320 Sycamore Studios publishes original kids stories served fresh monthly, plus essays, book recommendations, and news about people living their books life. Everything is 100 percent Jeff-written.
The revolution will not be AI-Generated
This incredible idea of welcoming people to join up and silently read together is based on research that shows that being with others and reading both calm our nervous systems, lessen anxiety and loneliness, and increase our focus by diminishing multitasking and burnout.
The Great Books Are for Everyone
I started getting all of these emails from people who wanted to lead a life of the mind, who wanted to read the great books, and they would ask me what they should do.
— Zena Hitz, The Honest Broker podcast
Caldecott Critique: “Goldfinches”, by Mary Oliver, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Above the desk, what appears to be a birch forest. From that desk, the protagonist imagines the world outside. On the right side we see a tangle of branches at the bottom of the page - the nature that was imagined on the left side is now firmly underfoot on the right. The protagonist moves right, lending momentum to the page turn.
— Travis Jonker, 100 Scope Notes
The New Bibliomaniacs
Increasingly, younger people — especially those under 35 — are becoming a visible part of the rare book trade. Buyers and sellers alike pointed to the same reason: growing up in the digital age has intensified the desire for analogue objects and tangible connections to the past. There is something special about holding history in your hands.
— Kristine Roome, Engelsberg Ideas
Klaus Krogh and his team design the most beautiful books in the world
The awareness that this is going to be used the next 50 years every day shows you the importance of the choices you make.
How Screens Stole Childhood — and How to Get It Back
As a social psychologist who studies the effects of digital tech on young people, what I see from this perspective is very concerning. I think it justifies a general sense of wariness or skepticism about the technologies that are pushing their way into childhood today.
Do Chatbots Really Belong in Schools?
I personally don’t think of education as job training, but I think so many people do now that it’s a situation that we need to resolve. And I don’t know that thinking of it as job training is the most child-friendly answer to that question.
— Tom Mullaney, Tech Won’t Save Us podcast
The Ed Tech Backlash
It started with cell phones, as districts and states across the country passed policies to ban the personal devices during the school day. Now there is a movement to restrict, remove, or allow parental opt-outs for all screen use—or, in some cases, all technology—during the school day.
— Kara Yorio, School Library Journal
The EdTech Backlash Is Here, and It’s Just Getting Started
When nine-year-old Sunny entered second grade at his Los Angeles public school three years ago, a surprise awaited him: a personal Google Chromebook to use in his classes and take home each afternoon. “Everyone was obsessed with the Chromebooks,” he recalls. Sunny was excited too, “but then it started to get boring.”
Amor Librorum Nos Unit (“The Love of Books Unites Us”)
— Motto of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers
Happy reading,
Jeff
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All the content I write here is completely free, but if you want to throw me a bone, consider buying one of the dozen titles I have on Amazon. Or, just toss me a one-dollar tip for the year. That’s it! One buck. Once a year. No AI. No auto-renew. No shenanigans. — Jeff.
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