Friday, November 15, 2013

Candlewick Press “Pins” Hopes on Common Core Market Growth Through Social Media




 
"Children’s book publishers across the country are looking for new ways to communicate their offerings to teachers, library media specialists, booksellers and parents who are getting up to speed on the national roll out of the Common Core State Standards. Candlewick Press has identified a social media outlet with huge potential for book sourcing and sharing, Pinterest, and has worked for the last year to build a page with comprehensive and easy to navigate boards that will be further enriched in 2014.


Pinterest has become an accessible place for teachers, librarians, parents, and booksellers to view Candlewick titles by curriculum theme. Common Core is not a curriculum in itself, so educators are teaching the same subjects but with a new focus, driving demand for more trade books to use in the classroom. The new standards emphasize a combination of fiction and nonfiction to extend lessons and provide complex, interesting texts to spur deep reading, critical thinking and discussion.
 
“Several recent studies on book sourcing have shown that social media and particularly Pinterest are already being used widely by teachers and librarians. Pinterest is a helpful tool for inspiration, to share and organize lesson plans,  and a means to save ideas in a visual notebook of sorts, so it seemed like a natural place to provide information about our books and allow for it to be shared widely,” said Raquel Stecher, Online Marketing Manager at Candlewick Press.
 
The major goal of a Common Core specific Pinterest page is to showcase Candlewick Press books in a way that is helpful to those who use them. To provide supplementary materials – teacher guides, book trailers – to facilitate the use of books in the classroom, as well as to engage even the most reluctant students and particularly teachers and parents who are looking for entry points into independent reading for their young children.
 
“My hope is to engage Pinners in a dialogue to find out what would best help them select titles as they develop and grow their Common Core lesson plans.  In the coming months, we’ll be offering free promotional materials for those who reply by email to generate feedback and ongoing dialogue with those educators and media specialists who are using our books in the field,” said Kathleen Rourke, Director of School & Library Sales at Candlewick Press."
 
Please follow Candlewick Press’ Common Core Pinterest page for book recommendations, boards by subject, and an assortment of classroom teaching tools and extras to build lesson plans.   




ABOUT CANDLEWICK PRESS
Candlewick Press, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2012, is an independent, employee-owned publisher based in Somerville, Massachusetts. Candlewick publishes outstanding children’s books for readers of all ages, including books by award-winning authors and illustrators such as M. T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Laura Amy Schlitz, and Jon Klassen; the widely acclaimed Judy Moody, Mercy Watson, and 'Ology series; and favorites such as Guess How Much I Love You, Where's Waldo, and Maisy. Candlewick is part of the Walker Books Group, together with Walker Books UK in London and Walker Books Australia, based in Sydney and Auckland. Visit Candlewick online at www.candlewick.com.
 

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