NWP Collaborates to Publish Early Literacy Activity Book—Our Book By Us!/Nuestro Libro ¡Hecho Por Nosotros!
Date: June 11, 2008
Summary: A new hands-on book for preschoolers provides parents and caregivers with a resource in English and Spanish that engages young children in reading and writing to support their early literacy development.
Preschool-aged children typically have a lot to say about their world. Our Book by Us!/Nuestro Libro ¡Hecho por Nosotros!, an activity book with text in both Spanish and English, gives them the opportunity to express their ideas about themselves, their families, and the places they live through writing and conversation with their caregivers.
The book, published collaboratively by the National Writing Project in conjunction with the College Board's National Commission on Writing and Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) , will be distributed this summer.
"National Writing Project teachers understand that early literacy skills, which link reading and writing, develop first at home through interactions with parents, grandparents, and other caregivers—long before a child enters a classroom," said Sharon Washington, executive director of NWP in a recent press release (English / español). "That is why we are thrilled to have worked on this project that provides a fun, colorful developmental tool—assuring that more children are prepared for literacy instruction when they begin school."
Writing Stories with SugarLoaf
Our Book by Us!/Nuestro Libro ¡Hecho por Nosotros!, by author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds, is written with English and Spanish text together on the page. The book contains a series of six "minibooks" featuring SugarLoaf, a teddy-bear-like character, who makes her own book about her life and adventures with the help of friends and relatives.
Each SugarLoaf minibook has activity pages that invite the child and caregiver to talk, draw, and write about their own lives and experiences. Ideas for extension activities encourage parents and caregivers to turn everyday experiences into opportunities to teach literacy.
How to Get a Copy
The first printing of 50,000 copies of Our Book by Us!/Nuestro Libro ¡Hecho por Nosotros! is being distributed through NWP sites and to children in Head Start and other early learning programs served by RIF. The books are environmentally friendly, printed with soy ink on recycled paper. You may also download an electronic version (PDF). The book is also available to the public for purchase at cost through the NWP Bookstore.
For questions about how to order this book or how to use it, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.org.