Room to Read Blog

"Big Books" Help a Little Girl in Zambia Develop a Love of Reading, Despite Late Start

Meet Stella: a lively 3rd grader from Balmoral, Zambia.

Born the sixth child of eight to parents Phales and Patrick, Stella was a happy baby who seemed no different from her siblings. At three years old, however, Stella had not yet begun to walk, and it became clear that her development was not following the familiar pattern.

Doctors assured Phales and Patrick that their daughter was healthy, despite her developmental challenges. Relieved by this news, they vowed to raise Stella in the same manner as they had her older brothers and sisters, including enrolling her in the local primary school.

Stella began first grade at Balmoral Basic two years ago at the age of nine. Because the school has a special education program, she is able to get the extra support she needs, as well as attend classes with her peers.

The school also has a large library that Stella visits often. She is particularly captivated by the colorful posters and "big books", which she shares with our team when they visit. “Lyi ni sapato yaba mami,” (this is my mother’s shoe) she says with a smile, pointing to a poster on the library wall. 

"The posters and 'big books' enable her to indentify objects and relate them to her everyday life," says Room to Read Country Director for Zambia, Samantha Chuula. These supplementary reading materials are included in Room to Read libraries because they help to create a literate environment and encourage young kids to read. It's clear that they have helped foster a love of reading in Stella, despite her late start in school.

When asked about her favorite book, Stella proudly holds the “big book” version of Who Can Be a Friend. She's almost completely hidden by the book's massive cover, but peeking out from behind it, her face is all smiles.

Learn more about our Reading Room program and our work in Zambia.

Experts Converge for First-Ever Forum on Books for Early Readers

Last week, after many months of planning, field research and interviews, international experts, stakeholders and staff were brought together for Room to Read’s first-ever Early Grade Reader Forum. Over two days, the group discussed, debated and aimed to find consensus in two areas: defining high-quality children’s books for beginning readers and identifying the critical factors that enable these high-quality books to be developed in the countries where Room to Read works.

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The room was abuzz with old acquaintances reuniting, new colleagues meeting for the first time and a general excitement as the start of Room to Read’s Early Grade Reader Forum kicked off last week in downtown San Francisco. The excitement was justified, as this was the very first time this particular group of people had ever been brought together in the same room, in the same city, in the same country or even the same continent.

Included among the 45 participants were international early literacy experts, local language publishers and literacy researchers, who came from 10 different countries to join Room to Read stakeholders and staff for a two-day summit to discuss high-quality children’s books for beginning readers in developing countries.

The seed idea for the meeting was planted last year; Room to Read had just concluded an assessment of the availability of books at varying reading levels in the local marketplace in several of our countries. What we found was discouraging, and it became quite clear that there was a tremendous void in the development and production of books in Asia and Africa for children who are just learning how to read.

So when Room to Read Advisory Board Member, Dr. Luis Crouch, challenged the organization to put together best practices around developing high-quality children’s books for beginning readers, in true Room to Read style, our Local Language Publishing, Reading Room and Literacy program teams came together and the result was Room to Read’s first-ever Early Grade Reader Forum.

Ms. Oud Saysena came all the way from Vientiane, Laos hoping to gain a better understanding of guidelines for creating high-quality beginning reader books in her home country. She owns one of the very first private publishing companies in Laos, which just received government approval to operate last year. She also owns and operates Happy Moon Children’s Bookstore, and admits that in Laos, there is “no expertise or understanding of how to write books for beginning readers. There are no standards or local experts who can give advice or comment on what is good and the best quality for early readers.”

Local language publishers, including Ms. Saysena, participated in interactive panel discussions and breakout groups to brainstorm best practices, and many will be returning to their countries with clear steps to help them develop high quality beginning reader books—whether it’s creating a mentoring system to build the capacity of their writers and illustrators or looking at opportunities to co-publish titles with fellow publishing houses. It’s a promising start.

