Today, regular contributor Denise Neary lets us in on a secret crush and highlights one of her favorite publishers and their engaging blog.
Helping children around the world to read and learn. That’s the mission of Scholastic.
I am not too proud to admit that I have a longstanding crush on Scholastic Books.
As a kid in grade school, I could hardly wait for the Scholastic book drives. Loved the whole deal---going through the catalog, reading the descriptions, figuring out how many I could order, and waiting impatiently for the orders to be delivered. I can still feel my tingle of anticipation when boxes with that distinctive Scholastic logo were delivered to the classroom. I couldn’t wait to get those books into my hot little hands.
My affection for Scholastic grew when my own son became so involved in the adventures of a certain young wizard that he pulled his first all-nighter reading.
Scholastic, like the world around it, is always changing. In March 2008, Scholastic introduced their blog, On Our Minds. OOM is described as the daily musings of the Scholastic corporate communications staff.
I was first drawn to the site because of the Scholastic logo--I check in regularly because the site is so good, and does what Scholastic has always done for me. It makes me feel more connected, and more excited about the world, because I read.
OOM has a tone that is sophisticated, smart and a little sarcastic. A recent post noted that President Obama’s commencement addresses concerning education were so interesting that he likely had the stuff to be an OOM guest blogger.
I can’t even imagine how happy it would have made me as a child to be able to visit OOM. Webcasts with my favorite authors? Summer book challenges? Pictures of summer “to be read” piles? Author smackdowns? Book release parties at midnight?
If you are interested in developments on children’s books, OOM is a gold mine of great ideas, events, and inspiration.
And if you have an expansive view of being a child, you might find it a great place to explore at any age.
-- Denise Neary, Regular Contributor
