Supersizing Literacy? U.K. McDonalds Swapping Happy Meal Toys for Books
- Liz Dwyer wrote in Education, Books and Literacy
If you head to McDonald’s in the U.K. you might hear an new question coming from behind the counter: Would you like a book with those fries? That’s right, move over cheap toys, pint sized British consumers of McDonald’s Happy Meals will now get a book instead. The fast food giant has partnered with publisher Dorling Kindersley and bookseller WH Smith and plans to distribute over 15 million books to kids over the next two years. The move makes McDonald’s the largest book distributor in the U.K.
Books by Native Writers Key to Building Accurate Knowledge About American Indians
- by Debbie Reese
“Native writers?” You might say. “Can’t we just buy Paul Goble’s gorgeous books? They’re in all the bookstores.” Some call them gorgeous, but leading Lakota scholars point to problems in the ways he presents his Iktomi stories. A few years ago, the American Library Association was using his art for bookmarks and posters for Native American Heritage Month, but in response to the American Indian Library Association’s objections, those bookmarks and posters were withdrawn. A far better choice is a book by a Native writer, especially one who is telling stories from his experience—or who has done extensive research and has personal relationships with peoples of other Native nations.
Illustration by Tyler Hoehne
Back to School: Start a New Book #30DaysofGOOD
Start a book you’ve been wanting to read, but haven’t yet gotten around to. Visit a library or one of our recommended online resources.
Why Supporting Your Local Library Is the Ultimate Homage to Ray Bradbury
“When I graduated from high school in 1938, I began going to the library three nights a week,” said Bradbury. “I did this every week for almost ten years and finally, in 1947, around the time I got married, I figured I was done. So I graduated from the library when I was twenty-seven. I discovered that the library is the real school.”
(via firstbook)
Intermission: Where Books Defy Gravity
Artist Alicia Martin’s latest exhibit seems to defy gravity: More than 5,000 books appear to pour out of windows around Spain, creating quite a spectacle for passers-by. The series, called Biografias, is in its third installation, most recently at Madrid’s Casa de America.
Straight Talk: We Don’t Know Anything About Heterosexuality
What does it mean to be a straight person? In Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality, Blank spends almost two hundred pages to make clear just how unclear our conception of heterosexuality really is. “Despite the fact that most of us use the term ‘heterosexual’ with enormous (and cavalier!) certainty,” she writes, “there seems to be no aspect of ‘heterosexual’ for which a truly iron-clad definition has been established.” The study of sex should belong to the social sciences, not the physical sciences.
Summer reading guide: What novels and biographies are coming? What’s quirky? What should the kids be reading? Let our special reading guide of new and forthcoming titles help you decide what to read this summer.
What will you be reading this summer?
Let’s get our read on!
(Source: Los Angeles Times)
Presented without comment, here is a window filled with books.
(Source: otherpress, via denverpost)
“Job number one is to get books into people’s homes.”
