Reading is a turning point in life for a child.
Folklore and fairy tales are filled with turning points...leaving home, overcoming difficult obstacles, finding hope in dark times.
Classic stories resonate, igniting the imagination and opening the mind to possibilities.
There is a kind of magic in the connection between these stories and young readers.
In this blog, we explore -- from John Locke to Neil Gaiman and Kevin Maher to Maria Tatar -- the importance of books in the lives of children.
We also explore the contributions of therapy and service dogs to lives young and old.
The illustation of Hansel and Gretel, a classic story filled with turning points, is by Arthur Rackham.
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Imagine and Understand...
Neil Gaiman, the master of imagination and stories of wonder, wrote an article in the Guardian filled with passion and ideas about the value of books in the lives of children. Here is an excerpt....
"We all – adults and children, writers and readers – have an obligation
to daydream. We have an obligation to imagine. It is easy to pretend that nobody can change anything, that we are in a world in which society is huge and the individual is less than nothing: an atom in a wall, a grain of rice in a rice field. But the truth is, individuals change their world over and over, individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different...
Albert Einstein was asked once how we could make our children intelligent. His reply was both simple and wise. 'If you want your children to be intelligent,' he said, 'read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.' He understood the value of reading, and of imagining. I hope we can give our children a world in which they will read, and be read to, and imagine, and understand"...
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Hey Kids...
Let's read a Fairy Tale about a brother and sister...a real adventure... where lots of things happen to them...they are Abandoned, Lost, Deceived, Caged, Threatened with Death, and Kill a Witch by Pushing her into an Oven...hey, it must be the incredible fun adventure of Hansel and Gretel.
James Norton in the Christian Science Monitor wrote an insightful article, Grimm tales teach kids to grapple with evil. Based largely on his own experiences, he cites the importance of context and parenting in helping children to find balance in dealing with the frightening and cruel aspects of children's books. Here is an excerpt:
"As a young child I grew up reading – and being profoundly influenced by – books including short World War II histories (including a book about the Holocaust for young readers), the unabridged Grimm's Fairy Tales, and D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths, wherein Loki tricks the gods into murdering the good-hearted Baldur and eventually precipitates the end of the world through his traitorous actions. I thought this stuff was amazing – shocking, engaging, confusing, and the first step on a lifetime of avid reading. It was a safe, vicarious way to wrestle with the existence of evil in the world (something that any serious student of the Bible thinks about, as well.)
And despite a literature diet that had a serious dark side, I turned out OK: No criminal convictions (or even charges!), a steady job as a writer, a happy marriage, and an author credit on a number of books – including a short history of the Holocaust for young readers."
The illustration of Gretel pushing the horrible witch into the oven is by Arthur Rackham
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PAL -- Helping Kids to Enjoy Reading and Veterans to Enjoy the Day...
It takes less than 2 minutes in this documentary video, to see the special quality of therapy dogs... it just happens naturally ...Rascal, a PAL Dog
PAL (People Animals Love) is an exemplary multifaceted therapy dog organization serving Washington, DC, and surrounding areas.
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Playthings Of the Mind...John Locke and Children's Literature
Seth Lerer's fascinating book, Children's Literature, A Reader's History, from Aesop to Harry Potter, is filled with information and insights that are new to me. I had known that Locke was a writer and philosopher of diverse talents (he was also a doctor), and that his ideas had influenced the founding fathers of the US, but I was unaware that Locke's influence was so widespread and lasting. And that this influence, through the centuries, has had a pervasive influence on children's education and the books they read.
Lerer writes of how John Locke's writings, in the late seventeenth century, established a "philosophically grounded theory of education...that the child learns from experience in the modern world...and that the goal of education should be both instruction and delight."
..."Locke's impact on eighteenth and early nineteenth century children's literature...lies, too, in his emphasis on the particulars of sensory experience, his fascination with the playthings of the world, and the creation of a figurative language to explain just what fills the mind..."
..."The modern legacy of Locke's work may be, in the end, that modern fascination with the two sides of the child's playthings -- tales of the toys that come alive, and stories of the animals that talk and feel. It would be no exaggeration to say, for example, that Winnie the Pooh remains a profoundly Lockean book: one keyed to narratives of mental growth, focused on the ways of reading texts, and centered on the habits of a bear "of little brain".
