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

How many books do you have in your house? We bet it's nowhere near 59,000! Here's a house that actually contains that many books!

Check out these crazy-but-awesome robots designed to perform in extreme conditions!

A school in Detroit "flipped" three years ago -- students now watch teachers lecture on video from home and do "homework" during class time. Find out how it's working!

In need of a literary gift idea? Here are some cute options!

Wondering what your next read should be? Take a look at this YA novel flowchart to find something new!

The San Francisco Chronicle put together this great literary map of the Bay Area. So many landmarks to visit!

New York Comic Con is happening right now -- here's an interesting discussion about using digital comic books as teaching tools in the classroom.

 Need to describe something but can't find the word to use? Ask the Wordbird, who creates new words with funny meanings every week!

In NY, trains are a part of our daily life. We tend to go about the day completely oblivious to these machines that keep our city moving. I've learned in the last few years that the convenience of trains takes on a whole new excitement in the eyes of a child. My daughter never misses a chance to point out the 'Choo-Choo' coming into town when it blows it's horn and a subway ride is so much more than just a morning commute.

A new book by a fellow New Yorker, Elisha Cooper, aptly named Train, captures the magic of these machines as seen by a child. You get to see a Commuter Train roll out of the city. It then meets a Passenger Train on it's way west, where we see a Freight Train. That Freight Train crosses the Great Plains to find an Overnight Train, complete with dinner and sleeping cars, that travels through the mountains. The last leg of our trip is on a High-Speed Train, which completes the journey west.

I am excited to say that Elisha has shared the creativity that went into this book on the walls of The Scholastic Store. He is appearing to sign his new book in an event tomorrow but if you've been in the Store over the last few days, you might have noticed him working in our Imagination Clubhouse. He has added a mural to our activity space based on the artwork he created in Train. Here's a few pictures of him working and, of course, the finished product!

We loved what The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers said over at AYAW BLOG, so we're sharing their post here. Enjoy!

Write. Rewrite. Stop.

These three words, dispensed tersely from award-winning radio-journalist and WNYC Radio host Brian Lehrer, comprise his best advice for teen writers and especially for all of you who plan to enter the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. To elaborate a bit—just a bit—here are his tips: Write. Rewrite. Stop.

WRITE

• Write every day. If you want to make it at something, do it all the time.
• Write long, write medium, write short….but keep writing.
• Write along with your life. Write about the mundane things that happen in your day and you’ll wind up finding meaning in them that you didn’t know was there until the writing made you start to think.
• Write about things outside your life: Notice the things that capture your interest. Make a note of what they are.  Write about why THAT made you stop and think. Then check ‘em out more fully (see next tip!).
• Write and research. When I write I have one screen open to what I’m working on and one to Google and I go back and forth to keep diving deeper as I write questions for interviews or as I write my own prose.  I sometimes tell people I think with my fingers, meaning give me a keyboard, any keyboard when I want to really think something through.
• Write and do tweet! For any writer, 140 characters is a great drill. Any writer needs to be able to communicate a clear message. Twitter forces you to tell people who, what, why and why to care. if you don’t, you won’t have any followers.

REWRITE

• Get some distance. It’s okay to write something and come back to it the next day, the next afternoon, even five minutes later. You’ll quickly see how it can be better.
• Reread what you wrote and you can start making changes. If it’s a draft intended for an editor and you’ve completed your piece, after you press save, always count to ten before you press send.  Always do that with e-mails and text messages too by the way, especially if you’re angry. If you don’t, you’ve probably hit “reply all” without realizing it and you’ll regret it for the rest of high school–or longer.
• Start or continue from where you are. You can start writing a random thought that doesn’t seem like the start of something but the middle. It’s okay. You can start in the middle and figure out if it leads to a beginning or an end.
• Use the computer as an ally to write, rewrite and rewrite again. Maybe I appreciate rewriting so much because I started in journalism in the age of the typewriter. Every time I wanted to rewrite something, I had to throw away a page and retype everything I wanted to keep. You can imagine what a disincentive THAT is. With a computer I was like a kid in a candy store: I could try this. And try that. And try something else, without really losing any time or work I’d completed. You can too!

