Write SPINELLI on your calendar and recharge your cell phone batteries now! “DIAL INTO SUMMER” WITH NEWBERY MEDALIST AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR JERRY SPINELLI AS HE HEADS TO THE LOS ANGELES AREA—VIA PHONE! If you or your child has a question for the author, think about heading over to La Verne to join readers as they chat with this renowned author about his beloved books, STARGIRL and LOVE, STARGIRL. “As charming and unique as its sensitive, nonconformist heroine." —School Library Journal WHO: JERRY SPINELLI - Newbery Medalist and author of more than a dozen books for young readers,…

Or Does Your Doggie Like To Disco? Pick up a copy of My Hippo Has The Hiccups from Sourcebooks' cool kids imprint Jabberwocky to find out. I guarantee you'll have tons of fun reading aloud with your children and then laughing yourself silly with the fantastic collection of poems from poet and sought-after school performer, Kenn Nesbitt. Then, when you're done and yearning for more, why not keep the poetry pulse pumping by visiting Kenn's website, www.poetry4kids.com? Not since Shel Silverstein and his belly-laugh inducing poetry have I dog-eared so many pages in a children's poetry book. Wild and wacky,…

Bidding on Movie Memorabilia Helps Buy Books For Kids For the first time ever Variety’s Kids, a fundraising program of Variety, The Children’s Charity of Southern California, will host an Explore-A-Story Online Auction with proceeds to benefit The Wonder of Reading. On April 24th at 5p.m. people can log onto www.ebay.com/varietyskids for their chance to bid on exciting pieces of Hollywood movie memorabilia. About The Wonder of Reading The Wonder of Reading (www.wonderofreading.org) exists to inspire in children the love or reading. Since 1994, they have partnered with more than 200 elementary schools to help at-risk students by renovating dilapidated…

Amazing EARTH DAY Giveaway Starting Today! To coincide with the opening today of the new film Earth from Disneynature, Good Reads With Ronna is offering an exciting contest. Read on to learn more about this spectacular film and the great prizes being offered here to one lucky winner! Click here for your chance to win these educational and awe-inspiring prizes by May 6, 2009, and remember to include your mailing address: • Earth Interactive DVD Board Game (Imagination International, $29.97, 2-6 players; ages 6 and up) features extraordinary footage from the Earth film. With the DVD board game, parents and…

As a parent, I am sure many of us hop into the car on a daily basis in our role of family chauffeur without even thinking what's fueling our cars. When prices soared, perhaps we thought harder about taking unnecessary trips, but when the cost of a gallon dropped again, we were back in our vehicles filling up as usual. It's actually music to my ears when my teen says, "Hey Mom, I'm going to walk to Rite-Aid." With Earth Day around the corner, I took a look at this terrific educational book and can now recommend it to you.…

Meet Calli Rae, today's Guest Reviewer. She  is 15 years-old and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Calli Rae currently attends school in Sedona, Arizona.   Change the Way You See Everything For Teens from Running Press Kids, is a book all adolescents should have on hand.  It helps kids learn healthy coping skills and better ways to keep their minds healthy. Also the acronyms that are in the book make it easier to understand the lessons the book is trying to teach. This book also helps you practice the skills by giving pages for the adolescent to reflect on. The graphics…

Happy Birthday John Muir! As we approach Earth Day 2009, the book Earth Heroes: Champions of the Wilderness is an ideal one to consider. It showcases the lives, adventures and stellar accomplishments of some remarkable naturalists/environmentalists. They include: Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold, Richard St. Barbe Baker, Margaret Murie, David Suzuki and Wangari Maathai. The recurrent theme in this book is how these individuals began observing and enjoying the natural environment at an early age. These transformative experiences led to life-long careers and commitments in educating advocating and actively working to protect beautiful wild places on…

Guest Reviewer Derek, from the San Gabriel Valley,  is a 6 year-old currently  in kindergarten. Like his brother Jared, Derek also started to read early. He likes to draw cartoons, play with Legos, and swim. Derek has chosen to review  The New Kid from the Black Lagoon and The Class from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler.   I like all the stories from Scholastic's Black Lagoon series. My brother and I have read many Black Lagoon books. They are funny and crazy with creatures that are not real. Some creatures in these books have a pickle nose, some have Velcro…