Lerer cites many other examples of how Locke's ideas, particularly those expressed in Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1692), have directly influenced the evolution and practice of children's education and literature.
"There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected quesions of a child than the discourses of men"...John Locke
The illustration is by E.H. Shepard
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"Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, has the potential of becoming a favorite holiday story for both children and adults." -- Wayne Walker, Stories for Children Magazine, Home School Buzz, Home School Book Review
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How to Adopt A Dog...from the heartland of Nebraska comes this very informative article
"October is Adopt-a-Dog and Adopt-a-Shelter Dog month, with our article filled to the brim with tips on bringing your new companion home.
With the help of a personal PRNewswire-USNewswire by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), important questions will be answered before you sign that dotted line on the adoption papers.
'Adopting a dog is a fun and heartwarming experience that can transform your life for the better, but it’s also a very serious decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly,' says Dr. Clark K. Fobian, president of the AVMA. 'The primary reason dogs are given up to animal shelters is unfulfilled expectations, so before you even consider bringing a dog into your life it is crucial to take time, involve your family, and give careful consideration to your expectations and the needs of the dog to be sure it’s a good match. Your local veterinarian is an excellent resource for answers to your questions''...
Here is the link to read all of this informative article: Way Cool Dogs
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Dubliners resonates in a 13 year old boy -- forever
Kevin Maher, a journalist for the Times in England, grew up in Dublin. His recentl debut novel, The Fields, has received enthusiastic reviews. This excerpt, from NPR's You Must Read This is a compelling example of how a book, read when we are young, can be of lasting importance.
"...Me and the lads laughed it off, and said that it was arse and that Master McCarthy was cracked. But a line in "The Dead," one single line, wouldn't leave me. It described the hero, Gabriel Conroy, lying next to Gretta, on the bed in a darkened hotel room, after the big weep, and it said, "One by one, they were all becoming shades." The line stayed with me. Haunted me even. Me, a teenage boy who's father had cancer, and who covered with everyday humour the ineluctable fact that we were all, everyday, becoming shades. And it, that single line, made me return to "The Dead." And, eventually, relentlessly so. To see the beauty and depth within it, and in every line. "His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly"...
'The Dead' did its work, and spread through me a love for Joyce, like a sickness. Back through every story in Dubliners, to A Portrait to Chamber Music, Ulysses, and evenFinnegans Wake. And though I still read Ulysses, and adore it, once a year (starting, fanatically, every Bloomsday), I have a special place in my heart for 'The Dead,' and for that one ineffably moving line. And it still gets me today. A gut punch of sadness for the long lost teenage me, for my beloved father, and even for Joyce himself. All, all becoming shades."
You Must Read This is produced and edited by the team at NPR Books.
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I admire the Planet Dog Foundation(PDF) for the outstanding financial support they provide to a variety of non-profit organizations that train and provide service, therapy and rescue dogs. Robert Semrow had a very informative interview with Kristen Smith, on his blog, Pet World Insider. If you want to be an informed dog lover or you care about the wonderful work these organizations perform, take a look at this Interview with Kristen, who is the director of PDF: Pet World Insider
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Read sample chapters of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series by clicking here:Books
Our books are available through your favorite independent bookstore or via Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Powell's...
Librarians, teachers, bookstores...Order Planet Of The Dogs, Castle In The Mist, and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, through Ingram with a full professional discount.
Therapy reading dog owners, librarians and teachers with therapy reading dog programs -- you can write us at [email protected] and we will send you free reader copies from the Planet of the Dogs Series...Read Dog Books to Dogs....Ask any therapy reading dog: "Do you like it when the kids read dog books to you?"
And Now -- for the First Time -- ebooks of the Planet Of The Dogs and Castle In The Mist are now available on KDP select and Castle In The Mist is a free Kindle Book on November 8-9.... Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Tale, will be available on November 15...in time for the Holiday Gift Season...
