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I love being an Usborne Book educational consultant. However, sometimes it’s a lot of work, especially this past weekend. Part of the problem is that I haven’t been treating my business very seriously.

Since attending the Usborne Convention, I’m very motivated to make my business more successful. So I spent the weekend creating a customer database, putting together a mass mailing, and am preparing for a home show using the techniques I learned in Tulsa - hostess checklists, doing the e-invites, mailing the invitations, and handling the RSVPs myself. (It takes pressure off the hostess and guarantees a better turnout.)

I’ve also created some terrific book packages for the homeshow, and plan to show my customers how to use the various types of books - beginning readers, activity books, cookbooks, and internet linked books - to connect to their kids and improve reading skills.

Needless to say after two solid days of working on this and my usual blogging activities, I’m pooped. Thank goodness it rained, my husband’s golf game was canceled, and he got to entertain the kids and cook dinner. (A delicious soup with oysters as big as poached eggs - yum.) So I thought I’d take it easy and share some bookie things happening on other blogs and in magazines.

First, the Library Lady has a terrific rant about J.K. Rowling threatening to kill off Harry Potter and Judith Warner’s reaction to the news.

Then fellow ClubMom Blogger, Denise, at Fast Times at Homeschool High, blogged some really intriguing book lists for middle and high schoolers. I’ve never heard of let alone read some of these books, but they sound so interesting that I’ll have to check ‘em out, especially the witchy faerie ones! (See Denise’s comments below.)

(I also liked her post about ClubMom founder Andrew Shue. I think I was watching Star Trek:The Next Generation when Melrose Place was popular. So I must be too much of a dork to understand what all the fuss is about. Ha!)

Hit the newstand for the August 2006 issue of Child magazine. On page 54 you’ll find an interview with literacy expert G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D., on "The New Thinking on Teaching Kids to Read." Per Dr. Lyon, "good readers typically have had parents who read to them from birth….these parents also play word games (rhyming) and sing songs like ‘Twinkle Twinkle.’"

Child also features an excellent article on Raising a Good Reader on their website. Among the advice:

1. Surround children with words
2. Make life a classroom
3. Nurture life long readers

Check out the July/August issue of Working Mother magazine. On page 70 there’s 10 tips on how kids 6 to 10 years can "Make Friends with Books":

1. Keep reading outloud
2. Go to the public library
3. Have a weekend group read
4. Create a book nook
5. Respect her book choices
6. Connect books to the wider world
7. Hone your choices
8. Downtime brings children to reading naturally

The July issue of Woman’s Day magazine has a terrific article on page 134 on the "Five Ways to Get Boys Reading":

1. Get real - boys love records books and almanacs
2. Think outside the book - if your son looks up the baseball stats in the paper, he’s reading
3. Seek out boy books - visit guysread.com for ideas
4. Know what’s of interest - give your son books on topics he loves
5. Just do it - make connections between the books your son read and his life

Both Child, Working Motherm and Woman’s Day give the same great advice - connect books with everyday situations in your child’s life. This is key advice for parents and educators.

So how are you helping your kids make the connection?

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