dave Eggers on Making a Difference

"The schools need you, the teachers need you, the students and parents need you," Eggers urges. "They need your actual person, your physical personhood and your open minds and open ears and boundless compassion. Sitting next to them, listening and nodding and asking questions for hours at a time. Some of these kids just don't know how plain good they are, how smart, and how much they have to say. You can tell them; you can shine that light on them one human interaction at a time."
- Dave Eggers, founder of McSweeney's and 826 Literacy Centers

You can see his short presentation about making a difference here.

Happy International Literacy Day

Read something and celebrate.

Pictured above: Szonyi Istvan's "Man Reading" (1923).

What Book Got You Hooked?

First Book, an organization that provides new books to children in need (they have distributed more than 60 million free and low cost books in thousands of communities) asked celebrities what books got them hooked on reading. For Barry Manilow? The Temple Of Gold. "Everyone was raving about the brilliant The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger. But my stepfather brought home The Temple Of Gold and it became my Catcher In The Rye. All of my young friends adopted the book too."

Literacy Debate, Online, R U Really Reading?

Is the internet turning kids onto reading or turning them off? The New York Times looks into it.

From the story...

Books are not Nadia Konyk’s thing. Her mother, hoping to entice her, brings them home from the library, but Nadia rarely shows an interest.

Instead, like so many other teenagers, Nadia, 15, is addicted to the Internet. She regularly spends at least six hours a day in front of the computer here in this suburb southwest of Cleveland.

A slender, chatty blonde who wears black-framed plastic glasses, Nadia checks her e-mail and peruses myyearbook.com, a social networking site, reading messages or posting updates on her mood. She searches for music videos on YouTube and logs onto Gaia Online, a role-playing site where members fashion alternate identities as cutesy cartoon characters. But she spends most of her time on quizilla.com or fanfiction.net, reading and commenting on stories written by other users and based on books, television shows or movies.

Her mother, Deborah Konyk, would prefer that Nadia, who gets A’s and B’s at school, read books for a change. But at this point, Ms. Konyk said, “I’m just pleased that she reads something anymore.”

Seattle - Almost the Nation's Most Literate City

Well, my hometown of Seattle couldn't hold on to the top spot a third year running. Minneapolis is now the nation's most literate city. Seattle's second place. That's not too shabby.

From the story:

The rankings, originated and authored by Central Connecticut State University's president John W. Miller, compare the country's 69 biggest cities in terms of libraries, bookstores, educational levels, newspaper readership, locally published magazines and Internet resources.

Some interesting tidbits:

Seattle continues to lead the nation in number of bookstores per 10,000 people and in the percentage of adult residents with high-school diplomas and bachelor's degrees or higher.

Seattle's library circulation, staff and branches rose from seventh in the nation in 2006 to fourth this year.

Seattle residents, let's get reading and take out Minneapolis next year. Come on! READ! FIGHT! WIN!