At the conclusion of the forum there was consensus on some of the issues, but also more questions to spur continued debate and creative solutions. Ultimately, as one expert reflected, “This forum created a sense of everyone wanting to pitch in and create a really authentic community. We’re coming from a deep place in our hearts and something in our personal histories to make it better for the children.”

Learn more about our Local Language Publishing program.

New Year Celebration in Laos is Awash with Tradition

April in Laos is a very wet time of year. Not only is it the start of the monsoon season and the time when farmers start planting most of their crops, it’s also Bpee Mai or Songkan— the Lao New Year—the most important celebration for Laotians worldwide. The festival, like the weather, is replete with water. On April 13, the first day of the celebration, water is used to clean houses and the village. The second day represents the day in between the old year and the new year. Strictly observed as a day of rest, only fun activities are allowed, the most popular of which is dousing friends and unsuspecting passersby with water.

The New Year officially starts on April 15, the third day of the festival. Young people prepare scented water with flowers and visit their grandparents, parents and elders. They rinse the elders’ hands with the water and ask for their blessing and forgiveness for any wrong-doings in the past year. At home, prior to enjoying a large feast, families engage in a special ceremony called "Baci" in which participants take turns tying blessed white strings around each other’s wrists to wish them good luck and prosperity for the new year. This tradition runs deep among Laotian people as an homage and blessing that upholds the value of life, and of social and family bonds.

Room to Read’s Lao New Year is a colorfully illustrated children's book about this annual holiday. The drawings, by Laotian artist Sikko Milakong, show the many elements of the New Year celebration, including families participating in the Baci ceremony and having fun splashing water on each other.

One of several oversized books published by Room to Read, Lao New Year’s large size makes it even more enticing to eager young readers. Room to Read started publishing “big books” in Vietnam in 2008 as a tool to help teachers and librarians interact more effectively with young children, many of whom are just learning to read. In addition to the books, Room to Read also provides supplemental instructional materials, such as teacher’s guides with questions and activities that further engage the children in learning.

Adding cultural relevance to our books allows children to predict words or easily familiarize themselves with them because they know what the people in the illustrations are doing and already possess the vocabulary that naturally accompanies the pictures. It also makes it easier for them to learn from activities they perform themselves, such as visiting the temples with family members to sprinkle water on Buddha statues.

As a global organization, we honor and respect the cultural traditions of our friends and colleagues worldwide—and we try to incorporate them in our materials so that children not only learn to read, but also learn that their traditions are respected by those outside of their local communities.

 

To our Lao friends and colleagues, all of us at Room to Read send a virtual bucketful of water and a warm "Sabadee pimai!" or "Happy New Year!"

Learn more about our work in Laos and our Local Language Publishing program.

 

Room to Read Celebrates International Children's Book Day

On April 2, the world celebrates International Children’s Book Day, a forty-four year tradition established by the International Board on Books for Young People on the birthday of esteemed children’s book author, Hans Christian Andersen. International Children’s Book Day is designed to inspire a love of reading among children and adults. At Room to Read, we celebrate reading every day, as we work to provide the materials, environment and skills for children in some of the more marginalized regions of the world so that they can discover the joy of books.

The theme of International Children’s Book Day for 2011 is “The Book Remembers,” which means that books are reflections of the time in which they are written. Thus, they are invaluable sources of history, as well as being entertaining and inspiring. Room to Read’s Local Language Publishing program holds culture and tradition as critical elements of the books we publish. We want to be sure the children reading these books can identify with the setting, the characters, the habits and speech –- for in seeing themselves and their surroundings, they are better able to understand and learn.

Last week, the two global office members of our Local Language Publishing team, Wilfredo (Wili) Pasqual and Sarah Stewart, had just returned from a 60-day, seven-country trip through south and southeast Asia. Though they were still fighting off jetlag and wading through unread email, they couldn’t wait to share some of unforgettable moments and colorful stories they brought back from their recent journey. The fast-paced tour was planned in an effort to survey the Local Language Publishing program -– its strengths and opportunities for growth. Along the way, Wili and Sarah met with individuals from all the various groups involved with putting local language children’s books into the hands of young and budding readers. Their notebooks and Flip cameras were filled with conversations with authors, illustrators, librarians, teachers, ministers of education, publishers, and, of course, some of the children enjoying the colorful and inspiring books filling the shelves of their libraries and schools and filling their imaginations.

