NEWS!
All children deserve an equal start in life and having books in the home and reading to our children are the two most important indicators for future school success. Please DONATE now to help us provide new, beautiful books to young children who have no books of their own!
Since we started Share Literacy in 2000, we've distributed over 500,000 books to schools, youth programs, homeless shelters, hospitals & clinics, and community service centers, etc. So many organizations depend on our help every year to brighten up the lives of the children they serve over the holiday season and throughout the year.
A GRATEFUL SAN JOSE SCHOOL DISTRICT EXPRESSES APPRECIATION
This past holiday season, Hoopoe Share Literacy donated over 5,400 books to the ALUM ROCK UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT in San Jose CA. Their Director of Academic Services, Sharon DeAngelo, writes:
“...I cannot express enough my appreciation for the rich stories in Hoopoe books, and their positive portrayal of Middle Eastern life. I firmly believe these books help us to see similarities in all of our lives, and how these threads of similarity bind us together...Again, thank you for your continued support of our school district and our students.” To read the full letter and see a couple of student “Thank-You” letters, click here.
SHARE LITERACY’S HOLIDAY DRIVE UPDATE!
THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, THANKS TO EVERYONE'S HELP, 19,000 UNDERSERVED CHILDREN RECEIVED A HOOPOE BOOK
AS A PRESENT!
From California to DC to Massachusetts to Costa Rica – 19,000 children were given a beautifully illustrated centuries-old folktale as a present this Christmas.
Children at Edgewater Elementary School with Hoopoe Books
A thank you letter from Nancy Kruger, reading specialist, at Edgewater Elementary School, Edgewater, MD:
“Thanks for the generous book donation to the kindergarten students at Edgewater Elementary! Our students could not hold their excitement and were most anxious to open the bags and begin reading. It was a site to see, their love of books and appreciation was priceless. They paired, on their own, with a buddy and read. The children, parents and staff send our appreciation. Literacy is going home to our Edgewater families.”
From Child Advocates of Silicon Valley (Milpitas, CA):
“...It is only because of the generosity of caring people like you that we are able to provide much needed hope and stability to abused, neglected and abandoned children. We believe that every child deserves individual care and attention, a permanent home and the opportunity to grow into a contributing member of their community...These books and CDs [for visually impaired] will bring many smiles to the faces of the children we serve.” —Debbie Lee, Director of Development
From Sunnyvale Community Services (Sunnyvale, CA):
“...We see so many children come through our doors each week with their parents and we are so grateful to have your wonderful books to keep them busy while they are here...I hope like the picture of a grateful mother and child enjoying one of your books!” —Marie Bernard, Exec. Director
From the South Bay Area Iraqi Community:
“Thank you so much for your generosity!” (For a few Thank You Words from the kids, click here for the PDF.)
Grateful 2nd Graders from San Antonio Elementary School, Alum Rock School District sent cards about their gifts. The Alum Rock Unified School District (San Jose, CA) has received books from Share Literacy for many years. This year, they received over 5000 books for their Kindergarten through 3rd Grade students. Click here to read some examples of the many cards we received.
From Asian Americans for Community Involvement (San Jose, CA):
“On behalf of the AACI Board of Directors and staff, I would like to thank you for your generous donation in support of our Center for Survivors of Torture program. Your gift helps AACI continue to be a trusted resource for community members in need.” —Michele Lew, President & CEO
“Thank you very much for introducing me to such a great place: Hoopoe Books ... you share the passion of spreading the smiles on refugee children by reading such wonderful stories.” —Haitham J., Caseworker
Washington DC Chapter – 5100 books were given to children in Head Start programs, community health clinics, schools, and educational centers.
Massachusetts Chapter – over 2400 books were distributed to children.
Costa Rica Chapter – 300 books were given out to school children.
Las Vegas Chapter – children in three schools and child care centers received books this year, thanks to our friend, Palwasha Salam. Palwasha is our Afghan Director of Education and has trained key training staff in Kabul to use Hoopoe Books and teacher guides. (See; http://booksforafghanistan.org/bfa/weProvideTeacherTraining.htm.) To date they have trained over 400 teachers in Afghanistan.
From Our Friends in Canada
Read the article in the .ca Intelligencer about how Hoopoe books can create patterns and relationships that nurture a part of the mind that is not as easily reached in direct ways. Click here for the pdf (90 KB).
Read the letter from Andrew Hunter Elementary School on the impact of a donation of 300 copies of The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal. Click here for the pdf (2 MB).
Featured in the San Francisco Chronicle
Books for Afghanistan keeps culture an open book. Read more about Hoopoe stories and book distribution in the US and Afghanistan at SFGate.com.
Minnesota Students Tutor Younger Readers
In April this year, Hoopoe books were provided for a second time to Kareem Aal, an eighth grade teacher at the Concordia Creative Learning Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota. Last Fall Share Literacy provided books for his eighth grade students involved in a reading tutorship program, where the older students go to schools to read and do activities with first-grade partners. This year, Mr Aal expanded this program to include third-graders as partners with the “tutors.” He writes:
“We received the books. My middle school students brought them up to third grade classrooms where they read them together. They were able to do some more involved projects with the older students. I have enclosed a few pictures of these projects; a girl and boy weaving after reading Fatima the Spinner, a puppet show for Neem the Half-Boy, geometric designs from the world of Islam after reading The Magic Horse, and a box for wanted and unwanted dreams after reading The Boy Without a Name. There's an elegance or timeliness to The Boy Without a Name -both the older and younger kids say they love the story. Thank you so much for the chance to share these stories.”
Last November, Mr. Aal shared how much he loves the stories and has read them for years to his own son and included a report on using Hoopoe books in his tutoring program:
“My 'House,' 22 fifth through 8th graders, goes to the first grade on Tuesday's and Thursday's for about 45 minutes. Before we go I have the students highlight questions from the online 'Reading Guides,' provided on your website. They pick a couple from the 'before,' 'during' and 'after' sections to ask the students they are tutoring. After reading the stories, my students have the first graders draw their favorite scenes, draw the beginning, middle and ending of the story, or make puppets of their favorite characters.
Sometimes my students record the first graders' answers in a 'Reading Journal.' We also do reflections in this journal before and after our tutoring sessions. This is also where we keep their drawings.
We split up into two different first grade classes and both teachers are very impressed with the lay-out of the 'Reading Guides' and thought they were very nicely put together.
…Two highlights for me were when a sixth grader told me about her wiggling and squirming kids who all of a sudden grew silent when she uttered the words, 'Once upon a time....' The other is the puppet set a first grader made of the distance between the two villages in the 'The Clever Boy and the Terrible Dangerous Animal.' (Here is a picture of both – the girl and her two students are reading in the hallway, and the boy is holding up his prop for his puppet show.)”
Click here for more photos from Mr. Aal's tutor program.
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