As an educator and advocate for children, I get many queries after tragedy, especially about how we can help our children cope with what they have heard and seen. I hope these simple messages help.

1. Most of the time, people are trying to do the right thing.

"When I...

Hurricane Sandy caused many layers of destruction across New York, some too brutally seen under the harsh spotlight of loss, others more hidden, their own kinds of sadnesses becoming more visible as the weeks went on.

One of these sadnesses was the total destruction of the Bellevue Hospital's Children's...

In these last five years, the word "innovation" has been used more than ever before, as people express reverence for the shiny silver Mac Airs and the ever slimming look of the mobile phone.

But in truth, there is just one innovation that has withstood the test of time, fought...

Today is World Read Aloud Day. Before the day is over, hundreds of thousands of people will participate in one of the most precious shared human experiences.

Last week I delivered a keynote speech to an audience of educators titled "Creating a Worldwide Literacy Community." And today, by celebrating World...

One of my favorite read aloud memories is my mother reading the Little House on the Prairie books to me. I just adored those books. The coziness of their lives in spite of so much hardship and hard work, and the closeness of the family life always made me so...

Today, on Martin Luther King Day, we honor the passing on Thursday of a civil rights hero, James A. Hood, who integrated the University of Alabama in 1963 together with a fellow student Vivian Malone. This seminal moment when they entered the university to defend civil rights became known as...

Today IS the day. Because today might have been the day one of those beautiful children lost another tooth, or learned to whistle, or sang a new song, or read for the first time, or made an art project, or wrote a story.

Today is the day one of those...

A few years ago, I received a call from a mother in my community. Her voice breaking, she asked me if I could help her. Her son, she said, was involved in a bullying episode, and she was wondering if I had any titles I could share of books that...

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about company. The children in our LitWorld programs are often very lonely at the end of the school day. They will linger at the community center rather than have to go home to an empty apartment. The children in Kibera, Kenya, walk long and...

Last week, a tragedy happened. You hardly heard about it in the news at the time. But I want to tell it here so none will forget it.

It was this: A precious Harlem community member died. She was only 13 years old and her name was...

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 20 percent of New Yorkers live below the federal poverty line of $10,830 per year. Forty percent of New Yorkers live below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, making $21,660 per year or less. To anyone who has lived...

It is World Read Aloud Day, or at least when you read this it will be World Read Aloud Day in some parts of the world. It is an immensely comforting feeling to think of us all as part of the big same world, under the big same sky. The...

Literacy has all kinds of benefits that we might not associate immediately with reading and writing. The stories we read and write and share have the power to transcend physical borders as well as boundaries of race and religion. When we share stories about friendship, family, courage, and kindness -- stories about our human experience -- we find that we are not so different after all. On World Read Aloud Day, we're celebrating the power of words to help us leave behind our differences and celebrate our similarities. Here, our LitWorld Ambassador to Israel Leah Joseph shares with us her perspective on the uniting power of story in Jerusalem:

"When I moved to Israel, I was prepared to confront challenging issues, to experience firsthand the events that made worldwide headlines. I was ready to face the conflict. What I wasn't prepared for, what has caught me off guard, is the intense humanity of the situation. These are not simply populations fighting an age-old war; these are not just headlines come to life. The Jews and Arabs who live here are real people confronted with extraordinary circumstances on a daily basis.

"While terror and inequality are certainly facts of life here, there is tremendous work being done by educational institutions, grassroots organizations, and NGOs across the country. Schools like Hand in Hand increase peace, coexistence, and equality through progressive bilingual education. Israel has one of the highest literacy rates in the Middle East, at 97.1%. There is a growing realization that equal educational opportunity is the best hope for a peaceful future."

"One winter morning Peter woke up and looked out the window. Snow had fallen during the night. It covered everything as far as he could see... He thought it would be fun to join the big boys in their snowball fight, but he knew he wasn't old enough- not yet."...

As we get closer to the celebration of World Read Aloud Day on March 7, I want to take a moment to share why I think this is such an important day. The act of reading aloud is a symbol for us all of the power of literacy, and what...

In the United States alone, 63 million adults over the age of 16 cannot read at the 8th grade level. That's 29% of our country's adult population that cannot read many of the articles published in their local newspaper. The global statistic is even more staggering; over 793 million people around the world cannot read or write.

We know that these numbers are shocking, but what do they really mean? When a child cannot read or write at an appropriate level for her age, it affects her ability to understand other subjects. Struggling readers connect learning with embarrassment and frustration, which puts stumbling blocks in their way and prevents them from reaching their full potential. Later in life, struggling child readers become struggling adult readers who are far less likely to vote and secure jobs than their literate counterparts. In addition, literacy levels correlate with health outcomes, both for the individual him or herself as well as his or her children. Women in the developing world who receive even up to a fifth grade education are 80 percent more likely to have their children vaccinated. Beyond all the statistics is the simple fact that reading brings great joy, comfort and inspiration when people share it with each other. It is the great connector.

If you are reading this article, you probably learned to read fluently at a younger age, and possibly enjoy reading recreationally; others are not so lucky, and the difference between you and an adult struggling with literacy may mean the difference between opportunities and closed doors. But perhaps you are reading this right now although you too struggle with text and long for the feeling that fluent reading would give you. Now, more than ever, it's important for us to help others claim their right to read and write and to empower ourselves to do the same where necessary.

On March 7th, LitWorld, the global literacy advocacy organization, is hosting its 3rd annual World Read Aloud Day. This year, we're asking you: What would the world be like if everyone could read? This video shares some thoughts we collected from LitWorld children in our programs around New York City, and the volunteers who support our work. The world would like to hear your thoughts too. Watch this video and make your own response: write a comment below, tweet @litworldsays, post on the LitWorld Facebook wall, submit a statement at litworld.org, or make your own video response, post it on YouTube and share it from...

(This is one of a series of posts in the Parentlode Book Club. You can also find a list of books parents either love or hate, or suggestions about what books they might like based on what they already love, or any...

Recent data shows that over the past two decades the reading competency of American students has lagged. These findings demand immediate action. With all the many programs our teachers adopt and school districts purchase, and with all the debate over different approaches to teaching reading, it is urgently time to...

My LitWorld team has just returned from a trip to work with the girls and women leading our Girls LitClub initiative in Kenya. Join me on this journey:

We traveled many hours on rocky roads to reach the Girls LitClubs in Kisumu from our base with the incredible Children of...

"There is a special place in hell for women who don't help each other," said Madeleine Albright during a recent TED talk.

We need to change our vision of what it means to help from something the rich, usually men, do for the poor to something more fluid,...