“As a parent, I know that reading with your child is an important part of their mental and emotional development,” said Mrs. Blagojevich. “I started this program to encourage parents to read with their children, and I hope our recommended reading list helps parents find books that the whole family can enjoy.”

Counting in the Garden
by Kim Parker

Book Description:

Your beginning reader can count along beside you. She'll find five dragonflies darting between the daisies and eight bumblebees buzzing in the blooms. The rich colors and whimsical patterns make each counting page a scene to behold with beautiful flowers bursting forth. This special counting book will be a joy for both of you.

Author Biography:

Kim Parker is an internationally acclaimed designer and artist. She is the winner of three British design awards: The D&D Award (Design & Decoration), The ELLE DECORATION U.K. Award, and The Observer Magazine Award for best flooring in the U.K. with her uniquely floral designer rug "Mums & Asters" for The Rug Company.

The Kim Parker Home brand was launched in 2001, and includes a lifestyle range of designer rugs, wallhangings, dinnerware, cookware, giftware, bedding, bath, fabrics, pillows, stationery and wall art. In October 2006, the designer introduced her new dinnerware and giftware collections with Spode at the Tabletop Market Week in New York. In April 2007, Kim Parker Home by Spode tableware was launched at the world famous Macy's Flower Show at Herald Square in New York City.

Her award-winning designer rug & wallhanging collection is represented by The Rug Company, the U.K.'s premier flooring label, and is sold in London, New York, Los Angeles, Madrid, Barcelona, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo and Moscow.

In publishing, Parker has licensing agreements with Galison for her stationery range; with Editions Limited, for her Fine Art collection; and her critically acclaimed first children's book Counting in the Garden, was published in April 2005 by Scholastic. In February 2006, Scholastic Media launched the designer's new childlren's label, Kim Parker Kids, which includes a line of educational toys, giftware, backpacks and wall art based on her children's book.

Her work has appeared in the following publications: The LONDON GUARDIAN, VOGUE (UK), HOUSE & GARDEN (UK), ELLE DECORATION (UK), VOGUE LIVING AUSTRALIA , THE WORLD of INTERIORS, BRITISH HOMES & GARDENS, ELLE, WWD, ELLE DECOR, THE NEW YORK TIMES, COUNTRY LIVING, GRAZIA & CASE da ABITARE (Italy), ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST (Germany), METROPOLITAN HOME, THE INDEPENDENT (UK), SPACE (UK), SOUTHERN ACCENTS, HAMPTONS, VERANDA, OPRAH, SHOP Etc, TRADITIONAL HOME, YOU (UK), INTERIOR DESIGN, HOME, METROPOLIS, HOUSE BEAUTIFUL, WESTERN INTERIORS & DESIGN, LAS VEGAS LIFE & DESIGN, CALIFORNIA STYLE, The LOS ANGELES TIMES, NEWSDAY, TABLEWARE TODAY & OBERLIN ALUMNI Magazine.

Kim Parker made her television debut in August 2004, as a featured designer on the acclaimed FINE LIVING NETWORK hit lifestyles series: Sheila Bridges Designer Living. The segment: Design Feature (Episode 309), focuses on Kim Parker's colorful life as an artist, designer & classical musician. The segment has been broadcast throughout the 2004-2007 seasons

Her work was also featured on the NBC TODAY SHOW in June of 2004; and on the 2005 ELLE DECO International Design Awards, which is broadcast on the Discovery HOME Channel.

Additional Information:

For special recording request please call the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic at (312) 236-8715 or visit www.rfbd.org

Counting in the Garden by Kim Parker All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission from Scholastic Inc. Attention: Permissions Department, 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012

Matilda
by Roald Dahl. Illustrations by Quentin Blake

Book Description:

This is a story of a wonderful little girl named Matilda who grows up in a house where watching television is more important than reading books. But this extraordinarily gifted child prefers the latter and teaches herself to read at an early age. Matilda, who happens to be a genius, is also the world's greatest practical joker. Matilda who rallies in defense of her beloved teacher Miss Honey, uses her tricks against Miss Trunchbull, the worst school principal imaginable.

