Diane is quoted in South China Morning Post column “Fiction unlocks a more meaningful world for young readers.”
March 15, 2015
Diane stressed the importance of exposing children to quality literature that offer stories rich in vocabulary, with characters that readers care about and care about what happens to them. Diane flagged the genre of Bibliotherapy, which offers books that are written with a direct message of how to cope or how to respond to a situation, akin to self-help for children. While self help books can be helpful and have their place, they are not to be confused with literature.
Diane explained that literature is not meant to be a lesson, but a way to enter into an experience that helps a reader understand his or her thoughts and feelings. Reading literature is often very therapeutic in that is helps us better understand ourselves and others, but literature and self help books have little in common.
Diane is quoted at an evening program with Madeline Levine for Bring Me A Book in Hong Kong
March 12, 2015
“The Greatest gift we can give our children is our attention. Reading and talking about a story creates a strong parent-child bond and is the attention children need to thrive.” Talking with children about the stories they read gives children the words they need to make sense of the world and better understand themselves. What […]
John Dewey, Dr. Seuss & a one room schoolhouse in Armenia Colombia
March 2, 2015
A one room rural schoolhouse in Colombia has much to teach us about the schools children need to be successful learners. Nueva Escuela’s curriculum is predicated on the belief that children learn best by doing, rather than being endlessly drilled for national exams. It is unfortunate and surprising that Escuela Nueva is almost unknown in […]
Diane quoted in South China Morning Press
February 25, 2015
Diane was recently in Hong Kong working with Bring Me A Book, the leading advocate for family literacy in Hong Kong. Here is an excerpt from an article in the South China Morning Press “Diane Frankenstein, a child literacy expert, guides parents and teachers in the art of conversational reading as an excellent way to […]
Gung Hay Fat Choy
February 19, 2015
While recently working in Hong Kong I learned about a relatively new player in the world of awards for Children books of distinction. The Feng Zikai award, handed out for the first time in 2009, is a biannual awarded aimed at promoting original, quality Chinese children’s books and recognizing the efforts of authors, illustrators and publishers. […]
