The school year is winding down, and it’s time to start thinking about a thank you gift for the teachers who helped your kids shine this year! Here are some great teacher gift ideas, including a personalized note from your child, or a special class photo.

I was shocked to read this story about kindergarteners being suspended from school for violating the school’s zero-tolerance policies. One of the offending acts? A 5-year-old told her friends that she would shoot them with her bubble gun! Does suspension at such a young age help or hurt?

Birthday parties can be stressful to plan, but this awesome guide to the Easiest Birthday Ever has tons of adorable ideas that are easy and budget-friendly. From decorate-your-own doughnuts to DIY wall decorations, this article has everything you need to throw the perfect party!

Finally, the summer is a great time to get kids reading (have yours joined the Scholastic Summer Challenge yet?), but not every kid is a natural reader. Here are five tips for boosting your child’s reading confidence that you can use to help you kick off summer reading on the right foot!

For more great articles, you can visit Scholastic Parent & Child‘s website!

If a ghost going through the stacks isn’t your first thought, then I am willing to bet the majestic lions on sentry duty outside of the library on 42^nd Street are.  Today the library on Fifth Ave. and 42^nd St. New York Public Library turns 102.  It first opened its doors May 23, 1911 and instantly captured the imagination of bibliophiles everywhere.  Being one of those bibliophiles myself, I love that this institution exists for researchers and the book curious alike. In fact — I love that ALL libraries exist for researchers and the book curious alike!

If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out the NYPL’s website.  It is a wealth of information and you don’t have to be a New Yorker to take advantage their online collections.  There you will find facts about the history of the library.  Through NYPL Labs you can check out all of the innovations revolving around its archives and special collections.  You can even get book recommendations from their librarians right on the front page!

Do you have any specific memories of the New York Public Library?  Tell us in the comments!

Students will celebrate their accomplishments at Carnegie Hall on May 31!

2013 marks the 90^th anniversary of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the country’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative teenagers. Established in 1923 by M.R. Robinson–the founder of Scholastic Inc.–the Awards are now administered by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, and continue to provide students across the country with opportunities for exhibition and publication of their work.

With more than 230,000 submissions, this year’s Scholastic Awards attracted more participants than ever before, and next week, more than 800 of the 1,600+ talented teens who received national honors will make their way to New York City to attend the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall. There, the students will share the spotlight with actress and arts advocate Sarah Jessica Parker and fashion designer Zac Posen, who won a Scholastic Award in 1999 and will be presented with the 2013 Alumni Achievement Award. To top it all off, First Lady Michelle Obama and actress Lena Dunham of Girls (also an Awards alumna) will offer their congratulations via video. Plus–as if this news could possibly get more exciting–the Carnegie Hall ceremony will be webcast live in honor of the Awards’ 90th anniversary so that people across the nation can share in the celebration! For more information on how to register for the live webcast–or to hold an Awards viewing party in your hometown–check out this guest post from the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.

The national celebration kicks off on May 31 when two giant Times Square screens at 1515 Broadway will feature the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards throughout the day, and the Empire State Building will be lit in gold to honor the student winners. That evening, national medalists and their teachers will be honored at world-famous Carnegie Hall, and the following day, the Awards’ National Student Exhibition will open at Parsons The New School for Design and Pratt Manhattan Gallery. Select Award-winning student art and writing will be on display through June 15, 2013, and starting in the fall, a traveling exhibit of student work entitled ART. WRITE. NOW. will visit cities across the United States. (The exhibition and accompanying public programs are co-sponsored by the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School for Design.) You can view examples of this year’s Award-winning artwork here.

Be sure to join in the national celebration via social media by following the Art & Writing Awards on their Facebook page, Twitter account, Instagram, Tumblr, and blog. (Don’t forget to use the hashtag #AWAwards!)

Congratulations to all the winners and students across the country who submitted their art and writing this year. We can’t wait to celebrate your accomplishments next week!

• From the Raise a Reader blog: Using Books to Break the Ice and Tips for Talking With Kids About Scary News
• From our Parents site: Talking to Your Kids About Natural Disasters, War and Violence
• From Instructor Magazine: When Terrible Things Happen
• From the Yale Child Study Center: Tips for Helping Families and Children Cope with Disaster and Stress
• And, Scholastic’s editor-at-large Suzanne McCabe talked with NPR about helping kids through difficult times following the Sandy Hook shootings. We think it’s helpful and relevant today, too. You can find it here.

Every Friday, we share a handful of links that we found funny, provocative or just plain cool.  We call it In Our Feeds.  Have a good weekend!

Let’s start with all you 20-somethings, shall we? Buzzfeed listed “65 books you need to read in your 20s,” and I admit, it’s a pretty good list. (One of my favorites, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, came in at #4 on the list!) What do you think — are the titles listed there definite must-reads for people going through their quarter-life crisis? (Thanks for the link, Lauren!)

Meanwhile, it’s baseball season, but spring is also a time for poetry too. Lia sent me a story where the two merge: check out how a poem spread to 1,500 baseball fields!

I guess we’re all about numbers today, because Nadia sent over this cool news: on June 1, millions of library patrons at 7,500 different libraries will read simultaneously as part of the Big Library Read! That’s a lot of reading. I’m on board!

On the social front, we’re into this news: You can now pull up the profile of almost anyone on Instagram — anyone who doesn’t have a private account, that is — and browse photos he or she appears in. Yep, Instagram has now allowed tagging in photos. Did you know we’re on Instagram? Check us out — @ScholasticInc, @ScholasticBookClubs, and @CliffordtheBigRedDog!

Have a great weekend, friends.

Makayla with her “Old Lady” books!

In honor of Children’s Book Week, we asked the children in our lives to tell us what their favorite book is and why. Although we got some pretty great answers, we also encountered a few children who said they didn’t read. Even beyond Children’s Book Week, it is critically important for children of all ages to have access to books and reading role models in their life. Whether you have children or not, it’s never too late to become a reading role model, as proven by this 91-year-old.

So without further ado, here are the children we polled and their top picks:

Jake, age 3, said he likes books that have trucks!

Ashlee, age 5, enjoys The Froggy books. While hopping, Ashlee said she likes The Froggy books because “He hops! Hops! Hops! Like a frog!”

Makayla, age 5, said she likes The “Old Lady” books because she always swallows funny stuff! She has six of the books, but her favorites are The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose and The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell. Makayla also said she loves any books that have dogs in them.

Sophia, age 6, likes the Fly Guy books because “he is funny.”

Emily, age 8, enjoys reading Ramona and Beezus because Ramona always gets into mischief.

And last but not least are Jacob and Olivia, who you may remember from a guest post by Sara Sinek, Senior Director of Corporate Communications at Scholastic.

Jacob at the book fair!

Jacob, age 2, loves anything to do with Elmo, so it’s no surprise his pick at the Scholastic Book Fair this week was Sesame Street, Opposites Day! The book has cool sound buttons he can press. He also loves the Dinosaurs! board book as each page has big and bright dinosaurs that he makes roar with every page turn.