Author Biography:

[...]
THE WORLDS FAVORITE CHILDRENS AUTHOR
Roald Dahl is without question the most successful childrens writer in the world, wrote Brian Appleyard in The Independent in 1990. Roald himself said, Im probably more pleased with my childrens books than with my adult short stories. Childrens books are harder to write. Its tougher to keep a child interested because a child doesnt have the concentration of an adult. The child knows the television is in the next room. Its tough to hold a child, but its a lovely thing to try to do.

He first became interested in writing childrens books by making up bedtime stories for his daughters Olivia and Tessa. This was how James and the Giant Peach came into being. The book was published in America in 1961 and the UK in 1967.

His second book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also debuted in the USA (in 1964) before being published in the UK (1967). It was a significant success on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK, Elaine Moss wrote in The Times, It is the funniest childrens book I have read in years; not just funny but shot through with a zany pathos which touches the young heart. The book went on to achieve phenomenal success all over the world. The Chinese edition was the biggest printing of any book ever two million copies! 1971 saw the release of a movie version starring Gene Wilder. Roald himself was not a fan, but the movie has proved consistently popular. A new movie version is in development.

An unbroken string of bestselling titles followed, including The BFG, Danny The Champion of the World, The Twits, The Witches, Boy and Going Solo. Sales of Matilda, Roalds penultimate book, broke all previous records for a work of childrens fiction with UK sales of over half a million paperbacks in six months.

Many people have tried to account for the astonishing success of Roald Dahls writing for children. Robin Swicord, who co-wrote the script for the movie version of Matilda says that He is keyed into the psychological life of a child better than any other writer. He brings their fears right to the surface, whether its about the first day of school or saving your grandparents from death. In a similar vein, Danny DeVito, actor, producer and director, says that Dahl will lead a child out onto a windy limb and then suddenly hell place a ladder underneath and the child will be able to get safely to the ground.

Roalds empathy with children goes even further than that. As David Gritten notes in Sainsburys The Magazine, Dahl books, strong on plot and instilled with a tremendous sense of mischief, insist on seeing the world through childrens eyes, and often portray adults as silly, uncomprehending or insensitive; no wonder kids love them. This was something Roald was set upon doing. He once declared that, If you want to remember what its like to live in a childs world, youve got to get down on your hands and knees and live like that for a week. Youll find you have to look up at all these giants around you who are always telling you what to do and what not to do.

The Dahl magic has proved unstoppable throughout the world. In addition to the UK editions, his work has been translated into 34 languages, reaching everywhere from Estonia to Finland; from Greece to Japan. In spite of his unrivalled success, Roald Dahl won only a handful of awards, including, in the UK, the Whitbread Award 1983 for The Witches and the Childrens Book Award (from the Federation of Childrens Book Groups) in 1988 for Matilda. As Tony Bradman noted in The Telegraph, such awards came late in a career characterised by a general snootiness in critical quarters, and a growing tide of popularity with the punters which eventually became a deluge of Noah-style proportions.

Roald Dahl was a great believer in the importance of reading. "I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, he once said, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldnt be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage. He would, then, have been gratified by his obituary in The Independent, which paid tribute to the huge role he played in getting children hooked into reading by offering them the kind of stories they really wanted to read. Stylistically too, he helped new readers by using language simply and accurately. The quality of his writing is easily discernible by the fluency with which it can be read aloud For many children Roald Dahl is synonymous with reading. He is the one author whose books are currency among children, being passed eagerly from hand to hand as soon as they appear
[...]

Awards:

Blue Peter Children's Book Award
Best Children's Book of the Century

Additional Information:

The audio version of the book is available from the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, so that all children can join in the fun. www.rfbd.org

Matilda by Roald Dahl. Illustrations by Quentin Blake All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission from Penguin Group (USA) Books for Young Readers, 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014