1,000 ways to improve your child’s literacy and ensure long-term success

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Julie Stroebel Barichello

What is the link between “Goodnight Moon” and academic excellence?

Or how about “Green Eggs and Ham” and career success?

The question may seem like a riddle, but the answer is no joke.

Early childhood reading can have a lifelong impact on success in school, the workplace and beyond, experts say, because it is the building block of a vital skill:

Literacy.

Baby books

A 2012 national study by The Annie E. Casey Foundation found children are four times more likely to leave high school without a diploma if they are below proficient reading level in the third grade. Three years earlier, the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress reported 67 percent of fourth-graders scored below proficient levels on reading tests.

A child’s literacy development from birth through early elementary school can be a strong indicator of later life success, according to the 2012 study.

That’s why reading skills need to be developed long before children enter the classroom. That’s why literacy education needs to begin as soon as children exit the womb and enter the world.

1000BooksLogoThat’s why programs like 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten are awesome.

The program’s mission is to promote reading for newborns, infants, and toddlers, as well as promote bonding through reading.

I encountered 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten while researching an article about early childhood literacy for the local newspaper. The program is offered locally through Streator Public Library, but it also is available nationally. Anyone can participate for free, with or without a local facility to sponsor.

The gist is this: Read 1,000 books to your child before kindergarten. From birth to the time school starts, just read a book from cover to cover. Repeats are allowed, so if your child wants to read “Are You My Mother?” 990 times and then 10 other books, you aren’t breaking any rules.

Reading one book a night is 365 in a year. In two years, that’s 730. Three years of daily reading would be 1,095, leaving you ahead of the game with two years to spare.

In June 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement promoting daily reading with children, beginning in infancy. The 1,000 Books program is a handy starting point and good incentive to keep parents on track.

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten offers all of the resources a family needs on its website: program instructions (available in English and Spanish), reading log sheets, printouts for milestones (reaching 100 books, 200, 500, etc.), and a reading list suggesting books for youngsters.

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is beautifully simple and horribly underrepresented (its Facebook page has about 1,800 likes; on Twitter, fewer than 850 followers).

It’s worth playing the role of Scheherazade to the children in our lives. She told 1,001 stories in 1,001 nights to save her life; surely, we can read 1,000 stories in 1,826 nights to improve our children’s academic (and lifelong) success.

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  • EDITOR’S NOTE: Portions of this blog post also were published in an article written for The Times newspaper (Ottawa/Streator, IL). To read the article, visit http://bit.ly/1OchPUj.
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This is a great cover design concept

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Julie Stroebel Barichello

During a recent visit to Book World, I was browsing the classics section when I came across this:

Book design

Two different book covers that, when arranged side by side, create a single piece of art.

This isn’t a brand new concept (I see it on the spines of boxed sets all the time), but this example stood out to me. It’s a clever setup — one I’d like to try in the future. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to release special edition Sarah & Katy books that merge the covers someday.

This is a cover design concept I’ll definitely keep filed away for future series or books with sequels.

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Playing the role of writer needs to stop being a game

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Julie Stroebel Barichello

My life is role playing.

Yours, too.

Think about the roles you play. For me, the title roles are wife, journalist, aunt/sister/daughter, housekeeper, pet owner, writer. Each comes with its own responsibilities and duties.

Notice how writer fell at the end of the list. That’s how my writing role has felt lately – pushed to the background.

Notice how I also said each role comes with responsibilities and duties. Yes, to be a writer means you are duty-bound to produce something. That is as much a responsibility as spending time with family, taking out the trash, feeding the cat, and going to work.

Unfortunately, that’s not how writing gets treated by many writers. It’s considered a hobby, nothing more than a bonus if there are 15 minutes free to pound out a couple paragraphs on the keyboard.

This month marks the turning over of a new page for me, though. Writing will be a priority. I have put my foot down on that.

And boy oh boy, did I stub my toe when I put my foot down. Because let me tell you, it’s hard to make that commitment.

Serious writers know this already. Obstacles galore want to stand between you and the laptop. (Quite literally, in the case of Webster, the 18-pound purring machine who likes to wedge himself between me and the keyboard because heaven forbid I pay attention to something other than him for five minutes.)

Aside from oversized house cats, serious writers know the many other distractions and excuses that arise. I am, of course, the Queen of Excuses.

Let it be noted, if you are a loyal subject in my Kingdom of Excuses, I hereby banish you.

“But how do I proceed without excuses?” you might ask.

