family literacy | Musings of the Monster Librarian

ChiZine Publications Giveaways To Promote Family Literacy

In news that shows just how awesome independent presses can be, ChiZine Publications has announced that to celebrate Family Literacy Day (January 27– that’s tomorrow) they will be giving away copies of books from their new YA imprint, ChiTeen. Trade paperbacks will be available in Canada, and PDF copies will be available as well. ChiZine suggests that for more information, you check out the social media channels for both ChiZine and ChiTeen as soon as possible.

I love it when people (and presses) celebrate literacy!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ChiZine Publications to Give Away Books as Part of Family Literacy Day

TORONTO, Ontario (January 26, 2015) — To celebrate Family Literacy Day, January 27, ChiZine Publications (CZP) will be giving away copies of its young adult books. Trade paperbacks will be distributed at select bookstores across Canada while PDF versions will be available for free for a limited time from the ChiZine website (chizinepub.com).

CZP will be giving out copies of its first two titles printed under its young adult ChiTeen imprint: Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn’t Fly by P.T. Jones (a.k.a. Stephen Graham Jones and Paul Tremblay), and The Door in the Mountain by Caitlin Sweet. Giveaways or contests will take place at Bakka Phoenix Books in Toronto, McNally Robinson Booksellers in Winnipeg, and BookShelf in Guelph.

In addition, PDF versions of titles with young adult themes will be available for free download from the CZP site for a limited time on January 27. Titles that will be available include:

Picking Up the Ghost by Tone Milazzo
The Choir Boats and The Indigo Pheasant by Daniel A Rabuzzi
Westlake Soul by Rio Youers
Napier’s Bones by Derryl Murphy
a ChiTeen sampler of upcoming books: Dead Girls Don’t by Mags Storey, The Good Brother by E.L. Chen and The Flame in the Maze by Caitlin Sweet

“The love of reading is something that runs strong in everyone at ChiZine Publications,” says Sandra Kasturi, co-publisher. “And literacy is more than just enjoying books; it’s an essential skill for success in life. We’re hoping to help raise a new generation of readers and book lovers.”

Details of when and how to download the free ebooks will be posted to the social media channels of CZP and the dedicated ChiTeen Twitter and Facebook page a few days before the event.

Contact

Sandra Kasturi, Co-Publisher

ChiZine Publications

http://www.chizinepub.com

sandra@chizinepub.com

About ChiZine Publications
ChiZine Publications (CZP) is British Fantasy Award-winning and three-time World Fantasy Award-nominated independent publisher of surreal, subtle, and disturbing dark literary fiction hand-picked by co-publishers Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi, Bram Stoker Award-winning editors.

Reading Is Fundamental

Hard to find anyone who would argue with that. In fact, it’s a favorite soapbox of all kinds of politicians, who love to bemoan the state of literacy and the failure rate of American students on standardized testing of reading skills.

Well, to be fair, it’s one of my soapboxes too. The importance of reading, and getting kids (and other people) engaged with reading and learning, is something I’m really passionate about. And a big part of getting kids connected with books is to give them books. Seems obvious, I know. But not every kid grows up in a home filled with books, or with parents who love reading and model it. There are a lot of adults who struggle with reading, or avoid it. Some kids don’t even have a home… and without an address, you generally can’t get a library card. And many don’t have the money to get a book of their own.

And that is why, as Nicholas Kristof wrote in a New York Times op-ed (a portion of which is quoted here) programs like Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and First Book are so vital to developing a nation of readers. The ownership of a book is an incredible gift of power. Not only does it increase children’s interest in and enjoyment of reading, but it positively affects family literacy and offers new opportunities for educators to involve their students in reading and learning.

So, if our elected officials agree that reading is vital, and programs like RIF and First Book encourage and promote literacy and reading for kids, families, and schools, with research supporting their practices, why are they cutting funding for these programs?

Hope for the future comes from reading and learning there’s more to life than what you see. Children, and the world, need hope. And books. Or they’ll be left bereft, as well as behind.