The award-winning creator of Blue’s Clues, Super Why!, and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood shares the secret sauce behind her shows’ powerful, transformative results in the form of eleven research-based, foundational “clues” to ensure that preschoolers flourish academically, socially, and emotionally during this critical time. The preschool years—when children are between the ages of two and five—are the most influential, important years in a child’s life. Studies show that pausing to interact, playing to solve problems, diffusing with humor, and using repetition are the hidden clues conscious parents use to raise successful kids and help them learn critical thinking skills, foster empathy, and nurture their sense of self-worth. Angela C. Santomero, MA, the award-winning creator of children’s television phenomena knows this better than anyone and has spent decades working to instill confidence in her young viewers. In Preschool Clues, she breaks down the philosophy behind her shows—educating, inspiring, and empowering kids—into concrete strategies that parents and educators can incorporate into their family and classroom to set their preschoolers up for success, such as: -Intentionally pausing to foster bonding, independence, and resilience -Developing empathy and confidence through soliciting preschoolers’ help -Becoming “fluent” in the language of preschoolers: Play -Igniting your preschooler’s curiosity -Being an involved co-player everyday -Designing a healthy media diet In Preschool Clues, Angela shares the latest research from top thinkers in child development and education. Through her practical, straightforward advice and inspiring, conversational approach, you will not only understand exactly what your children are learning from the shows they watch and why these shows are so effective, you’ll know exactly how to apply these same proven approaches in your daily life and with the same powerful results.

This book introduces and provides commentary on a selection of published and unpublished works by Victoria Welby and exponents of the Signific Movement in the Netherlands. Beyond offering an important contribution to the reconstruction of a neglected phase in the history of ideas, it evidences the theoretical topicality of significs, in particular the focus on the relation of signs to value, meaning, and understanding, on verbal and nonverbal behavior, and on language and communication.

Using numerous illustrations and case studies, the author maps out the creative process involved in producing interactive media, such as CD-ROM productions and network applications. Looking at concrete outstanding examples, various contributions by international multimedia authors, designers, and artists shed light on the role and function of interactive media in the context of exhibitions, museums, cultural learning, entertainment, film, and television. The publication explores methods and strategies of interactive dramaturgy that go beyond interactive storytelling. The emphasis is on new modes of dramaturgy, where the user is actively involved, cooperation among users is supported, and repeated visits are motivated.

From Agatha Christie’s favorite American author—creepy correspondence from a Manhattan mansion puts an amateur sleuth on the trail of a killer. Take one grand house, stuff it with staff, and make it home to several generations. If they send their sons to Oxford and occasionally knock each other off, you’ve got a country-house murder mystery, the delight of classic English crime fiction. But if the boys are at Yale, odds are that you’re reading its American counterpart, the New York mansion mystery—a genre largely invented by Elizabeth Daly. In Arrow Pointing Nowhere, Daly is back on the Upper East Side, where antiquarian book dealer Gamadge has been receiving missives suggesting that all is not right at the elegant Fenway mansion. But first he must find out who the messages are from . . . “Highly recommended.” —New Republic “Told with all the skill that Miss Daly has at her command, and she has plenty.” —New York Times

This stellar debut about losing and finding family, forging unlikely friendships, and searching for answers to big questions will resonate with fans of Erin Entrada Kelly and Rebecca Stead. The only thing Rosalind Ling Geraghty loves more than watching NASA launches with her dad is building rockets with him. When he dies unexpectedly, all Ro has left of him is an unfinished model rocket they had been working on together. Benjamin Burns doesn’t like science, but he can’t get enough of Spacebound, a popular comic book series. When he finds a sketch that suggests that his dad created the comics, he’s thrilled. Too bad his dad walked out years ago, and Benji has no way to contact him. Though Ro and Benji were only supposed to be science class partners, the pair become unlikely friends, and Ro even figures out a way to reunite Benji and his dad. But Benji hesitates, which infuriates Ro. Doesn’t he realize how much Ro wishes she could be in his place? As the two face bullying, grief, and their own differences, Benji and Ro try to piece together clues to some of the biggest questions in the universe. A Washington Post KidsPost Summer Book Club selection * A Junior Library Guild Selection * A Bank Street Best Book of the Year

Developing Early Comprehension Skills Through Picture Book Talk demonstrates how strategic ‘picture reading’ and playful sensory learning can develop young children’s explicit and implicit comprehension skills, regardless of their decoding ability. Offering an inclusive teaching and assessment approach that aligns with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and supports the early adopter school initiative, it will help readers to guide children’s use of picture-reading-for-meaning strategies in preparation for more complex comprehension instruction in Year 1. The book also contains useful resources such as colour picture booklets and downloadable family workshop sessions to help guide parents in more effective ‘picture book talk’ at home. It offers corresponding steps for planning, teaching, and assessing children’s ‘picture book talk’, multisensory learning, self-questioning skills, and early reading for meaning. The methods and activities within this book specifically help to develop: • vocabulary (setting vocabulary, character vocabulary, general vocabulary) • communication and language skills • critical thinking and inference skills • metacognition (personal learning awareness) • self-confidence and self-regulation skills Providing examples of practice, photocopiable resources, and step-by-step guidance for teaching key comprehension strategies and early self-regulation skills, this book is essential reading for all those who work with young children and wish to encourage a love of reading.