literacy

A tongue-in-cheek lament over this literary Casanova’s growing inability to finish any book he starts leads to a serious enough point---youth literacy.

“The punishment for being such a bibliophile satyr has been an embarrassing form of literary dysfunction that no small, blue pill can correct. I am, sadly, almost unable to read more than a few pages from any one book.”

Book Wish Foundation, a new nonprofit devoted to providing reading relief for people in crisis, announces a project to help Darfur refugees and neighboring villagers in eastern Chad. Donations are needed for library construction, reading glasses, secondary school textbooks, dictionaries, English language course books, and school supplies.

*Gasp!* One in four Britons admits they haven’t read a book for an entire year. Others admit to lying about having read a book just to appear intelligent. Great; now we know what ‘shock and awe’ story will be dominating all the blogs in the weeks ahead…until the next study comes out.

Comics are usually regarded as part of the problem when it comes to literacy, but some schools in the States are making them part of the solution. That the comics-based literacy curriculum is taking hold is due in large part to the growing status of graphic novels as legitimate works of literature. The program is showing some results, though it still has its detractors. But if it works, why not?

According to Central Connecticut State University, which compiled the rankings, Minneapolis is now the most literate city in the U.S. displacing Seattle.

As a Seattle resident, I have just one comment: Oh hell no!

Teacher and editor Matt Cheney asks on his blog (The Mumpsimus) where on the web he can send parents to find out about books their kids might like, particularly the middle school age range. Got any ideas? Go tell him.

A U.S. study shows that reading skills are on the decline. Fifty-two percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 read a book voluntarily, and less than one-third of 13-year-olds read every day. (It’s the damned electronic culture, don’t you know.) What surprised me about this study is that only 31% of people with a bachelor’s degree are considered to be proficient in reading prose!

The idea is to give kids books and teach them to read so they are able to read the warning signs, improve their lot in life and thus reduce the chances of getting AIDS. But is there a correlation between literacy and development and HIV? South Africa, arguably the most developed country in Africa, has a higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS than other African nations.

The article is interesting and makes sense stating that reading builds important critical thinking..

But did anyone else know that it was world literacy day today?

"...Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (abbreviated, for complicated reasons, as the SFWA) is in on the fun as well. The group has issued DMCA takedown notices for sci-fi reading lists drawn up to aid teen literacy, freely-distributed webzines, and Creative Commons-licensed material."