Olivia, age 4, loves the colors pink and purple so an obvious pick of hers is Pinkalicious. She always thinks it is funny how Pinkalicious turns pink and red. Keeping to her theme of favorite colors, Olivia also loves My Big Pink Book of Everything and asks to read it 6 out of 7 nights a week! Olivia also enjoys reading Zoe Gets Ready; Zoe gets to pick out her own outfits on Saturdays, and now Olivia gets to do the same at home.

Do you remember your favorite childhood book? Share it in the comments!

This awesome infographic from OnlineSchools.com proves that texting is on the rise–and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon. (That said, more and more people are communicating with emojis these days, so who knows?) A reported 15 million text messages were sent per minute in 2011, and that number is likely on the rise, especially among teens and tweens.

Certain studies argue that there’s no link between poor grammar when texting and actual grammatical understanding, but in one survey, two-in-three teachers reported they regularly find text-speak in students’ homework. In fact, a college professor friend of mine recently received an email from one of her students that not only contained all lower-case letters, but also used “u” instead of “you”. A different student approached her during a final exam to ask what a paragraph was, and then wanted to know why he couldn’t make a bulleted list instead of using full sentences. It’s stories like these that make me nervous for the future of the English language. There are, of course, plenty of students who write beautifully and manage to shift seamlessly between text-speak and proper English. But is that the exception or the rule these days?

What do you think, readers? We’d love to hear your thoughts on whether or not texting is hurting the English language.

Image via Jason A. Howie

For the Sports Lover

Learn how baseball great Jackie Robinson became a sports and civil rights icon with Jackie Robinson: American Hero (ages 7 and up), written by his daughter Sharon Robinson. If basketball is more your game, check out Jeremy Lin: Rising Star (ages 8-12) which chronicles Lin’s early days as a high school hoops player through the rise of Linsanity.

iBiographies for the tech junkie

Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter…These companies revolutionized the world and changed the ways in which we do everything from reading a book to communicating with friend to taking a picture. Get to know the industry’s leaders behind the influential companies in Profiles: Tech Titans (ages 9-14) and discover how Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and others who changed technology.

A trip down memory lane

Travel the Missouri river with Sacajawea. Discover Relativity with Einstein. Ask not what your country can do for you (but what you can do for your Country) with JFK. Take a perilous journey on the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman. If you’re looking for historical biographies, be sure to read Scholastic’s I Am series for readers ages 8-12. I Am is a biography series featuring some of the most important people from history and today.

Who do you want to read about? Let us know which biographies fascinate you in the comments!

We are so thrilled for our colleagues across the pond. The Bookseller Industry Awards recognize the very best in and of the British book trade – celebrating publishing, retailing and libraries. Apparently this year the competition was especially tough, with entries across all categories notable for their quality and quantity.

In their wrap-up of the awards, Bookseller notes, “Scholastic Children’s Books won Children’s Publisher of the Year after its success with Hunger Games trilogy, which notched up three number one slots and saw exponential digital sales growth, including more than 1m Hunger Games e-book downloads. ‘It left a huge mark on the market in 2012,’ the judges said.”

As the @ScholasticUK Twitter account noted, “Of course without our incredible authors and illustrators we wouldn’t even have made Children’s Publisher of the Minute… *salutes them*”

Congratulations to Scholastic UK!

As Morgan mentioned yesterday, this week is Children’s book Week!

My favorite classic children’s book? The Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume. With its simple watercolor illustrations, it’s the humorous story of two siblings, splitting narration duties— the pain and the great one both think the other gets more attention and is more loved. I have an older brother whom I love an adore, but we were not immune to our fair share of bickering growing up. Blume’s hilarious look at sibling rivalry resonated with me from a very young age. Whenever my brother and I argue, it’s still the first thing I think of.

My favorite modern children’s book that I hope will become a classic? The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen. From the flap copy alone, I knew this book was going to be right up my alley. “Four boys. One treacherous plan. An entire kingdom to fool.” I was right. The book delivered on it’s promise of edge-of-your-seat adventure, heart-racing action, and a mystery that had me gripped from start to finish. It was so good, I read it one sitting. When I was done, I couldn’t wait for the sequel. As future readers pick it up, I have no doubt they’ll feel the same way.

This is a pic of a fence that’s also a catenary curve!

In celebration of the much anticipated launch of MATH 180, we encouraged you to join our #MathPics photo contest for some math-focused fun and a chance to win some prizes!

We had so much fun seeing your #MathPics and we encourage you to continue to spot math in the world around you! (We know we will!)

This week concludes the #MathPics contest, here are your final winners:

1.) Box of lollipops contains 100 pops, John ate 36…how many are left?

2.) A class of fourth grades explore  area and perimeter

3.) A parabola is found in a flashlight

We have had some great #MathPics entries, we thank all of you math lovers for participating!

You can’t talk about children’s books without mentioning Dr. Seuss. Al Roker lists Seuss’s classic Green Eggs and Ham as one of the books that shaped his life (Tony Hawk and Kristi Yamaguchi agree!) So does Jim Parsons, who said “Green Eggs and Ham, along with other Seuss books, was a big help in teaching me to actually read — I loved hearing this book over and over and was able to memorize it which allowed me to associate the words I heard with the words I saw on the page.”

Judy Blume includes Madeline in her Bookprint, while Taylor Swift lists the lovely Charlotte’s Web.

Rick Riordan seconds the love for Charlotte’s Web, and adds James and the Giant Peach and The Phantom Tollbooth to his list.

We love that all of the books in Christina Applegate’s Bookprint are children’s books—from The Giving Tree to Where the Sidewalk Ends to My Book About Me. The same can be said for George Lopez, who dedicates his entire Bookprint to children’s literature, such as Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Lily Collins lists the beloved Goodnight Moon and the Harry Potter series in her Bookprint. Also Harry fans? Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Radcliffe (are you surprised?).

Brian Selznick chose some wonderful children’s titles for his Bookprint: Where the Wild Things Are, The Borrowers, and Fortunately, by Remy-Charlip.

Also a kid lit fan? Writer Jeff Kinney, who has titles like Flat Stanley, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and My Book About Me in his Bookprint.

Discover all of our celebrity Bookprints on Scholastic’s Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life. site.

Every Friday, we share a handful of links that we found funny, provocative or just plain cool.  We call it In Our Feeds.  Have a good weekend!

Who better to get life lessons from than our friends from Hogwarts? Here are 5 life lessons we can learn from the Harry Potter Series.

Thanks to our friends at Instagram, you can now travel the world in 80 photos.

Ever wish you could read in the bathtub without getting your book wet? Check out this 8-year old’s invention for keeping books dry when bathing!

At Scholastic we love getting books into the hands of children, so we were thrilled when we came across this awesome initiative from Out of Print. Out of Print will donate a book for each player that reaches a score of 25,000 on The Great Gatsby video game.

