Weekend Wander is a weekly roundup of links, events and resources related to books, reading, literacy and dads too.  We would like to explore and share ideas from both the book blogging  and the dad blogging communities. Here is what we have to share this week:

• Online fun for young readers (ages 3 – 7)
  at: Great Kid Books
  Like many kids, my children love to play on the computer. Bright lights, lots of action, sound and music all capture their attention. Two websites that I particularly like for children learning to read are: PBS Kids Island and Starfall. Both sites help children develop early literacy skills while…
• 10 Things Parents Should Know about Disney’s A Christmas Carol
  at: Wired: GeekDad
  I had planned on leading with a joke about seeing a Christmas movie on the first weekend of November, but GeekDad is running it’s holiday gift guide already, so the glass houses rule applies.  Onward! Fair warning: I teach Dickens regularly, and so am a bit obsessive about the source material. W…
• Fatherhood Friday 39
  at: Front Page
  Fatherhood Friday 39! Where does the time go? So, if you hadn’t noticed the updates at dad blogs, now’s the time to take them in. Like in the email, the site has been straight up pimped. Everything is looking and working better than ever before. Bottomline, we have been working our tail off pushing…
• Dads in the Mix: Holly
  at: Through the Eyes of Babes
  It’s barely Thanksgiving and I already see holiday decorations around town. Let’s start this season off with the intention to remember what matters in life and get along, regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof
• Books for Books Blog Contest
  at: First Book Blog
  Remember that off-the-beaten-path, Mom and Pop restaurant that a friend of a friend told you about? Chances are it was the best meal of your life. In support of life’s little known treasures, Fang Duff Kahn Publishers created the newest addition of their City Secrets series, Books: The Essential I…
• Light and Dark: a Study in Strongmen and Spiders
  at: Guys Lit Wire
  I’m going to come right out and say it. Are you ready? Okay, here goes: I do believe that this book here is Alan Moore’s finest work since Watchmen. Tom Strong is a mental and physical marvel of the old-fashioned variety. His origins owe a great deal to his direct forebears Tarzan and Doc Savag…
• Conservatives call for a Boycott of Scholastic’s Book Fairs & Book Club Catalog because of the Lesbian Moms in “Luv Ya Bunches”
  at: I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell do I read?
  I’d say it was hard to believe, but then, it’s really not.As reported in School Library Journal, The conservative Illinois Family Institute is calling for a boycott of Scholastic’s Book Fairs and Book Club Catalog because the company is including the elementary level book “Love Ya Bunches” by Lauren…
• Literacy in the Playground (4)
  at: The Book Chook
  As well as favourite games in Literacy in the Playground (1), we’ve looked at clapping games in Literacy in the Playground (2), and skipping games in Literacy in the Playground (3). These next games involve songs, chants, movement and, as usual, lots of fun.The first was sent in by Farida Dowler of…
• Fathers Gain Respect From Experts (and Mothers) – NYTimes.com
  at: www.nytimes.com
  Uninvolved fathers have long been accused of lacking motivation. But research shows that many societal obstacles conspire against them. Even as more fathers are changing diapers, dropping the children off at school and coaching soccer, they are often pushed aside in ways large and small.
• The Answer Sheet – Why it is so important to read aloud to your kids
  at: voices.washingtonpost.com
  I want to share this email I received from a reading specialist in response to my recent blogpost about parents pushing academics on preschool kids, who actually learn best through well-designed play…. Said Barbara Bosworth: “If we want to change America, we need to change how parents read to thei…
• Green Books Campaign: 1 Day, 100 bloggers, 100 green books, 100 reviews
  at: www.ecolibris.net
  Eco-Libris enables people and organizations to take a simple step in support of environmental sustainability, fighting climate change and the greenhouse effect.
• Want To Promote Literacy? Let Kids Read Comics
  at: www.scientificblogging.com
  Comics have typically been shunned by educators and parents who want to promote literacy among children. After all, kids should be reading real books, which are more complex and require more effort to understand than colorful, picture-filled comic books.  But according to University of Illinois lib…
• Fuzzy Slippers, Coffee, and Sneaking in the Library
  at: Booklights
  Just the other morning, I grabbed a cup of coffee and visited my library. I was still in my pajamas. It was okay, the librarians didn’t mind. In fact, they didn’t even notice. Why? Because I was visiting the library from the comfort of my house. Don’t get me wrong, I L-O-V-E going to the library….
• Children’s Literacy and Reading News Roundup – 9 November
  at: Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, a Reading Tub Blog
  Happy Monday! This week’s children’s literacy and reading news round-up, brought to you by Jen Robinson’s Book Page and Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, is now available here. Jen and I found plenty of literacy and reading-related events; information on literacy and reading programs and research; and discu…
• Speculative Fiction is Still for Children « A Working Title
  at: awthome.wordpress.com
• What We’re Doing Here | DadCentric
  at: www.dadcentric.com
  I walked in late, the last to arrive; yesterday was a travel day, and it had been delays and missing the invitees’ dinner and a steak with three Martinis to make up for that. The rest were sitting at the…
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Kindergarten Activity
  at: Er-u-di-tion
  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom was my first book review. Both of my children loved this book when they were in preschool. The author did a spectacular job introducing the upper and lower case letters. The illustrator did a fabulous job filling each page with colorful pictures that holds a child’s inte…
• Susan Cooper Writes Exquisite Corpse Episode Number Four
  at: THE NATIONAL CHILDREN’S BOOK AND LITERACY ALLIANCE
  Exquisite Corpse Fans! Episode Four Now Live!In Episode Three of The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, Newbery winner, Kate Di Camillo left us wondering who it was that took Joe and Nancy’s card containing the clue that would unravel their destiny and lead them to The Exquisite Corpse!Well, you will just…
• Fatherhood Friday 38
  at: Front Page
  Man, I’m totally embarrassed that I haven’t been around. I mean seriously, how can I compete with Joe and Tyra? Even Joe’s kid was named Student of the Month! All I can claim is that I’m a level 18 farmer on FarmVille (who could use some more neighbors…just sayin’). In spite of my absence, it seem…
• Lunch Lady – fun graphic novels full of action & zany adventure (ages 7 – 10)
  at: Great Kid Books
  Action! Silliness! Pictures galore! Its no wonder that comic books and graphic novels are a big hit with kids.  Weve loved how authors artists are creating fun graphic stories for younger readers.  Babymouse has been a huge hit for the past few years – we can hardly keep them on our shelves.  An…

