What To Do With All These Books?

We hope all of our books enable parents to spend time with their children through reading, but raising readers books can also be used in many different ways to help a child grow and develop, and even build their brains!

The Raising Readers website, as well as each book your child receives at a well child visit contains activities you can do with your child using the book and the story inside.

From learning rhythm and rhyme to bringing a character to life through fun craft projects, to developing important literacy skills your child will use his or her whole life, a book is also a great tool for helping you build your child’s brain and creating a whole new set of fun things for you to do together!

We believe books go far beyond quiet reading time in a comfy chair, (although that sure sounds like a great place to start) and extend to helping you take an active role in your child’s life. Make use of the activities in the back of each raising readers book, and go to your local library to find even more fun things to do, and story hours to enjoy. Books are meant to be read, and so much more!

Thank you from Raising Readers!

Raising Readers Book Celebration

Raising Readers Book Celebration
Friday, November 6th, 2009
5:00 – 7:00 PM

Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine
142 Free Street, Portland, Maine
Free Admission, Open to All Families

Join Raising Readers for an evening celebrating all the great books given to Maine kids at doctor’s offices, hospitals, and healthcare facilities across the state.

Families are invited to meet some of the authors and illustrators whose books have been a part of the Raising Reader program.

Join picture book creator’s David Elliott, Kevin Hawkes, Holly Meade, Scott Nash, and Melissa Sweet for read-alouds, book signings, and fun, book-related activities.

Bring your Raising Reader or other books by these authors and illustrators from home to be autographed. Each one of the guests has a story in Raising Readers: Five Stories for Maine Children, so bring it with you if you have it! Additional books by these creators will be for sale.

Families can also read together in the multicultural Raising Readers Book Nook in the museum, which is sponsored by The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center.

Dr. Belisle Prescribes Books for Feeling Better

Bear is not feeling well and decides to stay home.

“Alone in his cave
as the autumn wind blows,
Bear feels achy
with a stuffed up nose.”

His furry friends try to help…but end up with problems of their own. October’s Raising Readers Recommends book is Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman (ISBN 978-0689859854).

A companion book to our four-year-old Raising Readers book Bear Snores On, Bear Feels Sick offers a humorous lesson in hygiene.

Germs Are Not for Sharing by Elizabeth Verdick (ISBN 978-1575421964) is another humorous, yet practical, hygiene-related board book. It engages children with questions such as “When do you wash your hands?” Germs Are Not for Sharing is included in our Readers Recommends Great Books: Great Topics brochure, available through Raising Readers.

Here’s to a happy, healthy October!

Lisa Belisle, MD, MPH
Medical Advisor, Raising Readers


From Germs Are Not for Sharing.

Dr. Belisle Prescribes a Library Book

We’ve had a soggy Maine summer. June set a rainy day record, in fact. Obviously this has hampered our ability to engage in beach-outings, but all is not lost. Relaxation is still possible no matter the weather: all it takes is a book.

As a bonus, book-related relaxation can be absolutely free–we need look no further than our local library. Most local libraries even offer summer-specific reading programs. Though some require that children need to be able to read independently, many have special activities designed for their littlest patrons.

Want to get your child excited about a library visit? Raising Readers Recommends Wild About Books by Judy Sierra and Illustrated by Marc Brown. In Wild About Books, librarian Molly McGrew accidentally drives the bookmobile to the zoo and–

“By reading aloud from the good Dr. Suess,
She quickly attracted a mink and a moose,
A wombat, an orynx, a lemur, a lynx,
Eight elephant calves and a family of skinks.”

The animals get so excited about reading that…well, I’m not going to tell. You’ll have to read Wild About Books to find out for yourself.

Wild About Books also helps children with an important early literacy skill: phonological awareness. When children listen to rhymes, they become aware of sounds. This is called phonological awareness.

For more information on phonological awareness and other literacy skills, visit the Raising Readers website. Need more book ideas? Check out the Raising Readers Recommends Great Books: Great Topics brochure, also available on the Raising Readers website .

Here’s to hoping for the sun, coping with the rain and becoming “wild about books,” regardless of the weather!

