Debra Young Hatch

The moment you walk into the school, the feeling is almost palpable; you are not sure what it is, what’s different, but there is an unmistakable feeling you can’t quite place. And then you see them — pictures of kids all over the walls, sporting huge smiles with their names, grade levels and captions beneath each one reading Caring, Courage, Empathy, Kindness, Support, Integrity, Honor and Respect.

The month of February brings us much to celebrate!  Valentine’s Day of course, President’s Day, Ground Hog Day, National Heart Month  and Black History Month, to name a few. And something you might not know is February is also I Love to Read Month.  At For Kids’ Sake, of course we LOVE that notion! 

There’s no doubt about it, we are definitely into a “Post Pandemic Era.”  The clarity of that revelation came this spring and summer in a most unexpected space, the bookstore — specifically Barnes and Noble bookstores.

Hmm…certainly not a run-of-the-mill query by any standard, and one probably most of us can say unequivocally we have never even pondered on any given day, but what about a kid?  The truth is all they need is the smallest of springboards for their imaginations to take off into uncharted territory.

Have you ever gone back and re-discovered some of those books you read as a child? Perhaps for some inexplicable reason – a smell, an image, a song, a toy, a place – something brought back a memory of a book that had been read to you over-and-over again and, in turn, brought that book you loved as a child to life once again.

Some kids whiz through the process of learning to read. They go from sounds, to letters to sight words to reading whole sentences with remarkable ease, almost as if reading was just part of their DNA.  For other kids, reading…

There is no set time, date, schedule or plan for when children will catch the reading bug.  It is actually one of those yet-to-be solved mysteries.  You just never know when or where the reading bug might bite, but if…

Electronic reading has come of age for all ages. But, in truth, there is nothing like holding a good book in your hands, the tactile experience of turning the pages; smelling the ink and the weight of the book; the…

Do you remember the first time your mom or dad scooped you up in their lap and sat down on the floor or in a comfy chair to read to you?  Odds are, probably not.   But those collective memories of…