If you know of an interesting resource, event, link or a post you’ve written that you would like included in our Weekend Wander roundup at Book Dads, please feel free to let us know in the comments and leave a link. We’ll add it to the post.

Of course, this is easier said than done, and the bulk of the book is devoted to discussing exactly how these rules should be carried out.  For example, he recommends intervening as soon as you start to get irritated.  This will keep your frustration level low – since even with this method you may sometimes still be intervening several times a day – and teach children to set a limit on their bickering that is at the lower end of your tolerance rather than at your upper end.  He further advocates intervening only where there is threat of physical harm, noting that this applies to serious harm (one sibling braining another with a metal fire truck) rather than just minor pain (pinching). He also discusses issues such as fairness, separations, bullying, counterpunching, self-esteem, blended families, and the like.

The final half of the book examines specific day-to-day scenarios and what to do for each.  These include classics such as But It’s My Turn to Sit on the Driver’s Side and It’s Not Fair! Adam Got the Blue Watermelon, as well as cases from Parent Court such as Tyler Keeps Bothering Me.  For each of these real-world situations, he discusses how the rules should be adapted: separating them isn’t practical inside a car (although it’s fun to imagine it), and for electronics such as the TV it may actually be best for the parent to be both rule setter and police officer.  These scenarios are brought to life with humorous dialogues – some real and some imaginary – which Wolf uses to explain them more clearly.  This humor also helps to illustrate one of Wolf’s key points: real families aren’t perfect, and accepting that things won’t always work out perfectly (as when handing out Arbitrary Parent justice) is a big part of getting sibling bickering under control.  This is a book of real-world advice for real parents who have to deal with real children, and trying Wolf’s approach to sibling bickering just may save your sanity.