STOP!

• You don’t have to finish everything you start. Save it…and revisit it later.  Some of the greatest writers have gotten hundreds of pages into novels and decided not to complete them. It’s okay.
• Allow for flaws. Many writers are perfectionists and feel their work is always unfinished… there’s this one sentence, or one punctuation mark, or one accent. Forgive yourself your  imperfections and move on.
• Submit your best work to the 2014 Awards. Because that means you can return to the real task at hand—more writing!

Scholastic Book Fairs has gone 2.0 today with the official launch of our new, free Scholastic Book Fairs App, which helps parents (and teachers) find the right book for their child in a “snap.”

Our recent research shows parents are a key source of books for their kids, but many parents struggle to find the perfect book that matches their child’s reading level and interests – especially now with the implementation of the Common Core Standards and over 5 varied reading levels used nationwide.  

Our app remedies this confusion. Check out the three ways you can retrieve book information at your child's next Scholastic Book Fair:

-          Our uniquely created “SCAN A COVER” option “reads” and recognizes the cover (of over thousands of titles in its Book Fairs database)  and instantly provides reading levels,  age range, videos, summary and “similar titles.” This also can be accessed by our “BARCODE” option.

-          The “QR CODE” option provide free podcasts, author video interviews, and ‘Reading Counts’ quizzes for select titles, as well as “book talks,” which feature children providing peer reviews about the book.

Check it out today by downloading it for FREE at the Apple Store for iPhone or iPod Touch and at the GooglePlay store for Android.

One of our Literacy Champions and partner, LitWorld, has shared with us information on an amazing campaign called Stand Up for Girls. We believe that every child has a right to literacy, so we wanted to share their important message here.

Tomorrow is the International Day of the Girl, sanctioned by the United Nations to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. Around the world, the number of girls who are not in school hovers around 66 million. LitWorld’s Stand Up for Girls campaign mobilizes girls and boys, men and women to advocate for every girl's right to tell her story to change the world.

It is a matter of life and death when girls are denied the right to read and write and to learn all that they need and want to know. In developing countries, 1 in 7 girls marries before the age of 15, and pregnancy and childbirth are the number one killer of 15-19-year-old girls. The right to literacy is a form of protection. People who can read to understand their choices, and write to define them and to share them are powerful in a civil society.

Why is girls’ literacy so urgently important? As stated by Gordon Brown, literacy is the goal of goals, a foundational human right from which all other freedoms can be attained. The right to literacy is a form of protection, allowing girls to understand their choices, and write to define them and to share them. The benefits of educating girls reap better health and economic outcomes for family, community and society as a whole.

LitWorld was launched in 2007 to empower the most isolated, at-risk and impoverished communities with a new vision of what literacy could mean to each and every person. At the heart of literacy is this: that stories and words are a mirror and a window. The girls in LitWorld’s LitClubs read and write to find out who they are, to see that stories can inspire them, and make them feel less alone. They can read and write to look out at the world, to imagine it as one of possibility for themselves and for their families. Through these programs, the world becomes a hopeful place.

Everyone can get involved in building the “safety net” for girls worldwide. Individuals hold tremendous power, and if we all stand up together for the human right of literacy the potential for rapid change is amplified exponentially.

So stand up for your mother, your mentor, your friend or your daughter. Stand up and raise your voice for educational rights. Use social media to tell friends and about the global education crisis and the Stand Up for Girls movement. All of the resources that you need to lead the Stand Up for Girls movement in your community are available at litworld.org. 

Behind a great school there is usually a great principal. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan agrees. In a video produced specifically for National Principal's Month (happening now), he states, "I've yet to see an effective, high-performing school without an effective school leader."

