Things You Can Read had an interesting post on television and reading—and how it affects children’s development. One of the articles to which the post points is to a paper by Dr. Susan R. Johnson, a pediatrician specializing in children’s behavior and development. I have to say I did find that she made several somewhat terrifying points in “Strangers in Our Homes: TV and Our Children’s Minds” (do keep in mind that I am prejudiced toward reading *grin*). Image Credit: The American Kid Terrifying to a parent in that the paper makes some time-consuming suggestions in as much as we tend to use TV to keep the kids quiet and out of our hair and terrifying in the points Johnson makes. One point that stood out to me in particular was about imagination. That in reading, a child must exercise their mind and create pictures from the words s/he reads while television fills in all the pictures and doesn’t require any real thought. This reminded me of one of my childhood books that I recently mentioned in my post “Back from the Grave”. A story about a little girl who played nurse to wounded animals. It so inspired me that […]

Five amazing, wondrous book blogs which provide a different perspective, pour forth humor, educate me, or simply fill me with spectacular ideas, thoughts, or dreams. #1 – Romance Man The Romance Man is too funny for words. I haven’t been following for long and it seems as though half of his posts are commentary on his life while the other half does refer to books. It doesn’t matter which as I do enjoy his perspective and willingness to share even the most embarrassing moments in his life. He and his wife, Lexie, are lucky in each other. #2 – Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! Admittedly, I am prejudiced towards this one as Stormi Johnson asked me to post reviews on her site. It’s a fascinating inside look at how book promotions are accomplished and how Stormi uses her knowledge to help independent and small press authors to market their books online, help them with their social market media, and organize blog tours. It’s certainly been an eye-opener for me as I’m such a homebody tucked into my own reading! #3 – C.S. Lakin’s Live Write Thrive Lakin’s Live Write Thrive is full of useful information for authors on setting scenes, […]