The Freedom To Read: Free, print-ready poster of one of my favorite Judy Blume quotes #BannedBooksWeek

 

In honor of Banned Books Week, I've illustrated one of my favorite Judy Blume quotes:

"Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me."

I was lucky that way, too. My father used to take the whole family to our local public library every week, and we kids could choose whatever books we wanted. My parents never questioned my choices, and I will always be grateful to them for that trust.

You can download a free, print-ready poster here.

Also see my Print-Ready Archives as well as my Illustrating Judy Blume resource.

Free print-ready poster: "Be A Reading Ninja!"

I've added a new print-ready poster to my For The Love Of Reading page: "Be A Reading Ninja!" It prints on an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper.

Download it here. This is also now available as a "Be A Reading Ninja!" greeting card.

You can find ALL my free, print-ready bonus material in my print-ready archives.

Music video: It's All About The Books (parodies of Meghan Trainor's "All About The Bass")

Just came across these fun book-focused parodies of Meghan Trainor's "All About The Bass", like Mount Desert Island High School:

Also love this "All About That Book" video from Griffin Elementary's Literacy Night:

and "All About The Books" from Andover Elementary:

and from Calusa Elementary:

and from Christina Iadicicco on YouTube:

And they're all right, of course! It's ALL ABOUT THE BOOKS.

Donalyn Miller's READING IN THE WILD and THE BOOK WHISPERER

A while back, I read Donalyn Miller's READING IN THE WILD: The Book Whisperer's Keys To Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits. I enjoyed it so much that I just bought THE BOOK WHISPERER. The books are geared toward educators, but there is so much great info and inspiration for those who help create books for young people. I'm going to be gradually incorporating some of Donalyn's suggestions into activity sheets I create for my FOR THE LOVE OF READING page as well as bonus material for my book projects.

You can find more info about Donalyn Miller and her books at Bookwhisperer.com, and you can follow her on Twitter at @donalynbooks.

Photo of Filipino boy reading book goes viral, prompts donations to help with his education

I love stories like this. After GMA News Online ran the above photo and story, the photo went viral on Facebook and prompted readers to send donations to help him with his education. More info on Book Patrol.

Related info:

News story on GMANetwork.com

Photo of street kid stirs action in Manila (Book Patrol)

All Hallows Read: Give A Book This Halloween

What a wonderful idea. :-)

You can find more info about Hallows Read on their official website.

BookMentors.org To Launch This Fall

Scheduled to launch in Fall 2012, BookMentors.org is a non-profit that intends to use "micro patronage" to supply teachers, students, and librarian in high-needs schools with books.

BookMentors.org is a place where you can give and receive books, as well as ideas. Teachers and librarians request, receive, and recommend books. Donors recommend and buy books for teachers. Students benefit from all the shared books and thoughts. Everyone gets to write tributes to their favorite children's and YA books.

Not only does this sound like a good cause but it also seems like another opportunity for children's and YA authors and publishers to promote books.

I've signed up for their mailing list to be kept informed about the upcoming launch.

URL:  http://bookmentors.org/

Twitter: @bookmentors

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BookMentors

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/113752556044546203488/posts