Book
Coming July 2026
Activate your child’s curiosity, language, and love of learning from the very start.
In Activate Curious, Capable Minds, early childhood literacy advocate Marcia Moon gives busy parents practical ways to use talk, reading, play, and everyday moments to help children grow as thinkers, communicators, and learners from crib to kindergarten.
Activate Curious, Capable Minds
A Busy Parent’s Guide to Literacy, Language, and Learning from Crib to Kindergarten
Parents do not need a complicated program to support early learning. They need clear guidance, strong books, purposeful conversation, and simple routines they can actually use.
This practical guide helps parents, grandparents, caregivers, and early childhood educators make the most of the short, powerful window from birth through age five, when children’s language, attention, curiosity, and confidence are growing every day.
Marcia shows how one word, one book, one conversation, and one activity at a time can become the foundation for lifelong learning.
What Readers Will Learn
Practical ways to build language, attention, curiosity, and confidence.
Talk, read, and play with purpose
Use everyday interactions to expand vocabulary, attention span, background knowledge, and comprehension.
Choose better books
Find high-quality children’s books that make read-aloud time enjoyable, meaningful, and worth repeating.
Turn moments into learning
Use indoor and outdoor routines as language-rich experiences that invite curiosity and exploration.
Create a home literacy rhythm
Naturally introduce letters, sounds, early writing, math, science, and thoughtful conversation.
Offer screen-time alternatives
Build attention and connection with activities that are simple, engaging, and realistic for busy families.
Know what to look for
Better understand childcare and preschool settings through the lens of early language and learning.
Children are already intelligent and ready-made for learning. The adults around them help that learning compound.
The early years are the beginning of how children learn to listen, wonder, ask, connect, remember, and make meaning.
Marcia’s work starts from a simple truth: children are too often underestimated and underserved.
When the adults around them read, talk, listen, play, and extend ordinary experiences into purposeful exploration, children begin building the language and thinking habits that support every stage of learning to come.
This book helps parents stop second-guessing and start using the moments they already have with more clarity and confidence.
Who It’s For
Written for the adults who shape a child’s first learning environment.
Parents of babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and children entering kindergarten
Grandparents and caregivers who want time with children to be more meaningful
Early childhood educators looking for practical, parent-friendly literacy ideas
Librarians, booksellers, and literacy advocates who support families with young children
June 2026
American Library Association Annual Conference
Meet Marcia June 26th-28th at Table #4053
Marcia will be in Chicago in June 2026 for the American Library Association Annual Conference.
Stop by to meet Marcia, see Activate Curious, Capable Minds, and learn more about how the book supports parents, educators, librarians, and caregivers who want to nurture early literacy, language, and learning from the very beginning.
About The Author
Marcia Baur Moon
Early Childhood Literacy Advocate, Teacher, Consultant, and Parent Coach
Marcia Baur Moon has worked with thousands of teachers, children, and parents across the country as a classroom teacher, consultant, and coach in early childhood centers and elementary schools.
Her work focuses on helping parents engage children from birth through age five in literacy and language development through reading aloud, purposeful talking, vocabulary building, play-based learning, and meaningful everyday experiences.
Marcia helps adults recognize the learning opportunities already present in daily life and use them to build curiosity, confidence, and strong foundations for future learning.
Stay Connected
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Want book updates, event information, or details about meeting Marcia at ALA Chicago? Send a note below.