In honor of National Principal's Month, members of the US Department of Education are spending time shadowing school principals to learn more about how their work and participation contributes to everything from their school's performance to their students’ achievement. 

The focus on principals this month got me thinking about the principal of my school, who held the position for many years, including the thirteen I was in attendance for.

My school's principal was an absolute dynamo. He was at every football game, every choral concert, every science fair. He knew the names of most of the students who walked the halls and had no qualms about speaking directly with parents. I will admit he was slightly intimidating at times, but he was the right combination of firm and compassionate. Every year on the night before gradation, he could be found sitting alone in the space where the ceremony would be held the next morning, thinking about his speech, reflecting on the year, and just taking in a rare moment of silence. And every year (apparently unbeknownst to him), members of the senior class would gather in hiding to catch a glimpse of his ritual. I did it my senior year and I'll never forget how much pride I felt for my school, his commitment, and our traditions in that moment. 

At Scholastic, we hear so many great stories about awesome school principals, whether it be form a Book Fairs rep who has met a principal who was instrumental in setting up a book fair, or a Summer Challenge team member who heard about a principal who offered to die her hair pink and sing karaoke in front of the whole school should they reach a certain milestone in their reading.

We love hearing stories about great principals so please, share them with us! And be sure to thank a principal this month—you can do so on Twitter with #prinmonth (or just tell him or her in person!)

Don’t judge a book by its cover! Or, so they say. Everyone loves Goosebumps for its spine-tingling stories of dramatic twists and fascinating monsters that love to scare. When Goosebumps first came out, the series not only got a generation of kids to just read—but to LOVE reading! More than 20+ years later, fans just can’t get enough of Goosebumps! 

Fans often agree that the original books are as terrifyingly terrific as the stories themselves! The covers tease our imaginations and provide an indelible image of the scares that lurk inside the pages of the book. Some of them were just outright creepy (Night of the Living Dummy, anyone?), but no matter whether a cover gave you goosebumps (literally), captivated you or made you do a double-take, the excitement of reading a Goosebumps book was undeniable.

In this season of goblins and ghouls, we want to know from YOU, the fans, which book cover from the original series is your favorite. Show us using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest! We’ll be looking out for your favorite on social media all month long and will reveal the most popular cover from the original series on Halloween. So, whether you devoured the books in the dark of night, have a collection still stashed under your bed, or are sharing them with the next generation of Goosebumps fans, join us in unmasking your favorite Goosebumps cover!

Check out the Pinterest board of original Goosebumps covers. Then, share your favorite cover ghoul on your favorite social platform! Check below for details on tagging your cover:

• On Facebook, post your favorite Goosebumps book cover on your timeline and tag the Goosebumps Facebook page (@OfficialGoosebumps).

• On Twitter or Instagram, tweet/post your favorite book cover using #GBFave.

• On Pinterest, check out the Gallery of all 62 original Goosebumps book covers and repin your favorite using #GBFave in the description.

Stay tuned or more frightfully fantastic Goosebumps news by liking Goosebumps and Scholastic on Facebook, as well as Scholastic on Twitter! As the vampire always says, “Bite on!”

Exciting news for Dav Pilkey fans! Just announced today, Scholastic will publish two new books in the bestselling Captain Underpants series: one in August 2014, and one in August 2015.

In addition, Scholastic will publish newly re-illustrated editions of Pilkey’s seven-book Ricky Ricotta series with all-new full-color art by bestselling illustrator Dan Santat. The novels, which features a mouse and his big robot friend, will be reissued starting in May 2014. Following the reissue of novels #1–7, Scholastic will publish two brand-new Ricky Ricotta books (#8 and #9) in Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 respectively.

