Summary: <p>Scholastic surveys thousands of kids and their families across the U.S. biennially for our Kids & Family Reading Report, gaining special insight into the latest trends in children's reading habits. The second of three installments, Finding Their Story, focuses on what kids want in books and characters, the rising demand for diversity in children's books, and the importance of access to books.</p> <p>This week, you'll hear from four of our in-house experts — as well as some kids themselves! — about what the data tells us that kids and their families are looking for in the books they read.</p> <p><strong>Additional resources:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.scholastic.com/readingreport" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">See all of the findings from the Kids & Family Reading Report: Finding Their Story</a></li> <li><a href="https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/books/the-serpent-s-secret/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Learn more about <em>Game of Stars </em>by Sayantani DasGupta</a></li> <li><a href="https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/books/i-survived/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Learn more about the I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis</a></li> <li><a href="https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/books/power-of-story/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Learn more about the Power of Story initiative and download the catalog</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.edelweiss.plus/#catalogID=4035284" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">See the full digital catalog on Edelweiss</a></li> <li><a href="http://oomscholasticblog.com/post/wehavediversebooks" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Read Lizette Serrano's blog post about <em>Esperanza Rising </em></a></li> </ul><p><strong>Guests:</strong></p> <ul> <li> <strong>Lauren Tarshis </strong>is the Vice President and Editor-in-Chief/Publisher of Scholastic Classroom Magazines. She's also the author of the bestselling I Survived series.</li> <li> <strong>Andrea Davis Pinkney</strong> is a Vice President, Executive Editor of Scholastic Trade books and an award-winning children's book author.</li> <li> <strong>Michael Haggen </strong>is the Chief Academic Officer at Scholastic.</li> <li> <strong>Lizette Serrano </strong>is the Executive Director of Educational Marketing and Event Strategy at Scholastic.</li> </ul><p><strong>Special thanks:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl</li> <li>Sound mix and recording by Daniel Jordan</li> <li>Edited by Mackenzie Cutruzzula</li> <li>Produced by Emily Morrow, Mackenzie Cutruzzula, Suzanne McCabe</li> </ul>