November is National Adoption Month, and this year’s events are already in full swing with adoption awareness events and adoption finalizations occurring around the country.  Here’s a list of books at Book Dads that deal with adoption and fatherhood from a variety of perspectives, from children’s books to books for prospective and adoptive parents.  The diversity of these titles reflects the wide diversity of modern adoptive families, including transracial, same-sex, and multicultural families:

For Children

The Surprise Family – “The boy was not the kind of mother the chick had expected, but she loved him anyway.” A boy becomes both a father and a parenting role model for a hen who was expecting a mother, and eventually becomes the grandfather of a most unusual – and happy – family.

Mama: A True Story in which a Baby Hippo Loses his Mama During a Tsunami, but Finds a New Home and a New Mama – The true story of a baby hippo, abandoned during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, who adopted a 130-year-old male tortoise as his new parent.  A wonderful testament to the power of adoptive families, and a celebration of the fact that they can occur even in the animal kingdom.

A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton – When Emily learns all about devoted Emperor penguin fathers at school, her Great Dane Pinkerton is inspired to begin caring for an egg himself.  Unfortunately, since a penguin egg isn’t available, the confused Pinkerton tries to hatch a football instead.

And Tango Makes Three – This is the true story of Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins living at the Central Park Zoo who not only pair-bonded, but also hatched and raised a penguin chick named Tango.  Currently on the Banned Books list for the third year in a row!

How My Family Came to Be: Daddy, Papa, and Me – The African-American child in this story tells about how his family was formed when he was adopted by two Caucasian fathers. For transracial two-dad families, this is the perfect book for talking about their family with their children in a positive and affirming way.

The Family Book – Todd Parr’s books are always about imparting positive messages to children, and this one about the diversity of families reinforces the message that there are all kinds of families, including families which are transracial, adoptive, stepfamilies, two-dad, and single parent.

Clifford’s Day With Dad – Everybody loves Clifford the Big Red Dog, and in this edition of the popular Scholastic series, Clifford goes to visit his father in the country. Clifford’s dad is an ordinary dog of regular size who doesn’t look like him at all, and there are underlying lessons here for children of divorced/separated dads or adopted dads.

My Dad is Awesome – This simple book is all about an awesome dad who can do so many things, from running like a cheetah to telling the funniest joke in the world.  Two of the pages show dad with a mixed-race group of children, who could be seen either as his own family or just kids having fun with such an awesome dad.

Why I Will Never Ever Ever Have Enough Time to Read This Book – The little schoolgirl in this story leads such a busy life that she will, never, ever, ever, ever have enough time to read her book, while her family members wander in and out of the story commenting and offering random bits of advice. The family is a wonderfully eclectic mix with members ranging from elders to a baby and including at least three different races, and the scenes where they sit down to a busy dinner together are a real joy to behold.

We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and Families – Todd Parr lends his distinctive picture book style to adoption in his latest book.  Every two or three pages, Parr writes “We belong together because …” and then fills in the blank in different heartfelt – and sometimes whimsical – ways.  This book doesn’t discuss the facts of adoption or even use the word “adoption”, but instead deals with the feelings behind adoption and wanting to be a family.

1 2 3 A Family Counting Book – This appears to be a straightforward counting book, with one sentence for each number accompanied by wonderful artwork showing happy families in various settings.  Yet although not discussed in the text, the pictures depict all types of diverse families, including transracial and two-dad families.

For Adults

Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is – This book surveys and candidly discusses the actual experiences of children raised by GLBT parents (adoptive and otherwise) who have now become young adults.  Gay parenthood is an issue about which many people have opinions or theories – on both sides of the issues – yet no one knows what it’s like to grow up in a GLBT family except the children themselves.