One of these children was Kimlay, from a village near Siem Reap in Cambodia. Two years ago, Kimlay struggled to keep up with her school work. Because her reading skills were poor, she was very embarrassed whenever asked to read aloud in class. The librarian at her school saw a dramatic shift in Kimlay’s performance once a Room to Read library was established. With the encouragement of her grandmother and aunt, both of whom had attended school themselves, Kimlay became a voracious reader, checking out up to 10 books each day and staying up late to finish every book so that she could check out 10 more the following day. Kimlay is now ranked third in her class and continues to bring home a stack of books each night, many of which she reads to her young cousin.

What Wili and Sarah found as they traveled via plane, bus, tuk-tuk and footpath, is that, the value of children’s books is universal. The words and the pictures touch the soul and imagination of young minds eager to discover and understand their world.

On International Children’s Book Day, we honor the authors and illustrators who create these portals to places undiscovered. We honor the librarians and teachers who make these tools available to young readers. And we honor the children who happily and enthusiastically pore over the colorful pages as they journey to magical places.

Read more about our Local Language Publishing program.

 

Cricket Players Come to Bat for Literacy: World Cup Stories from Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka

 
Cricket is practically a religion in South Asia and cricketers are no less than gods. The adulation and fanfare must be seen (and experienced) to be believed, and it is difficult for non-cricket playing countries to begin to understand the rock star status of these players.

With cricket being the second most popular sport in the world, Room to Read was thrilled when the International Cricket Council (ICC) named our organization as their charity partner for the 2011 ICC World Cup. Additionally, through a unique initiative, Reliance Life Insurance, one of India’s top private sector life insurance companies, committed to a 25,000 rupees donation (approximately US$550) for every “sixer” or boundary that the cricketers hit. So far, 132 sixes have been hit which translates to over 3.7 million rupees donated (US$82,000). With each six, you can imagine the cheers coming from our country offices in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka -- countries hosting the World Cup games!  

In an effort to draw attention to Room to Read's work and encourage donations, the ICC coordinated special events with both cricket players and students participating in Room to Read programs. Reliance Big FM, with a special "Hit Illiteracy for a Six" segment, Big Cinema, Big CBS and various other Reliance ADA Group platforms are being used to promote these interactions widely.

Reena Luke, Room to Read Asia Regional Communications Manager, attended the events and shares some of the unforgettable moments. For these children, meeting and spending time with their sports heroes was a dream of a lifetime. And even for the millions of children unable to attend these events, the support of ICC, Reliance Life Insurance and the global cricket-loving community will fulfill their dreams of becoming educated young adults.

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Tigers Celebrate International Mother Language Day in Bangladesh

  When the World Cup opened in Dhaka, Bangladesh, our Room to Read Bangladesh country office was ready to pitch! Just after their big game with India, the Tigers (the Bangladesh team’s nickname) were ready to take a break, and Room to Read invited them to celebrate International Mother Language Day on February 21 with hundreds of young children at the Pora Khela Utsob (Reading Festival) at the Kishalay Girls School and College in Dhaka.

The names of the players were kept secret until the last minute, and the entire community gathered to greet them at the gates of the school which was decorated with tents and colorful bunting. The invited students managed to squeeze their way past the adoring crowds and, after a security check, anxiously awaited the arrival of their favorite players. Each time the huge iron door creaked open, there was a collective gasp of anticipation, and children pulled out their autograph books and ran towards the gate.

