An Open Letter to My Children's Lit Students

I am excited to devour children's literature with you over the next eight weeks. It is a subject that we will never be able to fully explore. The list of books written for children is staggering. Not only are there the classics, but new titles are printed every single day. (We'll talk later about how to get these into the hands of children!)

Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer, builds up her "book muscle" by reading at least one book each day during the summer. (In this post she shares some great strategies for helping you remain current about great children's books.)

If we were to join Donalyn and the Book a Day Challenge community, we would read about 56 books during our eight weeks together.

However, I'm only assigning 40 children's books! What a breeze, huh?

Of course, I hope you will choose to read even more than 40 books, for only when you dig in and read voluminously will you yourself become a more

Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, and Critical Reader

as Nancie Atwell persuades in The Reading Zone.

I am sorry that we will not be together face-to-face more often, but we will have a chance to practice our 21st century learning skills. We can communicate as often as you wish -- Skyping, GoodReads, ANGEL, Twitter, email or here on this blog.

Children's literature is central to the development of children's literacy. I don't believe there is a more important subject to study. I can't wait to get started!

Denise

Image by mrsdkrebs