Tuesday Blurb: From the Mailbox

When I was at school today (VIP Day), I heard lots of students saying “happy two days before Thanksgiving” and sharing lots of hugs to their VIP guests. It was so cute, and I’m going to do the same. So “Happy Two” to you and a <<hug>> as well.

It was also nice to come into the office to find an email from Christine Books, Senior Account Executive for Cone, Inc. She offered some additional information regarding our reference to Liz Garton Scanlon’s book All the World in last week’s mid-November Children’s Literacy and Reading News Roundup. Here is her note …

I read your November 15th post that included information about Cheerios’ Spoonfuls of Stories® and wanted to follow up with some additional information. As part of its ongoing commitment to nurturing young bodies and minds, Cheerios will provide more than six million children’s books, free inside Cheerios boxes, through its Spoonfuls of Stories program. This year’s free in-pack offerings are appropriate for children ages three to eight and written in both English and Spanish.

In addition to Liz Garton Scanlon’s book, All the World, four other authors were chosen to have their children’s books included in Cheerios’ boxes this month:

· Chaucer’s First Winter by Stephen Krensky and illustrated by Henry Cole

· Jump! by Scott M. Fischer

· No T. Rex in the Library by Toni Buzzeo and illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa

· The Purple Kangaroo by comedian Michael Ian Black and illustrated by Peter Brown

Your post cited a couple literacy studies and I would like to offer you some statistics from a recent survey fielded by Cheerios to examine the role reading plays in family life. Findings include:

• 67% of moms said they read to their children at least once a day;
• Nearly two-thirds (61%) said “busy schedules” prevent them from spending more time reading with their kids; and
• Eight in ten moms (81%) reported that they started reading to their child before their first birthday.

My thanks to Christine for all the additional details … and the positive news about reading with our kids. If you’d like to see even more, here is a link to the full press release with info about First Book, Simon & Schuster, the study methodology, and more.