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First Published June 27, 2008

Over the past few weeks, Public School Insights has been interviewing signers of a recent statement calling for a "Broader, Bolder Approach to Education"--an approach that combines ambitious school improvement strategies with out-of-school supports for student achievement--such as early childhood education, after-school programs, and health services for children.

A few days ago, we had the privilege of interviewing Nobel prize-winning economist James Heckman, a signer whose recent work on topics such as graduation rates and the benefits of early childhood education has attracted close attention from education advocates. ...

Just typical, I'm afraid.

Still, I guess it's not too late to celebrate the fact that Public School Insights passed the one-year mark last Friday (February 27th).  Since that time, we've published:

• Over 90 stories about successful public schools and districts;
• Almost 50 interviews with visionary people in the public education community and beyond;
• Other resources for people who care about public schools.

Over the next few days, we'll republish just a few highlights from those resources. ...

As we approach the start of Read Across America, Public School Insights is republishing some of our best interviews with leading children's book authors. This interview with best-selling author Joseph Bruchac first appeared on March 3, 2008.

In honor of NEA's Read Across America, I'm posting an exclusive interview with celebrated children's book author Joseph Bruchac, who for over 30 years has captivated millions of young readers with his more than 70 books. His writing often draws inspiration from his Abenaki Indian heritage and offers a strong corrective to what Bruchac sees as widespread and damaging stereotypes about American Indians.

Bruchac spoke with me about strategies for motivating children to read. He offered ideas for helping struggling readers, resources parents and teachers can use to combat stereotypes in children's literature, thoughts on the promise and perils of the internet, observations the shortcomings of standardized assessments, and a preview of his forthcoming books.

[Listen to three minutes of highlights from this interview, or read through the transcript below. Click here for the full 23-minute version.]

Or choose specific segments of the interview from the following list:

Why Bruchac Started Writing for Children (2:23)

Motivating Children to Read (1:21)

The Effect of Persistent Stereotypes of American Indians on Young children (3:53)

Combating those Stereotypes through Literature and Education (3:03)

Reaching Struggling Readers (3:26)

Turning Children into Writers (3:27)

Upcoming Books by Joseph Bruchac: An American Indian in the Civil War, and Experiences in Medieval Slovakia (3:05)

Closing Thoughts: Supporting Educators (1:10)

Highlights Transcript

PUBLIC SCHOOL INSIGHTS: Many people now are concerned that even with such good writing out there for young kids, fewer and fewer young people are actually reading for pleasure. Do you see this as true?

BRUCHAC: I think there are a lot of things that take the attention of young people away from reading. The dominance of electronic media, for example. But I think there will always be a place for reading and I think that it's just finding the right ...

NEA's Read Across America is less than a week away. What better occasion to republish our interview with leading children's author (and former teacher) Jon Scieszka, the nation's first "National Ambassador for Young People's Literature?" We first published this interview on March 6, 2008.

Even with a name that's murder to spell and downright painful to type, Jon Scieszka has become one of the nation's most celebrated and beloved children's book authors--and he has recently added a new honor to his store: In January, the Library of Congress named him the nation's first Ambassador for Children's Literature. But with honor comes great responsibility. Scieszka, who has sold more than 11 million books worldwide, will spend his term reaching out to children, parents and teachers as a missionary for reading.

As part of our celebration of NEA's Read Across America, we were lucky enough to speak with Jon about his ambassadorial duties, his long-term efforts to encourage more children to read, and some of his forthcoming projects.

The man who wrote The Stinky Cheese Man and The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (as told from the Wolf's perspective) focused on his concern that boys in particular are becoming ever more reluctant readers.

He offered several thoughts for turning boys on to reading:

• Give them greater choice in what they read--Reading shouldn't be a bitter pill;
• Give them more male role models who read for pleasure;
• Don't demonize electronic media. Use those media to support boys' reading;

Scieszka has been actively promoting this agenda through Guys Read, a literacy program and website that aims to "motivate boys to read by connecting them with materials they will want to read, in ways they like to read."

By the way, it rhymes with "Fresca".

[Listen to about four minutes of highlights from this interview - you can read a transcript of those highlights below. You can also click here for the full 17-minute version.]

Or, if you'd like, you can choose ...