Here are some tips on the top excuses I’ve encountered and ways to combat them:

  1. I just don’t have time. Really? You don’t? Neither do I. Nor does any writer with full-time jobs and family commitments. You’ve heard it before, so I’ll say it again. Make time. Buy a voice recorder and talk out your ideas in the car. Save your novel on a flash drive or online so you can access it wherever there is a computer to write. Lock yourself in a room and nail a sign to the door saying, “Abandon all hope ye who enter here” and warn your family to stay out or else [insert horrific form of torture here]. Your day is busy. If you’re serious about writing, it’s about to get a whole lot busier. Even if it means giving up the hour you devote to your favorite TV show – catch it online later and get crackin’ on the keyboard for now.
  2. I’m out of ideas. Here is Part 1 of my two-part philosophy on inspiration: Write when you’re inspired. If you’re not near your novel, kick down doors, leap tall buildings and outrun speeding commuter trains to jot down your ideas. If you’re at work, take a bathroom break with a pen and notebook and quickly jot down your brilliant idea before you forget, then type it up as soon as you get home. Here is Part 2 of my philosophy: Write when you’re not inspired. It’s hard, and it’s agonizing, and it’s downright infuriating sometimes. You may end up writing 1,000 words you’ll throw out and never use again. Or you may end up finding inspiration along the way. The point is to write daily. Be consistent, even if you’re not in the mood to write. Take it from Brian A. Klems, online editor for Writer’s Digest magazine: “If you can’t carve out at least a short portion of your day to dedicate to writing, then you aren’t serious about finishing a manuscript.”
  3. I seriously cannot concentrate on this project today. That’s OK. Sometimes it’s good to take a break from your book or writing project. But don’t let the day get away without writing. Try your hand at a poem, or a short story, or just write little snippets of observations. Crank out a few writing exercises. Or go back and touch up sections you already have flagged as weak – make the dialogue more believable, slash out the overabundance of adjectives, cut a scene or two. Even if you’re not writing a fresh, brand new scene for your book, give your writing muscles a workout. Don’t let them atrophy from neglect.
  4. They gave me a guilt trip. If you’ve ever tried to turn down an invitation by saying, “Sorry, I need to get some writing done today,” you’re bound to get this reply at some point: “Fine. It’s nice to know your book is more important than I am.” The variations of guilt trips are endless. “You work on your book every day, but the last time we hung out was two weeks ago. Can’t you skip it for just one day?” It takes some juggling to give everyone – and everything – equal attention as a writer. Try explaining the book isn’t more important; however, it is very important to you, and you hope everyone will understand and support you as you work on undertaking the task. (That said, don’t hermit away and become a crazed, antisocial cat lady glued to the computer screen day and night.) It’s all about a healthy balance.Don’t let anyone talk you out of writing by making you feel guilty for it. One way around that is to set a specific hour as your writing time and let everyone know it. Then if they try to drag you away, say, “Don’t forget, 5 to 6 p.m. is my writing time. I’m free any time after 6, but not a minute before.”
  5. I just don’t feel like it. I don’t always feel like going to work, doing laundry, or emptying the litter box. I still do those things because I need a paycheck, clean underwear, and a carpet without cat urine stains. Not feeling like writing is not an excuse. You still have to do it for the sake of having a completed manuscript. Like I said, don’t let anyone – not even yourself – talk you out of writing.

Want to be a serious writer? When you play that role, don’t let it be a game anymore. Make it a necessary part of your life. And enjoy watching the words flow.

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A house fit for an author

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Julie Stroebel Barichello

Exterior

For about five years, I’ve loved this house from afar.

I first encountered it when I met my husband. During our early dates, we would take long walks around his hometown of Streator, and I developed the habit of pointing out which houses I liked.

Each time we passed this one, I would pause for a second longer than I did for others and think, “Now that’s a house for a writer.”

PlaqueKnown as the Moon House, the Queen Anne-style home was built in 1892 by Ammon B. Moon. (If that isn’t a great name for a literary character, I don’t know what is.) The Moon family is rooted in Streator’s history, and the house maintains much of its old-time feel.

It’s the kind of house that inspires a person’s imagination to run away. It’s the kind of house that encourages fantasies and daydreams.

It’s the kind of house that is now for sale.

The husband and I have (slowly) begun the process of searching for a home to buy and call our own. Last night I was browsing Zillow.com for Streator listings, I came across my beloved Moon House. Even though I’ve known for a few months that it’s been on the market, I deliberately avoided the listing. I didn’t want to know the price. I didn’t want my heart to break at not being able to afford it on a writer’s wages.

But Zillow sprang it upon me by surprise: $99,000.

Not outside the realm of possibility, but still a bit higher than the budget we set for ourselves.

Round roomI went to bed with my mind firmly rooted in fantasy. With six bedrooms, the Moon House offers plenty of space for a master bedroom, rooms for two to three children, a library, and an office. The turret room would be the perfect place for a writing desk. (Plenty of sunlight, plenty of inspiration. I write best during the daylight hours.)