We’ve all been there: you are trying to find a specific book but can’t remember the title of it…well now there’s a solution thanks to Tip of My Tongue. The Tip of My Tongue page at Reddit has thousands of dedicated readers who will help you find a book!

Have a great weekend! And Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

I never really expected to be at Scholastic this long. I moved from Pittsburgh to NYC to work for the company (as an Associate Editor on Scholastic News Online), and I thought I’d work on that website for a couple years and move on to the next thing. See, I thought SNO was just a another news website — kids were the primary readers, but otherwise it was like working on any other online news outlet.

Wrong.

The signal difference was that SNO had Kid Reporters, and the longer I was at Scholastic the more I got to work with this group of truly exceptional young people. Ultimately, the Kids Press Corps and SNO were split into separate entities and I moved with the Kid Reporter program. Eventually, I took over running the program, succeeding my first boss at Scholastic, Suzanne Freeman, who founded the Kid Reporter program in 2000 (and who has been a great mentor and better friend).

It was the biggest challenge I’d faced, professionally: Being responsible for 60 Kid Reporters, at least one parent per kid, and the day-to-day administration of what amounts to a mid-sized daily online news outlet is not for the faint of heart. There were awkward moments (like having to correct parents who were older than me when they were in the wrong) and frustrations (don’t get me started on some of the groups that put on primary debates during a presidential election), but man was it rewarding. Not only was I a journalist, I was also a teacher and a mentor sharing my experiences with the next generation of journalists. As a professional adult — as a human being — there is no greater validation than having a group of kids tell you how much you’ve impacted their lives.

But they’ve changed my life, too. I attended and helped cover the DNC and RNC, two debates, and an inauguration; visited the White House twice, once for an interview with the President; oversaw interviews with the First Lady and Steven Spielberg — all things that would have been unimaginable when I moved to NYC in 2008. But the experience of working with these kids during and after Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast was perhaps the most incredible. Once they were safe and confident they could move around their communities, Kid Reporters sprang into action, bringing truly exceptional reporting about what was happening in New York and New Jersey to other kids around the country. Their work was so impressive and and so expert, I would hold it up against anything any adult reporter turned in.

More to the point, though, by working with the Kid Reporters and teaching them about how to write a story and navigating ethical issues and professionalism, I was kind of reborn as a journalist. They allowed me to see journalism through fresh eyes — and reaffirmed my idealism and belief in the profession — at a time when it’s really easy to be cynical about the media. For that I’m eternally grateful.

The Kids Press Corps is a unique program (applications for 2013-14 are being accepted by the way!), and I know I’ll be hard-pressed to have this kind of experience again. It was absolutely singular, and I leave Scholastic feeling extraordinarily fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a part of it. So I want to use this moment to thank not only my colleagues — all the people who write/have written for OOM, my managers, and the people who I’ve worked with in one form or fashion — who trusted me with this massive responsibility. But I also want to say “thank you” to the Kid Reporters I’ve worked with over these past five years. They made my experience at Scholastic an amazing one, and the things I learned from them will continue to resonate with me forever.

Photo: Dante A. Ciampaglia with Kid Reporter Andrew Liang on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Be Kind to Animals Week

Here are a few suggestions for how to get involved (from the American Humane Association):

• Adopt an animal from a shelter or rescue
• Take care of your pet
• Appreciate wildlife
• Report animal abuse

For more ideas and resources, check out their Be Kind to Animals Week webpage.

Looking for other ways to celebrate animals with your students or children? We’ve got a ton of resources to share. Check out our animal favorites Pinterest board, our Discover More series (which is all about nature, animals, and life science), and our “Everything you Need” collections for Insects & Bugs and Clifford! And this is a lovely article on how children can learn from pets.

We also want to mention and thank one of our Literacy Champions, Paws for Healing. A few months ago, we shared with you the success of Scholastic’s Fall 2012 reading program, Paws for Reading, which partnered with Paws for Healing and other non-profit organizations to donate 1,000,000 books to kids in need.

We’re proud to call Paws for Healing a Scholastic Literacy Champion. Their community outreach and canine therapy programs provide comfort and help to people of all ages.

A symmetrical vegetable!

In celebration of the much anticipated launch of MATH 180, we encouraged you to join our #MathPics photo contest for some math-focused fun and a chance to win some prizes!

Here are this week’s winners:

1.) One of the most common forms of math in the world: coupons!

2.)Cars and math! 31MPG, 305HP, V6.

3.) Parallel lined on the handicap crossing.

Don’t worry if you haven’t entered yet, you still have ONE more week left to enter for a chance to win some cool prizes! When you see examples of math in the world around you any time between now and May 12, snap a photo and post it to Instagram or Twitter using hashtag #MathPics.

All photos submitted will be judged on originality and creativity; we will pick our favorite three photos each week and award the winners with a “Force Multiplier” T-shirt and the book “Mindset” by Carol Dweck.

GIVEAWAY RULES: Enter the #MathPics contest  for a chance to win a with a “Force Multiplier” T-shirt and the book “Mindset” by Carol Dweck.. To enter, snap a photo and post it to Instagram or Twitter using hashtag #MathPics when you see examples of math in the world around you any time between April 15-May 12. Three winners will be selected from eligible entries each week. Read the official rules here. (Giveaway open to U.S. residents only; must be 18 or older to enter.)

A 2nd grader draws a response to David Shannon’s book Duck on a Bike. She called it “Two Ducks Falling in Love”.

On the first Wednesday of every month, a handful of Scholastic employees — myself included — have the opportunity to visit a New York City elementary school to read aloud to students. We’re all assigned to different classrooms; each month, we bring books to distribute to the students, read a few of the titles aloud, and then spend time working on coloring and/or activity sheets related to the books we just read. The program, Scholastic Reads, is one of my favorite parts about my job, and an experience I look forward to every month.

Here at Scholastic, almost all of what we do and who we are as a company centers on books and education, but on a day-to-day basis it’s easy to forget what things are like in the classroom. Taking that hour and a half once a month to pop in and spend time with the students is a great reminder of why we do what we do, and why it’s so important to encourage kids to read every day.

Education is, and always has been, an incredibly important part of my life. Coming from a family of educators and administrators has only reinforced its importance, and I often find myself wondering what it would be like to be a teacher. I would imagine that teaching, like most professions, comes with both rewards and challenges, and looking back on my K-12 experience, I’m blown away by just how awesome so many of my teachers were. I owe them all a huge thank you. Needless to say, Teacher Appreciation Week seems like a good time to reflect on the fantastic teachers I’ve had over the years, and to note that somewhere along the line, I think I subconsciously absorbed some of their tips and tricks. During my Scholastic Reads visit last week, perched on a wooden chair in front of a group of squirming first-graders, I realized just how much of my own elementary school education I draw upon in situations where I’m in the teacher’s seat.

