The theme of this month's newsletter is Back to School. It contains a wealth of information to help get children of all ages ready for a successful school year.

Fall is on its way, and it's time for the school year to begin — and not just for kids, but for parents, too. Parents can help their young children become acclimated to the newness of school and ease their older kids back into familiar school-day routines. Check out these ideas and resources from Reading Rockets.

These fresh and funny picture books will help students conquer first-day jitters, settle smoothly into classroom routines, and get stoked for a great year. This year’s crop of back-to-school titles is particularly delightful, balancing familiar elements with inventive plots to explore commonplace qualms and quandaries with creativity and pizzazz.

Do you have a child who isn't as successful with reading as you think he or she could be? Not all reading difficulties look the same, and not all reading difficulties should be addressed in the same way. If you can identify what the area of difficulty is, you can tailor your help to the needs of the child. Read about four struggling readers.

Bestselling children’s and middle-grade author Jon Scieszka is a former teacher, having taught every grade from 1st through 8th. He has assembled a great list, from actual live experience, of what not to do to engage a kid in reading. He has also gathered a pretty fun list of things you can do to inspire a kid to give reading a try. See the lists here.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has released the android version of its popular Teen Book Finder App.

Android users can download the app for free through the Google Play store. The app allows users to access YALSA’s recommended reading and award winning titles from the past years with just a touch of a button from their mobile device. An iOS version is currently available through the Apple App Store. See more...

The voting period for the 2014 Teens’ Top Ten officially opened on August 15, 2014. Teens aged 12-18 can vote for their favorites through the end of Teen Read Week (Oct. 18). Teens can vote for up to three of their favorite nominated titles. The nominees of this year’s Teens’ Top Ten are made up of 25 titles ranging from a diverse collection of genres and storylines. The 10 titles that receive the most votes will be named the official titles of the 2014 Teens’ Top Ten. The official “top ten” titles will be announced the week of Oct. 20, 2014.

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CSLA’s mission is to advocate for excellence in school library programs, develop leaders in the school library field, and collaborate with other educational leaders to ensure that all California students are effective, responsible users and creators of ideas and information. We welcome “Friend” members, who can be anyone not employed in a school library position who supports California school libraries. Friends are a great addition to our association in support of providing strong school libraries for all the students of our state, and they get the benefits of attending our various conferences and events at member rates.

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