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As always, these quick literacy tips are for little kids all the way up to big kids. I have tips for all age groups, so keep reading! And, tips for teachers doing this in the classroom. 

Not all books are created equally. Some books are fantastic at creating the story, immersing you in the story and just telling the story. And some books have great illustrations to help you enjoy the story more.

​These are the Caldecott Award winning books.

In the last few weeks, Liliana and I have been going through Caldecott Award winning books. Because, as she starts her reading journey, why not include some of the best?

Caldecott books range in reading levels, so we had to stick to the lower end of the reading level spectrum, so I wasn't completely over her head, but I did include some more complicated stories. And remember, books that are awarded the Caldecott Medal are geared toward children 14 and younger.
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A small note. If your refrigerator is not magnetic (like stainless steel), most dishwashers are still magnetic. Some doors are magnetic. And if all else fails, we painted an under the kitchen breakfast counter wall with magnetic paint (it worked fine, I just put up 5 coats of it in about an hour).

​The adults who come to our house play with the magnet wall just as much as the kids do. The trick?

Have really cool magnets.

And, also, have a variety of magnets. We collect magnets in our house. All kinds. When we go somewhere new, we get magnets. And then we talk about them, remind ourselves of our memories, ask questions and storytell. As in all Quick Literacy Tips, this one spans the ages - little kids on up to adults.
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My recording of Swatch, our favorite book. Liliana likes to listen to our recording when I'm not around. Or even if I am, sometimes she picks the recording, like she did in the above picture. She was "reading" (and practicing her own fluency) with our recorded reading. ​

Our current homemade audiobook playlist includes I Want My Hat Back, How Little Lori Visited Times Square, Swatch and Charley Harper's Animal Alphabet. It's 26 minutes of reading that she can listen to over and over and over again - well past when I would consider reading the story again. My limit is usually 3 times before I start reading poorly - but she can do this 10 times in a row if she wants to (with a well-read, not tired version).

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I was reminded of this tip tonight. After I our little girl climbed into bed and was situated with her millions of stuffed animals and tucked in just right, and I left her to slumber, I heard her over the monitor, "I need a lullaby."

So, I went back to her room and sang her a song.

Singing and reading are a lot alike. Even for big kids. 

It's calming. It's lyrical. It has cadence. It has meaning. It helps make meaning. It's expressive.

Singing is after all, is reading with a tune. 

This is possibly going to be the quickest of the quick literacy tips, ever. And the easiest to do. When Liliana was just starting to handle books, we signed her up for Babybug (you can see Grandpa reading it to her above) and the Sesame Street magazine. She loved them, even though she's just staring at the camera. She would usually pay extra attention to the baby magazines.

Sign your kids up for magazines. This branches off of last week's quick literacy tip because...everyone LOVES getting mail. Not junk mail, real mail!

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Remember sending postcards as a kid? I used to love sending postcards when we went on vacations or even better, receiving them in the mail. Who doesn't love getting mail?!

Liliana and I were in Dallas this past weekend and we visited the zoo. As souvenirs, I put pictures up from the trip in her picture frames instead of getting tchotchkes. And as something fun to do, we always get postcards to send. Liliana has a lot to say (always) so she thought it was great when I told her postcards are a way of "telling stories" to other people who live far away.  

​Plus, writing postcards is a quick way to get literacy into your day and works for little kids all the way up to big kids! 

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​A few weeks ago, I wrote a reflection on how I felt about poetry. In it, I intimated that I don't always love poetry. In fact, most of the time it's a genre I have to force myself into. And, I'm finding in my own teaching career, in training teachers and conversations with parents, most people are a little more intimidated by poetry than any other genre. So, at least I'm not alone.

But. 

Once I get into some poetry, I do really like it. Not all of it - you have to find the right kind of poetry. Right now I'm reading Booked, which is an entire story told in verse (a follow-up on Newbery award winner The Crossover). I do like whole stories in verse. So, I'm trying to seek more of them out.

Also, I don't want my daughter (or my students previously) to be scared of poetry. I want her to jump right in. In fact, I usually found kids were really good at writing poetry, partially because I think they are better at experiencing life. They feel highs and lows and intense things. 

So, I thought about how to incorporate poetry more regularly. I used to do one poem per week with kids. I didn't always teach it, but I'd put one up on part of the board and leave it there all week. Sometimes we talked about it, sometimes we didn't. I only put up poems I was willing to talk about. 

Here's the super simple tip and I'm going to do it, right along with you.
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​I found my favorite book of all time by browsing my local library's bookshelves. I found another favorite book by being bored in a bookstore while my Dad browsed for books. And I found one of my favorite storytellers by glancing at shelves at a small bookstore while on vacation. And now, I read both of these books each and every year, over again and watch out for books by Margaret Atwood as often as I remember to. 

There are some things each of us do every week to zen out. And without them, we may fall apart...or explode. In any case, we can feel it when we don't do those things.

For me, it's going to a bookstore or library. Now, since this is my jam, I actually try to get to bookstores really, really frequently. I keep up with new books for friends with kids (and who are we kidding, myself), teacher friends, and clients.

​But the real magic happens when I go with no agenda whatsoever.

The weight of the book lets me know it's real and it has something important to say. I might not like the book, I might love it - but either way, holding it in my hands compels me to open it and find out. And this is why I like going to physical places with physical books. 

I can get lost in books. They make me think. They can make me feel good and bad, sometimes simultaneously or guilty for not reading enough of them. Books have heft and require me to spend more than 10 seconds on them - more time than I would if I were clicking around online.

​Books require me to focus, to analyze, to connect, to escape and to reflect. Books make me feel life.

Many times I speak to parents and teachers alike who complain about the amount of time they don't spend on reading. They want to spend more time but don't know how to fit it in with their already busy, chore-filled, obligation heavy schedule.

Reading feels guilty - because "I could be doing something else that's productive," I hear.

I hear it over and over from busy parents. But what I hear in the subtext is, I really want to read. I want to make that time and I don't want to feel guilty. How do I do that?