July 13th, 2010

INTERVIEW

• Rick Riordan on His Latest Mega Seller 'The Red Pyramid'
  Rick Riordan loves flavoring his mythological-based tales of Ancient Greece and Egypt with a heavy dose of educational spice, sending his young readers racing for forgotten tomes in their libraries. We catch up with the adored author and former English teacher on the launch of his new series, "The Kane Chronicles," and its first tale, The Red Pyramid (Hyperion, 2010), as he muses on librarians, readers, and why he believes the legends, gods, and mysteries that surround the world of Ancient Egypt will enthrall his fans.
  
  Why did you pick ancient Egypt as your next world?
  As I was touring around with the Percy Jackson books (Hyperion), one of the questions I got asked the most often by young readers was, 'Will you ever do another mythology series?' I realized when I was a classroom teacher the only subject that ever came close to the Greek and Romans was Ancient Egypt, which really hasn't been tapped in children's literature, or not as well. And I found that a great challenge as much as a high interest.    more » » » 

NEWS

• School Gardens Can Improve Literacy, Numeracy, Study Says
  Gardening brings learning alive-and in more ways than you think. A new study out of the U.K. shows that growing vegetables and tending flowerbeds at school are vital tools for learning. Not only do they help boost confidence, resilience, and self-esteem, they also help increase scientific knowledge and understanding, as well as improve literacy and numeracy.
  
  Academics from the National Foundation for Educational Research-an independent provider of research for education and children's services-surveyed 1,300 teachers and closely studied 10 schools to examine the impact of gardening on pupils. Although the researchers found many benefits, they identified key areas in which children's lives were radically improved.    more » » » 
• Holiday House Celebrates 75 Years Making Books for Kids
  Gail Gibbons, Russell Freedman, Melanie Hope Greenberg, and other noted children's authors and illustrators recently joined more than 200 librarians to help celebrate the 75th anniversary of Holiday House, the first American company to solely publish children's books.
  
  Helen Gentry, the company's founder, told Horn Book in 1935 that she and her staff expected to "have fun making books"–and that still holds true more than seven decades later, says Terry Buzzamonto-Greenburg, Holiday House's vice president of marketing. "Seventy-five years of independence in an era of corporate publishing is certainly worthy of celebration," says Margery Cuyler, who was vice president and editor-in-chief at the company from 1975 to 1996.   more » » » 

WATCH AND READ

• Twilighter's Delights: Eclipse Movie Tie-ins
  The posters have been unfurled and displayed on bedroom walls. The T-shirts have been proudly worn (several times). Texts and twitters have been flying through the air like a flock of dusky vampire bats (oops, wrong mythology). Eclipse (PG-13), the third installment of the the Twilight Saga film series based on Stephenie Meyer's best-selling vampire romances (Little, Brown), premiered in traditional and (for the first time) IMAX theaters in late June. Already a resounding box office success, the movie handily surpassed its predecessors in setting ticket-selling records and drumming up fan frenzy. Eclipse follows Twilight (2008) and New Moon (2009), all from Summit Entertainment (a two-part film adaptation of the final novel, Breaking Dawn, has already been greenlit and is moving forward). Melissa Rosenberg, who penned the scripts for the first two movies, returns as screenwriter, with David Slade taking the helm as director. Most of the cast members have reprised their roles, with Bryce Dallas Howard replacing Rachelle Lefevre as the fiery and vengeful vampire Victoria.   more » » » 

REMARKABLE READS

• Top Dogs
  Stories about dogs are guaranteed winners with even the most reluctant readers. Regardless of time period and setting, a good dog story serves as a tonic to many of life's woes. Dogs as heroes, mistreated dogs, dogs who perform amazing feats–these stories all capture children's attention.    more » » » 

LIBRARIAN'S INTERNET

• Summer Reading Bonanza
  www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr244.shtml
  
  If you work in a public library, you're probably in the middle of your summer reading program. Hopefully, youngsters of all ages have been coming in droves to check out books. By now, you may be starting to run out of snappy reading recommendations. This cool site, with links to summer reading lists found all over the web, may be just the thing to help.   more » » » 

JOB OF THE WEEK