Cronyism Affecting Reading Programs

It won't be often that I go on a political rant, but this was too aggravating not to. Startling enough is the large number of non-USA visitors to my blog. My apologies to them because what follows is USA-specific politics; however, it might raise its head in your countries, so you should be aware of the problem.

In the Kansas City Star newspaper yesterday, April 29th, there was a front page story about the Kansas City School District's recent denial of a grant request from our Federal government's Department of Education. They had asked for assistance with a reading program entitled "Success for All" designed by Robert Slavin of John Hopkins University in Baltimore. The House Education Committee is looking into whether the Bush administration steered contracts to its favorite vendors, shutting out Slavin and others.

As always, when it comes to politics, follow the money trail. The pot of gold in this case is a $6 billion Federal grant program known as "Reading First." Complaints began back in 2005, at which time a panel of experts was formed to review grant applications. Three of these experts had a conflict of interest in that they were owners/developers of another reading system called DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Learning Skills). These three had profited to the tune of almost $1.5 million because of its selection as the vendor of choice. Of course, the powers that be are saying there was no wrong doing.

My state of Kansas requires voters register either as a Republican or a Democrats only, even though I am an independent; therefore, I'm a registered Republican. As a social conservative and an economic liberal (part of the time), I find this kind of cronyism to be abhorrent, especially when our children's futures are at stake. Nine of my 25 years working for the Federal government was spent testing and evaluating military systems and concepts in the field as used by typical soldiers. My evaluations judged both the tested system and its testing process with hundreds of millions of development dollars at stake. Sometimes I found myself having to defend my evaluations against intense pressures from General Officers and high ranking civilians who were trying to ram through their programs, whether they worked or not. We kept the system honest and above board. It's too bad the above expert committee wasn't run the same way as the military test and evaluation process. This saddens me greatly.

A Book for Gifted Parents

Title: Gifted Children Gifted Education
Author: Gary A. Davis, Ph.D.
Publisher and/or Distributor: Great Potential Press, Inc.
Publisher Website: www.giftedbooks.com
Pages: 344
ISBN: 0-910707-73-1
Price: $32.95
Publishing Date: 2006
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts

As a parent of two gifted children who are now grown and well-adjusted to society, I could have used this book to help me understand what to expect from my children and the educational system. The book covers such things as what giftedness is, the characteristics of the gifted, how they are identified, what accelerated programs might be available, how gifted students are grouped, and potential problem areas in the educational systems as well as potential problems with gifted children. This treatise is of benefit to both parents and teachers/administrators of gifted programs. We rated it four hearts.

Problems With Gifted Readers

Just because a child is very, very smart doesn't mean he or she won't have any problems. In fact, the opposite is often true for many good reasons. In the case of a gifted child refusing to read, the primary reason is boredom. The books have either not been challenging enough or more probably, they don't address areas the child is interested in.

The solution for books that are too easy is to give the child older-level books; however, at the same time, the parent needs to be the censor cop--ensuring that the content is still socially age appropriate. This means Mom or Dad needs to read books through before recommending them to their children. Yes, that takes time, but it's time well spent.

As far as interest areas go, see my earlier blog on that subject.

Inability to Read?

If your child is resisting pleasure reading, there may be something wrong other than attitude. Some children have valid reading disabilities--it's just too difficult for them to overcome dyslexia or what have you. Others have been taught to read using flawed educational approaches such as whole-word recognition. I could always immediately tell when a problamatic student had been taught the whole-word approach. One of the coping mechanisms was word guessing from context. What evolved was their developing favorite words. For example the, their, they, or there became substituted by their favorite guess word for the TH form: THE. This became clearly evident when they read out loud. It also produced reading that made no sense to anyone, especially the child. I call whole-word the same as learning Chinese idiographs or Japanese kanji. The graphic content of the word becomes more important than its sounds and meanings.

I believe that phonics. especially when made into fun activities by approaches such as "The Phonics Game" and "Hooked on Phonics" is a far more effective reading approach. I volunteered at "Big Brothers, Big Sisters" once to use the "Phonics Game" with a handful of 5th grade learning disabled kids. In 10 or 11 sessions I had they reading at a high "B" level, as opposed to the "D-minus" level they had been at before.

If reading ability or the lack thereof is getting in the way of reading enjoyment, work with a reading specialist to improve on or overcome problems. Even your own teaching through a phonics program can make a world of difference in the right direction.

A Book for Military Families who have Lost a Loved One in Battle

Title: Danny’s Dragon
Author: Janet Muirhead Hill
Illustrator: Pat Lehmkuhl
Publisher and/or Distributor: Raven Publishing, Inc.
Publisher Website: www.ravenpublishing.net
Pages: 190
ISBN: 0-9772525-0-7
Price: $10
Publishing Date: 2006
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts

This mid-grade novel is badly needed by the families and children of soldiers who have lost their lives. Danny’s dad is shot down in the Iraq war. With no money coming in, Danny’s mom is about to lose their ranch. Danny finds solace on his horse, which he imagines is a dragon. He submerges his anger of losing his father and his guilt feelings that he was the one that forced his dad to go back on active duty to get enough money to buy Danny’s horse. Held in emotions can cause problems and do so in Danny’s case. Meanwhile, Danny’s mom has her own issues, which come forth in her hobby of painting. There is conflict galore and many parallels to other young peoples’ plights, which are addressed in this book, and which is nicely illustrated with pen and ink drawings. We rated it five hearts.