Lisa M. Belisle, M.D.,M.P.H.
Medical Advisor, Raising Readers

Dr. Belisle Prescribes Hand Washing

Hand washing: not a glamorous topic. Most of us hate nagging our kids to do it. Yet hand washing has become even more important now with the recent news about the H1N1 virus (formerly called “Swine Flu”). This virus can live in droplets (like those from sneezing or coughing), for quite a while. Scary, eh?

Encourage family hand washing at home by:
-Having soap and clean towels in all bathrooms
-Having footstools available for smaller kids
-Reminding kids to wash hands after toileting, before preparing or eating food, playing outside and in any other questionable situations
-Taking the time to do an adequate clean-up job–singing a verse of “Happy Birthday” while washing ought to do the trick
-Role modeling hand-washing skills.
-Carrying “wet wipes” and hand sanitizer when traveling in case soap and water become scarce. (Caution: don’t allow kids to put their hands in their mouths after using hand sanitizer. )

Another way to make hand washing fun is by reading to them about staying clean and germ free. Raising Readers Recommends Wash Your Hands by Tony Ross. In Wash Your Hands, the Little Princess refuses to wash her hands until the maid explains about “Germs and Nasties.” She quickly becomes convinced.

See more Raising Readers Recommends on the Raising Reader website.

Happy Handwashing!

Lisa M. Belisle, MD, MPH
Medical Advisor, Raising Readers

Prime Time Distraction

The American Academy of Pediatrics has discouraged TV watching before the age of 2 for some time, but a new study really drives home the WHY.

We know that brain development from Birth-Age 5 is HEAVILY dependent on adult to infant/child communication.

Apparently when the TV is on either for the child or the adult, those vital communications are not happening.

Ina study led by Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine…

Over 300 2-month-olds to 4-year-olds wore recording devices on random days recording everything they heard or said for 12-16 hours. The results were startling…

For every hour of TV being watched or playing in the same room, there was a decrease of 770 words spoken by the child’s caregiver and a decrease in the child’s vocalizations.

“Some of these reductions are likely due to children being left alone in front of the television screen,” the researchers write in the June issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, “but others likely reflect situations in which adults, though present, are distracted by the screen and not interacting with their infant in a discernible manner.”

Lesson here? Even playing in the background, TV can distract us from crucial communication with our children.

Reading aloud to your children allows you to naturally increase bonding and communication and to use a whole new set of words. Those words are essential to those wee brains growing strong and healthy.

READ MORE in LiveScience.com Article.

Dr. Lisa Belisle Prescribes Books for Sleeping Issues

A Post from Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This week is National Sleep Awareness Week , which has much relevance to our Raising Readers audience. Bedtime can be a stressful time for families. Some kids sleep well from the beginning of their lives. Others…well, they simply don’t.

Keeping a routine is one very important way of helping kids get ready for sleep. For more tips go to my website. Reading can–and should–be a part of this routine.

Reading has been an enjoyable part of our family’s evening routine for many years. We began with basic picture books when our (now fifteen-year-old) son and (now thirteen-year-old) daughter were very small. Our youngest child is now eight, and spends time reading to us. Don’t get me wrong: she still listens to us read. In fact our books have increased in length. Just last month Sophie and I finished the My Side of the Mountain Trilogy by Jean Craighead George.

Sophie and I still inject a regular dose of picture books into our bedtime routine. One of our favorites is this month’s “Raising Readers Recommends” book: Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anne Dewdney. In this wonderfully illustrated book, a young llama attempts to go to sleep without his mother’s help. Upstairs, alone, he calls for her repeatedly while she tries to get the chores done downstairs. Making sure he is in no danger, she responds:

Baby Llama,
what a tizzy!
Sometime’s Mama’s
very busy.

Please stop all this
llama drama
and be patient
for your mama.

Not only do I love the bold colors and rhymes of the book, I am also intrigued by the subject matter. You see, I have my own “red-pajamed llama.” My eight-year-old has a very specific bedtime routine, and gets annoyed when this is interrupted. (If this sounds familiar, you might want to check out some of the bedtime resources at www.kidshealth.org).

Another great bedtime read is Sleepy Places by Judy Hindley. This interactive book will be distributed to Maine 2-year-olds at their well child visits through the Raising Readers program in 2009. As an added bonus, this book has bedtime activities such as “Talk About It” printed in the back. For other sleepy-time picks, download our Raising Readers Recommends: Great Books, Great Topics.

