Celebrate Family Literacy Day

January 27th, 2008 marks the 10th anniversary of Family Literacy Day in Canada. This national event was created by ABC Canada Literacy Foundation to promote and develop literacy and numeracy skills of Canadians. Here are 10 popular activities suggested by families who help to organize Family Literacy Day events:

1. Write your own adventure.

2. Sing favourite songs.

3. Research and write your family’s history.

4. Read a classic adventure together.

5. Surf the Internet together to find great sites that support your hobbies.

6. Volunteer as a family to read at a Children’s hospital or at a senior’s centre.

7. Read news articles and magazines.

8. Have your kids create the map for your next road trip.

9. Make a particular night board game night.

10. Create a family book club.

To find out more about Family Literacy Day or other activities that you can do as a family visit www.abc-canada.org/fld.

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

My Sister’s Keeper deals with a controversial subject that will have readers questioning the morality of certain medical decisions. Anna is the product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis. She has been specifically conceived as a bone marrow match for a family member. By the age of thirteen she has faced many surgeries and medical procedures to assist her sibling in battling a deadly disease which she has had since early childhood. Anna starts to question the life and role she plays in this never ending saga of medical procedures. Anna finally makes a decision that utlimately has an impact on both her and her family. 

 Read My Sister’s Keeper and join the Page Turner Book Club on Monday, January 21st, 2008, between 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to discuss the medical issues that Jodi Picoult has brought to the forefront.

Page Turner Book Club Members Recommend…

Here are a listing of books that the Page Turner Book Club members have read and recommend. Some of them are favorite Christmas reads while others are thought provoking or humorous.

1.  The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

2.  Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis

3.  Mud City by Deborah Ellis

4.  Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

5.  Silent Night Holy Night by Hanna Barbera

6.  Pippin the Christmas Pig by Jean Little

7.  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

8.  Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

9.  The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Check out one of these books the next time that you are in the library!

December Page Turner Book Club Meeting

The next meeting of the Page Turner Book Club is on Monday, December 17th between 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. in the Elk Valley Coal room at the Hinton Municipal Library. This month is “Your Choice”. Bring a book that you have recently read or one of your favorites that you have read in the past and share with the group why you loved it or perhaps why you didn’t love it.

Canada Reads - the books have been chosen

Jian Ghomeshi hosts the week long Canada Reads event which runs next year from February 25th to February 29th, 2008. Five celebrity panelists choose their favorite Canadian work of fiction. The celebrity panelists will debate why their chosen book should be the book for Canadians to read. The five panelists are Dave Bidini, Jemeni, Steve MacLean, Lisa Moore and Zaib Shaikh. The books chosen are:

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

Tales from the Fifteenth District by Mavis Gallant

Icefields by Thomas Wharton

King Leary by Paul Quarrington

Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley

Check out more about Canada Reads 2008 by visiting www.cbc.ca/canadareads.