Fabulous project, worthy cause

SketchTravel from Curio on Vimeo.

This animated short film was created as part of a sketchtravel project which is an international charity art project where one red sketch book was passed around between 71 artists around the globe for 4 1/2 years.
The original sketch book was sold for $ 96,200 US and its entire proceeds will go towards building libraries in third world countries in partnership with a child literacy non-profit Room to Read.

Just wanted to share something that makes me feel good. If your interested in Room to Read please check them out here.

Book People Unite

Hi,

This morning I'm off to meet other librarians and bookish people at The National Reading Summit (Gilbert Paterson is hosting via telecoference.) This conference is important because it's about developing strategies to keep readers reading and come up with new strategies to help non-readers discover reading. Not just in our schools, or in our community but across the whole country. Are there community functions that we should be a part of? Are there province wide initiatives that we could be involved with? And as a country do we inspire lifelong readers?

Lots to ponder.
Here's something I stumbled across this morning that I think relates.

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald ; illustrated by J.P. Coovert

I think I've met a few Charlie Joe Jackson's in my life - in fact I think I might have been one (I know it's hard to believe, cause now I love reading - but there once was a time when I had a strong adversion to reading, school work, homework, possibly anything with the word work in it - you might say I was allergic. And I invented schemes and rules that were probably similiar to Charlie Joe's, some of them were a success, others not so much...)
Anyways I had a great time reading Charlie Joe's guide to Not Reading.
Here are some of my favourtie bits.
Charlie Joe's Tip #12
The Library Can Be Your Friend.
Don't automatically assume that just because the library is filled with books it's a bad place.
   It all depends on why you're going there.
   For example, there's a pretty good movie section in most libraries. And they have computers.
   The library in my town even has a place to buy snacks. I like to grab a book (that I have no intention of reading), then amble over to the cafe for a little hot chocolate and conversation.
   Every once in a while I'll even open the book.
   Sometimes, a girl I know will wander over and ask me what I'm reading. (Unless she goes to my school, in which case she'll know that books and I don't get along.) Then I'll ask her what she's reading. Then I'll ask her lots of questions about her book, which shows how curious and senstive I am. Then I'll say it sounds like a book I might like. She'll smile. I'll smile back.
   Yeah-like I said, the library can be your friend.

As you can tell Charlie Joe is a bit of a player ;-)

"NOTE TO PARENTS: Our academic, social, and future economic success depends on us being able to text, IM, check Facebook, and call our friends every fifteen seconds while writing a school paper. Preferably while also playing"Call of Duty" at the same time."

Summary:
Charlie Joe Jackson may be the most reluctant reader ever born. And so far, he has managed to get through life without ever reading an entire book from cover to cover. But now that he is in middle school, avoiding reading isn't as easy as it used to be. And when his friend Timmy McGibney decides that he is tired of covering for him. Charlie Joe finds himself resorting to more desperate measures to keep his perfect record intact. This is the hilarious story of an avid-nonreader and the extreme lengths to which he'll go to get out of reading a book.

Here's the trailer.




READ ON

More from the future of reading

With the recent release of Apples' ipad here in Canada, I thought I'd once again show some features that the future of reading is looking to incorporate. This is made by Penguin publishing company.



So once again we see that the future of reading looks interactive with the reading device, it will have a social aspect that can let you converse with other readers and will help explain words you don't know and how to pronounce them, that and other tons of cool things.

Read On.

How to read a book you don't want to read

Here's some helpful hints on "How to read a book you don't want to read"