Some observations:

• I found myself referring to the students as “first-graders” instead of “boys and girls.” Growing up, the principal of our school was the only one who ever called us “boys and girls”; the teachers preferred something more gender-neutral.
• “Quiet Coyote” lives on. You know that hand-signal that teachers make– the one with the pinky- and pointer-fingers up in the air and the middle- and ring-fingers pressed closed onto the thumb? My teachers used to call it “Quiet Coyote”, and raising a hand in the air was a call for silence in the classroom. The teacher in the room I was visiting spoke at regular volume, asking her students to clap once if they could hear her, then twice if they could hear her, and so on. But I definitely had flashbacks to the “Quiet Coyote” days…
• “Raise your hands, please, first-graders.” Never have I ever felt more teacher-like. I loved the enthusiasm the students brought to read aloud, but it’s definitely hard to get a word in when there’s lots of shouting out.
• I’d totally forgotten about the criss-cross applesauce days! Getting to use the phrase “criss-cross applesauce” was something I never thought I’d get to do. And then Scholastic Reads gave me the chance.
• I’m pretty sure this was a tip from The Baby-sitters Club, but when making the rounds as students worked on their coloring sheets, I made sure to ask, “Can you tell me about your picture?” instead of “What are you drawing?” or — lesson learned the hard way — “Is that your family?” (That assignment was “draw something you love”; when I asked a student if he was drawing his family, he looked at me like I had three heads and said, “No, it’s the Power Rangers. Duh.”)

How about you? Are there any tips you’ve picked up from your elementary school teachers? We’d love to hear them in the comments below!

The epic saga is right at your fingertips! Star Wars Thumb Doodles teaches young Jedis to make thumbprint versions of their favorite characters—from clone troopers and battle droids, to Ewoks and Wookies. Star Wars fans will love re-creating key moments from the movie and designing scenes of their own, like the ultimate battle between Thumb Yoda and Thumb Darth Vader. (Klutz, Ages 8+)

If thumb doodles aren’t your thing, learn to draw like a Jedi Master! When you draw R2-D2, does he look more like a watermelon on roller skates than a cool droid? Does the Yoda you see in your head look nothing like the green blob that ends up on paper? Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars is packed with tips and techniques, practice space to draw right in the book, and translucent overlays that make tracing a snap. (Klutz Ages 8+)

Looking for some outdoor fun? Try Star Wars Folded Flyers. Make 30 paper starfighters directly from the movie. You can make your own fleet of X-wings, Y-wings, and Millennium Falcons. An awesome added bonus, each book included descriptions of each flyer written by the pilots—where else will you hear Darth Vader describe maneuvering a TIE fighter? (Klutz, Ages 8+)

3-D isn’t just for the movies anymore! Renowned paper engineer Matthew Reinhart brings your favorite Star Wars characters to life with two epic pop-up books, the #1 New York Times bestselling Star Wars: A Pop-up Guide to the Galaxy (Orchard Books, All Ages) and Star Wars: A Galactic Pop-up Adventure (Orchard Books, All Ages). Each book delivers a 3-D experience packed with awesome, in-your-face novelty features. Check out the trailer for Star Wars: A Galactic Pop-Adventure here. 

And there’s more exciting Star Wars fun on the way! Today, EW.com premiered the vidoe trailer for the forthcoming Star Wars: Jedi Academy (Ages 8-12) in an exclusive first look. The new book, by New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Brown, follows Roan Novachez first year at Jedi Academy under the tutelage of Master Yoda. Look for this new book series wherever books are sold in September 2013.

How did you celebrate May the 4^th? Let us know in the comments!

How did you know you wanted to be a librarian?

When I was studying for my undergraduate degree in history, I became interested in how information was organized to be found again.  After many conversations with the subject librarian at my university, I decided that I wanted to go to graduate school for library science instead of history.

What’s the hardest part about being a librarian?

The hardest part for me is trying to overcome the stereotypes of what everyone believes a librarian does.  My job is very technical and requires a great deal more knowledge of IT than most people believe.

Do you still use the Dewey Decimal System in the digital age?

In the Scholastic library, yes I do.  The Dewey Decimal Classification System is at its core a way to arrange books on a shelf according to subject.  This allows for an easily searchable collection.  While the Dewey Decimal System is the most famous of all the classification systems it is not the only one.  It is certainly not without its flaws – I will leave it at that otherwise the answer to this question will get a great deal longer – but it is one that is in most use today, particularly in public libraries.  Academic libraries use the Library of Congress classification system.  There are other classification systems used in specialist libraries that were developed with the needs of their collection in mind.  The Dewey Decimal Classification System is used to classify and shelve physical books and is separate from any digital organization in use today.

Have all librarians gone for their Master’s degree?

Generally people with the job title of Librarian do have a Master’s degree.  This is not a hard and fast rule, however, and there are many wonderful people in the profession who do not have a Master’s in Library or Information Science.  That said, if you are contemplating a career in libraries, a Master’s degree is preferable.

What is the one thing about your job that you wish that you could tell everyone?

It is both harder than you would think and more fun than you imagine it to be.

If you weren’t a librarian, what would you want to do for a living?

Some days in my wildest dreams, I would own a food truck selling homemade soup.  But realistically, I would be a history professor specializing in the social history of the 1960’s which was my original plan.

Any words of wisdom for aspiring librarians?

Become a librarian because you love and find fulfillment in it.  As anyone will tell you this is not a profession in which you will become fabulously wealthy but I can’t imagine doing anything else

I want to thank everyone who submitted a question.  If there is anything else that you would like to ask, feel free to leave a comment.

You might not know it to look at him, but Superman just turned 75 years old. The iconic superhero made his first appearance in Action Comics #1, an anthology comic that was published on April 18, 1938. Nearly eight decades later, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone that doesn’t know at least part of the Superman legend.

Born Kal-El on the planet Krypton, he was rocketed to Earth by his parents to spare him from the imminent destruction of the planet. He landed in Smallville, Kansas, where he was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who raised him as their own son, Clark. As he grew up, he discovered he had powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men — he could leap tall buildings in a single bound, outrun locomotives, shoot lasers from his eyes, and fly! — which he put toward saving the world as Superman (that is, when he wasn’t covering the news as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent).

But perhaps less known are Superman’s earthly origins.

For example, did you know he was created in that far off, exotic land known as Cleveland? Superman’s creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, were teenagers living in a Cleveland suburb when they hit upon the idea for the character. After being rejected by one publisher after another, they finally received interest from National Allied Publications — now called DC Comics — who included Superman in the first issue of its new anthology comic. Superman even made the cover, which helped spark the intense reader interest in the character. The rest, as they say, is history.

As the years have flown by, Superman has undergone numerous incarnations and, for a while, it looked like Siegel and Shuster were destined to be overshadowed by their most famous creation. But in the late 1970′s, a group of comic artists, writers, and editors banded together to rescue them from irrelevance. Since then, numerous other creators, as well as fans, have kept their memory and contributions alive.