A Very Popular Midgrade SF Adventure

I have hand sold quite a few copies of this book. Inevitably, the parents come back to thank us for recommending Flip because their children loved it so much.

Title: Flip
Author: David Lubar
Publisher and/or Distributor: Starscape Books
Publisher Website: www.tor.com
Pages: 304
ISBN: 0-765-34048-8
Price: $5.99
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts

This is one of the most exciting books for mid grade and YA reluctant readers I have seen this year. Fraternal twins Ryan and Taylor stumble across fifty some disks, which are virtual recordings of some of history’s best heroes’ lives. The disks are activated by flipping them into the air and absorbing them into one’s hand. The thoughts, abilities, and personality characteristics of that disk’s hero are imparted to the flipper. Devil may care Ryan and his perfectionist sister Taylor are constantly embroiled in all kinds of adolescent angst situations, which include bullies, teachers with grudges, cliques, and demanding parents. Ryan, especially, uses the disks to help him overcome all these obstacles and much more.
I was particularly struck by the shortness of chapters, each one a cliff-hanger, which are used to draw along the reluctant reader. The book imparts some excellent history lessons while addressing typical problem areas for many adolescent readers. We are handselling this book like hotcakes from our bookstore. If I had to compare it to a recent book of similar popularity and impact, it would have to be Holes. We rated Flip a high five hearts.

Interests and Hobbies

If you want a child to become more interested in reading, it is best to know what his or her interests and hobbies are.But, that's only the first step. Now comes the harder part--you must find content, excellent content, that supports these interest areas. The best places to find content are at your local bookstores, libraries, and online. Other places are the recommendations of associations and organizations of interest areas. For example, if your son is really into skate boarding, google "skate boarding organizations" and see if there are any recommended reads on their sites. If not, contact them and see if they know of any good books to read on skate boarding. In other words, do your due dilligence--research what's out there. You can always call our bookstore, (913) 682-6518, The Book Barn, in Leavenworth, Kansas and ask. We may know what you need.

We do have some good news, later this summer, we will be going on line with our GRREAT Books catalog site, where we will be offering many books we feel support reluctant readers. We're still in the negotiations phase of locating all the e-commerce elements necessary to make this happen, but we should be up and running by July.

What are your wants and needs for good books.

Sports Series

Many teachers and parents complain there isn't enough good nonfiction content, especially for boys. These books (available in English and now some in Spanish) are absolutely GRREAT for catching young sport fanatics' attention. They're easy to read and filled with interesting sports trivia about favorite teams. Here is what their new catalog says about one of these new books:

"The St. Louis Cardinals
The winners of the 2006 World Series, the Cardinals were founded in 1892 as the Browns (named for the color of socks they wore). Their name later changed to the Cardinals when they started wearing red-colored socks.

Team Trivia: Famous slugger, Mark McGwire, set a record of 62 home runs in one season for the Cards. They also had two brothers who played for them at the same time with the unusual names of “Dizzy” and “Daffy.” Find out who the first woman to ever manage a baseball team was and how did the Cardinals do under her leadership."

Title: Team Spirit / Espiritu de Equipo Series
Author: Mark Stewart
Translator: Manuel Kalmanovitz and Eduardo Narváez
Publisher and/or Distributor: Norwood House Press
Publisher Website: www.norwoodhousepress.com
Pages: 48
ISBN:
Price: $25.27 List; $18.95 School and Library
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts

These are two versions of the same series. One set of books are in English and the other are in Spanish. They are targeted toward grades 3-6. Both versions are focused toward the football, basketball and the baseball teams of major cities. Their excellent information and stories are the fuel for true developing young sports fans. They have large print and an easy flowing format to allow acceptability by reluctant readers.
The new English language books for this spring season are focused on baseball and the teams involved in last year’s World Series. They include: The Baltimore Orioles, The Detroit Tigers, The Houston Astros, The Los Angeles Dodgers, The Saint Louis Cardinals, and The Seattle Mariners.
The first four Spanish titles for this spring are: Los Heat de Miami, Los Lakers de Los Angeles, Los Mets se Nueva York, and Los White Sox de Chicago. Everything this publisher does is top notch and really achieves its goals. We rated all these five hearts.

Excellent Replacement for Lemony Snicket

I don't know about you, but I hated the horrific negativity of the Lemony Snicket Series. This is a new and far more positive first of series book which will grab the attention of your midgrade children.

