Lise's Ramblings

In past years, I've blogged about family literacy and the joys of reading aloud .  Literacy actually extends beyond the ability to read and write.  Consider counting, solving logic puzzles, playing card games and following recipes as activities in your literacy toolkit. Speaking of which, here's a link to an activity book from ABC Life Literacy Canada, the not-for-profit organization responsible for Family Literacy Day, which Canadians celebrated yesterday (January 27). If you're tired of my literacy rants, then let children's author Robert Munsch , the 2013 honourary chair for Family Literacy Day, motivate you through the 30-second video below.   By increasing literacy levels, we improve opportunities for Canadians to succeed at work, at home, and in life as a whole.       AWESOME!

At bedtime, children implore parents and grandparents to read another story. Sure, stall tactics may be involved, but I like to believe that the desire to have someone read a tale aloud is at the heart of most pleadings. After all, some books can be appreciated the most when you hear the words roll off someone's tongue. Dr. Seuss stories come to mind.  Before ebooks, printed books or even scrolls, people relied on storytellers to entertain, enlighten, connect, and hand down oral histories and cultural experiences.  Aside from broader communities, reading aloud can also serve to strengthen bonds within families.  At our house, my hubby rarely sits still long enough to read. When he picks up something to read it tends to be a short piece from a newspaper’s business section, a hobbyist magazine or an instruction manual (yes, he's a rare breed). More often than not, his reading schedule coincides with bathroom breaks, because he optimizes every minute of his ...

The world of the tiny is intriguing and mystical. Think of the staying power of mesmerizing stories such as Mary Norton's The Borrowers , John Petersen's The Littles , J.R.R. Tolkien's hobbits , the Lilliputians in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels , and of course, we musn't forget Alice's adventure in minisculeness after she drank from the "drink me" bottle in Lewis Carroll's classic tale .    Even Hollywood had a hit with  Honey I Shrunk the Kids . Not that I'm saying that movie is on par with the books mentioned above. Yesterday, I found toadstools in my garden. Their caps aren't red with white polka dots, but perhaps it's still a sign that wee folk, gnomes or other mystical creatures live in our woods. Granted they haven't formed a ring . All the same, I'll keep an eye out for Shakespeare's "demi-puppets" as I muck about in the garden. Toadstools and a fairy dusting of       AWESOME! Have an...

Following up on my any excuse to celebrate entry, this month I submitted my second guest post to the fan-led 1000awesomefriends.org site. This time I chose to write in a different fashion and my topic was how Dr. Seuss influenced and influences generations of readers. Here’s a teaser… Inspiring generations to read Long before we had blogs, Google, flickr and Tweets, Dr. Seuss introduced us to Blogg, Yertle, Once-ler and Kweets. Along Mulberry Street and Pompelmoose Pass too, down to Who-ville and over to Solla Sollew. He showed us odd kingdoms, near and far, fed our brains and created characters bizarre. Check out the continuation of my silly poem on 1000awesomefriends.org [scroll past the book covers to read extra verses and reach the concluding AWESOME ].

Picture this: an elementary class a freckle-faced keener squirming at her desk a teacher holding a box and calling out family names   a sluggish clock unbearable levels of pent-up anticipation Eventually, my name would ring out. I would scurry to the teacher’s desk to collect a precious bundle of books, which stretched an elastic fastener to its limits. Even though that was decades ago, I recall those days with incredible clarity. Scholastic book days―my favourite school days. Weeks after carefully poring through the newsprint catalogue, checking boxes and adding up totals, at last, my book selections would arrive. Comic collections, Choose-your-own-adventure novels, Clifford and Curious George picture books, the Miss Pickerell series, how-to books, biographies and countless other affordable reads. Scholastic had them all. Each batch of books came with yet another mail-order catalogue. The marketing whizzes who compiled those flyers knew their trade. They could entice m...

Hear ye, fair readers of mine own random ramblings, yesternight ‘twas the oft celebrat’d birth of good William. Methinks ‘tis happen’d four hundred and forty eight times o’er.    While his exact birthday cannot be confirmed, April 23 rd has long been the agreed upon date to honour William Shakespeare (1564−1616). And despite the mystery shrouding aspects of his life, and the controversy and intrigue generated by his art, everyone from historians, English professors and literary critics to conspiracy theorists and ninnies can agree that the Shakespearean works have staying power. For more than four centuries, Shakespeare's works have influenced theatre goers, readers, teachers, students and people from all walks of life. I know I’ll never forget my initiation, as a pre-teen bowled over by Shakespeare's language and wit. My mother encouraged me to read “Twelfth Night” and then we took in an incredible performance of that ...

[Yesterday, my American friends celebrated National Grammar Day, so I decided to dedicate today’s blog entry to everyone who protects and defends grammar. I realize I harped onabout punctuation back in September, but grammar extends beyond mere punctuation.] Does it take tremendous self-control for you to resist correcting egregious grammatical errors on posters, brochures, web content and signs? If so, then consider yourself a card-carrying member of the grammar police. If you aren't familiar with this elite squad, then allow me to share a few things about those of us who are members. We’re vigilant , not mean.      We abide by grammar rules at work , because failing to do so reflects poorly on our employers, detracts from the intended message, undermines our own credibility and sets a bad example for others. We’re more accurate than built-in software tools .  Need proof? Check out today’s photo below. Yuck! This morning, Microsoft Word suggested I substitu...

Ever since 1999, January 27 th has marked Family Literacy Day in Canada . Family literacy is meant to help bring children and adults together to develop and maintain language skills. Families have many options available to them; they can choose to read books aloud, sing songs, play board or online word games, write letters or cards, type text messages or emails, visit library programs, and take part in other formal or informal activities to support listening, comprehension and literacy.   During the past few weeks, I’ve seen my sister, brother-in-law and mom reading English and French stories to my 18-month-old niece. She counts along, mimics sounds, anticipates parts of her favourite books, bonds, wiggles, giggles, touches, etc. According to non-profit group Literacy BC, kiddos are likely to enter grade school “with several thousand hours of one-to-one pre-reading experience behind them” if they’ve been raised by literate families and caregivers.   So ...