Whether you chose sleepy places or llamas to lull your child to sleep, you’re sure to be a hit. After all, nothing beats a good read before bed. Just ask Sophie.

Raising Reader Author / Illustrator Wins Caldecott Honor

The Caldecott Medal is the highest honor given to a children’s picture book. Awarded to illustrators each January by the American Library Association, the Caldecott Medal and the Honors are highly anticipated by illustrators, publishers, librarians, booksellers, and parents that know the awards to be the ultimate badge of excellence.

Picture book lovers across Maine had a great leap of pride when they heard the news that Melissa Sweet of Rockport, ME was awarded a Caldecott Honor for her illustrations for the book, A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams.

Raising Reader families and medical practices will remember Melissa’s wonderful illustrations in the book Welcome Baby: Baby Rhymes for Baby Times that was distributed in our birth bag in 2004. Melissa as a Maine author / illustrator has also appeared in two of our anthologies for 5-year-olds. In 2008 many five-year-olds were given an anthology with Sweet’s Carmine: A Little More Red in it. Next year’s five-year-old anthology will have Melissa’s illustrations for the book Love and Kisses!

Three cheers for Melissa Sweet and for all the grand things she does for children’s literature and for young readers in Maine!!

I Like the Sneezing Part!

Raising Readers welcomed over 700 readers to the Children’s Museum of Maine last week for an evening of picture book readings, book signings, book character treasure hunts, and an overall grand celebration of families reading together.

There were FABULOUS conversations about books and reading in every corner of the museum.

In the read aloud room, kids were asked how many books Maine doctors had given out. They were asked to think of a REALLY big number. Shouts went up of, “10! 40! 100! 300! 1000!” When we told the gathered kids that there more than ONE MILLION books given away, “woahhh…” was heard throughout the room. It IS a big number to imagine! We agree.

At another point a four-year-old volunteered that she had gotten Bear Snores On (Simon & Schuster) at her doctor’s office and that it was “really, really funny.” Another kid turned to her and said, “Me, too! I like the part best when the bear sneezes!” Unprompted by their families, other kids chimed in that the sneezing page was INDEED the best. 4-year-old’s having a discussion about books–now that gives us job satisfaction!

Our sincere thanks to picture book authors and illustrators, Melissa Sweet (pictured), Cathryn Falwell, Amy MacDonald, and John and Ann Hassett and Lisa Jahn-Clough (she could not come but her sweet Mom did!) for coming to the event and talking and reading to over 700 folks!

(Any 5-year-old who received the picture book anthology, Raising Readers: Stories for Maine Children, will recognize this group of authors and illustrators, because each of their stories appear in this unique collection published exclusively for Raising Readers by Houghton Mifflin.)

Thanks to the staff at the Children’s Museum of Maine. We love your mission and adore working alongside you.

More Pictures from the Event

Raising Reader Book Celebration

Join Us…
Raising Reader Book Celebration
Friday, November 7th
5:00 – 7:00 PM
Children’s Museum of Maine
142 Free Street, Portland, Maine
All Ages, Best for Birth – Six
Free Admission

As Raising Readers comes into its 8th year with over 1.1 million hardcover books given to Maine children, we will hold the Raising Readers Book Celebration to celebrate another year of families reading together!

At the celebration, children will have an opportunity to meet Maine authors and illustrators, Melissa Sweet, Cathryn Falwell, Amy MacDonald, John and Ann Hassett, and Lisa Jahn-Clough.

(Any 5-year-old who received the picture book anthology, Raising Readers: Stories for Maine Children, will recognize this group of authors and illustrators, because each of their stories appear in this unique collection published exclusively for Raising Readers.)

The authors and illustrators will read from their books and talk with families about their stories and process. Book signings will be held throughout the night. Children are encouraged to bring their copy of Raising Readers: Stories for Maine Children to have each author autograph it.

This anthology will also play a part in the activities for the night. Images from the book will be hidden throughout the museum for young readers to find. Upon finding all of the book images, children will receive a prize from Raising Readers.

Families will also be able to explore and read together in the Raising Reader Book Nook. The Book Nook is a quiet space in the Children’s Museum filled with books in English, Braille, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Farsi and Somali and is sponsored by Raising Readers and MaineHealth.

Pictured: Cathryn Falwell reading SCOOT!