Get Caught Reading with Dinosaur Train
Research has proven that early language experience stimulates a child's brain to grow and reading to children gives them a huge advantage when they start school. Member organizations of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) participate in a variety of ways in Get Caught Reading to encourage people of all ages to enjoy books and magazines and to share that pleasure with the young children in their lives.
As part of the Get Caught Reading campaign, Buddy, from Dinosaur Train, is depicted “caught reading” in posters made available to teachers and parents for use in classrooms, libraries and other locations. The “Buddy” poster is available at http://www.getcaughtreading.
According to AAP Vice President Tina Jordan, “Dinosaur Train is one of the most popular and frequently requested Get Caught Reading posters by the elementary school and library community and AAP is grateful to The Jim Henson Company for allowing Buddy to join our GCR community.”
In Guess Who Buddy!, “What’s that dinosaur?” is the question Buddy needs to answer as he plays a guessing game with his friends. Kids can play along with Buddy by reading the playful descriptive text for each hidden character, guessing the dinosaur, then lifting the flap to see if they are right! A surprise pop-up at the end of the story adds to the charm of this fun book. SRP $10.99. Ages 2 (aff) and up. Will loved this book. He loved being able to interact with some of his favorite characters. I love that the flaps are easy to lift, so that the youngest ones can do it.
According to United We Serve, a nationwide service initiative that helps meet growing social needs resulting from the economic downturn, 80% of preschool and after-school programs serving low-income populations have no age-appropriate books for their children. A recent study shows that while in middle-income neighborhoods the ratio of age-appropriate books per child is 13 to 1, in low-income neighborhoods the ratio is 1 for every 300 children.
The most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to print. Communities ranking high in achievement tests have several factors in common: an abundance of books in public libraries, easy access to books in the community at large and a large number of textbooks per student.
Anyone can get together to help increase reading achievement and literacy by organizing a book drive. This tool kit (http://www.serve.gov/
Or, simply commit to donating your gently used books to local organizations. Here are some tips:
- Consider libraries, non-profit children’s organizations for homeless, foster children and struggling families, Goodwill and Children’s Hospital’s thrift stores, and after-school programs.
- Call the charity or organization and see if they accept used children’s books and what their guidelines are.
- Go through your books and make sure all pages are present, readable and stain-free.
You can also check Donation Town, an online directory of charities that offer donation pick up services.
Enjoy reading not only this month, but every month this year!!
