Happy Throwback Thursday! Earlier this week, Vulture published a great piece on what they've dubbed "the Youth-Comics Explosion." Essentially it's a deep-dive into the current popularity of graphic novels for younger kids that don't feature big-name superheroes. Graphix's reprint of Jeff Smith's Bone series is mentioned as one of the early catalysts of the trend, and current Scholastic author/illustrator Raina Telgelmeier is referred to as the "Elvis Presley" of the genre. (If you have a chance, the entire article is really worth checking out.)

When I went to the Library to meet with Deimosa, she mentioned she saw on Goodreads a conversation between a bunch of people trying to identify a graphic novel from the 1980s. Turns out, it was one of ours: Steven B. Miller's The Midnight Son. Once I saw it, I knew it would be the focus of this week's post.

Published in 1981 by our Four Winds Press imprint, I'm assuming it's one of Scholastic's earliest graphic novels. Now, I know a graphic novel when I see one, but I had Deimosa give me a more technical description. She described it as "sequential art - art that tells the story as much as the words." When you pick up a graphic novel, you can connect the structure developed the works and the art, and combine them to form one coherent story.

I just sat down and read this book, and it ended up being a very trippy and abstract journey. It starts out familiar enough: a space traveler looking for something missing - although he's not entirely sure what it is. He stops on a planet to see if they have it. He meets people who try to help him find the thing he's looking for. Then, just before he leaves the planet, he falls into a metaphysical hero's journey where he crosses a river, battles a dragon, befriends a worm, falls through space, and meets a goddess in the center of the universe. The second half of the book was quite a ride.

The first half of the book very much feels like a traditional graphic novel; the art and dialogue between the characters drives the story forward. However, the second half of the book is Phaedran all alone going deeper inside the planet. During this part of the story, Miller relies more on narration rather than dialogue – although he does differentiate the two through lettering. The art also differs a bit in this second half – there are more full page illustrations rather than panels, along with multiple pages alsmost completely black.

Below are some images from inside the book, and here's the official book jacket description. Did you ever read The Midnight Son?

Stunningly illustrated with over 450 detailed drawings, this is the odyssey of Phaedran, child of light.

Drawn to the planet Fauna by his dream of fulfillment, Phaedran seeks to reclaim a wholeness and happiness now known only in dim memory. Enlisted in his search or the lovely Belisant, Keeper of Lost Beauty, her curmudgeonly old uncle Wyddan the Wise, and Corric, the Faunan king.

Descending into an underground world of darkness, Phaedran must pursue his difficult and dangerous quest alone, defeating a gargantuan, deadly Eel Monster and the terrifying, inhuman Firedrake. And in the shattering climax, Phaedran discovers the final and ultimate mystery: the source of life… the secret of the Midnight Sun.

This is an extraordinary fusion of fantasy and her wicked venture in an illustrated saga that can be read and appreciated on many levels.

Special thanks to Librarian Deimosa Webber-Bey for her ongoing help with this series!

Today is the official first day of summer (yay!). It’s also the perfect time pick out a book with your child and start reading! Did you know the majority of kids actually enjoy summer reading? The Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report™: 6th Edition shows that 62% of kids ages 6–17 agree that, "I really enjoy reading over the summer," and the top reasons why are: "I just enjoy reading" and "it's a fun way to pass the time.”

In fact, a number of kids around the world have already started their summer reading. To date, kids have read and logged more than 60 million minutes and unlocked 7 weekly surprises including videos, games, comic makers and printables through the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge!

Whether you are a school, library, community partner or a parent, it’s not too late to register your child to participate in the challenge! Now until September 8th kids can log their reading minutes online to earn digital prizes when they complete weekly reading challenges and gain access to 18 reading activities based on popular Scholastic titles. Parents and caregivers can also access free summer reading resources, including booklists across all ages in both English and Spanish.

Looking for book recommendations? Look no further!  Scholastic has an assortment of book lists that represent all grade levels and cover topics from poetry to series books, including:

• Scholastic Parents: Book Lists and Recommendations
• Scholastic Teachers: Ready-to-Go Book Lists for Teachers
• Scholastic Teachers: Best of Blogs: Great Book Lists
• Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge

When in doubt, let your child select the book they would like to read. According Kids & Family Reading Report™: 6th Edition, the majority of kids say their favorite books are one that they have picked out themselves!  

