Read-Aloud Revival ®

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!Math....are your palms sweating yet? 😅Yep, I know. But you’ve asked for books that will enrich and enliven math for your kids, and we took on the challenge. In today’s episode, the Read-Aloud Revival team is talking about delighting and learning math together through great read-alouds.In this episode, you’ll hear:why you might want to add math read-alouds to your dayhow to add them in when you already feel pressed for time (no need to dump your existing curriculum!)our favorites. Of course, right? And yes – we actually all have FAVORITE math picture books… can you believe it?I also tackle a listener question about stopping to look something up when you’re reading aloud to your kids. Is it a good idea?Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/147/.

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!In today’s episode of the Read-Aloud Revival, you’ll get to know why Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, was such a wonder (and indeed, she was!). And who could be a better guest for this conversation than Jan Turnquist? Jan Turnquist is Executive Director of Orchard House, the home where Louisa wrote Little Women, and Co-Executive Producer, Director, and Host of the Emmy-Award Winning documentary, Orchard House.She’s a true Louisa May Alcott expert, and has wonderful insight into the Alcott family, and why Little Women has endured.In this episode, you’ll hear: my own very favorite part of visiting Orchard House (hint: it has to do with drawing on the walls!)the beauty in re-reading Little Women at different life stageslittle known details about Louisa May Alcott, and the very unique and rather revolutionary Alcott familyI’ll also tackle a listener question about whether it’s worthwhile to have your kids watch movie versions of a book after reading it. (What I say here just might surprise you!)Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/146/.

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!I felt my brain waking up during this episode of the Read-Aloud Revival podcast. My guest is Alan Jacobs, Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the Honors Program at Baylor University, and author of The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction (goodness, I *love* that book). It was such a delight to have him on the show to talk about those “shoulds” that often trip us up as readers, parents, and educators.He invites us to read at whim, develop our own reading taste, and raise kids who do the same. Don’t miss this one!In this episode, you’ll hear: why it’s important to develop your own taste, and to let your kids do the samethe value of reading books that don’t bring you joyand Alan’s answer to the question: What is reading for? (this part is SO good)Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/145/.

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!I want to introduce you to a remarkable woman. She won two Caldecott Awards, illustrated more than 100 books during her career, raised four children, and lived life with unique zest and liveliness.You may recognize her illustrations in any of the following books, including my own favorite, Miss Rumphius, and one of her Caldecott winners, The Ox-Cart Man.Barbara Cooney was a gift to the world, and in this special edition podcast, I want to introduce you to the woman behind these magnificent books. In this episode, you’ll hear:how this mother of four managed to illustrate over 100 booksstories about what it was like growing up with Barbara as a mother (listen in for roosters in the kitchen and mice in the car!)how Barbara made sure her legacy and love for books would continue after her death in 2000Think you love Miss Rumphius? Just wait till you meet the woman who wrote her onto the page. You’ll love these books even more after you meet the one and only Barbara Cooney.Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/barbara/.

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!That’s right … Kate DiCamillo is back! And what she has to say is so good, you might find yourself listening more than once.In this new episode, Kate and I chat about her newest book, Beverly, Right Here, and we also discuss why parents and teachers so often try to quantify what our kids are getting from books. We have some ideas about how we could better help kids develop their own robust reading life.I also answer a listener question about how to read aloud with highly visual kids (kids who really want pictures to go along with their books).In this episode, you’ll hear: why the kinds of questions we ask our kids about books matterhow to keep joy in readingwhat Kate really wants readers to get from her booksFind the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/143/.

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!Why re-read? This is a question we get a lot at RAR, and I’m not going to beat around the bush…I’m convinced there is a lot to gain from rereading. Today, I’m going to tell you why.If you have a child who re-reads the same book over and over, we’re going to talk about it.And if you or someone you love has recently read the same picture book to a little one every night for months, I’ve got some good news for you. In this episode, you’ll hear: why re-reading may just be the very best kind of readingwhat’s to gain from re-reading?how our kids benefit from revisiting their favorite books (and the rewards are huge!)Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/141/.

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!Poetry is beautiful, captivating and (for a lot of us) a little intimidating, right? Our goal with this episode is to show you how simple and delightful sharing poetry with your kids can be.My guest today says we can’t force poetry, but we can share it naturally… and that just might be the key to helping our kids develop a lifelong love. If you want to help your kids fall in love with beautiful language, there’s no better (or simpler) way to start than with a poem.In this episode, you’ll hear:why and how to incorporate poetry into your routinewhat to do if you feel intimidatedhow to develop a true affection for poetry (it’s more fun than you think!)Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/140/.

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!Is there a better way to nurture empathy and compassion than through books? That’s the question we address in this episode with special guest, Courtney Westlake. Courtney’s daughter, Brenna, was born with a skin condition that makes her appear “different” to many people. On today’s show, Courtney shares not just her family’s experience, but also how we can teach our kids kindness and understanding when it comes to differences.In this episode, you’ll hear: how to help kids grow in empathyhow books help us walk in another person’s shoesour favorite books for teaching about differences and disabilitiesFind the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/139/.

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!Your local library or bookshop (if you’re lucky, both!) is likely filled with children’s books. Many are simply marvelous—the kind of books you don’t mind reading aloud over and over, and that you’re delighted to hand to your kids.Others? Not so much.So how do we decide which books to read with our kids? How do we connect our kids with books they’ll love… especially when we haven’t read most of them?That’s what today’s episode is all about.In this episode, you’ll hear:What is a good book, anyway?How to choose books without a booklist using the 3-Question TestHow to know when to ditch a bookFind the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/138/.

Join us for Shakespeare Summer!Graphic novels … they sometimes make us a little nervous, right? As parents, we worry if they have any value.In this episode of the Read-Aloud Revival podcast, I’m joined by the RAR Team, and we’re talking all things graphic novels. Do they count as real reading? Will they make our kids lazy readers? And what about questionable content?In this episode, you’ll hear: what’s happening in your child’s brain when they read a graphic novel (aka what on earth is “multi-modal” reading?)why some kids can’t get enough of themour favorite graphic novels to read in our own homesFind the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/137/.