I’ve just seen the documentary Butterfly in the Sky, which is about the public TV show Reading Rainbow. This show, which was hosted by LeVar Burton, helped millions of kids, including me, to understand just how magical it was to take a look in a book. Watch me try not to get choked up as I tell you about my favorite moments in this documentary. Als…

Emily Hanford is back with Episode 10 of Sold a Story. I wanted to take some time to listen to this one several times and think about it before responding, because it addresses some very serious challenges in the literacy wars. Some people who were confronted by the failings of Balanced Literacy — the highly profitable but thoroughly unscientific s…

Politics? In a story about a young teen girl from a tiny town in Canada’s smallest province from over 140 years ago? Actually, yes! Politics come up frequently in the classic novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, and they have some surprising things to say to modern readers, most importantly that we don’t have to let differences of op…

We went to the St. George’s Day celebrations in Leicester City to have some fun and learn a little bit about the very ancient story in which St. George slays a dragon to save a city from its really, really bad breath. Hear the original tale and find out why it still has good ideas to teach children today, even if it is very ancient and unfamiliar i…

Tennyson’s poem “Lancelot and Elaine” plays a huge part in the plot of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne and her friends decide to act out the scene where the Lady of Shalott dies and floats downriver to Camelot, where the court of King Arthur mourn her. However, Anne learns the hard way that life is more hilariously imperfect than…

Anne of Green Gables features a LOT of poetry. The book is set in the 1880’s, and back then teenagers would carefully select poems to recite to one another in the way that teenagers a few decades ago used to select songs to include in a mix tape. “Bingen on the Rhine” is a beautiful poem by Caroline Norton, a writer and women’s rights campaigner wh…

BOOK DRAMA ALERT! The podcast Sold a Story is back after more than a year. This show did some great reporting on just why so many American kids aren’t learning to read – and which literacy gurus and for-profit publishers are behind the problem. I had to put out a quick response to this episode because I truly believe this show is that important. Th…

THIS IS NO LONGER THE CHILDREN’S LITERATURE PODCAST!! BECAUSE READING IS FOR LOSERS!!!! THIS IS NOW THE JUVENILE DELINQUENCY PODCAST!!! LISTEN HERE OR WATCH ON YOUTUBE. OR DON’T. WE DON’T CARE!!! IN THIS EPISODE, FIND OUT THE BEST WAYS TO KICK PEOPLE, HOW TO CRIME BETTER, AND WHY BEING RUDE IS THE BEST!!!!!!!…

Lucy Maud Montgomery carefully reconstructed the pop culture of the 1880’s when she wrote Anne of Green Gables including the music that teenagers were wild about. While singing is referenced dozens of times in the book, just three songs are actually named, and they were all real songs! Activity: Learn one of Anne’s Favorite Songs Three songs are na…

The Chronicles of Narnia are getting the Netflix treatment, and I hope that they’re great. I hope they help an entire new generation of kids discover one of the best book series ever written. But I’m not encouraged by the appointment of Greta Gerwig as the director, because she’s proven twice now that if she’s handed a property made for children, s…