So in celebration of the first day of the summer, round up your favorite books and start reading! Happy summer and happy reading to all!

Athletes know how to establish routines that will help them succeed on the field. When it comes to reading, kids need to develop reading routines throughout the year—including summertime—in order to achieve academic success.

In fact, we know from the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report that 80% of kids ages 6–17 and 96% of parents agree that reading books during the summer helps kids during the school year.

For the second year in a row, Clemson University, the South Carolina Department of Education and Coach Dabo Swinney's All In Team® Foundation teamed up with Scholastic for "Tigers Read!," a summer reading intervention program for first graders. This year, nearly 1,200 students in districts across South Carolina received backpacks with ten free books to read over the summer. 

And just a few weeks ago, some kids from Tigers Read! got to spend time with Kathleen Swinney, and with players from the 2016 National Championship team (and Clifford!) to share the joy of reading. 

To learn more, go to edu@scholastic, and find out how kids can establish reading routines.

And check out the pictures from the event, below!

If you needed a reason to start your latest re-read of the Harry Potter series, look no further: Pottermore has just launched the official Wizarding World Book Club!

Join in here to read along, one book at a time, starting (of course) with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Each week, the book club will examine a theme from the current book through discussions on Pottermore and on social media. Make sure to follow the official Wizarding World Book Club accounts on social: here they are on Twitter and Facebook!

We can't wait to dive in and re-read right along with you!

My daughter will be "stepping up" from pre-K next week, which means that she'll be starting Kindergarten in the fall. Her school's academic goals for pre-K have been mostly focused on social-emotional learning and becoming accustomed to the experience of school, so it's not like there will be intense academic expectations for her. Mostly they want her to be ready to learn; in these early years, the stronger the foundation, the better.

Over the summer, we'll continue to read books with her, as we have since she was born.

But the other thing I'll be doing is telling stories about going to Kindergarten. I wrote about this last year, when she was about to start pre-K ("Managing pre-K nerves"). Storytelling was one of a few strategies I used to ease the transition from preschool to pre-K. This year we're still doing it, but I want to explain a little more about how and why.

Every day when we walk to school, she requests a story with roughly the same structure: one of her stuffed animals is going to school for the first time, or is going to a new school. Each day, some of the details change, and I let her dictate. 

Me: So. It was early September, and Rainbow Bunny had just moved to a new neighborhood, and was going to be a new student in her school. She was feeling pretty excited—

Her: No, she was nervous.

Me: Excited and nervous? Or just nervous?

Her: Just nervous.

...And I adjust the story accordingly. 

She has been interested in this sort of story for a couple of years now. It lets her work out some of her emotions in a safe space, from some remove (the story is never about her). She has some agency over the particulars, but can relax into my telling of it. She can learn, implicitly, some of my views on how school should be (a welcoming, safe space that is also fun even if a little scary at first).

I can make my characters speak to each other in the way I think people should speak to each other in life. (The school principal and teacher—Rainbow Bunny meets both on her first day, as well as the office staff!—are welcoming, kind, and clear in their expectations for Rainbow Bunny.)

Also, storytelling is part of literacy. I can model the construction of a story: characters, plot, setting, pacing, the beginning middle and end of a story. I can use particular vocabulary words for her that I think will be interesting or fun or challenging.

As we read books, read signs, practice writing and counting this summer, Rainbow Bunny—I mean my daughter—will be all ready for kindergarten.

Calling all teachers: Our Classroom Magazines team is kicking off summer with a major sweepstakes that you won't want to miss!

Take a photo of yourself with your favorite Scholastic magazine wherever you are on vacation this summer and submit it to us via Instagram or Twitter using #ScholasticMagVacay and #sweepstakes to be entered for a chance to win $1,000!

Here's a link to the complete rules and here's the official sweepstakes website, where you can see some of the fun images that have already been submitted!

We can't wait to see your photos!

Hello! I am Alison and I am a summer intern here at Scholastic. I am a rising senior at Hofstra University studying Video/Television and Business. Reading was something my parents always wanted me to do, (and I did) but I wasn’t a big bookworm. I grew up reading Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham and Are You My Mother?, as well as The Lady With The Alligator Purse. I have always loved a good story and many of those stories came from my favorite books below. These books have also taught me a lot about myself and a lot about life.

