HI Guys!

I wanted to pop over here quickly to let you know about something pretty exciting.  Not sure if you remember (although you might, because I kind of freaked out about it), but I was on the Read Aloud Revival Podcast not to long ago. It is still one of those things that I pinch myself about and go, did that really happen?

If you haven’t listened yet.  You can do that HERE!

Well, on that podcast I talked about writing books for reluctant readers (I write books for people who don’t want to read them…my marketing genius knows no bounds…insert eye roll here), and I shared some of the things I used to do in my own seventh grade classroom to engage those readers.

One of the things I talked about on that podcast was jelly beans. 

Yes. Jelly beans.  I am a firm believer that EVERYONE can be a reader if they just find the book that speaks to them. I used to explain this to my students by telling them that books were a lot like jelly beans, and that if someone were to hand you a black licorice flavored jelly bean…you. might think you didn’t like jelly beans.  But guys, there are so many other jelly bean flavors out there. Thanks to J.K. Rowling you can even get your hands on a vomit or booger flavored jelly bean if that floats your boat.

  But the same principle applies to books. You just have to find your flavor of book.

Why am I talking jelly beans?  Because the amazing Sarah Mackenzie, the genius behind The Read Aloud Revival just wrote a book. I pre-ordered mine already, and you should to.  I’ll make it easy on you. Pre-order it HERE.  You can thank me later.   And in her most recent promotional piece for it…she was sitting next to a jar of jelly beans.  (Cough Cough…embarrassed blush. Secret celebrations.) I feel a little like I just taught Houdini a magic trick.

She also just aired a new podcast all about books to engage reluctant readers, and she did a whole segment on yours truly and two little books full of dinosaurs and adventure. To say I was flattered would be an understatement.  You can listen to that HERE. 

And speaking of book recommendations, I have some for you!  A while back my amazing publisher HarperCollins asked me to write about a few of my all time favorite books for their website, and to be honest, I kind of forgot that I’d done it. I’m going to blame major sleep deprivation and having three kids three and under… the bags under my eyes right now guys are epic. Also, my house is a wreck, the laundry is ridiculous, and I’m looking for a good house elf if you know of any.

Anyways!  Click here to check out The Martin List. Enjoy!