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Comics Are Books Too!

Geri Clouston
  When I was a child, I saved all my money to buy comic books!  Not just any comic books but the ones called Classics Illustrated and Classics Illustrated Junior.  The former were condensed, comic book versions of some of the greatest books ever written, and the latter were the greatest of fairy tales.  At one time, I owned them all and I am so fortunate that one of my sons, a serious comic book collector, has preserved those of these treasures that survived my growing up and many household moves over the years.  I credit these comic books for my love of books today. I was only about 5 years old when I began collecting the fairy tales—some well-known—and others just as wonderful but lesser known like The Penny Prince, The Wild Swans and Silly Hans.  When I was in grade school, I moved up to the Classics. Can you imagine a second grader reading The Last of the Mohicans?  In comic book form they were readable for a young child and I loved them.  I later made it a goal to read the entire book version of each of these classics. We all know the benefits of reading…

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a new year full of new books!

Geri Clouston
We are back in school after a wonderful Christmas! It is now time for me to think about books once again.  I have a couple of books I really want to talk to the authors about, so check back soon.  Do you have some questions for one of the authors of a B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree?  Just let me know in the comments and I will be sure to ask. Talk to you soon-

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The Importance of Imagination

Geri Clouston
  With Halloween just past and Christmas soon upon us, I am intrigued by the world of fantasy that children delve into at this time of year. Childhood specialists know the importance of a child developing a healthy imagination. Imagination enables a child to be better at problem solving and more capable of handling stress and emotion. It is also critical for future personal and academic success. It is the dreamers in history who have given us some of our greatest technological advances. And having the free time to daydream, create fantasies, read, or just sit and think is vital to building the future leaders of society. But sadly this is becoming rare as children are barraged by a host of other activities that place heavy demands on their time including homework, music lessons, sports, school clubs, TV, video games, computers and the Internet. These are all important in small doses but should never take the place of free time to play and dream.Great thinkers have always known about the importance of imagination: "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."- Edgar Allan Poe"You see things and you say Why?…

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How to Read With Your Child

Geri Clouston
Start Young and Stay With It   At just a few months of age, an infant can look at pictures, listen to your voice, and point to objects on cardboard pages. Guide your child by pointing to the pictures, and say the names of the various objects. By drawing attention to pictures and associating words with both pictures and real-world objects, your child will learn the importance of language. Children learn to love the sound of language before they even notice the existence of printed words on a page. Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the world. It helps them develop language and listening skills and prepares them to understand the written word. When the rhythm and melody of language become a part of a child's life, learning to read will be as natural as learning to walk and talk. Even after children learn to read by themselves, it's still important for you to read aloud together. By reading stories that are on their interest level, but beyond their reading level, you can stretch young readers' understanding and motivate them to improve their skills. It's Part of Life Although the life of a…

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Blog#2 – READING TO YOUR CHILD

Geri Clouston
  Reading, and reading well, is the single most important advantage you can give your child. Not only does it provide advantages for better leaning, it develops a child's sense of imagination – one of the most important means of creating a better world for us all. Imagination fuels the minds of inventors and researchers, it expands our horizon in science, medicine, transportation ... well you get it. Create imagination in our children and create a better world. We all know that reading is a good thing, but below are thoughts on just how reading to your child between the ages of two to five can benefit both the child and the parent. 1. A stronger relationship with you. As your child grows older, he'll be on the move—playing, running, and constantly exploring his environment. Snuggling up with a book lets the two of you slow down and recaptures that sweet, cuddly time you enjoyed when he was a baby. Instead of being seen as a chore or a task, reading will become a nurturing activity that will bring the two of you closer together. 2. Academic excellence. One of the primary benefits of reading to toddlers and preschoolers is…

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How important is reading? Just check out these statistics!

Geri Clouston
 Over the next several postings, we will be opening up a discussion on the importance of reading to and with your children.   The average kindergarten student has seen more than 5,000 hours of television- spending more time in front of the TV than it takes to earn a bachelor's degree! Unfortunately, people are not reading as much as they used to. Less than a third of 13-year-olds were daily readers in 2007, a 14 percent decline from 20 years earlier. For 17-year-olds, the percentage of non-readers doubled over a 20 year period. It is estimated that more than $2 billion is spent each year on students who repeat a grade because they have reading problems. 60 percent of America's prison inmates are illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems. U.S. adults ranked 12th among 20 high income countries in composite (document, prose, and quantitative) literacy. More than three out of four of those on welfare, 85% of unwed mothers and 68% of those arrested are illiterate. Approximately 50 percent of the nation's unemployed youth age 16-21 are functional illiterate, with virtually no prospects of obtaining good jobs. Children who have not developed some basic literacy skills…

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Chicago’s Printers Row Lit Fest

Geri Clouston
  This weekend, the indieBRAG team joined nearly 130,000 fellow literary enthusiasts in Chicago's historic South Loop for the 28th Annual Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest. It was a day filled with books, music, demonstrations and lots of sun.                             Our main purpose for attending was to spread the word about B.R.A.G.Medallion and our wonderful Honorees THE LIST OF HONOREES . But we couldn't resist indulging in some of the wonderful activities going on around us. There were more than 200 authors present – from the big names to the up-and-comers. And that's where we found one of our favorites parts of the Festival, hosted by the 826CHI writing and tutoring program. For those of you unfamiliar with 826CHI, it is a fantastic non-profit "dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their...writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write." But unlike many tutoring programs, 826CHI gives students the opportunity to publish their works, either in-house or professionally, and release them at community events. When we caught up with the very talented kids of 826CHI, they were proudly displaying their published works and some were even giving autographs. What a unique and inspiring way to empower young people and engage them in literature. Click here to learn more about 826CHI. It was a terrific event where we met many new authors, publishers and press. We are investigating several joint events that will give us even more visibility, so stay tuned!

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