The Doll People by Ann M. Martin and Laura Goodwin: I have read this book so many times - and it still sits on my bookshelf at home. It is the story of a 100-year-old china doll named Annabelle, whose family and her doll house has been passed down for generations. The dolls can walk and talk when humans are not present. When her owner Kate’s younger sister gets a doll house of her own, in comes a new plastic doll family, the Fun-crafts. Their daughter, Tiffany, becomes Annabelle’s best friend. Together, Annabelle and Tiffany go on a journey to find Annabelle’s long lost aunt, with a little venturing outside of their comfort zone and have a run in or two with Kate’s cat. This is the first “chapter book” that I read completely on my own. I even picked it myself. Reading your first chapter book on your own is like a rite of passage for all kids and through my “rite of passage,” I learned to love reading for fun and that sometimes you need to break out of your comfort zone.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin: This book was the first assigned reading book that I actually enjoyed. It tells the story of self-made millionaire Samuel W. Westing’s murder and how 16 unrelated people named in his will need to figure out who killed Mr. Westing. My 7th grade English teacher (I’m looking at you, Mrs. Joyce) made us read it on schedule with the class - and no skipping ahead! Of course, being the rebel that I am, I skipped ahead because when a book is that good, how can you not stop reading? Now that I think about it, maybe this is what influenced my love of Netflix binging? Same rules apply to any great story, right?

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins: I’m pretty sure this series needs no explanation because it seems like the whole world has read it. If you haven’t, please go out and read it and make it a part of your summer reading. I was a little behind the initial debut and read the series during my freshman year of high school, four years after it was published. Here’s the Millennial in me talking: it was the first eBook that I ever read, which completely changed the reading game for me. Still, I do agree that reading a physical book is better, however, I enjoy jumping into reading a whole library of books right in the palm of my hand.

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan: Anyone who knows me knows that I love dogs. My new favorite meme is when a person asks “when do you feel the most beautiful?” and the response is “when a dog wants to cross the street to come say hi to me.” Marley & Me tells the story of life with this loveable yet crazy yellow Labrador Retriever named Marley. It is an adorable book that made me laugh, but as said best in The Lion King, "It’s the circle of life." Do with that information what you will, but it was the first book that made me cry (read: sob). I was the kind of kid that didn’t really cry, so much so that my mother would call me the "Ice Princess." Well, Marley & Me finally thawed the Ice Princess, that is for sure. My mother will never let me live that down.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein is another great book featuring a dog. This story was a lot different than Marley & Me. It was told from the perspective of dog named Enzo, who believes that a dog who is prepared will be reincarnated as a human. He is like a philosopher dog, per se, spending most of his time watching and learning from television and learning what he can about life from his owner, Denny’s, passion for race car driving. Throughout the novel, Enzo helps Denny through many things including the death of his wife and a custody battle over his daughter while giving us perspective into the human condition. Again with the circle of life of dogs, however, I didn’t have the same level of emotional response like I did with Marley & Me. This book really stuck with me because it was the first “adult book” that I read.

Overall, my favorite books from my childhood and young adulthood have taught me a few things: 1) Always look skeptically at dolls to try to find signs of life, 2) I really like mysteries and dystopian stories, 3) If a dog dies, I’m going to ugly cry.

Books have the power to shape us and help us find ourselves-even after we are kids-so always keep reading. 

Cybersecurity has taken center stage. Kids are living in a time captivated by the Internet of Things and they are continually bombarded with news articles describing the conflicts and challenges associated with online data and internet privacy. 

In a recent article for Science World, a Scholastic classroom magazine for students in grades 6–10 that covers today’s biggest scientific discoveries relevant to students, associate editor Jacob Batchelor dove into the topic for kids. The article explains how the devices so many of us own are connected to the Internet which makes the web vulnerable to attack. With careers in STEM fields growing and with the increasing prevalence of internet-connected devices in our everyday lives, it’s important for students to know about cybersecurity and potential threats from hackers.

Recently, Jacob contributed a story to THE Journal titled “You've Been Hacked! Explaining Cybersecurity to Students in an Interconnected Era,” which offers important tips for teaching kids about cybersecurity. Below is an excerpt from the article which offers recommendations that students can use to protect their privacy while using smartphones

You can read the full-length article online here.

“The dangers of unsupervised web surfing are well known. We teach children not to talk to strangers online, to never give away personally identifying information and to always use strong passwords. But smartphones have changed the equation. Not only do these devices provide constant access to the open web, but they put video and audio recording capabilities — not to mention GPS — on a person at all times. Privacy vulnerability is a huge concern.

