About this item
Read Pam Allyn's posts on the Penguin BlogThe books to read aloud to children at the important moments in their lives. In What to Read When, award-winning educator Pam Allyn celebrates the power of reading aloud with children. In many ways, books provide the first opportunity for children to begin to reflectively engage with and understand the world around them. Not only can parents entertain their child and convey the beauty of language through books, they can also share their values and create lasting connections. Here, Allyn offers parents and caregivers essential advice on choosing appropriate titles for their children - taking into account a child's age, attention ability, gender, and interests - along with techniques for reading aloud effectively. But what sets this book apart is the extraordinary, annotated list of more than three hundred titles suitable for the pivotal moments in a child's life. With category themes ranging from friendship and journeys to thankfulness, separations, silliness, and spirituality, What to Read When is a one-of-a-kind guide to how parents can best inspire children through reading together. In addition, Pam Allyn includes an indispensable "Reader's Ladder" section, with recommendations for children at every stage from birth to age ten. With the author's warm and engaging voice throughout, discussion questions to encourage in-depth conversations, as well as advice on helping kids make the transition to independent reading, this book will help shape thoughtful, creative, and curious children, imparting a love of reading that will last a lifetime.These Penguin Young Reader's Books are referenced in What to Read WhenSylvia Jean: Drama Queen by Lisa Campbell Ernst (Penguin Young Reader's Group: 2005) Two Is For Twins, by Wendy Cheyette Lewison, illustrations by Hiroe Nakata (Penguin Young Readers: 2006) Remember Grandma? by Laura Langston (Penguin Group (USA) : May 2004) Soul Looks Back in Wonder compiled by Tom Feelings (Puffin Books) Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey (Penguin Books USA, Incorporated: December 1957) When I was Young in the Mountainsby Cynthia Rylant illustrated by Diane Goode (Penguin Young Readers Group: January 1993) Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs by Tomie DePaola (Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Books, Inc.:1973) Good Night, Good Knight by Shelly Moore Thomas, illustrations by Jennifer Plecas (Penguin Young Readers Group: 2002)
About the Author
Pam Allyn is the Executive Director and founder of LitWorld, a global organization advocating for children's rights as readers, writers and learners. She is also the Executive Director and founder of LitLife, a national organization dedicated to school improvement. She is the author of the acclaimed and award-winning What To Read When: The Books and Stories To Read With Your Child-And All The Best Times To Read Them (Penguin Avery) . Her most recent book is Pam Allyn's Best Books for Boys: How To Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives (Scholastic) . Her forthcoming book Your Child's Writing Life (Penguin Avery) will debut in August 2011.
Pam is widely known as a motivational speaker advocating for reading and writing as human rights that belong to all people. Her personal quest to bring literacy to every child stems from a deeper desire to bring dignity to every child, and to empower children to read and write powerfully, effectively and with passion in ways that will change their worlds and the worlds of others. Her work has been featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Oprah Radio, The Huffington Post and in The New York Times.
Pam is on the English Language Arts Scope and Sequence Advisory Group for the New York City Department of Education, and the Advisory Boards of the Dream Charter School in Harlem, the Amherst College Center for Community Engagement, James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead, Penguin Publishing's We Give Books and the Millennium Cities Initiative Social Sector.
Visit pamallyn.com for more info on Pam's work.