And I asked myself, $99,000 isn’t so bad, right? Maybe the owner is open to Rumplestiltskin-like negotiations. Here’s $85,000 and a promise of my firstborn.

(Just kidding, future firstborn.)

As I drifted off to sleep, I fell back on hoping for a fairy godparent to slip a lottery ticket into our hands that could give us a $15,000 boost to get the house of a writer’s dreams. If Cinderella could get a dress, coach, coachmen, glass slippers, and the works, surely it couldn’t be too hard for a fairy godparent to rustle up a scrap of paper with a few numbers.

Alas, I don’t live in a fairy tale.

Exterior 2In the daylight, I’m a bit more realistic. Think of the utility bills to heat the home in harsh Illinois winters. Imagine the extra time it would take to clean a house that size. We’re only two people right now; we can always start small with a three-bedroom starter home and upgrade when we need the space and don’t just want the space. There’s a family out there that needs this house, right?

Logic and reason don’t do much to mute the imagination, though. I can’t help daydreaming of a life spent writing behind those walls. It’s a home that sings its siren tune to creative people, saying, “Come to me. Create with me.”

Double doors(It just occurred to me how fantastic it would be to host a monthly book club in this house. Doesn’t that look like the perfect book club atmosphere?)

In the reality of daylight, I’ve accepted that the Moon House is outside of our price range. Dropping $15,000 from the price is an unreasonable offer to owners who have invested so much in restoring and maintaining this home, which may soon qualify to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.

But I have one dream for this house. I hope whoever buys it has a creative spirit. I believe there’s an author or artist out there who deserves a house like this. And I believe the house deserves a creative spirit or two who will draw inspiration from its character and setting.

I’ll be envious of the owner, but I’m willing to set that envy aside … as long as the buyer invites me over for book club.

  • A few more glimpses inside the Moon House (all photos in this post are from the Zillow listing):
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Overcoming the fear of writing children’s books

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Julie Stroebel Barichello

At first, I didn’t want to release Sarah & Katy and the Imagination Blankets to the public.

For five years, I had toiled and troubled over a novel with the working title Watchdog. The target audience was adults, and I worried that releasing a children’s book would compromise my future in adult fiction.

I had always visualized myself as a literary writer who would one day pen a Pulitzer prize-winner. Tagging the words “children’s author” to my identity seemed to overshadow dreams of a Pulitzer. So I planned to quietly (and privately) print a few dozen copies of the Sarah & Katy adventures via Lulu.com, distribute them amongst the family, and call it a day.

The plan changed as feedback came in from beta readers, family, and friends. I was encouraged to distribute the book more widely. Heartened (and a bit nervous), I began planning a full-fledged book release.

But in the back of my mind, the worry persisted: Am I boxing myself into a writing identity?

The worry dissipated from the moment my nieces received their copies of the book on Christmas Eve. And it continued to dissipate as I visited classrooms and met young readers and writers who were eager to talk about the story. Young readers made me proud to have “children’s author” attached to my name.

So I put Watchdog into my Incomplete Projects folder, dusted my hands, and walked away (mostly) content.

Until last night.

I’ve been reading Nancy Lamb’s book, The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children, and in Chapter Nine she discusses Mario Puzo’s middle-grade novel The Runaway Summer of Davie Shaw. Most readers are familiar with Mario Puzo’s work … but not his middle-grade book about Davie Shaw.

They know him better for writing The Godfather.

This was a revelation for me. Authors could dip toes not only into the kiddie pool, but also the deep end?

I abandoned reading to visit Google. I wanted to hunt for other names that grace book covers in both the children’s and adult sections of the bookstore.

  • Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of The Little Prince, won awards as a writer for older audiences before penning his famed classic.
  • Jerry Spinelli originally identified as an adult author and wrote four unpublished adult novels. However, he has published exclusively as a children’s author. (One of my husband’s favorite childhood writers, in fact.)
  • Goosebumps writer R.L. Stine released a horror novel for adults.
  • Judy Blume, best known for her works targeted toward middle schoolers, also has adult fiction.
  • Roald Dahl — my first thought was, “What?!” Dahl’s whimsical, wacky, and sometimes downright weird creations seemed exclusively suited to children, but Google led to two adult novels: Sometime Never: A Fable for Superman, and My Uncle Oswald.
  • A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, began with plays and a murder mystery. He continued to write adult fiction after he wrote Winnie-the-Pooh tales as well.

The list goes on — many familiar names swam double dipped in children and adult fiction. Some, like Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket) published under different names for their children and adult works. (An idea I’ve considered for adult novels — I’ve toyed with the pen name J.S. Baric for Watchdog and other adult works).

Whatever name I publish under in the future, one thing is for certain: There is plenty of room to add “children’s author” and Pulitzer-prize winner after my name.

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