Summer Slide

Children from all around the world have a story to tell. It may be a story that they’ve created or a story they’ve lived. But not everyone has ample access to literature, or even the education to learn how to read or write. Rachel is on the phone today with Pam Allyn, the founder of LitWorld, an organization investing in children’s literacy around the world.

Libraries are known for their storytimes and we are too. Each week at around 15 minutes past the hour, tune in to hear book reviews or live readings of picture books or poetry. Today we have a book review of "Thelma the Unicorn" by Aaron Blabey.

A tv audience can tell if a character is sad, mad, or happy without any words being spoken because of the visual format. The same can be said for picture books. So much story is conveyed through just the illustrations. It makes one wonder what type of processes an illustrator goes through to get that end result. That’s why we sent out a member of our crew to interview Melissa Sweet, an award winning illustrator.

Symbols and visual cues are everywhere. A 15 minute car ride can contain tons of messages from green means go, to the billboards passed on the highway. We may not always think about them, but these visual messages are present everywhere. It’s important to help our children understand these various types of visuals messages. We have in the studio today Kerry Soper, a scholar who studies comics and visual literacy.