Finally, after a couple of false starts, in rolled a cavalcade of cars with police escorts. Three cricket stars—Zunaid Siddiqui, Mahamudulla Riyad and Shariar Nafees—stepped out and immediately faced a wall of waving autograph books eager to be filled. Without wasting much time, the young heroes took to the field and ran with the children, took part in “Read and Run” games, signed more autographs, posed for photographs, visited all the booths, talked to the kids, and flipped through Room to Read’s local language children’s books. Shahriar Nafees even managed to give a brief pep talk to his young fans, “I want each of you to focus and read better. Reading requires practice like cricket, and to excel, one needs to practice.”

All too soon, it was time to say good-bye. The cricketers handed over prizes to the winners and gifted the school a full cricket kit. Said Mahamudulla, “It was a good experience, and I enjoyed the afternoon with the kids. I am happy to see that these young children are getting such good books to read.”

Eighth-grader, Zoya, exclaimed, “I will never forget this day. Imagine—I got to shake Zunaid’s hand!”

Girls' Education Scholars Practice Their Interviewing Skills in India

 
Across the border, in India, the ICC arranged several opportunities for Room to Read India to showcase their work to cricket lovers. Several match venues had Room to Read booths, filled with books and displays inviting book lovers to sponsor our reading programs. Aside from the matches, the big event of the World Cup was when four of Room to Read’s Girls’ Education program participants—Ishan, Ruppu, Renu and Moushmi—got an exclusive interview with Virat Kohli, India’s upcoming star cricketer and the nation’s heartthrob.

For these young girls, all from the Sarvodya Kanya Vidyalaya school in Tuglakabad village in Delhi, a trip to Bangalore by flight just to meet their favorite Indian cricketer was stuff that dreams are made of. And Virat made sure that they would remember this day all their lives by playing cricket with them, signing autographs and, of course, getting photographed with them. He even promised that once he was over with the hectic match schedules, he would visit their school and help to champion Room to Read’s cause. Said Virat to his young fans, “I am happy I got this opportunity to promote Room to Read. I would like to continue doing whatever I can to promote literacy and reading.”

Virat wasn't the only cricketer the girls got to meet. In the evening, the girls were taken to the stadium to watch the England cricket team practice. A sudden rain shower proved to be a blessing, for the players had to run for cover, and the girls knew how to grab an opportunity. Soon the English team was signing autographs and talking to the girls. Ishan even dared to ask the English captain about his strategy to defeat the Indian team! The captain threw up his hands and ducked to the nearest exit!

The BBC crew filming the event took the opportunity to meet the girls and learn more about Room to Read, and within minutes of the cricketers’ departure, the girls and the crew were fast friends. In fact, after a quick broadcast lesson, the crew found themselves on the other side of the camera being interviewed by the teenaged amateur camera-persons and reporters!

 

Shane Watson, Room to Read's ICC Ambassador, Teaches Fielding and Encourages Reading in Sri Lanka

March 3 is a day 10 children from central and northwestern provinces of Sri Lanka will never forget—for that is the day that they spent several hours with Australian cricket star, Shane Watson.

  Shane has been named Room to Read’s official ICC brand ambassador and, between World Cup matches, led a coaching session with the excited group of children at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo. The children, all participants in Room to Read programs and all very avid cricket fans, received individual coaching about fielding from Shane, and one exclaimed, “We can’t even believe that we are practicing with Australian cricketers. Our worry is that no one would believe that we got such an opportunity!”

 
Reading has been a big part of Shane’s life since childhood, and he is anxious to help other children discover the joy of books. He humbly explained, “The cross section of people that cricket reaches means that we are able to reach a lot of people and promote the work Room to Read does. It is very special that we have the chance to impact people’s lives away from cricket. Hopefully we can touch as many people’s lives as possible and provide them with a chance to benefit from some of the things that we have been lucky enough to have.”

The end of the afternoon held another great surprise, as each child was given a personally signed photograph of Shane and a ticket to watch the match between Pakistan and Canada. Shane, too, was equally as moved when the children presented him with a picture they had created for him.

