Summer Reading Brings Summer Fun

Summer vacation offers a wonderful opportunity to continue reading development in a more relaxed environment. Libraries and bookstores are great places to take kids for a summer outing. Trips provide another good chance to involve kids in reading in the car or on a plane. But reading what?

Matching a child's interests and reading ability with the right books can be a challenge for a parent. That's why Traitor Dachshund obtained a Lexile® measure for A Dachshund's Wish from MetaMetrics®, developer of The Lexile Framework® for Reading. You can find this Lexile measure on the book page at http://www.traitordachshund.com/A_Dachshunds_Wish.asp. The measure for A Dachshund's Wish is 640L, text reading levels third and fourth grade.

In addition, we're excited to be included in MetaMetrics' “Find a Book,” a free online book search that allows parents and their children to build custom reading lists based on the child's Lexile measure/reading ability and personal interests. For more information, go to www.lexile.com/findabook.

Making Kids' Lives Brighter Through Books

Traitor Dachshund donated 50 copies of A Dachshund's Wish to elementary schools and reading programs in New York City as part of Books for NYC Schools Day, sponsored by ReadThis and the Center for Fiction. We joined such major publishers as Scholastic and Little, Brown to add books to inner-city school libraries.

The day's events included appearances by authors of adult and children's fiction, book signings, readings from children's books, and workshops for kids to make a book of their own.

Here's how the event's organizers described the need at one school, PS 54, Samuel Barnes Elementary School, in Brooklyn: "PS 54 is located in a high-poverty area, where children do not regularly access the public library and parents cannot afford to buy books. In addition, limited [Department of Education] funding reduces the school's ability to buy books. ReadThis and the Center for Fiction's support would allow PS 54 to give students books to take home. Currently, it cannot do so, because if the books aren't returned, the school's library would be depleted."


Traitor Dachshund Supports Educators

In case you missed it, Traitor Dachshund alerted educators about the availability of free teaching materials in the Spring 2010 issue of Learning magazine. www.learningmagazine.com.

The ad, with the cover of A Dachshund's Wish on a bright yellow background, encouraged teachers to visit our updated website, www.traitordachshund.com, to download free lesson plans and activity sheets and to purchase the book.