The Wash Rag – Summer 2009 Edition

The Wash Rag, our quarterly newsletter, is now available on the Reading Tub website.   Here are the blurbs about what you’ll find in this edition  …

Chapter One – Once the 4th of July fireworks end, it seems like we’re in a (mental) mad dash back to school. There is still plenty of time to connect kids and books, so don’t rush summer away just yet. I also talk about how we’ve clarified our book review policy and process.

The Soap Dish –  We are very excited to be invited to the Wiggles concert at the John Paul Jones Arena, 26 August. Yes, I’m a little old for the Wiggles, but not for books! We’ll be there helping Reach Out and Read, who is collecting books at every venue on the Wiggles tour this year!

We’re also excited about Share a Story-Shape a Future 2010.  We’ll have more news soon, so if you haven’t subscribed to that blog, be sure to sign up.

Author Showcase ~ Summer 2009 – I took things in a new direction for this Showcase, and I am really tickled with how it’s turning out. Here are the intros for our guests.

• Fiona Ingram has been a journalist for 20 years. She had never envisioned writing a children’s book … until the magic of Egyptian treasure captured her imagination. The Secret of the Sacred Scarab started out as a short story, turned into a novel, and is now the first book in her adventure series for middle grade readers.
• For Cathy Bollinger, a simple test set the course for her life’s work. The results of a career ideas exam showed that she should be a music therapist. She didn’t know what that was, but after doing some research, she took to the idea … and it took to her. She founded Rivanna Music, a company dedicated to creating music to help kids learn everything from letters and letter sounds to life and communication skills.
• In April 2009, PBS Parents launched Booklights, a blog filled with ideas for helping parents engage their kids with books. The team comprises three highly regarded children’s literature bloggers – Pam Coughlan (MotherReader), Jen Robinson (Jen Robinson’s Book Page); and Susan Kusel (Wizards Wireless); Gina Montefusco, who works on the PBS Raising Readers Initiative; and, most recently, Ann Neely, who is a children’s literature professor at Vanderbilt University.

In the next week or so, we will post those interviews here on the blog. The interviews with Cathy and Fiona are also available on the website.  The Roundtable/Interview with the Booklights team will be up shortly.

The Final Rinse – It’s the end of the month and things are “crazy busy” but it doesn’t mean we have to shift gears yet. “Grab a book, some lemonade, the kids, and head for a favorite reading spot. We’ll share a few laughs and read what we like … for as long as we like. It’s summer. What’s the rush?”