The event was covered by Yahoo, ESPN and Star Cricket. ICC also posted a short video that was screened pre-match on March 5. 

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Room to Read will be featured on billboards, scoreboards and other events throughout the 2011 ICC World Cup which culminates with the finals on April 2. Visit our website to learn more about Room to Read’s World Cup partnership.

Read more through the ICC press release and Reliance Life Insurance's Facebook page.

Visit Zak the Yak in His New Digital Home!

He’s hairy and hoofed
And trapped in a book,
But our friend Zak’s new home
Is on the web; take a look!

With color sheets and mazes
And tongue twisters galore,
Zak’s new site will inspire
Your little ones to do more

Like learn about our work
Or start their own page
Or maybe take Yak-tion since
Giving back’s all the rage

Zak’s online debut is really quite fun,
So hoof on over and enjoy
“For the sooner you start,
Then the sooner you’re done!”

Please give Zak a nice housewarming gift and visit him in his new online home!

Special thanks goes out to the Atlassian Foundation for their site design.

Our Own Top 10: Top 10 Books Published by Room to Read in 2010

It's that time of year when everyone is looking back and making their Top 10 lists so we decided to make one of our own -- Top 10 children's books that Room to Read created and published in 2010!

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 10. The Snake Who Wants to Buy a Shoe (Cambodia) This charming picture book tells the story of a little snake who asks the crab, the spider, the cricket, the frog, and a little girl to figure out how much he should spend if he only needs to buy one shoe. Skillfully weaving collage and paper folding in its illustrations, this delightful story introduces everyday math concepts to children. A product of our writers workshop, this book is the Room to Read debut of Mr. Sun Try, a senior student of Khmer Literature and Mr. Yuom Kosal, a young artist and book designer with exceptional skill, attention to detail and an aesthetic vision that sets the illustrations in this book apart. Kosal’s participation in the Room to Read  illustrators’ workshop prompted his first experiments in collage.

9. Who Makes the Best Papaya Salad? (Laos) The animals in the forest take pride in their own -- often secret -- recipes. But in order to make the most delicious papaya salad, a traditional dish in Laos, the animals need to learn to work together. A product of our writers and illustrators’ workshops, this is the first book written by Miss Manivanh Siphonesay working in collaboration with Mr. Nivong Sengsakoun, an award-winning local artist.

8. Thili’s Journey (South Africa) Thili’s middle finger tickled and itched, but she didn’t dare scratch it because she believed the superstition heard from her elders that this would chase away her chance for future money and luck. She was also superstitious of lizards and frogs, bees and crabs, rats and locusts, butterflies, and even chameleons. Because of all her fears, Thili never made the journey through the lush, green valley to visit Grandma vho-Nyawa...until now. Thili’s Journey is a story about a little girl’s adventures with fantastical superstition, folk and mythical beliefs that she has to conquer during her visit to her grandmother. The story, originally written in the Tshivenda language, is by poet and fictionist Gudani Ramikosi and illustrated by Jonas Mailula.

7. Traditional Riddles (Vietnam) This book promises to engage and delight countless Vietnamese children in riddle-solving. A compilation of humorous folk riddles passed on for generations, this book was put together by Miss Le Phuong Lien, who has written over 250 titles in teaching and learning for primary schoolchildren in Vietnam, in collaboration with artist Do Bien Thuy.

6. Mini’s Rainbow (Bangladesh) Mini the Kitten wakes up one morning and sadly sees that the rainbow had lost its colors. To bring the rainbow back to life, Mini seeks the help of the blue sky, the rooster, the kingfisher, the mustard field and the orange tree. One of the first Room to Read titles in the Bangla language, Mini's Rainbow is written by Shaheen Aziz, a local long-time author of children’s books, and illustrated by Sabyasachi Hazra, Bangladesh’s most prolific artists with over two thousand book cover designs in his portfolio.

