The View from the Coffee Shop at Barnes and Noble

So this morning I am sitting in the Barnes and Noble coffee shop waiting for my car to be repaired. Sitting here with my decaf Americano and cinnamon scone, I can look out over the sales floor. Here are the signs I see: LEGO Architecture, Toys and Games, Trends and Collectibles, Jigsaw Puzzles, Star Wars Figures, Travel Games. I kid you not, I must strain my eyesight from here to see a book.

At the risk of sounding old and stodgy, this worries me. When people enter a book store, they should be tripping over books, not action figures. I am trying to launch a one man offensive against toys and games and gimmicks taking over space in book stores. On Easter Sunday, I gave each of my children and grandchildren a book along with their chocolate bunny. The message: "Reading is sweet."

Please help me with my campaign; go to a book store this week, buy a book and give it to a kid. Try to ignore their disappointment when they see it is not a Star Wars action figure.

Snack Attack Published

My new book, Snack Attack and Other Poems for Developing Fluency, has been published. The book has been 15 years in the making. I finally gathered 20 of my silly fluency poems into a book and self-published it through Infinity Press. This book is aimed at teachers of students in grades K- 3. It contains 20 humorous poems that support readers in the development of fluency, sight vocabulary and spelling. Each poem is accompanied by a Teacher's Guide with recommended discussion questions, word cards for children to use in word sorts, a word making activity and a cloze version of the poem. A suggested instructional sequence is provided to help teachers use the poems effectively in developing important reading abilities.

It is a real kick for me to finally put these poems together in a book. Two of the pictures were drawn by my talented granddaughter, Kaitlyn.