Title: Edgar Font’s Hunt for a House to Haunt: Adventure One The Castle Tower Lighthouse
Author: Patrick H. T. Doyle
Illustrator: Patrick H. T. Doyle
Publisher and/or Distributor: Armadillo Books
Publisher Website: www.armadillo-books.com
Pages: 220
ISBN: 0-9786132-0-1
Price: $6.99
Publishing Date: 2006
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts

At last, a young adult midgrade series to take the place of Lemony Snicket, and it’s about 1,000% better. A brother and sister, Garrett and Audrey, are motherless and find themselves staying with their professional woman aunt while their father gads about the world as an architect. When their aunt is invited to join their father at a building site in China for the summer, the kids find themselves foisted off on their eccentric grandfather, Edgar Font, who has taken on the task of searching for the proper hours to haunt when he passes on.
This book was so positive. Granddad pushes them beyond their fear and self-confidence limits, teaching them how to take on the world and even the spirit realms. I loved the author’s illustrations and how the kids learn to stand on their own two feet with the help of a family mentor. It’s so refreshing to find adults who are not trying to take advantage of children, which is what I abhorred in Lemony Snicket. We rated this excellent new start to a series five hearts.

We Both Read Series

Overcoming reading reluctance starts early by giving children positive reading experiences. This series is designed to do just that.

Title: We Both Read Series
Author: Various
Illustrator: Various
Publisher and/or Distributor: Treasure Bay, Inc.
Publisher Website: www.webothread.com
Pages: 48
ISBN: various
Price: $3.99
Publishing Date: 2002 to Present
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts

We occasionally review a series of books from a publisher, rather than an individual book from the series. This means we see a similar quality from the series and are impressed with it. Such is the case for the “We Both Read” series. These are colorful books designed for use by the 5-7 year-old range and their parents. The books cover a wide variety of nonfiction and fiction subjects. Their unique feature is the structure of their layout. Each left-hand page is to be read by the parent or teacher. The right-hand page is much simpler so the child can read it. The pictures and the words are informative, humorous, and fun. The books allow the grownup to model good reading while giving more detail, while the child can contribute at his or her level. These books enhance bonding as well as developing reading skills. The specific book on pets, which I read, was really funny and interesting—making for a pleasant reading experience. Its pictures were adorable, and its text flowed easily back and forth between the adult and child reading levels.

This series can also be used as a step-up for slightly older children reading the adult side, so they can gain confidence in their reading abilities while having fun. We rated this series five hearts.

Content Is King!

One of the main reasons some kids, especially young boys, drop out of recreational reading is a lack of good content. In recent years, there has been a major push to supply young girls with lots of new books. Young boys' books haven't fared so well, especially amongst the major publishers. As bookstore owners and operators since 1979 and book reviewers since 2002, my wife and I have been fortunate to find some wonderful books published by small, independent presses that answer this need for good content.

Across the board, whether they be picture books, chapter books, midgrade books, or young adult books, there are many with themes and professional quality to capture and hold the attention of young, wandering minds. From time to time, I will share reviews and suggestions on this blog in an attempt to make parents and grandparents aware of what excellent resources are out there.

What are your needs?

Runt the Hunted

From time to time, I will post a review of an excellent book for reluctant readers. Here is one that I just posted to: http://www.heartlandreviews.com/Young_Adult.html

Title: Runt the Hunted
Author: Daniel Schwabauer
Publisher and/or Distributor: Clear Water Press
Publisher Website: www.clearwaterpress.com
Pages: 304
ISBN: 978-09742972-3-1
Price: $17.99
Publishing Date: July 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts

This children’s fantasy sequel to Runt the Brave is a stand-alone story of Runt JaRed, the small mouse, and his tribulations with the unjust, mad King SoSheth of the mouse colony Tira-nor. Runt must somehow stay alive while foiling an overwhelming attack by evil rats. For readers of the Old Testament, you will recognize many arch-type parallels with the David and Saul story.

The author has the uncanny ability to turn animal characters into human-like roles. He compares very favorably with Jacques’ Redwall series. This is a perfect book for reluctant readers and can be read at multiple levels. We rated it a high five hearts.

If you want to see more reviews like this one, go to http://www.heartlandreviews.com/Young_Adult.html

What the Polls Say

Last summer Scholastic Books released an independent study that explained why kids stopped reading so much from about the age of eight and onward. There were three reasons why:

• Parents, seeing that there kids could now read for themselves, ceased reading aloud to them.
• Parents were not letting their kids catch them with a good book. In other words, they were not modeling good reading habits.
• Content availability, especially for young boys, decreased by age group. The older the kids became, the less the reading choices were.

The fixes are simple:

• Make reading aloud to the family something that never stops. We read aloud to our teens and they loved it.
• Let your kids see that you read for enjoyment.
• Look harder for better content. Much of it is coming from the small, independent presses that don't have as much money to advertise as the big publishers do. Go to http://www.heartlandreviews.com to get some ideas as to what is out there. We specialize in finding the good stuff.

What questions do you have?

What Are Gifted Reluctant Readers

There has been a trend lately for very intelligent children to find reading unrewarding. This is partly due to the content not being challenging enough. On the other hand, other children have problems with reading. They choose to resist reading in lieu of computer games and sports. There are fixes to these problems and other related ones. The purpose of this blog is to invite comments about what is working for others and to discuss books and series of books, which may provide badly needed content, especially for young boys. I invite any and all constructive comments in the spirit of working together to help young readers over some of these barriers. What do you think?