Press Room

Dr. Jane Humphries and Kari Rains, authors of A Fighting Chance: Supporting Young Children Experiencing Disruptive Change,wrote, "Supporting the Sensory-Sensitive Student" for the winter 2018 issue of Essentials. This story will also run in the January or February issue of EDspaces Insights.

Cassandra O’Neill and Monica Brinkerhoff’s book, Five Elements of Collective Leadership for Early Childhood Professionals was excerpted in the winter 2018 issue of Nonprofit Quarterly.

“As educators navigate a climate of increasing anxiety and expectations about our youngest learners, the essential role of oral language in child development has been neglected. Carol Garhart Mooney restores the art of conversation to its rightful place in the early childhood curriculum and provides an indispensable program for teachers, new and old, looking to make their words matter. Clear, comprehensive, and highly engaging, Choose Your Wordsshould find a special place on every teacher’s bookshelf.” —Erika Christakis, New York Times bestselling author of The Importance of Being Little: What Young Children Really Need from Grownups

“A user-friendly and accessible instruction guide. . . Robotics for Young Children can be easily included in a developmentally appropriate curriculum and offers a balance of adult-facilitated and child-centered activities, making it an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to classroom, school district, college, and university library Teacher Education instructional materials collections.” —The Midwest Book Review, The Education Shelf, January 2018

“Green’s teaching is spot on. His goal of giving children ‘the experiences of learning and joy, challenge and triumph, and the ability to enter the world, with all its challenges and obstacles and setbacks, in the most positive way possible’ is holistically delivered. Here’s to horsing around.” — Library Journal, January 2017 issue

“An essential resource, Creative Block Play by educator Rosanne Regan Hansel, provides everything teachers and caregivers need to know about the benefits of block play along with pointers for scaffolding children’s exploration . . . Throughout, crisp color photos highlight the expansive creativity, deep concentration, and obvious joy of young children at work and play.” — School Library Journal

In Embracing Rough-and-Tumble Play: Teaching with the Body in Mind Mike Hubershares his commitment to allowing space for physical movement in early childhood classrooms. With the insight that comes from years of teaching, Huber argues convincingly that children need to move more often than is generally allowed, and when teachers and caregivers respect that need, children benefit socially and cognitively . . . Huber tackles thorny issues, such as gender and cultural expectations, the difference between play and aggression, the role of physical contact, and the benefits of war play while offering straightforward, useful advice. Chock-full of specific recommendations, real classroom examples, and enticing color photos, this guide makes active classroom play hard to resist.” — School Library Journal

The bestselling authors were interviewed about their recent book Loose Parts 2. The interview, “Why the Best Educational Toys are Right Under Your Nose” can be read online here.

Discovering the Culture of Childhood, Loose Parts 2, and Bingo Did It! have been recognized as finalists in the 19th annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

GOLD: Bridging the Relationship Gap: Connecting with Children Facing Adversity, by Sara E. Langworthy, PhD

SILVER: The Great Disconnect in Early Childhood Education: What We Know vs. What We Do, by Michael Gramling

The Language of Art, Second Edition by Ann Pelo

Practical Solutions to Practically Every Problem, Third Edition by Steffen Saifer, EdD

A Teacher’s Promise by Rachel Robertson, illustrated by Priscilla Prentice (Redleaf Lane)

“A concrete guide for using research-based principles of inquiry to help children ages 3 to 8 in exploring their world. Thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, Inspiring Young Minds is very highly recommended for academic library Teacher Education collections and supplemental studies reading lists.” —Midwest Book Review

Bingo Did It! by Amber Harris, illustrated by Ard Hoyt is a finalist for the Children’s Picture Books and Illustration—Graphic categories.

Creative Block Play: A Comprehensive Guide to Learning through Building by Rosanne Regan Hansel and Discovering the Culture of Childhood by Emily Plank are finalists in the Education/Learning category.

“Science comes naturally to kids — who doesn’t like picking up leaves or watching a homemade “volcano” explode? Yet it falls to the wayside in many schools. This book has common-sense ideas for getting students to see science in the everyday.” — Scholastic Teacher

Discovering the Culture of Childhood by Emily Plank was awarded the silver medal in the Education category.

Loose Parts 2 by Lisa Daly and Miriam Beloglovsky was awarded the bronze in the Education category.

On Beyond the Flannel Board they write, “Tell a Tale: This book demystifies story retelling by identifying effective, intentional teaching and learning practices. You get examples of activities that integrate story retelling across the curriculum to build language, number sense, and social-emotional skills.”