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Voyages of Discovery...what do books mean to children
"For many of us childhood books are sacred objects. Often read to pieces, these books took us on voyages of discovery, leading us into secret new worlds that magnify children's desires and anxieties and address the great existent mysteries. Like David Copperfield, who comforted himself by reading fairy tales, some of us once read "as if for life", using books not merely as consolation but as a way of navigating reality, of figuring out how to survive in a world ruled by adults."
This eloquent description of what books mean to children, is excerpted from Maria Tatar's Introduction to her wonderful book, The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales.
The photo-illustration, inspired by the original OZ book, is from the movie, Oz,The Great and Powerful .
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Over 43 million US families own at least one dog...36% U.S. households owned a dog in 2011-12...source: AVMA
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Educating Alice is the blog of Monica Edinger, a passionate advocate of children's books, and author of a new book with a groundswell of excellent reviews, Africa Is My Home. The following excerpt is from the ABOUT page on Educating Alice.
"I'm Monica Edinger and this blog of mine is about teaching, my life’s work; literature, especially that created for children; history, especially as it is taught to and learned by children; Africa, especially Sierra Leone where I was a Peace Corps Volunteer; and other sundry topics as they come to my attention. The books I write about come to me in various ways: some I buy, some I borrow, and some are given to me. None are stolen.
As for Alice and her education, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is my favorite book."
The photo of Ms Edinger was taken at a book signing for Africa Is My Home at the Bank Street Book Store in New York City.
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PAWPRINTS: Boston Children's Hospital Therapy Dog Program
One of this year's Planet Dog Foundation winners, the hospital is conducting a research program to measure the quality and benefits of the hospital's Pawprints therapy dog visits with children who are patients...the following excerpt is from their website
"What happens during a dog visit?
Some of our dogs visit patient's rooms and some of them visit the resource rooms on the floors. Once the visit is scheduled, the patient decides how he or she wants to interact with the dog. The dogs may sit on the floor, a chair, or on a clean sheet on the patient's bed. The patient may pet, play with, talk to, or watch the dog. Siblings and other family members are encouraged to interact with the therapy dogs as well. However, at no time may food be offered to any of the therapy dogs during a visit, since they are on the job! Before leaving for the day, every Pawprints dog is offered special treats by the hospital to say "thank you" for a job well done."...the photo is of Karma, one of the dogs in the Pawprints Program
With the holidays on the horizon, Barking Planet Productions is happy to remind readers that we publish CA Wulff's books for dog lovers...her passion for animals and her life experiences combine to create wonderful gift books.
- Spread the joy and experience of the human/ canine bond with Circling the Waggins and Parade of Misfits.
- Give pet owners a plan of pet safety and preparedness with Finding Fido.
- Give the social activist on your list the tools to save the lives of shelter pets with How to Change the World in 30 Seconds.
"There's a lot more to living with dogs than wet noses and going walkies. Cayr Ariel Wulff entertainingly chronicles the rocky flip side of pet care in "Circling the Waggins," a heroic tale of triumph over turmoil and exhaustion." Circling the Waggins reviewed by Bob Tarte, author of Kitty Cornered, Enslaved by Ducks, and Fowl Weather...
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LitWorld is a wonderful, non-profit literacy organization fostering resilience, hope, and joy through the power of story. It creates turning points in the lives of disadvantaged children, opening the door to reading.
Click this link: LITWORLD...It will take you to their website; click the video waiting for you there at the top of the page (I Am A Powerful Story). If you believe in children, books and literacy, it will warm your heart. (If you look closely, in a couple of scenes, you will see a woman with dark hair dancing with the children...her name is Pam Allyn, and and she is the director and passionate force behind Lit World)
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The Childrens Literary Salon at the NY Public Library...Saturday, November 2nd at 2:00 p.m...The Art of the Great Picture Book Read-Aloud.... in the South Court Auditorium
A dog is lying by the side of the road...What do I do? What are my options? I want to be helpful, but this is all new to me... For answers, examples, true stories and more, visit Sunbear Squad...Let the experience of compassionate dog lovers guide you. Here's the Link: SunbearSquad -
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“Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day.
It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them." John Grogan - author of Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog
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