Recording for Reading is Fundamental

Hi everyone,

This morning I’m going to Pittman Elementary School to make a video reading CRAWLY SCHOOL FOR BUGS for Reading Is Fundamental. If you’re unfamiliar with RIF, it’s a national organization more than half a century old. This is from it website:

“RIF creates needs-based content and targeted programs that align key literacy issues with proactive and measurable solutions. Our efforts begin with books and continue with resources, activities, and professional development for educators, parents, and literacy volunteers to ensure that reading turns into a journey of opportunity for all children.

“For over 50 years, RIF has built a legacy grounded on the basis that all children have the right to learn to read. In partnership with volunteers, companies, and community organizations, RIF has distributed more than 420 million books and resources and has impacted the lives of 72 million children nationwide.”

I’m thrilled to be doing SOMETHING for kids again after this long year of one cancellation after another. I’ve worked a few times in the past with our local RIF so it will be good to be with them again. I’m also happy the chosen site for this recording is Pittman because I have a history there too. Our lifelong friend, Maryann Wakefield, served as principal there. I wrote an activity story about their school mascot, Oliver the Rat, and in 2005 I wrote a book for a new series of Random House books called MISS GRUBB, SUPER SUB, A WRITE-IN READER, inspired by the teachers at Pittman. I named the school in the book Pittman. The series was subtitled Reading and Writing on Your Own, and I was asked to write the letter to parents explaining the purpose of series that appeared on the inside cover of every book in the series.

I’m reading on POETRY PALS today

Hi everyone,

I hope you are listening when KSMU Radio broadcasts POETRY PALS each Wednesday morning at 9:45 Central Standard Time in the United States. The segments are five minutes long so you have to be ready or risk missing them. Here again is information about how you can listen in.

If you live in the area, here are your dial locations.
91.1 FM in Springfield
90.5 FM in Point Lookout/Branson;
90.3 FM in West Plains;
88.7 FM in Mountain Grove;
98.9 FM in Joplin;
103.7 FM in Neosho

If you live anywhere else in the United States or in another country, you can hear POETRY PALS at KSMU-Ozarks Public Radio live-streaming on its website: http://www.ksmu.org. If you try and have problems, let me know and I’ll pass it along to the station for clarification for next time.

POETRY PALS is a collaboration of KSMU, Springfield-Greene County Library District, and me. Please consider providing support by sending your positive comments about what they are doing to News Director Jennifer Moore (jennifermoore@missouristate.edu )

Today, June 24, it’s my turn to read again and I’ve selected poems from CRAWLY SCHOOL FOR BUGS, which is illustrated by Julie Bayless and published by Wordsong, an imprint of Boyds Mills & Kane. This is all great fun and I hope to see the listening audience continue to grow each week. Tell everyone you know!

A good Monday

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I received excellent help from Brett Piper at KOLR10-TV and my son Jeff Harrison. Brett took the two videos I made and placed them into the station’s Tell Me A Story program. You can now see five of my books read by station on-air Talent plus my two videos, and more book readings are to come. To see them, go to KOLR10-TV at https://www.ozarksfirst.com/community-2/, along the top of the page find “Living Ozarks,” click on it, scroll down to “Tell Me A Story,” click on that, and you’ll find the whole menu.

Thanks to Jeff, the videos are now available (until June 30) on YouTube by request from teachers and librarians. If anyone else is interested in having them the publishers ask that they go through a teacher or librarian. To get one of both videos, get in touch with me at DavidlHarrison1@att.net and provide your email address so I can share them with you.

In other news, Tim Rasinski tweeted the hand-washing ditty I wrote at his request and included the charming video made by Joan Arth reciting it with her great-nephew. Right away Mary Jo Fresch retweeted it. I did too and others have started. I hope you’ll join the fun. Tim’s tweet is at https://twitter.com/TimRasinski1/status/1244695652375896064?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet Some of you know Joanie Arth from all her years in assisting at the Children’s Literature Festival in Warrensburg, Missouri. when my 2018 book, CRAWLY SCHOOL FOR BUGS, was chosen to represent Missouri at the National Book Fair in Washington, DC, Joanie and her hubby Doug went to Washington to run the Missouri booth.

Yesterday my issue of “Literacy Today” arrived from ILA and I was delighted to see the Guilford Press full page ad, which includes two books, BEST PRACTICES OF LITERACY LEADERS 2ND EDITION and CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN THE READING PROGRAM 5th edition. I wrote the poetry chapter in the second title, which was edited by Deborah A. Wooten and Lauren Almonette Liang.

All in all it was a great start on the new week. Today I’ll work on the second poem in a new collaboration, so bring it on.