Gay Dads: A Celebration of Fatherhood – This book is a collection of twenty-four personal stories of gay men who have become fathers, primarily through adoption and foster-adoption, but also through surrogacy and co-parenting.  Told without embellishment and often in the words of the fathers themselves, the stories in this book will both warm your heart and break it.

Dim Sum, Bagels and Grits: A Sourcebook for Multicultural Families – Being part of an adoptive multicultural family carries its own unique joys, but also its own unique set of challenges such as reconciling the need to honor a child’s birth heritage with the culture of their new adoptive family.  This book provides a good starting point for families who are learning to address these challenges, as well as resources for moving forward through what can be an ongoing process throughout a child’s life and into adulthood.

The Martian Child: A Novel About a Single Father Adopting a Son – When David decides to adopt a boy from foster care as a single father he’s prepared to deal with the boy’s ADHD, reactive attachment disorder and history of abuse … but he’s not expecting to hear that little Dennis also thinks that he’s actually a Martian. Fortunately for both of them, David is an accomplished science fiction writer, so a boy with a fantasy of being a Martian isn’t going to be a problem. But as the pressures and demands of fatherhood mount, soon David begins to wonder … maybe it isn’t just a fantasy after all.

Fatherhood Dreams – a documentary film about gay men taking three different paths to fatherhood: adoption, co-parenting, and surrogacy. Randy and Drew are married partners who adopt baby Jack, Stephen is co-parenting his two daughters with his ex-wife and her lesbian partner, and Scott becomes the father of twins through surrogacy.  Much of the film addresses the expected issues of gay parenting in general, but also deals extensively with adoptive parenting and includes interviews with Jack’s birth family.

Book Dads Twitter Links is a roundup of our posts on Twitter this week and we hope to share links related to books, literacy and dads too. Follow Book Dads on Twitter

