by J.A. Ginsburg

“The books are here!” Stuart beamed as I walked up to the Charlesbridge Publishers booth on the first day of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair last March. “They’re WONDERFUL!” Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Carlos, Camille and the one-and-only Pickle the green bulldog (Woof!) were really real. Other people could see them, too! It was thrilling. The first four books! We stood there. Thrilled.

For the last two years, Stuart and I, collaborating with a spectacular team from Charlesbridge and Tim Jones Illustration, have been living and breathing the development of “I See I Learn,” a new series for young children (and their teachers, parents and caregivers) that helps teach skills important in life and for school.

The books cover social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills. Each story, which has been reviewed by a team of early childhood experts, also includes two pages of questions and activities.

Just as in Stuart’s award-winning MathStart books, visual learning strategies play a key role reinforcing skills. Visual learning is a particularly good fit for young children: They may not be able to read letters yet, but they can “read” visual information with ease. “I See I Learn” books build on this natural talent.

COMING…SOON!

We returned from Italy, wined, dined and even more thrilled, showing our precious sets of books (hardcover and paperback!) to friends and family, wondering how we were ever going to contain ourselves until July, when the books would finally start to be available in stores.

And then came Jacqui Kolar, a reading specialist from Big Hollow school near Chicago, who introduced Stuart for his presentation at the International Reading Association (IRA) conference in April. Who were we kidding? Containment? Back to beaming for us!

EMMA’S FRIENDWICH

Jacqui, who had been given a pre-publication set of books, told the audience about reading “Emma’s Friendwich,” a story about making a friend, with her youngest students. Afterward, she placed the book on the floor, planning to start a casual conversation with the children later. She never got the chance! They started to pore over the story themselves, looking at the pictures and making their very own “friendwiches.” Then, all together, they made a “club friendwich” with Jacqui.

Stuart J. Murphy reads “Emma’s Friendwich”:

Friendwiches. They’re the best!

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MORE

• “Visual Learning” a brief overview by Stuart J. Murphy

• For Pre-orders & Email Alerts: orders@charlesbridge.com / 800.225.3214

• Library & Bookseller orders: Baker & Taylor, Ingram and, of course, all your favorite local wholesalers, too!

Filed Under: "I See I Learn", Education, Mathstart, Pre-K, Visual Learning | Tagged; "I See I Learn", "Stuart J. Murphy", Charlesbridge, early childhood education, Emma's Friendwich, making friends, Mathstart, Tim Jones Illustration