Dr Jennifer Means at the National Speech and Hearing Conference

Wings in the Wind is a wonderful book for children who are trying to find their way in the world as they may easily identify with the two characters, Julie and the Drake, struggle to find their own way. Some children will identify the Drake as he struggles with begin accepted by others and finding his flock while other children will identify with Julie as she empathizes with the Drake and his challenges.   The book includes multiple literacy themes and language concepts aligned with the Common Core State Standards allowing educators to instruct these areas during joint book reading using one story line, thus reducing linguistic, syntactic and semantic demands. This allows for systematic scaffolding to improve conceptual reasoning and text conventions for those who struggle with language and literacy development.