• This one goes out to all of the dadbloggers. http://bit.ly/3ffFsa (via @DadCentric) #
• Grandpa's Town: the greatest strength of this book is in the relationship between Yuuta and his Grandpa. http://bookdads.com/R2IG #
• Book Dads Twitter Digest: a weekly roundup of our tweets sharing, links related to books, literacy & dads too.http://bookdads.com/TG8r #
• A Day With My Dad At The Beach: rhyming book about enjoying togetherness between fathers and children. http://bookdads.com/nGP9 #
• Weekend Wander: a weekly roundup of links, events & resources related to books, reading, literacy & dads too. http://bookdads.com/ZxSl #
• RT @rules_unbornson RULES in the news, http://tiny.cc/oV5fY @UnabashedlyPrep @melissablake @BoingBoing @BookDads @GearPatrol @DustyOverby #
• Speculative Fiction is Still for Children http://bit.ly/3fujan #fb (via @sfsignal) #
• Jen Robinson's Book Page: Sunday Afternoon Visits: November 8: Kidlitosphere Links and News http://ow.ly/AwqA (via @kidbookexaminer) #
• RT @grandparentscom Awesome coloring pages to keep the kids busy! http://om.ly/bYKB (via @KidCriticUSA) Thanks for the tip! #
• Book Dads wanted! to contribute reviews and/or articles about reading and literacy with our mission in mind. http://bit.ly/xDGQN #
• The November Novel Giveaway at Book Dads: We're giving away 5 books this month. Enter contest here http://bit.ly/2u3X7K #
• Check out these FREE book giveaways? Fish For a Free Book | Lori Calabrese Writes! http://ow.ly/Awuz #kidlit (via @kidbookexaminer) #
• My Daddy: will both move you and make you want to be the same kind of father for your own children. http://bookdads.com/l9zZ #
• http://smub.it/dw6d Want To Promote Literacy? Let Kids Read Comics #fb #
• Uncle Jed's Barbershop: This is a book about the special relationship that a child can have with an uncle. http://bookdads.com/l1mq #
• Everybody Wins! USA Selected Featured Literacy Cause by TwitCause and Lionsgate, for the New Movie “Precious” http://bookdads.com/pA0O #
• #kidlit Tuesday Blurbs: Reading, Literacy, and Sneaking Into the Library http://ow.ly/160QUj (via @readingtub) #
• RT @schoogo Why it's so important to read aloud to your kids: http://bit.ly/1zkjUR (Washington Post) #parenting (via @pbsparents) #
• RT @everybodywins: RT @MrWhitesBooks: Early literacy skills are vital for success and achievement – http://tinyurl.com/yak99gj #Read2Kids #
• Why it's so important to read aloud to your kids: http://bit.ly/1zkjUR via @pbsparents #Read2Kids #
• Everybody Wins! USA Featured Literacy Cause by TwitCause and Lionsgate, for the New Movie “Precious” http://bookdads.com/pA0O #Read2Kids #
• For every tweet with #Read2Kids hashtag in it, Lionsgate donates $1 to @EverybodyWins Today thru 11/18 #
• RT @RascofromRIF: Cultural exchange btwn DC & AK on a regular school day via Skype; try it! http://bit.ly/1gIUD6 #Read2Kids #
• RT @PicPocketBooks: RT @everybodywins: RT @bilingualrdrs: Baby Loves Books: Early Literacy and Bilingual Kids http://j.mp/1NgfV9 #Read2Kids #
• RT @CK_Lunchbox: Mothers mother, fathers father. Great NYTimes article about roles of dads in parenting http://tinyurl.com/y8kvtml #
• RT @kidsbestseller: 20 of the Best Kids Christmas Books: Christmas is a special time and calls for … http://bit.ly/2W3a9D #Read2Kids #
• RT @FBTR: Reading absolutely fundamental 4 R kids. I support @everybodywins #read2kids Plz RT-every mention worth $1 courtesy of #PRECIOUS #
• RT @kimwayans: Ok, folks, help me out here: Tweet #Read2Kids & the movie #Precious will donate $1 to @everybodywins to improve literacy. #
• RT @kidbookexaminer: A celebration of nature, science and imagination – The Tree That Time Built http://tinyurl.com/yfuoph4 #kidlit #poetry #
• The American Journey of Barack Obama: highpoint is the photography, & this one certainly doesn’t disappoint. http://bookdads.com/eemH #
• Reading & literacy need clear vision and fresh air http://bookdads.com/JFj0 #
• Dim Sum, Bagels, & Grits: book of honest advice for multicultural adoptive families from within the community. http://bookdads.com/qP2M #
• November is National Adoption Month: Here’s a reading list about adoption and fatherhood from Book Dads #Read2Kids http://bookdads.com/Khq #
• November is National Adoption Month: A reading list on adoption and fatherhood from Book Dads http://bookdads.com/Khqx #
• Everybody #followfriday @everybodywins and tweet #Read2Kids in reply to everybodywins #
• #followfriday thanks @schoogo @PicPocketBooks @CherylRainfield @readingtub in reply to schoogo #
• Thanks for the RT @readingtub @everybodywins @WeParent @playstead #Read2Kids in reply to readingtub #
• Literacy Night Works To Show Importance Of #Read2Kids http://bit.ly/2f4tAm (via @everybodywins) #

Myra Alperson is the Jewish-American mother of an adopted Chinese daughter, and she writes primarily from the perspective of the adoptive parent of an Asian child.  However, her perspective is valuable not only to other parents of Asian children, but also universally applicable to the situations that all multicultural adoptive families face.  She also devotes space throughout the book to specific scenarios involving other cultural groups, such as Eastern European children, African-American children, and others.  In the first section of the book, “We Are Family”, Alperson discusses factors affecting each family’s individual journey towards becoming multicultural.  In the following section, “Moving Forward”, she focuses on the aspects of building a multicultural home as well as finding support within the larger community.  The book’s third section, “Meeting Challenges”, grapples with some of the most difficult issues for multicultural families, especially confronting both covert and overt prejudice (not only anti-ethnic but also anti-adoptive as well).  She also examines at length the subtle and sometimes painful challenge of helping a child come to their own accommodation with their multicultural identity.

