The blog of author Matthew J. Kirby

Category: Literacy

  • Thoughts from a Book Tour

    I’ve been traveling quite a bit, off and on, over the last month or so. I visited several cities, a few amazing bookstores, and numerous schools. The people I meet often wonder what a book tour is like. Some people assume it’s glamorous, and on occasion it does kind of feel that way. Some people…

  • The Clockwork Three in Complex Chinese, and some other things

    The Clockwork Three has sold in several foreign languages, thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of Scholastic’s Foreign Rights team.  One of those languages is Complex Chinese, and I thought the cover looked so cool I wanted to share. Pretty neat, eh? I’m glad they stayed with the original artwork. According to Google Translate,…

  • 2010 Writing for Charity

    If I was a better blogger, you would already know about the 2010 Writing for Charity event.  And unfortunately, this is not a case of better-late-than-never, because you really don’t want to miss this.  It’s coming up this Saturday, on August 21. Last year, I participated in the Writing for Charity event held at the…

  • The King’s English Book Group

    Last week I went to a book group at The King’s English in Salt Lake City.  I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating over and over that The King’s English is a wonderful bookstore.  I wish I lived closer to Salt Lake because I would love to browse and shop there more than I…

  • New York City

    Next week, my publisher is flying me to New York City.  While I’m there, The Book Fairs will be filming me for some promo things that I’ll be able to talk more about at a later time.  I’ll also be doing some recording for the audiobook of The Clockwork Three.  The audio producers are adding…

  • LeVar Burton

    Neal Conan recently interviewed the actor and former host of Reading Rainbow for Talk of the Nation on NPR.  I really enjoyed their conversation, and loved what Mr. Burton had to say about the role of reading in the lives of children, and the mission of the show.  This quote summed it up nicely: “Sesame…

  • Writing for Charity

    A little while ago, I posted about the Writing for Charity Event at the Treehouse Children’s Museum in Ogden, Utah.  I was invited to take part in the workshop as a debut author, and I think I was the “newest” writer at the event.  It also happened to be my first time participating in something…

  • No more butterflies in the sky…

    Reading Rainbow is ending its 26-year run on public television. What could be greater than a show whose purpose it was to promote reading and make it fun for kids?  I loved watching it when I was growing up, and I looked for those books I’d seen LeVar Burton introduce.  And it meant something to…

  • Why History is Important

    I was recently browsing in a book store, and couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between a mother and her teenage daughter right next to me.  The daughter was looking for a new book to read, and her mother was offering guidance on the titles she thought would interest her daughter. The daughter picked up Jane…

  • Reading as Virtual Reality

    This is interesting.  Psychologists Nicole Speer and Jeffrey Zacks conducted a study of reading using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).  Basically, these researchers used imaging technology to look at what our brains are doing while we read a story.  They found that some of the same regions of the brain are active for the reader…