Superman’s 75th birthday is as good a moment as any to celebrate the Big Blue Boyscout — as well as the men who gave him life. Cleveland did just that last month when they proclaimed April 18, 2013, Superman Day in the city. Kid Reporter Mahathi Venkatesh attended the event and spoke with Siegel and Shuster’s relatives, the mayor of Cleveland, and members of the Siegel and Shuster Society about the city’s role in the creation of Superman and the legacies of the men who dreamed him up. Check her story out on the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps website. It’s a great read, and a cool look at Superman’s secret origins!

Superman’s popularity has ebbed and flowed over the years, but the character remains as iconic as ever. The iconic Superman logo can be found on everything from t-shirts to hats to shoes, he appears in at least three monthly comic books, and is perhaps the most identifiable comic book character on the planet. And with a new movie, Man of Steel, hitting theaters this summer, Superman shows no signs of being ready to hang up the cape.

Photo: Cover of Action Comics #1 (courtesy DC Comics)

It’s not a secret — you don’t have to be a teen to read YA.

As longtime fans of young adult literature, we at Scholastic are thrilled that more and more adults are finding great stories in a section previously reserved for teens, and that teens themselves are reading YA in record numbers!

We wanted to spread the love for YA even further, and encourage fellow YA-fanatics to be loud and proud about their reading tastes. So, this month, we will begin an ongoing campaign for readers of all ages to state proudly: I read YA!

 Join in the movement by tweeting what you’re reading @this_is_teen using #IreadYA. Each week throughout the month of May, we’ll be picking three winners to receive an I read YA tote back stuffed with seven of our favorite YA titles!

We hope you’re excited as we are to engage with other book lovers, and hopefully get some great book recommendations to add to your “To Read” lists! We can’t wait to hear from you on Twitter. Spread the word: We all read YA!

Each year, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers awards teens from across the country. The National Awards winners travel to New York City for a breathtaking awards ceremony. (You can see some amazing examples of the award-winning work right here.) Alana Benoit from the Alliance is here with some news about this year’s event — which is also the 90th anniversary of the Awards!

For the first time ever, in celebration of our 90th Anniversary, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards will webcast the 2013 National Awards Ceremony LIVE from Carnegie Hall on May 31 at 6:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. PST. That means YOU can join in! We’re working hard to make this event extra special for everyone, including those who are unable to be at Carnegie Hall. We’re broadcasting this event with all of you in mind!

On May 31, we will be joined by special guests Sarah Jessica Parker and Zac Posen to honor National Awards winners from across the country; recognizing their achievement and the commitment of teachers, friends and supporters that help make the Awards possible. We hope you’ll share this incredible moment with us by watching the Ceremony on our Webcast page.

You can also salute these talented students and engage your community around this one-time only event by hosting a Local Webcast Celebration! We’ve created a toolkit overflowing with fun tips and ideas to make planning a local event a success, no matter how large or small. If you have questions while reviewing this guide or organizing your event, email us at webcast@artandwriting.org. And be sure to tweet about the Awards and our 90th Anniversary Webcast using the hashtag #AWawards!

We’re continually inspired by the work we do and are thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate the creative talents of young people.

We hope you’ll join us — from New York City with love!

Big TV news today: we’ve been nominated for three Emmy Awards!

WordGirl received two nominations for ‘Outstanding Children’s Animated Program’ and ‘Outstanding Writing in Animation’ (Tom Martin and Eric Shaw Head Writers; Jack Ferraiolo, Jayne Hamil and Ryan Raddatz Writers). These are the ninth and tenth Emmy award nominations for everyone’s favorite master of vocabulary which, earned Emmy Award wins for ‘Outstanding Writing in Animation’ in 2008 and 2012. (By the way, now in its fifth season on PBS KIDS, WordGirl has also won three Gracie awards, a Television Critics Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Animation,’ a Kidscreen Award for Best Voice Talent, and an iParenting Media Award.)

Chuck Vanderchuck received a nomination for ‘Outstanding New Approaches/Original Daytime Program or Series.’ Chuck Vanderchuck’s “Something Something” Explosion is an interactive online web series on PBSKIDSGO.ORG aimed at helping kids understand music and music composition through online episodes and integrated games and activities on the web; it’s produced by Scholastic Media/Soup2Nuts.

In each webisode, kids get to be a member of the band, interacting with Chuck, the lead singer and main creative force behind the band who dreams BIG, and Ramona, Chuck’s band mate who helps make his big ideas into reality. Chuck and Ramona present different musical genres including Salsa, Jazz, Rock, Country, and Reggae. Children learn about different instruments used for each musical style, and play games through which they will have the chance to identify instruments, write lyrics, compose melodies, create costumes, and play in a virtual concert. Specific areas explored include basic rhythmic and melodic patterns, as well as geography and cultural lessons related to music genres.

We’ll definitely be tuning in to the Awards on June 16. Congratulations to all!

Here are the winners for the second week:

1.) Math is everywhere, even on my floor home from school! Patterns, angles, lines, shapes.

2.) Geometric shapes!  

3.) The lottery: one in (several) million.

Don’t worry if you haven’t entered yet, you still have two more weeks left to enter for a chance to win some cool prizes! When you see examples of math in the world around you any time between now and May 12, snap a photo and post it to Instagram or Twitter using hashtag #MathPics.

All photos submitted will be judged on originality and creativity; we will pick our favorite three photos each week and award the winners with a “Force Multiplier” T-shirt and the book “Mindset” by Carol Dweck.

GIVEAWAY RULES: Enter the #MathPics contest  for a chance to win a with a “Force Multiplier” T-shirt and the book “Mindset” by Carol Dweck.. To enter, snap a photo and post it to Instagram or Twitter using hashtag #MathPics when you see examples of math in the world around you any time between April 15-May 12. Three winners will be selected from eligible entries each week. Read the official rules here. (Giveaway open to U.S. residents only; must be 18 or older to enter.)

We all respond to tragedies like Sandy in different ways: some volunteer to deliver supplies to those in need; others pledge their time to disaster-relief organizations or donate money to organizations like the Red Cross. And some respond with art or writing that beautifully encapsulates the experience itself.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running recognition program for creative teens, and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers (the nonprofit that administers the Awards) received dozens of submissions that dealt with Superstorm Sandy and its aftermath. One such piece was by Leigh Brooks, a 12-year-old student in 7th grade at Brooklin School in Brooklin, ME, who received a Gold Key for poetry in the 2013 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. As National Poetry Month draws to a close, we thought it’d be a perfect time to share Leigh’s poem:

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy

A behemoth of a storm

Travels her slow path across the Gulf of Mexico

Intent on the juicy prize: the New England coast

Cities lie far away in the distance,

She tires of water,

She hungers for the feast of buildings

The crunchy cold concrete, the white-washed walls

She makes her way

onto the coast’s edge,

Until finally, she can reach her goal:

The tantalizing stew of human colonization

Many mouths

On long necks

Sprout from her mass and down toward the land.

