Dog books, what do you think?

Julia Keller's article in Sunday's Chicago Tribune grabbed me with the title, "Why dog books are so fetching."

She reeled me in with the story of her beloved Ramsey but surprised me when she dissed a book I loved, "The Art of Racing in the Rain." Although, like Ms. Keller, I'm not a fan of dog narrators, I persevered with that book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I appreciated learning about "A Year of Cats and Dogs", and quickly added it to Shelfari, but Ms. Keller missed another favorite of mine, "Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog." What about you, do you have a favorite dog book to share?

Guest Bartender Night a BIG Hit

As you can see, the Sit Stay Read crowd had a great time at Lizard's Lounge on Friday night. The electioneering for our new Sit Stay Read bookmark models was fierce but the winners are. . . Slugger and Brady!!

Of course, the real winners are the third-graders at Sumner Academy--$1,006 was raised to bring the SSR program to their class. Woo hoo! Add to that, the generous matching grant from the Kaplan Foundation and that's a whopping $2,012!! Many thanks to our pro bartender, Ruth, our guest bartenders, Elana and Jenn, and all you voters!

Drinks and a Matching Grant!

Let's get together and have some fun! Join us for Guest Bartender night THIS FRIDAY, Aug 21st, from 8-11pm at Lizard's Liquid Lounge, 3058 W. Irving Park Rd in Chicago!

We'll have Sit Stay Read volunteers, Elana Mendelson (pictured, showing her electioneering t-shirt) and Jenn Dohm, as our guest bartenders for the night. 100% of the tips they make will benefit the Sit Stay Read program at Sumner Academy and every dollar will go twice as far thanks to a matching grant! So be good to your bartenders :-)

PLUS, it's not too late to enter your dog in the competition to see who's canine cutie will be the next Sit Stay Read bookmark dog! Visit our website for all the details.

Free Hotel Rooms Filling Fast

First, if you didn't read about free hotel rooms for Sit Stay Read volunteers in our E-newsletter, go to our website and sign-up to get our updates!

Second, we heard from Beth Finke that the free hotel rooms are booking up so she suggests picking a hotel and calling ASAP. Beth can't wait to enjoy her free night at the Blackstone! Check-out Give a Day, Get a Night now.

You'll need to volunteer 8 hours between now and December and get a letter from us to bring to the hotel. If you need more hours, Michele will be happy to get you in the office now for some fun projects and the school program schedule will be out in early September. Lots of opportunities to volunteer!

World's Worst Reading Strategy

Really, it truly is the "World's Worst Reading Strategy".

C'mon, you know what it is, right? The dreaded round robin reading!

Dr. Lanse does a great job on his blog of explaining why it's such a scourge and how to avoid it. It was especially rewarding to read that he recommends the exact strategies we use in Sit Stay Read programs--guided reading, paired reading, and a favorite of mine, echo reading!

A New Young Reader

Couldn't resist sharing this photo of my great-niece, Maddy. She was visiting from Wisconsin and, at only nine months old, she already loves books. Wish we could start this early with the kids in our programs. What fun we'd all have!

Don't you love her top knot of curls? It reminds me of Pebbles.

New Office Pups & Their People

New staff in the office means new pups as well. We're missing Jenn, Elizabeth, and Allison but are so happy to welcome Michele Brignoni, our new volunteer manager, and Kelsey Jones, communications coordinator, plus their pups.

Michele's girl, Prairie (on the left), is a doll and looks forward to her office visits. We can't wait for her to become a SSR dog!

Kelsey's Jack is a little sweetheart. A chihuahua Pomeranian mix who just turned a year old, I think he looks like a Mini Me of my Bandit. Click here for more photos and see if you don't agree.