5. The Power of Friendship (India) The Power of Friendship is a story about a group of numbers: Number One is new to the neighborhood and is having a hard time making friends; the other numbers think of him as unequal. Along the way, Number One meets Zero who, similarly, has no friends. In the end, they realize the added “value” of their friendship as the two digits stand right next to each other to form the Number Ten. This early reader book was written by Govind Sharma, India’s award-winning children’s book author and was illustrated by a young artist, Mehul Navodit, who was recently highlighted by CBS News about his contributions to Room to Read's Local Language Publishing program.

 

4. On the Road to Visit Grandpa (Bangladesh) Join Dragonfly aboard her leaf car on a magical, rhyming adventure to see Grandpa. Along the way Dragonfly encounters different characters, each with something to offer that Dragonfly picks up for her grandfather. This book was written by the Room to Read Bangladesh Literacy Team and illustrated by Sabyasachi Hazra.

 

 

3. The Red Flower (Nepal) A rabbit froze in the cold weather. Nearby, a fox and a vulture argue about who will take the rabbit away. Will the rabbit manage to escape? You'll have to read it to find out what happens in this tale with a strong traditional feel. Illustrated by Bhisma K. C. and written by young author Mr. Yashu Shrestha, The Red Flower was developed during a Room to Read writers' workshop held in collaboration with the Danish Writers Association and the Nepal Society for Children’s Literature.

2. Unjani (How Are You?) (South Africa) Unjani is a foundation phase book containing photos and illustrations depicting various facial emotions of children in South Africa with accompanying text in simple and predictable language to define each emotion. Originally written in English and the Xhosa language, and translated into five other languages (Afrikaans, Sepedi, Siswati, Xitsonga, and Tshivenda), the book is written by local author/illustrator Hillary Atkinson who worked with students in Khayelitsa through an organization that promotes skills training.

1. Baby Fish Goes to School, 2nd ed. (Sri Lanka) Originally published in 2006, Baby Fish Goes to School is the story of a baby fish who wants to go to school but discovers he can’t because he lives in water. Written by a 15-year old girl, the story won a creative writing competition organized by Room to Read and was illustrated by a 17-year old student who had won national art awards. In 2006, it was the first children’s book these girls had published. The first-edition book was written for advanced readers and thus, it was text-heavy and included three languages within one book. This new 2010 edition has been updated by the same writer and artist and is now being published with separate Sinhala- and Tamil-language versions. In addition, the story is now geared toward beginning readers so language has been simplified with less text and more basic vocabulary. It also includes an illustrated learning activity to teach about other animals that live in water.

In many developing countries, finding children’s books that are relevant to the local context and written in the local language is difficult. Our Local Language Publishing program develops materials from the ground up by tapping emerging and established local writers and illustrators. Room to Read now publishes in 23 languages across Asia and Africa. The titles above are just 10 out of 120 titles that Room to Read published in 2010. Learn more about our Local Language Publishing program.

In Observance of World AIDS Day: Introducing An Unlikely Heroine for Children in South Africa

World AIDS Day was established by the World Health Organization in 1988 to raise awareness of a disease that has devastated generations worldwide. Every December 1, as we observe this solemn day, it’s hard not to be completely overwhelmed by the staggering statistics: 1.8 million deaths from AIDS in 2009; 2.5 million children worldwide infected with AIDS, and 30 child deaths from AIDS every hour. Of those infected by the disease, nine of every 10 live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

And while the numbers are daunting, one little hero is making a big difference to children in South Africa whose lives have been shattered by this ravaging epidemic. Her name is Thandi, and though she doesn’t have the notoriety or spell-casting powers of Harry Potter, her story is very powerful and has brought hope and comfort to some of the millions children who are ill or have lost one or both parents to AIDS.