Where they sink their teeth deep into the great cities

She lingers for days,

Feasting on human suffering

She pours their tears back down to them

And whips their miserable cries through their darkened streets

She leaves at last

Gorged to bursting

Full of sadness and greed

The only food left for a hungry storm

Emotion is food only for a time

Soon it will blow her apart

She leaves the ocean completely and travels inland, where humans rule

And they pour the last of their misery into her

It is too much,

She cannot hold it all,

So she crumbles to pieces in the place

Where the graves of her brethren lie

She is no more

The mighty storm

Is yet another flicker

In the short memories of humans.

Do you use poetry to cope with tragedy? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image via USACE HQ

Every Friday, we share a handful of links that we found funny, provocative or just plain cool.  We call it In Our Feeds.  Have a good weekend!

After another heavy week, we could all use a little fun. Here’s hoping this week’s links bring a smile to your face.

Kristen shared a really sweet piece about the memories that stay with parents and their kids through the books they read together. Whether reading print books or ebooks, we know how important it is to read every day, but be careful with those electronic devices; they can be addictive. (If you don’t believe me, check out this article that Alex found about Britain’s youngest iPad addict–she’s only four years old!)

April 23 marked William Shakespeare’s birthday, and in his honor, Goodreads put together an awesome flowchart to help you decide which of Shakespeare’s works to read next. Thanks to Nadia for sharing! And speaking of charts, I just so happened to stumble across a comparison chart of potential husbands from YA fantasy. (Now if only I could decide between Peeta Mellark and Ron Weasley…)

And now onto cool library news. Michael found these great vintage photos of librarians being awesome. But what’s beyond awesome is the article Jess shared, which sound like a real-life Nancy Drew mystery. According to this piece from BBC News, a sealed letter arrived at Britain’s historic Lambeth Palace Library in 2011 and unveiled an incredible secret. Written by a former employee and forwarded to the library shortly after his death, the letter revealed the whereabouts of some of the the library’s most valuable books, which staff knew had been stolen, but had never found… It was what a rare book dealer called “one of the biggest such thefts in recent decades.”

And on that note, hope you all have a fun-filled weekend with lots of great reads!

I was listening to the Slate Audio Book Podcast on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice when this every question came up.  The question was posed: Do you need a plucky young girl who doesn’t follow the rules of her society to make a beloved classic?  Admittedly there is a lot of antidotal evidence on bookshelves and reading lists across the world that point to the answer being yes.

Take Pride and Prejudice to start.  Had Lizzie Bennett been a good and dutiful daughter of her age, she would have become Mrs. William Collins.  Both she and — let’s be honest, all of us – would have missed out on her great love story.  What others saw as pragmatism, Lizzie saw as compromise.  Lizzie Bennett followed her own rules, staked a claim in her own life and ultimately lived a life that made her happy. 

In literature she is by far not the only one.  If Alice from Alice in Wonderland had been a good girl, she never would have followed a white rabbit in a waist coat down the rabbit hole into Wonderland.  If Janie Crawford from Their Eyes Were Watching God didn’t hold on to the dreams that she wanted for herself and instead embraced what other people wanted for her, would we remember her?  If Jo March from Little Women had been less of a tomboy and more refined young woman, would we have adored her as fiercely as we do today? 

There is something refreshing about a girl who looks at her world and says I have my own path and I want to walk it.  Those are the characters that are timeless. 

It isn’t just the classics that have this appeal.  Look at the wonderful characters that we have today.  Lyra Silvertongue from the His Dark Materials trilogy, Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games trilogy and June Costa from this month’s book club selection The Summer Prince are the girls that we will remember for their grit and for stealing both the hearts and the imagination of readers for years to come. 

If it wasn’t for the heroines these books, while all beautifully crafted, may not hold the same impact today as they do then.  They hold a place on our shelves because we can’t imagine our literary lives without them and maybe just because we can’t imagine a childhood where we didn’t hope that we were like them.

What do you think?  Do you need a strong female protagonist with a knack for ignoring the rules to make a classic?  Do you find that the books you love have a strong female character?  Which is your favorite female protagonist?  Tell us in the comments.

Get Set for Summer Reading! 

Who: Parent bloggers Amy Mascott and Allison McDonald
What: a live Facebook chat to officially kick off the Scholastic Summer Challenge! You’ll walk away with tips and strategies for getting your kids reading all summer long.
Where: The Scholastic Parents Facebook page (Facebook.com/ScholasticParents)
When: Monday, May 6th, 2013 at 9pm EST
Why: Because summer reading leads to back-to-school success for your kids.

PLUS: Participants will be randomly selected to win summer book packs & other prizes!

This chat is all about summer reading, but we want to hear from you. What would you like to chat about? Share your questions and topics here, and Amy and Allison will try to answer them during the chat. It can be anything— from how to pick the right books for your kids, to what books to pack on a summer vacation, to tips for keeping reading momentum going all summer long.

See you there.

Charbonneau was honored by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony on Tuesday. But the day before, Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden hosted her annual Teacher of the Year reception at the Vice President’s residence, the Naval Observatory. There, Charbonneau and dozens of other state Teachers of the Year mingled, shared their stories and ideas, and chatted with the Second Lady. They also spoke with Kid Reporter Emily Shao!

Emily was at the event, covering it for the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps, and she spoke with Charbonneau as well as Maryland Teacher of the Year Rhonda Holmes-Blankenship about how they’ve impacted kids’ lives and made school a better place to learn, become better students, and grow as people. Check out Emily’s story for some interesting insight into this year’s National Teacher of the Year, and let us know who you would nominate as Teacher of the Year in the comments section below!

Photo: Kid Reporter Emily Shao interviews 2013 National Teacher of the Year Jeff Charbonneau at the annual Teacher of the Year reception hosted by Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC. (Courtesy Emily Shao)

Photo: Courtesy Illustration

Can you imagine walking into your local library, eager to pick up something new to read, and finding all of the shelves of books replaced with computers? The first bookless public library is scheduled to open this fall in San Antonio, Texas, where computer terminals and tablets will take the place of printed books (read more about it here). The reaction to the announcement seems to be a mix of curiosity, excitement, and bewilderment. The idea of a completely digital library is fun and futuristic, but are readers still too attached to the printed page to make such a drastic change?

Scholastic News 5/6, our current events classroom magazine for 5th and 6th graders, ran a poll in their March 18th issue that explained San Antonio’s bookless library and then asked kids: Should we eliminated printed books in libraries? As of today, 54,858 students have voted in the poll, and it’s a close call! 52% of kids voted NO (we should keep printed books in libraries), and 48% voted YES (we should eliminate printed books in libraries)!

The results aren’t too shocking when you consider that the number of kids who have read an ebook has almost doubled since 2010 (25% vs. 46%), according to Scholastic’s most recent Kids & Family Reading Report. The same report also showed that among children who have read an ebook, one in five says he or she is reading more books for fun, and that half of children age 9–17 say they would read more books for fun if they had greater access to ebooks. That’s a lot of enthusiasm from kids about reading digitally!

