Worldwide, literacy is winning!

Worldwide, literacy is winning!

Share of adults (15 and older) in the world with basic skills to read and write: In 1800, 10%. In 2016, 86%.    “Half the increase in child survival in the world happens because the mothers can read and write.” Worldwide between 1950 and 2016, the infant mortality...
2019: Time for optimism

2019: Time for optimism

“Literacy has risen to 83%” Sometimes life goes three steps forward and two steps back, and keeps repeating that pattern. Typically, the media (and we) focus on the two steps back, because we are wired to worry more than we are to relax and smile and zoom...
Reading fiction builds empathy

Reading fiction builds empathy

The reason a Canadian named Carol Finlay started up book clubs in prisons was not just to give prisoners a welcome distraction and goal (to read the books), but to broaden and stimulate their minds through discussion about the book, and see if it could also expand...
One in four Americans didn’t read a book last year

One in four Americans didn’t read a book last year

The bad news is that 27% of Americans (probably Canadians too) did not read a book last year, according to Pew Research. Not even one book! The good news is that teens are more likely than adults to read for pleasure. (On the other hand, they read for pleasure less...

Drawing Information-Lovers into Fiction and Vice Versa

Today I have the privilege of speaking to educators at the The Write to Learn Conference in Osage Beach, Missouri. Below are the digital handouts for attendees of my second session, “Drawing Information-Lovers into Fiction and Vice Versa.” Handouts for Pam...