Thandi is the heroine of a series of books produced by Catherine Groenewald and Room to Read’s Local Language Publishing program in South Africa. Thandi made her debut in I Could be Anywhere, written by Groenewald in 2004 after working with her friend, Sarah Oosthuizen, to establish a women’s sewing collective for an impoverished community in South Africa.  The local women learned sewing skills by making ragdolls, named Nosipho dolls, from scraps of material. It was here Groenewald and Oosthuizen met Gogo, a grandmother who was the sole bread winner for a large family in a community ravaged by HIV/AIDS, TB, poverty, illiteracy, teenage pregnancies and alcohol abuse. Groenewald remembers, “Forming a friendship with her, and seeing her daily life, the children around her and her personal struggles, made me want to tell her story.” 

In I Could Be Anywhere, Thandi, an orphan who has lost both of her parents to AIDS, moves in with her grandmother, Gogo, and together they make a doll named Nosipho from the scraps of Thandi’s deceased parents’ clothing. Through Nosipho, Thandi finds comfort and healing, and the two become inseparable. The second Thandi book, Nosipho Comes to Stay, written by Oosthuizen and illustrated by Groenewald, was published by Room to Read in 2007, translated into 11 South African languages, and distributed to Room to Read libraries throughout South Africa. 

Groenewald later produced three more books in the Nosipho series, two of which are Room to Read publications: Jingle-jingle in My Pocket, published in 2009, and The Big Secret, to be published by the end of 2010.
In addition to having the books about Thandi in our libraries, Room to Read South Africa partnered with two local non-profit organizations, ABC Stories and Siphosenkosi, to have the books and handmade dolls distributed to orphanages and children’s clinics throughout the country. Groenewald notes, “While speaking to a doctor, who works for Kidz Positive, an HIV/AIDS Clinic in Kayalitsha, Cape Town, I was struck by the huge burden HIV-positive children bear. They feel they must keep their status secret for fear of family scorn, reprisals and rejection by a sometimes uncompassionate community. The Clinic Sisters and counselors comfort and counsel these children - hopefully with the doll (as a tangible comfort) and book (gentle education about the truth) these children feel heard and less burdened.”

We all anxiously await the day we can close the book on the tragedy of AIDS, but until that day, we’re honored to be part of an effort bringing some comfort to children coping with extreme loss and sadness.  

Meet Thandi personally by reading Jingle-jingle in my Pocket via Scibd (and also check out Scribd's Read for a Cause promotion benefitting Room to Read).

Visit our website to learn more about our Local Language Publishing program.  

 

Loving Books Too Much? One Boy's "Secret" Discovered in Laos

Classroom libraries, small collections of age- and reading level-appropriate books provided directly in the classroom, are seen as viable options for schools that don’t have space for separate library facilities. Two years ago, Room to Read initiated a pilot program to bring classroom libraries into schools in eight countries. Jen Daly, Room to Read Senior Program Associate for Reading Rooms, shares this story about a recent trip to Laos where she was evaluating some of our classroom libraries. 

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The little boy thought he was being sneaky, but everyone knows teachers have eyes in the back of their heads. While most surreptitious student behavior involves chewing gum or passing notes, this teacher in Laos discovered something rather refreshing happening behind her back. 

Houa Keng Complete Primary School houses one of Room to Read’s 10 pilot classroom libraries in Laos. The classroom library allows teachers to more easily integrate books into their lesson plans and support recreational reading. Because children have easy access to the books, they are more likely to read them, as was made evident the day I visited this classroom.

One young boy obviously couldn’t wait to re-read his favorite book, Our New Pond, one of Room to Read's children's books. While the teacher stood in front of the classroom, the stealthy reader would slowly and quietly pull the book out of the cubby of his desk and continue reading the story, being careful to turn the pages gingerly so he wouldn’t be found out. Despite his best efforts at being sly, his teacher was well aware of what the young boy was up to. She repeatedly walked over and stood near him when he was reading, giving him a stern look. Each time, he would quickly shove the book back into his desk. Despite being caught red-handed, he was undeterred, and as soon as the teacher turned her back, out came the book once again.

After the class ended, the teacher explained how much the young boy had learned to love books and, in particular, really enjoyed Room to Read’s Local Language Publishing books. Our New Pond, a 2008 picture book about a group of animals who band together to find water for their pond, was his definite favorite. In fact, it was a rare occasion when the book was ever back on the library shelf!