One finding that may help print books to retain their place on the shelf is that eighty percent of kids who read ebooks still read books for fun primarily in print. So while it will be interesting to see how a bookless library fares in San Antonio, it will likely be a while before they become a trend.

So what do you think — do you prefer to leave the library with an ereader full of files or a bag brimming with books? Let us know in the comments!

 “Did you hear about the man who was tap dancing?  He broke his ankle when he fell into the sink.”

They didn’t get it.  Another passenger leaned in to the kid closest to her and said ‘a faucet is sometimes called a tap.’  He triumphantly explained the pun and they all finally laughed.

This story brought out Jessica and my shared love of puns over coffee (and smoothie) one morning.

Language is playful.  Words are the jokesters. It is word play that makes up the first jokes you learn when you are young.  Remember this favorite from second grade?

“Why was 6 scared of 7?  Because 7 ate (8) 9!”

Puns may seem like silly bits of fun but they do more than just make kids giggle.  They teach grammar when you aren’t even looking.  (Told you those words were tricksters!) They help kids learn homophonic, homographic, metonymic and metaphorical language even if they don’t know that name of it. And of course, they teach vocabulary (even on NJ Transit trains at 7:00 am!)

Elementary school isn’t the only place for puns, though. Puns also have played with their way through literature. Mark Twain used them:

“Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt”

“Familiarity breeds contempt.  And children.”

Shakespeare did too! The very first line of Richard III is a pun: “Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious by this son of York.”  In Romeo and Juliet, he has the dying Mercutio say the line “Tomorrow…you shall find me a grave man.”

Proof that you never outgrow a pun!

But let’s be honest here…the idea to write this blog post together was really just a perfect excuse to exchange puns!

We couldn’t resist sharing some of our favorites with you:

• “No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationary.”

• “Police were called to a daycare where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.”

• “I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger.  Then it hit me.”

• “I used to have a fear of hurdles, but I got over it.”

• “Without geometry, life is pointless.”

• “I was going to look for my missing watch, but I could never find the time.”

Now it’s your turn to play with your words!  Heard any good puns lately?  Share them with us in the comments!

-Michael and Jessica

Clifford has been inspiring us to be better citizens with his 10 BIG ideas (Share, Play Fair, Have Respect, Be Kind, Work Together, Be Responsible, Be Truthful, Be A Good Friend, Help Others and Believe in Yourself) for more than 50 years. Being BIG is about being big hearted; it’s about having a big spirit. Being BIG is something we should all do more often – especially during National Volunteer Week!

Luckily here at Scholastic, I’m surrounded and inspired by some very service oriented colleagues. Just last week I learned that a co-worker took off from work to celebrate her birthday. I assumed she spent the day relaxing and celebrating with friends and family. Upon her return, however, I learned that she spent the day volunteering at a soup kitchen preparing sandwiches, which were then delivered to families in need. It was a rewarding experience that brought as much joy to her as the people she was helping.  It turns out, volunteering is not only good for your community, but it’s good for you too! Hearing her talk about how important – and fun – volunteering can be has inspired me to think about how small actions can make a really BIG difference.

I don’t know if Clifford was who originally inspired my colleague, but I do know that he has inspired thousands of kids, parents and teachers to do BIG things as part of Scholastic’s BE BIG campaign – where Clifford’s BIG ideas inspire people, big and small, to make the world a better place. Since the launch of the ‘BE BIG In Your Community Contest’ 5 years ago, the contest has inspired thousands of children, parents, teachers and community leaders, ranging in age from 2 to 70 years old, to submit their very own BIG service ideas. Since the program’s inception, Scholastic and BE BIG partner HandsOn Network has awarded over $200,000 in community grants turn those ideas into realities.

So in honor of National Volunteer Week, think about how small things you can do can make a BIG difference in the lives of others! Whether it be re-thinking how you might spend a special day, or entering the 2013 Clifford’s BE BIG In Your Community Contest for a chance to bring your BIG idea to life, or simply finding ways to get involved in your local community – we’re sure this can be a very BIG week!

Illustration of Jamie and Claudia by E.L. Konigsburg

On Friday, April 19, E.L. Konigsburg passed away at 83, just one year older than Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the eccentric a narrator of her Newbery Medal winning novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Bail E. Frankweiler.

One of my favorite books growing up, this book shares the tale of two children – Claudia and Jamie – who run away from their home in Greenwich, CT and live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. I was quickly drawn in to their adventure – hiding in the bathroom in the museum, sleeping in the antique beds, bathing (and collecting money!) from the wishing fountain, and of course, solving the mystery of the Angel – a sculpture rumored to be the work of the great Michelangelo. As Jamie would say “Oh Baloney!” Or perhaps “Bologna.”

E.L. Konigsburg (born Elaine Lobl) captured the hearts and imaginations of readers with over 20 children’s books. As I flipped through my copy of the book, I was struck by this quote:

“Some people spend all their time on vacation taking pictures so that when they get home they can show their friends evidence they had a good time. They don’t pause to let the vacation enter inside of them and take that home.” ~Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Every Friday, we share a handful of links that we found funny, provocative or just plain cool.  We call it In Our Feeds.  Have a good weekend!

Well, the truth is, it’s been a rough week. So in an effort to take our mind off things, I’m making this week’s IOF as lighthearted as possible.

And really, does it get any more lighthearted than Ms Frizzle, fashionista? Lucky Magazine took a look at the wonderfully wacky outfits the Friz has worn over the years, calling her “Our Favorite Street Style Star of All Time.” (We concur.) Basically, now you, too, can dress like the Friz.

Nadia sent me this link from Galleycat about a new app that, well, kind of turns back time a little bit. If you miss the doodles and appeal that comes with good old-fashioned handwriting, this app lets you recapture that, even while on your mobile device. (I can think of a certain baby-sitter whose name begins with an S who would be thrilled to see she could still dot her i’s with little hearts…)

And finally, Kristen hooked me up with this fun news — 10 Famous Fiction Writers and Their Cocktails. Maybe I’ve read Gatsby too many times, but it doesn’t surprise me that Fitzgerald’s drink of choice was the gin rickey…

Stay safe this weekend, everyone.

• Alex was a huge fan of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. (Such a classic!) “It was great! You got to travel all over the world and learn new facts about exciting places,” she explains. Similarly, Dante loved Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? for the original Nintendo. He recalls the larger-than-normal box it came in, complete with an abridged encyclopedia.
• Lauren cites Number Munchers and Math Rabbit as two of her favorites. “I was horrible at math as a kid, and both of those games were entertaining, education, and gave me a huge sense of accomplishment!” she says.
• A favorite game of Anne’s was Lemonade Stand, where you based your business decisions on weather and decided the amount of sugar, lemons, and cups you needed to purchase in order to make enough lemonade for the day. “You also got to pick the day’s price and got pretend-rich if you made the right choices!”
• I have a long list of favorites. In addition to Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (obviously), I loved Treasure Mountain and Math Blaster for brushing up on math and Storybook Weaver for indulging my imagination. (Plus, I was always secretly excited when I had to stay late after school and got to play MindMaze for kids using Encarta 95 on the library computer…).