Inspiring Young Minds, “Inquiring Minds Want to Know: How do we give young children opportunities to explore science for themselves? How can we ask children effective questions in science? This book answers these questions and more and provides a guide for using research-based principles of inquiry to help children explore their world.”

I’m Ok! Building Resilience Through Physical Play by Jarrod Green and Loose Parts 2: Inspiring Play with Infants and Toddlers by Lisa Daly and Miriam Beloglovsky were among theTeachers’ Choice Award for Preschool 2018 winners.

Team Teaching in Early Childhood: Leadership Tools for Reflective Practice by Uniit Carruyo and Individualized Child-Focused Curriculum: A Differentiated Approach by Gaye Gronlundare Teachers’ Choice Award for Professional Development 2018 winners!

“This all-inclusive manual to learning through building addresses how children’s free and spontaneous block play can foster such twenty-first-century skills as initiative, persistence, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration while also encouraging creativity and aesthetic awareness. Hansel’s ideas are both informative and inspiring, making the book an invaluable resource for any adult wanting to expand the learning inherent in block play.” — American Journal of Play

“Baby Steps to STEM’s high quality of writing and excellent organizational structure are a pleasure to behold, while the insights and activities that grace page after page make it an indispensable resource every parent, teacher and caregiver should read.”

“[Beyond the Flannel Board is] marvelously fresh and insightful . . . Cover to cover, it's an enjoyable, highly instructive read that paves the way for teachers to help young students get the most out of the story retelling experience.”

“Humorous and relatable . . .A gentle lesson about taking personal responsibility; perfect for the intended age group.”—Foreword Reviews, Winter issue 2017

“[Baby Steps to STEM] offers a user–friendly format valuable for caregivers and parents with 60 play–based activities that promote STEM learning. This book is a refreshing look at joyful learning that lays the foundation of our 21st century leaders of tomorrow.”—Mary Lynn Hess, NSTA Recommends

“Hansel supplies a wealth of instructional ideas for block play that correlate to topics such as transportation, travel, and world culture. Creative Block Play should be on every early childhood educator’s bookshelf.” —Library Journal

“Warm and inviting . . . The narrative moves with a pleasing, rhythmic pace. The relationship among mother, daughter, and pet are both believable and adorable . . . Young readers will fall in love with the mischievous Wisteria Jane and her curious playmate. —School Library Journal

“Creative Block Play should be in any early learning collection . . . From organizing a block area and showing kids how to creatively handle loose parts to understanding various stages of block play, Creative Block Play takes a relatively simple play tool and provides new connections to learning.”—Midwest Book Review,The Education Shelf

"I'm OK! should be in any collection strong in child development titles . . . This book provides teachers with specifics on assessing risk and assigning challenging, growth-inducing play and is based on the author's decade-plus experience building resilience concepts into activities.” — Midwest Book Review, The Education Shelf

“If you have grown tired of clichéd educational rhetoric about curriculum or battling with the‘naysayers' about school-readiness, this entertaining and provocative piece will restore your passion for play.” — Community Playthings

Early Insights, “Why I’m Optimistic About Children and Technology”

Primo Toys blog, makers of Cubetto, “Toys or Tools? Choosing an Educational Robot for Your Early Childhood Classroom”

• Feedspot ranks the blogs on following criteria
• Google reputation and Google search ranking
• Influence and popularity on Facebook, twitter and other social media sites
• Quality and consistency of posts
• Feedspot’s editorial team and expert review

Individualized Child-Focused Curriculum “This book takes you through a step-by-step process to continually use observation and documentation to adapt your curriculum to meet the developmental level of young students.” — Learning Magazine

Loose Parts 2 “Bring the fun of found objects to young children with the new and innovative ideas in this book.” — Learning Magazine

I’m Ok! “This guide provides the tools and strategies for creating a culture of resilience, including families in the process, and keeping safety in mind.” — Learning Magazine

“Physical play is vital to young children’s development. Embracing Rough-and-Tumble Play: Teaching with the Body in Mind by Mike Huber is a practical, hands-on resource that encourages teachers to incorporate boisterous physical play into children's every day activities and offers concrete advice on how to create spaces for safe play, how to effectively work big body movement into children's daily schedule, and how to use physical play to make teaching practice more dynamic and effective . . .Very highly recommended for college and university Teacher Education collections.” —Midwest Book Review, The Education Shelf

Read the interview here.

The reviewer compared Ard Hoyt’s illustrations to Louis Darling, Jr.’s work on the Beverly Cleary books, “They’re funny and warm, and will make little readers feel like they’re in the middle of the action.”