Dim Sum is meant as a sourcebook for multicultural families, and the entire final third of the book is devoted to a listing of resources for adoptive families across the multicultural spectrum although since it was published in 2001 much of this information may now be out of date.  This book is a good resource for prospective parents who are considering multicultural adoption, and will serve to raise awareness of many aspects of this issue that should be considered and discussed before parents move forward with the adoption process.  Even established multicultural families will find helpful advice here from a parent who is part of their own community, as well as the reassurance that they are far from alone.

Having access to books and knowing how to read isn’t much good if you can’t see clearly. Unfortunately, 25% of school-aged children in the U.S. have vision problems; 86% do not get their vision checked before age 12. And disadvantaged children –who need the benefits of reading the most – often do not have access to affordable vision care. Glasses break, are too expensive to replace, or are never prescribed in the first place. As a result, these children’s ability to read often suffers, as well as their performance in academics, sports, and activities.

To help address this need, the Fresh Air Fund has partnered with Onesight to bring their traveling optical clinic to the five Fresh Air summer camps that provide a worthwhile summer experience for thousands of inner-city children each summer. This year marked the fifth summer in a row for the program, and the OneSight staff screened 3,295 children and counselors, gave 1,757 eye exams, and made 1,629 pairs of glasses. Supporting The Fresh Air Fund not only helps inner-city children during the summer months, it also helps give such children the gift of reading all year long.

(See some of our experience hosting a Fresh Air child this past summer.)

But of course the star of any LIFE book is the photography, and this one certainly doesn’t disappoint.  The photographs in this book tell as much of the story as the text, a fact which of course in some ways speaks to our modern age.  Indeed, many of the pieces in the Aspects section are in some way about the experience of seeing Obama, whether in a newspaper photo, on television, or in person.  And when looking through the book readers will be surely be struck by the many images of fatherhood.  These include not only several pictures of Obama with his father and his grandfather, but many more of him with his two daughters.  In these days of PR and “spin”, and after years of an administration that staged a number of deliberately deceptive photo-ops, it’s hard not to feel cynical about the authenticity of such photos.  Yet in the pages of American Journey, Barack Obama genuinely looks like any other father about the daily business of fatherhood, with its challenges both great and small.  That’s a fine quality in a President-elect, and one which bodes well for the coming administration.

Excerpt:

When millions of his countrymen first encountered the young politician from Illinois four years ago, they knew immediately that they had never seen or heard anyone like him before.  As he spoke at the Democratic convention, his eloquent phrases followed one upon another and rose to an astonishing, inspiring level.  The next morning people everywhere asked one another: “Did you see him?”

Read Other Reviews:

• The Chronicle Review
• Tripping Toward Lucidity: Estella’s Revenge

Online Campaign Utilizes Tweets to Urge Community Support and Action for Spreading the Power of Literacy

By Rich Greif, National Executive Director, Everybody Wins! USA

When I first got involved in the Everybody Wins! Power Lunch reading program back in 1999, I wanted to make a difference in the life of a child. What I didn’t know is the impact it would have on my life. Reading and discussing books with a child each week reminded me of how important one-on-one reading time is with a child. Even one hour a week can make a real difference, especially to children who have not been exposed to books and reading aloud. When I became a parent, reading became an important part of our daily lives. Not surprisingly, my oldest son, now in second grade, is an avid reader who reads above grade level. Seeing the power of reading aloud first-hand, and how many children in our country are missing this critical early-life experience, led me to become the Executive Director of Everybody Wins! USA. While we are currently bringing the joy of reading to nearly 12,000 children in 14 cities, our goal is double the number of cities that operate our Power Lunch program and raise awareness of the importance of literacy and reading to children.

