Whether it’s the late spring warmth in the northeast, massive tornadoes across mid-America, flooding in the southeast or snowstorms in the northwest, the most commonly shared attribute for this winter’s weather is “record-breaking”. Freakish weather is not limited to the U.S. and people are wondering if extremes are the new “normal”.

You can go back to Jules Verne to find novels that explored the impact of climate change on our planet and its creatures. In the 1960s, British author J.G. Ballard pioneered the environmental apocalypse narrative in books such as The Wind from Nowhere and The Drowned World. Rod Serling wrote the memorable 1961 Twilight Zone episode The Midnight Sun, as a warning of climate catastrophe.

Dramatic weather patterns and their impact on humanity have inspired a growing body of literature in a new genre called climate fiction – or “cli-fi” (the catchier term introduced by writer and climate activist Dan Bloom in 2007). Over the past decade, more and more authors have set their novels and short stories in environments where the Earth’s systems are noticeably off-kilter. Searching for the term “climate fiction” on Amazon today returns over 1,300 titles.

Where sci-fi usually unfolds in a dystopian future, cli-fi is more apt to be presented in a dystopian present, bringing it closer to the reader. Judith Curry, professor and chair of Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, believes that when writers address climate change in their novels, they reach people in a way that scientists can’t.

“You know, scientists and other people are trying to get their message across about various aspects of the climate change issue,” says Curry. “And it seems like fiction is an untapped way of doing this — a way of smuggling some serious topics into the consciousness” of readers who may not be following the science.

All fiction springs from facts, carrying us on wings of imagination to the land of “what if”. While the best cli-fi entertains us, the “what if” of their stories stand as a warning of what could be if we don’t heed the signs around us and collaborate on remedies.

Men argue. Nature acts. – Voltaire (1694-1778)

In addition to books by Verne and Ballard other standout cli-fi novels include:
MaddAddam Trilogy – Margaret Atwood 2003-13
Solar – Ian McEwan 2010
Flight Behavior: A Novel – Barbara Kingsolver 2012
From Here – David Krumb 2012
Odds Against Tomorrow: A Novel – Nathaniel Rich 2013
The Water Knife – Paolo Bacigalupi 2015

The eager reader is one who learned early on that reading can be fun. Typically, a child’s earliest experiences with books are being read to by an adult. Wanting to hold the magical spell of the lines and shapes on a page, the keys that open new worlds, the child learns to read.

Book●ed blog followers value reading. We love books. Can you imagine never having a book to call your own? In the United States, sadly, countless children do not own a single book. Fewer than half of families read to their kindergarten-age children on a daily basis. Thirty-three percent of low-income 4th graders are unable to read at their basic grade level; sixty-eight percent are unable to read proficiently at grade level. Forty million adults in the U.S. can’t read well enough to share a simple story with their child. One in four Americans grows up functionally illiterate.

Children who are poor readers at the end of 1st grade show decreased self-esteem, confidence and motivation to learn. They fall behind in school. They fall behind in life. We all suffer as a result. This is a scandal that does not have to continue!

Two programs are working diligently to turn the tide of literacy in the U.S.: RIF and Reading Rainbow.

RIF – Reading is Fundamental – is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization working for children’s literacy. In 2014, RIF distributed 1.7 million books to children in underserved communities. Since its establishment in 1966, RIF has provided more than 401 million books for children to choose and keep – “because to understand the value of books, kids need to own books.” There is no charge to the children or their families for the books or other provided by RIF.

In addition to letting children choose their own books from a carefully selected assortment, RIF volunteers generate enthusiasm for books and reading with storytellers, costumed book characters, guest readers and author visits. Programs are tailored to individual communities through collaboration with community members and parents.

Reading Rainbow was an Emmy-winning PBS series that aired for 23 seasons (1983-2006), reaching a nation of elementary school-aged TV-watching children and motivating them to read. For the show’s host, actor LeVar Burton, Reading Rainbow was more than a gig. “My mother was an English teacher, so there were always books around,” he said. “I’d be sitting in Sacramento, California, but I could see and experience things I couldn’t even dream of.” About the lifelong impact of early literacy, Burton observed, “If you can read, you are free. If you can read, no one can keep you in the dark. You can learn anything, inform yourself and make up your own mind.”

Burton’s commitment to Reading Rainbow continued after the series ended. He and a business partner produced a reading app. Realizing that tablet computers are not affordable by everyone, he is taking Reading Rainbow content in an expanded version to the Web. Burton supports reading books in digital format and in print. Although he co-founded a digital technology company, he also is a first-time author of a whimsically illustrated children’s book, The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm in print because, “…we need to keep turning those pages.”

If you love books, love reading, love children, take a closer look at RIF and Reading Rainbow.

See Dick read. See Jane read. See Dick and Jane read to Fido. Reading is going to the dogs and this is great news.

A reading dog is one that helps children learn by being the audience they need to encourage reading. Across the U.S., the U.K. and New Zealand, classrooms and libraries have introduced specially trained canines that partner with children who have struggled with reading skills and interpersonal communication.

Reading in front of a class can be frightening but reading to a nonjudgmental dog is calming and encouraging. Whether a reader is struggling due to a learning disability, learning to read in a second language, is shy or unmotivated to read, dogs dissolve those barriers with their friendly, attentive presence.
“Kids have to practice, practice, practice to be good readers,” said Francine Alexander, the chief academic officer at Scholastic, the children’s book publisher. “And yet when you’re practicing, if you make a mistake, it can feel risky and uncomfortable. But if you’re practicing with a dog, you don’t mind making the mistake.”

Much as therapy dogs vary in their degree of training, reading dogs may be trained to participate in book “selection” while others are brought in by volunteers simply to calmly sit with the reader. Reading dogs provide the reader with the chance to read aloud, an important component in building reading skills in beginning readers as they sound out words. For children with socialization challenges, dogs unleash (pun intended) their inhibitions.

Reading Dogs programs have been around at least 15 years and the concept has spread along with the success stories. A study by researchers at the University of California, Davis confirmed that children who read to Fido perform better. Young students who read out loud to dogs improved their reading skills by 12 percent over the course of a 10-week program, while children in the same program who didn’t read to dogs showed no improvement.

To find out if there is a Reading Dogs program in your community, contact your local library and school district. If there is no program, suggest one from the many that can be found on the internet. One helpful website is Library Dogs.com.

Here, Fido!