The Reader's Drop Inn

ICYMI….I could not be more excited for this😍😍😍

All the library love🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

🎶 Take a look, it’s in a book 🎶 After nearly 20 years… Reading Rainbow is returning to motivate, help, and encourage kids to become avid readers with new episodes, new friends, new projects, and of course… new books! Make sure to follow the rainbow 📚🌈✨ #FollowTheRainbow

It’s May, which means it’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month!

And Reading With Red and the Magpie has a curated list of 31 new books dedicated to uplifting and celebrating Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history, culture and contributions.

With what’s going on in the world today, now is also the perfect time to take a look at your shelves to make sure that you are being intentional about diversity, inclusion, and representation all year long.

It’s also the perfect time to support ANHPI creators by updating your bookshelves with some new picture books or requesting them for your local library.

It’s May and that means Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is here!

A month long celebration dedicated to uplifting Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history, culture and contributions, it is also the perfect time to take a look at your shelves to make sure that you are being intentional about AAPI representation all year long. It’s also a wonderful time to support ANHPI creators by updating your bookshelves with some new picture books.

I’ve curated a fun list of 31 ✨new✨ AANHPI titles that our family loves so get ready to put those library holds requests in and perhaps add a few favorites to your own home or classroom library. Keep an eye out for some fun features this month as well!

•The Glass Pyramid: A Story of the Louvre Museum and Architect I.M. Pei (China/Vietnamese illustrator)*
•My Mama is a Work of Art (Philippines)**
•A Very Asian Guide to Malaysian and Singaporean Food
•The Home We Make (Pakistan)**
•Awe-Samosas (Pakistan/Sri Lankan ill.)*
•The Jade Bracelet (Vietnam/Malaysian ill.)*

•Do You Even Know Me? (Pakistan)**
•Hair Oil Magic (Punjab, India)**
•Hello: How Nüwa Created the World (China)**
•The Beat of the Dragon Boat (China/Taiwanese author)*
•Aloha Everything (Hawaii)**
•Ruth Asawa: An Artist Takes Shape (Japan)

•Made for More (Hawaii/Japan)
•Mandeep’s Cloudy Day (Punjab, India)*
•Box of Dreams (Phillipines)**
•We Sing from the Heart (Asian American)*
•Be Careful, Xiao Xin! (China)*
•Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl (Taiwan)**

•Tala Learns to Shiva (Samoa)*
•Chang’e on the Moon (China)**
•Mai’s Áo Dài (Vietnam)*
•Minh and the Magic Grains of Rice (Vietnam)*
•The Greatest River (India/Vietnamese ill.)
•A Little Bit of Everything (Indian auth/Fillipino ill)*

•Seeker of Truth: Kailash Satyarthi’s Fight to End Child Labor (India)**
•Slippery, Spicy, Tingly (Korea)*
•Yasmeen Lari, Green Architect: The True Story of Pakistan’s First Woman Architect (Pakistan)**
•Aisha’s Colors (Indonesia)*
•Mango Memories (India)
•The Vase with the Golden Cracks (Japan)*
•Verna and the Red Roti: A Story of Hope During Partition (India)*

What books would you add to this list?

Even though this is aimed at teachers, many of these apply to us as parents of young readers.

Ten Things I’m Doing After Listening to Sold a Story Venters: Schools and educators need to rethink the way they teach reading and emphasize decoding, professional development and support for parents.

Love this!😂
Do you love pigeon too?🐦

🐦 Don’t Put the Pigeon on the Bus 🚌 Check out my rendition of @officiallyofficialmo brilliant story. Then, grab your copy from your local library or book shop to read and rap along 😎🔥 #mcgrammar #reading #bookstagram #books #kidsbooks #pigeononthebus #mowillems #mowillemsbooks

Would love to hear your thoughts

…and reflections from your own experience learning to read

Research suggests: It’s time to let go of some popular reading strategies. 📖 Here are the ones worth sticking with.

Cozy fantasy? Yes please! Because who couldn’t with what’s been happening in the world.

Think The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.

Think The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna.

Found family and warm fuzzy feelings.

The Teller of Small Fortunes by julieleongbooks is all of that and more.

Tao is a traveling teller of small fortunes who’s been on her own for a long time.

…until she stumbles across a (reformed) thief and ex-mercenary.

…and when she (accidentally) foretells that the ex-mercenary will find his lost daughter who the men have been searching for for months, Tao sets off on a new path.

A journey where she meets new friends who become her found family.

Like a baker with misshapen but delicious baked goods and a slightly magical cat.

And they find that things are not always what they may seem…this time for the better.

As my son would say, 10/10. I recommend.

Help a girl out. What fantasy should I read next?

What do a squishmallow, math page, dice, and dictation notebook have in common?

Answer: it’s what has been making mornings easier for us and setting up our homeschool days on a good note.

Literally. Because we also add music. (Think Mario and other favorite video game music found on YouTube on a 1 hour loop.)

Because adding music makes anything more fun.

We’ve been starting our homeschool mornings in bed with a math page (practice or review) from

And I’ve found breaking apart tasks makes it easier for our ADHD brains.

Plus, this week I’ve added 1 dictation sentence in a 3 lined notebook.

So we’ve been starting our mornings in bed doing our morning work.

And to make things even more fun, I’ve gamified it by having my kiddo roll a dice, and he does whatever problem it lands on.

Then he came up with the idea of rock, paper, scissors if it lands on a problem he’s already finished.

He wins? Thumb war. I win? He does another problem.

Because why not make learning more fun by gamifying it?

Because homeschool means we can learn anywhere (and everywhere)…not just sitting at a desk.

And that makes it easier for him…and me.

Where is your favorite unique place to learn?

Gamifying reading practice can literally be a game changer.

…and it doesn’t have to be hard!

Making reading practice fun and easy? Yes please!

Your kids (and your sanity) with thank you.

Thanks to The Measured Mom - Science of Reading for sharing these DIY reading games on her blog.

(And don’t forget to follow her if you don’t already.)

DIY Reading games for kids These fun reading games are quick to make - and so effective for learners in kindergarten and first grade! Such a great addition to your language arts instruction.

Can I tell you a secret? It’s kind of embarrassing…

My son doesn’t love to read (yet), and it can be a struggle to get him to read or (now that he’s older) read to him.

I know, I know. Reading is my life, yet here I am.

So I’ve been trying to find middle grade books that I think he’ll be interested in…

…and because mostly that means books that I read to him (or we listen to the audiobook together), books that I would like too.

One way I’m trying to make reading and books more fun is our local library’s upper elementary book club.

This month we read book 1 in the Unicorn Rescue Society series by adam_gidwitz about a couple of kids who run into a cute little jersey devil on a school field trip…

And discover the weird teacher has a secret…a secret society that protects mythical creatures

A fun read, and I loved that it had short chapters , great for ADHDers like us.

What was the last middle grade book that your kiddo (or you) loved?