Today is National Family Literacy Day

Today is National Family Literacy Day - a day well worth celebrating for sure! NationalToday (dot) com says, "Families across the country come together to celebrate National Family Literacy Day on November 1. Reading has many benefits and even more so when it comes to children. Families have so much to gain from reading together. Besides helping young children develop good vocabulary skills, it provides valuable family bonding time. National Family Literacy Day also serves as a platform to appreciate the empowerment effort of literacy programs." Let's look at some literacy facts - did you know . . .

• In 1994, statistics indicated that about 20–27 million of the United States’ workforce lacked basic reading, math, and writing skills required for complex jobs. In the same year, Congress issued Joint Resolution 413 declaring National Family Literacy Day. 
• Development stages help children grow into better students. The five stages are:

• 1. Emergent reading
  2. Alphabetic fluency
  3. Words and patterns
  4. Intermediate reading
  5. Advanced reading
• When parents get involved in a child’s learning process, there is a positive impact on the child’s academic performance. This leads to improved cognitive competence and greater academic achievements.
• Few things stimulate the mind as much as reading. Children — and indeed adults — who read possess active imaginations and are more creative because of it.

You will find more literacy facts at this link. While there are no shortages of books to read to a child, I'd like to recommend a few books for you to read to and with the children you love . . . 

• 

  Created "Just Right"! book series -
  
  In this series young children ages three through seven will find full-color photos and fun facts which will help them see God created everything - including them - "just right"! You will find them at the following link.
• Life on the Goldilocks Planet - curriculum & book series -

  

  This series is one children ages four through fourteen will love as they are able to see photos of unique, interesting, and even odd creatures which live on this planet with us. They will be engaged as they do activities to help them remember the animals and important truths about how the animals show us God's design. Parents and grandparents will love this series as it provides them with the tools they need to help the children they love learn how God is real and He designed and created the world and everything in it, so they are able to have a confident faith. You will find them at this link.
• illustrate my own books - If you are not an artist, or artistic
  
  person, when you see a book which you need to provide the illustrations for, you may think it is not the book for you. But, in this case with the  illustrate my own Known Bible Heroes, illustrate my own Unknown Bible Heroes, and important things Jesus wants me to know books, nothing could be farther from the truth! These books give you the unique opportunity to engage with the children you love in ways you never have when you read a book about a real Bible person, as since you and/or they will be providing the illustrations, you get to talk about what is happening, think through what the Bible person is saying, and basically really pay attention to the details so you are able to provide the illustrations! Just think about the fantastic conversations you will be able to have about the Bible people and how what they learned applies to you as well! These books are no ordinary Bible person storybook and they make fantastic gifts! You will find out more about the books in this series at the following link.
• 
  The Little Ginormous, Humungous, Hairy, One-Eyed Monster Boy's Adventures! In "The Little Ginormous, Humungous, Hairy, One-Eyed monsters' Adventures", you will find two stories - “There are Teeny, Tiny, Itty, Bitty, Not-so-Hairy, Two-eyed People Children Under My Bed!” where children will identify with the little ginormous, humungous, hairy, one-eyed monsters when they think they see a peculiar, scary, and terrifying teeny, tiny, itty, bitty, not-so-hairy, two-eyed people child under their bed! Of course when grandma monster tells the monster boys there can not be a people child under their bed because the people children are at their grandma's and poppa's house on a sleepover, it opens up an important conversation about how the little monster boys are really very much like the little people children.

In “The Little Ginormous, Humongous, Hairy, One-Eyed Monster Boys & Their Not-So-Peculiar, Scary, or Terrifying Discovery!” the little monster boys discover teeny, tiny, itty, bitty, not-so-hairy, two-eyed people children are moving in to a house down the street, so they decide to see for themselves if they are really peculiar, scary, and terrifying - or not.

In these books children will discover, along with the little ginormous, humungous, hairy, one-eyed monsters they are able to make friends with children who may not look like them. Just because they do not look the same, it does not mean they are “peculiar, scary, or terrifying” because we all are very much the same, whether we look alike or not. You will find out more about this book at the following link. 

• 
  Bedtime Fun with a Sweet Kitten named Candy! A Family of Her Own for Candy is a mostly true story about a little kitten and how she ended up with a family of her own. It is based on a true story of how Lynda and her husband, Dave decided to get a kitten from the Humane Society, so their grandsons helped choose the right one - which they named Candy. 

Lynda wrote this story for children and hopes it delights them - especially if they and their families want to get a kitten (or even a canine) from their local Humane Society. You will find out more about this book at the following link. 

Any of these books will be wonderful books to read to and with the children you love today and any day!