"Millions of Captain Underpants fans around the world will rejoice to have two more of George and Harold’s adventures on the way," said Ellie Berger, President of Scholastic Trade. "And if that wasn’t exciting enough, we are thrilled to introduce a new generation of kids to the Ricky Ricotta series for slightly younger readers. These illustrated chapter books feature Dav Pilkey’s signature warmth and humor, and are perfectly paired with Dan Santat’s colorful, graphic artwork."

For more on this exciting announcements, be sure to check out the full press release. (And while you patiently wait for August 2014 to roll around, we invite you to visit www.scholastic.com/readeveryday/art, where you can view Dav Pilkey's latest work: his artistic interpretation of the Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life. global literacy message.)

If you happened to walk by The Scholastic Store in New York City this past week, you may have found yourself stopping to ask, “Who is that artist in the window?”

To commemorate the launch of the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Scholastic and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers selected emerging artist Timothy H. Lee for a week-long art experience known as the Art.Write.Now.POP-UP!, a short-term residency in the front window of The Scholastic Store.

Timothy was hand-picked from a pool of Scholastic Art & Writing Awards alumni applications, based on his creativity and eagerness to take advantage of a free and highly unconventional workspace. After he was chosen, Timothy wasted no time transforming The Scholastic Store window on Broadway into a custom temporary work space. From Sunday, September 29 to Friday, October 4, Timothy sat in the window creating phenomenal art for all passersby to see in real-time.

After he graduated from Wesleyan with a degree in Neuroscience and Behavior, Studio Art and Biology, Timothy switched gears, realizing his dream of being a full-time artist. While his professional path may have shifted, he still incorporates this science background into his own creative process, strongly mimicking the scientific method of observation through research, hypothesis, experiment, analysis (and repeat). Timothy’s artwork falls under major themes involving social issues, his identity as a Korean-American (born in Seoul and raised in NYC) as well as an individual suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder.  His work organically develops as he paints, resulting in beautifully detailed portraits and tiny “cell” cutouts, which combine for a haunting effect.

During the Art.Write.Now.POP-UP!, Timothy received a celebrity shout-out from actor Nick Cannon and was even featured on FOX 5’s New York Minute TV segment! It was truly a pleasure to watch Timothy’s art transform over this six day period, and to see how Scholastic and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers continue to promote the careers of successful Awards alumni.

Are you interested in submitting to the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards? Follow this link to learn more about the current call for submissions: http://www.artandwriting.org/the-awards/how-to-enter

“Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself," Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  

Not that anyone needs an excuse to quote the wise Professor Dumbledore, but this quote seems particularly relevant today because it’s Face Your Fears Day! Harry follows this advice and calls Voldermort by his real name, instead of “you know who.” As we get ready to face our own fears, we’ve rounded up a list of fears and literary characters that faced them:

Arachnophobia (fear of spiders): in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ron faces his fear of spiders when they he and Harry go in to the forbidden forest in search of the truth about the chamber.

Agoraphobia (fear of public places): In the novel Where’d you go, Bernadette?, by Maria Semple, Bernadette hates interacting with other people and relies on a virtual assistant in India to coordinate plans and run simple errands.

Acrophobia (fear of heights): Members of the Dauntless faction in Veronica Roth’s Divergent series must face their fears in a simulation. For the character Four, this includes his fear of heights. However, Four is in Dauntless, so he doesn’t let it stop him from climbing to the top of the Ferris Wheel in real life...not just in a simulation. 

Claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces): I don’t want to give to reveal any spoilers from the book Marie Antoinette Serial Killer, so I’ll just say that Collette, must confront her claustrophobia to save her friend and stop the killer.

Panphobia (fear of everything): In The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, we meet the Cowardly Lion. I think the name says it all – he’s afraid of everything! But he faces his fear to help Dorothy.

Tetraphobia (fear of monsters): In the classic book The Monster at the End of This Book, Grover from Sesame Street begs the reader not to turn the page, because there is a monster at the end!

Any other characters’ fears to add to the list? Let us know in the comments!