For the Love of Reading

In this final episode of our For the Love of Reading podcast, host Christine French Cully talks with Dr. Christine Herring on how parents can use books to open conversations with their kids about social justice. Dr. Herring is a leading expert in the field of Race, Equity & Inclusion training in the Pittsburgh area. Dr. Herring and her husband, Dr. Charles Herring, are the founders of Herring Seminars where they work with organizations and school communities to develop ways of understanding complex relations between self and systems with regard to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability/disability, and other lived cultural experiences. To help parents, Dr. Herring has graciously compiled this booklist of books with social justice themes. You can contact Dr. Herring at [email protected]

Join us as our host, Christine French Cully, talks with Valerie Tripp, author of many of the American Girl books of historical fiction, including those about Felicity, Josefina, Kit, Maryellen, Molly, and Samantha. They discuss using historical fiction to spark conversation, how it fosters empathy, sympathy, and compassion in kids, and how reading historical fiction allows you to dwell imaginatively in another person’s life. Tripp also wrote many other books as well as songs, stories, skills book pages, and plays for other educational publishers.

In episode 7, our host, Christine French Cully, talks with Danay, the 13-year-old founder of Reading Heart. Danay started Reading Heart at the age of eight because she wanted to share her passion for reading with other children. ReadingHeart.org is a non-profit that distributes books to children who want to read but have limited access to books. An avid reader herself, Danay and her entire family work to share her passion for reading with other children. Listen and be inspired by this young entrepreneur!

Our newest podcast focuses on ways parents can fight the summer slide and help keep kids’ reading skills sharp over the summer months. Our host, Christine French Cully, talks with longtime educator Bridgette Davis, a native of Atlanta, Georgia. Davis, a mother of two young adults, has taught Pre-k – 2nd grade and now works as an Instructional Coach in a state charter school.

In this episode, join host, Christine French Cully, as she speaks with guest, Christina Sharkey Geist, children's author and mom, about her family's love of reading. During this time in quarantine, Christina and her kids are closing out each day by reading their favorite books aloud to friends and family (and anyone who chooses to tune in) via Facebook live, all from the comfort of their living room. As one fan says, "it's a daily dose of goodness."

Chris Cully talks with Dipesh Navsaria, M.P.H., M.S.L.I.S., M.D., about the importance of reading to babies and young children in our fourth episode of For the Love of Reading podcast. Dr. Navsaria, father of two, is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health who holds a graduate degree in children’s librarianship. In addition to practicing primary-care pediatrics, he is the founding medical director of Reach Out and Read Wisconsin and the founder and director of the Pediatric Early Literacy Projects at the University of Wisconsin.

Our guest for the third episode of our For the Love of Reading podcast is Emily Arrow, a popular children’s musician who inspires kids to read by writing and performing her songs about her favorite picture books. She even sings for us! You can catch her each Tuesday and Thursday at 10am PST on her YouTube show.

Our second episode of For the Love of Reading podcast discusses how reading and storytelling can be both fun and therapeutic for children, especially in this time of COVID-19. Our guest is Jennifer Miller, EdD, author of the book and site, Confident Parents, Confident Kids. Miller, whose expertise is the social and emotional development of children, is a regular expert contributor to NBC Education Nation’s Parent Toolkit and has contributed articles or interviews to popular publications such as the Washington Post and Parents magazine.

This week's episode takes a look at tactical ways parents can use this time at home to help nurture a love of reading in their children. Our guest, Alison Green Myers, is program director for the nonprofit Highlights Foundation, which supports children’s book writers and illustrators.