v4 issue 35: Read to Me

This week we encourage parents to promote the pleasure and enjoyment of reading. Watch as your child steps into the world of imagination through a book. We are thrilled to bring you some fantastic tools for promoting literacy.

Cover by Kirsty Hadjes









1 With the magic of DigiTells, you can create your own personalized audio book. Each package includes the software, headset, and step-by-step instructions to make an audio CD for any book you choose. What a wonderful idea for passing along memories and the love of reading! Enter code: TotTrendsWeekly for $10 off this program.

2 "Ella the Elegant Elephant" steps out of the pages of her story and plops herself down on a cozy pink nightgown. Lucky girls can enjoy both the comfy cotton sleepwear and heartwarming storybook for one low price at cwdkids. On sale for $29.99, was $46.

3 Rascals & Routines is a learning system with a mission to help parents and children develop healthy habits through positive routines. "The Carry Me Everywhere Suitcase" includes all 5 of the Rascals and Routines characters in 3" finger puppets, a super soft blankie, and a bedtime story all tucked into a gift box suitcase.

4 "Lawrence the Laughing Cookie Jar" is Mr. & Mrs. Bigelow's sidekick who helps out when the children overindulge in cookie madness. However, the children foster their creativity by finding new ways to out swindle Lawrence...making a great story in the process.-mpcpress.com

5 Charming poems and real-life photos make this book a delightful addition to a young child's @ home library. You can purchase "dandelion bubbles" individually for $7.95, or add it to some of the author's favorite books for a trio collection.

6 "I Love Chocolate", the delectable tale by Davide Cali, entices readers to use their senses in exploring the fabulous world of chocolate. 32 pages of chocolaty fun-which we're sure most of you can relate to!- tundrabooks.com

7 Readeez provides super clear audio pronunciation with large legible fonts to keep kids in sync with the words of the story. Perky tunes & lovable characters will have children watching again...and again...and again... There's no way they won't learn and have fun.

8 A fabulous idea to handle all of the overflowing masterpieces of childhood. Condense the artwork, and the wonderful thoughts that go with them, into a personalized book complete with professional typeset and a hardcover binding. So great, you'll want to make one for every year!-iseeme.com Enter code: FSR615 for $5 off on orders that are over $40!


Build A Solid Foundation For Literacy
It was 1960s Winston-Salem, North Carolina and my life was more boring than uncured ham. Growing up in the desegregating South, I felt the comforts of community, the sting of racism, and the desire to explore beyond my southern home. As educators, my parents exposed me to the library early in life where I spent most of my Saturdays. I remember the librarian who was the stereotypical bespectacled librarian taking me by the hand and leading the Saturday morning children crew through what seemed like the magical maze of the children’s section. She invited us to find a book that called our name, and after half an hour of hungrily roaming the aisles, she would call us back together and read our selections to us. We sat on the floor enthralled with the latest stories that stimulated our imaginations. This library experience built my listening skills, increased my attention span, expanded my thinking, and promoted discipline in a public setting. Most importantly, it established a love of reading at an early age that has stayed with me to this day.

Fast forward to 1987 Washington, DC, the year I gave birth to my only daughter. Rocking her in my arms, I wanted to spark her with the love of reading the librarian had lit for me. A news devourer, I began reading the Washington Post to my daughter when she was a baby. I started with the Style section, followed by the Metro, and then the World News and from the table carrier, to the high seat, to her own chair at the table; my daughter listened to me read the Post on a daily basis. When heading off to playgroups, trust me, my daughter was probably the most up-to-date news expert there.

My husband’s approach to reading to my daughter was softer. After taking her nightly bath, she would put on her cozy pajamas and settle in her bed, anticipating her nightly cup of water and a bedtime story from her father. It was their reading ritual. During her toddler and pre-school years, they chose the books together. When she got older, she chose the books that she wanted him to read to her. Each night my daughter clung to his every word as he read her favorite children’s books to her.

By reading to our daughter in her early years, we laid the foundation for raising a reader. Though our styles of reading to her were different, reading was a simple and enjoyable way for us to bond with our daughter and demonstrate her importance to us by establishing a one-on-one communication line.

Today, my daughter is an avid reader. Her early love of reading was instilled in her as an infant. In May, my daughter is graduating from college with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Communication and Media Studies and a minor in Middle East Studies. In the fall she will be pursuing a Master’s in International Journalism from City University London. Her goal is to become an international correspondent. While I have no scientific data, I am convinced her reading experience with us helped her master her language development. It also developed her ability to express herself more confidently verbally and in the written word. By reading to her on a regular basis and then encouraging independent reading in her later years, we gave her a solid foundation for literacy.

Reading to children is critical in a child’s development. Reading books to little ones at an early age is essential and reading children’s stories aloud is one of the most important activities we can do for and with our children.

Written by Author Karen D. Cuthrell ©2009 Author of Meet the Feeling Friends


Meet the feeling friends
Emotions tell us how we feel about different situations. Children feel all types of emotions and don’t always understand them. They may not know what to do with them when they feel them. Author Karen Cuthrell (a.k.a. KK) pre-to-beginner reader book series empowers children to identify and express the feelings that hide inside them waiting to be recognized and understood.

KK co-created the Feeling Friends 15 years ago as a response to her young daughter’s challenges with expressing her feelings openly and honestly. What began as an interactive puppet show for preschoolers in the Metro DC area soon developed into a 13 book series and audio CD. KK and the Feeling Friends™ provides kids with the tools they’ll need to survive the big, wide world of unidentified and unexpressed feelings.

Join KK and her friends on Feeling Free Island as she introduces you to her bakers' dozen of delightful friends. These characters bring out an array of primary feelings; love, joy, worry, anger, sadness, happiness, loneliness, grumpiness, shyness, panic, caution and confidence!

Meet just a few of the feeling friends:

LOTTA THE LOVAROO
Lotta the LovaRoo is the matriarch of the Feelings Friends. She’s loving, patient, encouraging, and honest. She allows the children and Feeling Friends the space to learn from her wisdom and use his/her own reasoning to learn how to identify, express, and deal with his/her own feelings.

WORRY THE FEAR WORM
Worry represents fear. Worry is constantly scared something terrible is going to happen. He can never see the bright side of the story on his own.



JOEY THE JOY BIRD
Joey represents joy. He is a parrot with brilliant colors and a joyous, loud voice.




FLUTTER THE SHY BUTTERFLY
Flutter represents shyness. She wears glasses and braces and often just flutters away if people get too close.




GRISWALD THE GRUMPY GRIZZLY
Griswald represents grumpiness. He loves to sleep and takes as many naps as he can in his cave deep in the forest.




Meet the Feeling Friends is the first of thirteen books in the Feeling Friends series. Journey to Feeling Free Island and join KK as she introduces each of the 12 Feeling Friends. Each friend reveals his or her identity through engaging rhymes and colorful illustrations. The remaining 12 books in the series, and a compilation audio CD of the character songs will be available in April 2009.


Cuthrell will be presenting her concept at the National Head Start Association at its 36th Annual National Training Conference in Orlando, Florida April 27-May 2, 2009. Come out and show your support!