Boredom put to a very good use.
November 4, 2011
Lets celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Phantom Tollbooth by remembering how important boredom was to Milo. Different than most kids today, Milo had plenty of time on his hands. The Phantom Tollbooth tells the story of a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth one afternoon, which transports him to a land called the Kingdom of Wisdom.
This is one of those books that I dare anyone—adult or child— not to love. Read the book and become Milo’s companion for a trip the likes you have never experienced. Some of the folks you will meet are Tock, the watchdog, the Humbug, King Araz, the Mathemagician, Princesses Rhyme and Reason, the Terrible Trivium and the Senses Taker.
I loved how Norton Juster wrote his masterpiece while trying to avoid writing a book on cities for children that was both exhausting and dispiriting him and not something he wanted to do. Read more about Norton Juster’s accidental masterpiece. http://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141240217/my-accidental-masterpiece-the-phantom-tollbooth?sc=ipad&f=1008
Children need social face-to-face interaction to learn language.
October 19, 2011
“Hearing Bilingual: How Babies Sort Out Language” http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2016472193_ brainlanguagesbaby11.html speaks to the many benefits of babies growing up bilingual and it also speaks to the social, face to face interaction children need to learn language. Research has shown that exposing English-language infants to someone speaking to them in Mandarin helped those babies preserve the ability […]
High performing students need high quality teaching.
October 6, 2011
Bill Keller’s “The University of Wherever” (NYT 10.3.201) highlights the fact that technology-centric schooling does not improve basic learning. The question becomes what kind of classroom best teaches kids to think, calculate, and invent? Classrooms in countries with the highest-performing students contain very little tech wizardry and emphasis is on pedagogical practices rather than digital […]
Celebrate Banned Book Week 2011
September 24, 2011
Banned book week, September, 25- October 2, 2011 is one of my all time favorite literary events. Each year I am proud of how many banned or challenged books I count as my favorites. Often it is these very books that change the way I see the world. In my mind, that is a pretty […]
Should books for children be scary, silly or sophisticated?
September 20, 2011
With Banned Book Week (September 24-October1) approaching, I find myself thinking about the benefits of subversive thinkers. Some of our most cherished authors have been rebels who railed against the norms of their day. Most notably in the field of children’s literature, Maurice Sendak, Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein come to mind. They all wrote […]