That’s why I’m pleased to announce that Lionsgate, makers of the new movie Precious, will be supporting a week of TwitCause, the largest social cause portal on Twitter, to help raise awareness and donations for Everybody Wins! USA, a children’s literacy organization whose mission is to foster the skills and love of reading among low-income elementary students.  Developed by ExperienceProject.com, TwitCause is designed to raise awareness and drive donations for various social issues by urging followers to tweet and re-tweet about good causes and campaigns.

Every time someone includes the hashtag  #Read2Kids in a tweet between Thursday, November 12 and Wednesday, November 18, Lionsgate will donate $1 per tweet up to $1,000.

Lionsgate chose Everybody Wins! USA based on the organization’s strong ties to the central theme of movie’s main character, 16-year old Claireece “Precious” Jones, a girl living in Harlem, who is tasked to overcome several trials and tribulations in her life eventually finding everything she was looking for through the empowerment of literacy and the written word. Although the film presents several tough topics, the overall messages are of hope, love, community support and the power of education.

“We are thrilled to partner with TwitCause and Lionsgate on this effort to raise awareness of the importance of literacy and reading to children, which we know is the foundation for success in school and in life,” said Rich Greif, national executive director of Everybody Wins! USA.

TwitCause, although new to the scene, has already successfully been utilized by several large corporations, charities and social cause groups on a range of topics including health, environmental and education among many others.

“Large brands like Lionsgate are looking towards creative approaches when incorporating social networking into various online campaigns – and TwitCause is one of the most powerful new tools marketing directors can add to their repertoire for getting the word out,” said Armen Berjikly, founder and CEO of Experience Project.  “What an incredible opportunity to benefit an amazing charity as part of this groundbreaking film where literacy, writing and education play a major role with its central character – it’s what both EP and Everybody Wins! USA is all about.”

About the movie “Precious”

Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry present “Precious, a film by Lee Daniels” presented by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry now playing in select theaters  – is a vibrant, honest and resoundingly hopeful film about the human capacity to grow and overcome. Based on Push the 1996 debut novel by American author and performance poet Sapphire, “Precious” centers on 16-year old Claireece “Precious” Jones, a girl living in Harlem who has two children by her own drug addicted father, is forced to leave high school in the ninth grade and is both physically and mentally tormented by her mother.  Although the film presents several grim subject areas, the overall messages are of hope, beauty, love, community support and empowerment through written words. Visit the film at: www.experienceproject.com/preciousthemovie

About Experience Project

Imagine a social networking community where you can safely and honestly connect and communicate with others who share your passions for the same issues and aspects of life, a place where authentic human connection finally occurs on the web – this is Experience Project. Explore over three million life experiences, share your own stories anonymously, and find like-minded people who are open, supportive, and just “get it.” Experience Project’s unique culture, one where everyone is welcome, comfortable, and engaged, is continuously maintained and encouraged by a growing community of people freely and openly sharing their life experiences. www.experienceproject.com

About Everybody Wins! USA

Everybody Wins! USA, a nationally recognized literacy and mentoring organization, builds the skills and love of reading among low-income elementary students. Through its signature program, Power Lunch, Everybody Wins! brings volunteer mentors into schools for weekly one-on-one, read-aloud sessions, increasing children’s opportunities for academic and real-world success. Everybody Wins! serves nearly 20,000 children and adults through affiliates in 16 states and Washington, DC. www.everybodywins.org

This is a book about the special relationship that a child can have with an uncle, and also about the ways in which our uncles and other male relatives can serve to inspire us with their example.  It’s also a book about America’s history and our history of race relations, and a good starting point for introducing a child of any color to that history.  The paintings capture well both the character of the times and of the people, and will help to bring the story and its setting alive for children of any age.

Excerpt:

Jedediah Johnson was my granddaddy’s brother.  Everybody has their favorite relative.  Well, Uncle Jedediah was mine.

My Daddy both reminds us of the importance to children of feeling safe and secure with a father, and inspires us to be the best that we can be for them.  This book will both move you and make you want to be the same kind of father for your own children.

Excerpt:

Then my daddy hugs me and spins my world around.  And when my daddy throws me high, I fly . . .