How about you? What were your favorite educational technology games growing up? Let us know in the comments!

Image via raybdbomb

Well, not today. Today, I’ve discarded all miscellaneous items for one thing and one thing only: a poem. Sharon Olds’ “Visiting My Mother’s College,” which I love so much. (Look it up! Olds just won a Pulitzer.) The poem is currently tucked snugly in my pocket. Why? It’s Poem in Your Pocket Day! The day was created by the Academy of American Poets (the same folks behind National Poetry Month) in an effort to bring people together through poetry.

It’s easy to participate—just write down a poem you love on a piece of paper, carry it in your pocket, and share it with others. And if you’re on Twitter, you can even tweet your poem using #pocketpoem. If you need a little inspiration, the Academy of American Poets has poem suggestions and a great list of ideas for celebrating National Poetry Month.

We love National Poetry Month around the office, so much so that we dedicated an entire board to it on Pinterest, called Lines We Love. We’ve pinned  lines from some of our favorite poets, like Robert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, and Shel Silverstein. Check it out!

Now we’ve got poems in our pockets and on Pinterest. What about you?

Why? Because protecting the environment is a big, important issue that kids can take ownership of. They can organize recycling drives at their schools or work with their friends to clean up a beach or get together with their neighbors to plant trees in a local park — the ideas they come up with are endless!

For the past few years, the Kid Reporters have put together an Earth Day Special Report to share how kids around the country are working to improve the environment and highlight important green issues. In 2010, we focused on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and in 2012 we featured a video interview with noted primatolgist Dr. Jane Goodall. This year, the Kid Reporters look at the environmental toll of natural disasters.

For the Earth Day 2013 Special Report, Kid Reporter William Russell and Kid Reporter Amiri Tulloch report on Superstorm Sandy’s impact on beaches, coastlines, and ecosystems in Long Island and New Jersey, respectively, while Kid Reporter Jacob Schroeder talks to people cleaning up Oregon’s beaches of local trash and debris washing ashore from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

We’ll be adding more stories to the Special Report in the days ahead. But you and your kids can be part of the Earth Day conversation, too! Head over to the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps Blog and share your ideas for celebrating and protecting the planet!

Photo: A handmade Earth Day sign posted on a gate in front of an apartment building in Brooklyn, New York. (Dante A. Ciampaglia) 

As a librarian I am asked a variety of questions. — it comes with the job! Generally, they’re questions about specific books or or help on how to find information that people are looking for.  Not often am I asked a question about being a librarian.

I was talking to Nadia, Alex and Lia last week and they were asking me questions about being a librarian.  They were questions that I never thought about answering.  Questions varied from “What do you need to be a librarian?” to “How does someone become a library intern?”  I realized that not everyone has a librarian to ask their questions to.  It was Lia who suggested that I should write a blog post to answer questions from people who have them.  (You’ve got to admit, that Lia is one smart cookie.)

In the spirit of National Library Week, I want to answer your questions.  Is there a question that you have always wanted to ask a librarian?  Or even any question that you want to ask me?  Now is your chance!  Leave a question in the comments and I will answer them to the best of my ability in a post next week.

• Scholastic News: Tragedy at the Boston Marathon — a kid-friendly way of learning about the events
• From the Raise a Reader blog: Using Books to Break the Ice and Tips for Talking With Kids About Scary News
• From our Parents site: Talking to Your Kids About Natural Disasters, War and Violence
• From the Yale Child Study Center: Tips for Helping Families and Children Cope with Disaster and Stress
• And, Scholastic’s editor-at-large Suzanne McCabe talked with NPR about helping kids through difficult times following the Sandy Hook shootings. We think it’s helpful and relevant today, too. You can find it here.

Updated: And, a teacher in Boston reflects on what happened — a lovely piece about the role teachers can play in times like this. And, Instructor Magazine shares an important article, When Terrible Things Happen.

What are your strategies for talking to kids about issues like this?

From math to foundational reading, we have brought together leading cognitive scientists and instructional experts to help teachers and students meet the high demands of the CCSS.

Here are our newest programs:

●MATH 180 is designed for struggling students in grades 6 and up and focuses on getting students Common Core-ready with essential skills for algebra and advanced math. The program also helps shift students’ attitudes about math through Carol Dweck’s Mindset Works organization, and provides resources that will help teachers execute successfully.

●iRead is a digital program for grades K-2 that ensures mastery of foundational reading skills, no matter a student’s starting point. iRead helps schools close the achievement gap before it begins with supportive personalized learning opportunities and embedded assessments to track student progression. iRead also incorporates gaming theory to keep students engaged, and technology to complement what teachers do best.

●System 44 Next Generation is a new version of the foundational reading program for our most challenged readers in grades 3-12. The program provides direct instruction and intensive, adaptive practice beginning with letter-sound correspondence and progressing through fluent word recognition.

●READ 180 on the iPad provides tablet access for teachers and students to the most successful personalized learning technology built for the Common Core. Schools that use READ 180 Next Generation, will have access to READ 180 on the iPad for free.

●Common Core Code X (Code X) is a comprehensive, tablet-ready ELA curriculum that challenges middle school students to read, think, analyze, synthesize, question, cite evidence, debate, and write every day.

●nextpert is a digital professional learning that transforms instruction for the Common Core.

For more information about Scholastic Education’s innovate new programs, click here!

And now for what you have all been waiting for… the contest!

Math is all around us – in the architecture of the buildings we work and live in, in the weights and measures involved in everyday supermarket purchases, and even in the way raindrops fall from the sky. To celebrate the beauty, mystery and usefulness of math, and in celebration of the much anticipated launch of MATH 180, we are encouraging you to join our #MathPics photo contest for some math-focused fun and a chance to win some prizes!

The countdown clock when crossing the street is an example of math in the world! #MathPics

When you see examples of math in the world around you any time between April 15-May 12, snap a photo and post it to Instagram or Twitter using hashtag #MathPics.

Need some inspiration? A water fountain is an example of a parabola; the cross walk sign is a great example of a countdown clock; two skis create perfect parallel lines!

All photos submitted will be judged on originality and creativity; we will pick our favorite three photos each week and award the winners with a “Force Multiplier” T-shirt and the book “Mindset” by Carol Dweck.

GIVEAWAY RULES: Enter the #MathPics contest  for a chance to win a with a “Force Multiplier” T-shirt and the book “Mindset” by Carol Dweck.. To enter, snap a photo and post it to Instagram or Twitter using hashtag #MathPics when you see examples of math in the world around you any time between April 15-May 12. Three winners will be selected from eligible entries each week. Read the official rules here. (Giveaway open to U.S. residents only; must be 18 or older to enter.)