Archive for 'Kristine’s Column'

Taking stock of our efforts to improve literacy in America should be a constant exercise in evaluating where we are and where we need to go. Finding smarter strategies to improve the lives of our finest resource, our children-our future, should be paramount. Below are a few areas where we are forward moving, but so much more needs to be STEPPED UP to get it right.

Inspire, Mentor and Advocate

The new and third appointed Children’s Book Envoy, Walter Dean Myers, is ...

The holiday season is fully upon us and the ads for eReaders, audio-books and everything that is the latest and greatest in techi-temptation is out in full force. What will all of this forecast for the future of children’s picture books? Quite frankly, it makes the beloved hardcover picture book even more precious. How magical it will be to create a young child’s library with real books that perhaps were yours as a youngster. For years at Storyopolis, our clients ...

This was the article headline in the November 2, 2011 edition of the New York Times Newspaper.  While I am thrilled elementary and middle school students have improved significantly in math, I am sorry to say I am not surprised to see that reading skills in this age range have stagnated over the last two decades.  David Driscoll, chairman of the governing board that oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Department of Education’s standardized testing program, stated that ...

Our 2011-12 Speaker Series had a spectacular beginning with award winning illustrator Raul Colon.  He had a rock star tour visiting Title I Schools in Arlington, interviews at the Texas Rangers Ballpark, bilingual presentations at Boyd Elementary in Allen, TX and wrapped it up with a great crowd in attendance at the Allen Public Library.  Posters of his visit adorned the school hallways and library walls like those for a ...

The long hot summer of 2011 continues to persist here in Dallas and seeing what we can cook on the pavement has become our new pastime. But, aside from frying up some good ‘ol home cookin on the sidewalk, I must share something quite magical that happened not only during the record breaking heat of this summer, but also during the record breaking cold of this past winter. I hope this first Storyopolis column is one of many to energize ...