Blogroll

How I know I succeeded

Like most parents, I’m proud of my kids and what they’ve accomplished — especially considering I’m their father (To quote a Ben Folds song, “You’re so much like me. I’m sorry.”) They’re all far braver and more accomplished than I was at their age. While that’s gratifying, I was reminded this morning about an important […]

Enjoying a busy celebration

I was largely incommunicado the last week or so because I’ve been wrapped up with (and worn out by) a family get-together and celebration in Massachusetts.

Doing as I said, not as I did, my youngest daughter, Tracy, was named a 21st Century Scholar at UMass-Amherst last week. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but… […]

Author values profits over literacy

It is rather stunning. Terry Deary is a children’s author whose books were the seventh most borrowed from British libraries last year. Yet his view of libraries is that “no one has an entitlement to read a book for free, at the expense of the author, the publisher and the … tax payer.” According to […]

Some depressing news about children and reading

The U.K.’s National Literary Trust today released a report on children’s reading. And while the 21,000 kids who participated in the online survey, conducted late last year, were all from the U.K., there’s some very sad news in it.

No one probably would be surprised that it found that more children (54%) prefer watching television […]

Grade reading level doesn’t equal one’s literacy level

There seemed to be a lot of doom and gloom last week in the coverage of a new survey on reading in American schools. But it seems like a number of people, including at least one individual who contributed a piece for the publication, may need to look beyond the bare numbers.

Admittedly, the […]