A great teaching moment occurred last year with the release of Pokémon Go. Like many apps, the game connected with users’ Gmail accounts. But because of a coding error, many users unwittingly granted full access to their email accounts to the creators of the game. The company quickly fixed the error, and no data was compromised. But the incident shed light on just how easy it is to share digital information with apps.

Here are a few tips that students can use to protect their privacy while using smartphones:

• Research apps before signing up for them. Is it from a reputable developer? Has it had security issues in the past? Use the same approach as when researching IoT devices.
• Look over the terms of service. What information does it require? Does it track or store your data? Can the developer sell your information? All of these questions are important to consider.
• Be careful when linking apps to your social media accounts. Giving apps access to your social media accounts makes them vulnerable to hacking. Is there a good reason for the accounts to be linked? Can you sign up without linking to a social media account?
• Use two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication requires authorization beyond a password when using unrecognized devices such as entering a code sent to your cellphone. As apps allow, be sure to use two-factor authentication which will make it more difficult for hackers to access the information stored in your apps.”

Today we are excited to announce that 42 Governors’ Spouses, 3 Governors and 1 Lieutenant Governor representing the U.S. and U.S. territories have signed on to serve as Reading Ambassadors for the 2017 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge!

According to research from the Kids & Family Reading Report™: 6th Edition, 80% of children ages 6–17 agree that summer reading will help them during the school year, but one in five kids from lower-income families did not read any books at all last summer.To help provide kids in need with access to books, our Reading Ambassadors have donated 500 Scholastic books to schools across their respective states and hosted in-school summer reading celebrations to generate excitement about summer reading.

Check out these great photos from events hosted by the First Lady of Arizona Angela Ducey, West Virginia’s First Lady Cathy Justice, and First Lady of New Hampshire Valerie Sununu.

Scholastic thanks the following Governors, Governors’ Spouses and Lieutenant Governors for serving as Reading Ambassadors for the 2017 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge:

Alaska – First Lady Donna Walker

Alabama – Governor Kay Ivey

American Samoa – First Lady Cynthia Malala Moliga

Arizona – First Lady Angela Ducey

Arkansas – First Lady Susan Hutchinson

Connecticut – First Lady Cathy Malloy

Delaware – First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney

Georgia – First Lady Sandra Deal

Guam – First Lady Christine Sonido Calvo

Hawaii – First Lady Dawn Amano-Ige

Idaho – First Lady Lori Otter

Illinois – First Lady Diana Rauner

Indiana – First Lady Janet Holcomb

Iowa – First Lady Christine Branstad

Kansas – First Lady Mary Brownback

Maine – First Lady Ann LePage

Maryland – First Lady Yumi Hogan

Massachusetts – First Lady Lauren Baker

Michigan – First Lady Sue Snyder

Minnesota – Governor Mark Dayton

Mississippi – First Lady Deborah Bryant

Missouri – First Lady Sheena Greitens

Montana – First Lady Lisa Bullock

Nevada – First Lady Kathleen Sandoval

New Hampshire – First Lady Valerie Sununu

New Jersey – First Lady Mary Pat Christie

New Mexico – First Gentleman Chuck Franco

New York – Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul

North Carolina – First Lady Kristin Cooper

North Dakota – First Lady Kathryn Helgaas Burgum

Northern Mariana Islands – First Lady Diann Torres

Ohio – First Lady Karen W. Kasich

Oklahoma – First Gentleman Wade Christensen

Oregon – First Gentleman Dan Little

Pennsylvania – First Lady Frances Wolf

Rhode Island – First Gentleman Andy Moffit

South Dakota – First Lady Linda Daugaard

Tennessee – First Lady Crissy Haslam

U.S. Virgin Islands – Governor Kenneth Mapp

Utah – First Lady Jeanette Herbert

Vermont – First Lady Diana McTeague-Scott

Virginia – First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe

Washington – First Lady Trudi Inslee

West Virginia – First Lady Cathy Justice

Wisconsin – First Lady Tonette Walker

Wyoming – First Lady Carol Mead

Top photo: First Lady of New Hampshire Valerie Sununu reads to a classroom of students

Bottom photo: First Gentleman of Oregon Dan Little reads to a classroom of students