She explained, “He loves animals, and I believe this is the first book he’s ever seen with animals he’s familiar with." Despite trying to keep the boy focused on the day’s lesson, she nevertheless found it amusing and encouraging to see him trying to sneak reading. "For many of my students, reading used to be almost a chore," she noted. "But now that we have the library in our classroom, the children can't wait to read -- some more than others!"

Room to Read has established over 800 libraries in Laos since 2007. Our Local Language Publishing program in Laos has produced 82 original children’s book titles, some of which have won national awards for excellence. To learn more about our work in Laos, visit our website.

A Picture Book is Worth a Thousand Words: CEO Erin Ganju Responds to The New York Times

We’ve long dreamt about the day the front page of The New York Times runs a story on children’s books (read it here: Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children).  Children’s books are what we live and breathe at Room to Read because of what they contribute to the development of a child’s literacy and learning skills.  It’s what we believe has the power to change the world and entire generations of communities living in poverty, particularly in the developing world.

Unfortunately, The New York Times’ story wasn’t exactly what we had envisioned, as it centered on the loss of retail sales of picture books.  In a down economy, that’s not surprising. What was surprising is that the decline in sales isn’t because children are no longer drawn to colorfully illustrated tomes; rather because parents are no longer recognizing the value picture books have in catalyzing their children’s literacy skills development.

Apparently, parents have begun pressing their kindergartners and first-graders to leave the picture books behind and move on to more text-heavy “chapter books.” One children’s book publisher noted a 35 percent drop in the number of picture books published in the last few years. The primary reason, according to those in the industry, is pressure from parents who are very mindful of increasingly rigorous standardized testing in schools.

We’ve actually seen the opposite hold true in developing nations, where picture books (or story books) remain a crucial tool in laying a solid foundation for literacy and life-long learning among children. In places like Sri Lanka, South Africa and other countries where Room to Read works, many children come from largely oral storytelling traditions and the shift to the written word is a difficult transition. Many of these children have never been read to aloud, and they find it difficult to relate the “spoken” word to the “written” word.

Picture books help bridge this gap because they give children the opportunity to explore, discover, learn, and imagine through stories and characters. Books inform and transfer knowledge, and are critical to the development of a child’s reading skills -- including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Picture books kick-start that journey because they combine visual and verbal narratives, often presenting imagery from children’s everyday lives which helps them connect life experiences to the pictures, information, events, and text. Even more, by discussing what they see in story books, children ask questions  -- which also helps develop their speaking skills, a key component of literacy. 

Literacy experts quoted in the news article were quick to point out that picture books are not for dummies, and they praise the genre for helping develop a child’s critical thinking skills. As a mother of a four-and-a-half-year-old, I couldn’t agree more.

My daughter Julia loves to use picture books as the basis of inspiration for story time with her captivated audience of stuffed animals. We’ll make a day of going to the library next to the park, and she will spend as much time selecting her next 10-15 books for the week as she does running around the playground. She loves books with lots of pictures because it gives her a sense of independence to “read” the story through the pictures. Now, at bedtime, Julia often wants to read me a story, and it’s my greatest joy to see her develop an enjoyment of reading -- reading is not a task or something she has to do, but something she does for play. And that’s key because the path to creating lifelong, independent readers starts when children see reading as fun and pleasurable on their own.

At Room to Read we’re committed to education, and so obviously, it’s a wonderful thing that children are able to read chapter books at an early age. But if you focus on just the skills part and prematurely force children to get to a certain level, it may be at the cost of developing good habits of reading. So we caution well-intentioned parents against hurrying to clear their kids’ bookshelf of story books, because in doing so, you’re clearing away the potential for a connection to books that children will cherish their entire lives. Instead, let’s work to develop a generation of independent readers who love to read, and read to learn.

Read more about our Local Language Publishing program on our website.