Book Description

BOOKS THAT TURN CHILDREN INTO LIFE-LONG READERS!

Most children want to read a book because it's about something they love or are curious about--dinosaurs, magic tricks, ballerinas, sports, secret codes, and a host of other topics. Now with this unique book, Kathleen Odean, current chair of the Newberry Award committee and author of Great Books for Girls and Great Books for Boys, makes it easy for parents and teachers to satisfy a child's individual cravings for good reading on any subject. Inside you'll discover

 ¸  More than 750 books divided into 55 categories, from Airplanes to Zoos
 ¸  Professional appraisals that are balanced, intelligent, and fun to read
 ¸  Stimulating book-related activities and helpful tips for parents

Whether the format is picture book, poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, here are wonderful selections like Why Does the Cat Do That? and Exploring the Titanic . . . tried and true characters, from the beloved aardvarks Arthur and D.W. to the hilarious Junie B. Jones and the courageous Harry Potter . . . new heroes and heroines to cheer for such as Katherine Paterson's Princess Miranda from The Wide-Awake Princess and the exciting Jack Black from Jack Black and the Ship of Thieves by Carol Hughes.

Great Books About Things Kids Love creates a book-rich environment in which the habit of reading can take hold and flourish for a lifetime.

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Reviews (2)

An Awesome Resource
This is another great guide of recommended books by Kathleen Odean. In this book, there are over 750 books about the things kids love, and many, many different subjects. Whether you like cats, kings and queens, basketball, math, or magic tricks, there's sure to be a book in here that is right for you. The book is divided into subject categories with categories about the subject. (e.g.: sports, than one of the categories is football.) The back of the book includes a basic reference shelf for home, book-related parties, tips for reading out loud, lists of books in series, and much, much more. This is an invaluable resource and a perfect gift for all kids.

A great gift and resource for parents.
Kathleen Odean's books are a gift for parents and grandparents. With so many books to chose from for kids, we all need help picking the perfect one for our kids or our friend's kids or our grandkids. Odean has expertly organized the best of the best and given us a great guide. I would recommend this to everyone and plan to give it to all my friends who are parents or grandparents. ... Read more

Book Description

"Harry Potter is a sexist neo-conservative autocrat."—Pierre Bruno, Liberation

"These are one-dimensional children's books. Disney cartoons written in words, no more."—Anthony Holden, The Observer

"What child do you know these days who eats rock cakes and talks about galoshes? No wonder they love it in the States."—Suzanne Moore

As the British state begins to unravel, and journalists compete to pronounce on the death of Britain, a schoolboy from suburban Surrey who lives for most of the year in a semi-parallel universe becomes the most popular figure in contemporary world literature. Now read on—everyone else does... Harry Potter is an orphan, oppressed and abused by the adults around him, who retreats into a fantasy world. But ironically, as Andrew Blake makes clear, J. K. Rowling rescues her character through the reinvention of that apex of class privilege, the English public school, a literary conceit that problematizes Harry Potter's status as a role model and raises important social questions about the state of Blair's Britain. Andrew Blake's examination of the Harry Potter phenomenon—the literary equivalent of fast food—also raises serious questions about the condition of the publishing industry, and filmmaking, and the ways in which the Potter consumer campaign has changed our ideas about literature and reading. Blake reflects on the ways in which these connections act as a template for Harry Potter's extraordinary international success. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

So that is why Harry is so popular!
I would rate this as a tie for the most interesting book on this phenomenon of those I have read so far. This book looks at the cultural and political timing that seems to have made Harry the irresistible darling of the literacy efforts in the UK and since in many respects those things are duplicated in the US, voila, Harry is irresistible there also. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Book Description

A loving and inspiring portrait of Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt, an extraordinary woman who brought an intensity and originality to the life around her.

The Dreaming Game is Philip B. Kunhardt's tribute to his mother, a woman of rare vision and intellect. Dorothy Kunhardt is best known as the author of the runaway bestseller Pat the Bunny, a revolutionary children's book in its time. But she was also a respected Lincoln scholar and biographer, and an inveterate chronicler of life, whichshe experienced as meaningfully and deeply as possible. And until she died in 1979, Kunhardt recorded everything around her-her early loves, her feelings about marriage and family, her perceptions about the world-in highly charged letters to her lifelong friend Katherine Strauss.

These letters and a host of others, combined with her son's research and memories, provide entry for us into a unique life-one of privilege but also of awareness, of restrictions, and, at the same time, of a remarkable openness to life's possibilities. The Dreaming Game is an extremely moving tribute to a mother, wife, writer, and friend, who was not always easy to live with but whose originality and passion for living left their mark on those around her, and on children everywhere, and continue to serve as an inspiration for all of us. ... Read more

Book Description

'The longer I live, the more I am convinced of the importance of children’s books.' When Robert Bloomfield wrote this in 1817 he could have had no idea of the range of children’s books to come, nor of how in England fantasy would be their outstanding form. In this survey of 400 English children’s fantasies from 1850 to 2000, taking in authors from the well-known Charles Kingsley, C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling to the less-known Annie Keary, Edith Elias and Pete Johnson, Colin Manlove shows just how good their books often are as literature. He combines new interpretations of individual works with explanations of how and why their character changes over time, reflecting their different cultural settings. This book is intended both as a critical companion for children’s literature courses, and as a stimulus for the general reader and students at all levels. Selected by the editors of CHOICE as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2003. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Writing for children is serious work. Thankfully, there are writers up to the task. In these essays, which originated as Children's Literature New England talks, "notable writers for children consider how literature, memory, and moral passion serve the writer."Gillian Cross (The Great American Elephant Chase) uses the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to explore the import--for author, reader, and sometimes protagonist--of entering a fictional world.Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) illuminates a current running through his books having to do with survival. "How do children survive under the best conditions with loving parents," he wonders, "or worse, with unloving parents--how do kids make out?" Susan Cooper (The Grey King) explores our motives for reading, as children and as adults. "More often than not," she determines, "[the child] is on a voyage of discovery, seeking out new worlds. Not us; we tend to look for the familiar." And Pat O'Shea (The Hounds of the Morrigan) tells us what children get from books. "As children read," she says, "they learn about the dangers of the world, but ultimately in a safe and strengthening way, a way that tells them that weak and vulnerable as they may be... they and their own lives are of value, have importance, that they make a difference to the world and to the life around them." Other contributors include Ursula K. Le Guin, Gregory Maguire, Sarah Ellis, and Madeleine L'Engle. --Jane Steinberg ... Read more

Reviews (1)

So many authors in one place!
If you are interested in reading many successful authors' thoughts on the power of story and reading, this book is a must. The essays in this collection are inspiring, diverse, and unified in their passion for writing and storytelling. I found myself returning to passages over and over, savoring the passions for children's literature that are similar to my own. A stellar collection of authors are presented including Susan Cooper, Madeleine L'Engle, Maurice Sendak and many more that appear on most required reading lists. (They are listed entirely in the professional reviews above.) This is a great book for librarians, teachers, students, and anyone who loves one or all of the many authors represented. ... Read more

Book Description

This guide provides a single-source, comprehensive listing of a fascinating and helpful group of books-picture books for older readers. A multitude of ideas about how to use them in the classroom supplements this list of carefully selected quality fiction and nonfiction books that focuses on universal themes, appeals to all ages, addresses important issues, and is accessible to multiple learning styles. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Awesome find for teachers of middle, secondary school
A friend recommended this book during a workshop and I rushed to look at it at the library.Unable to check it out (and better off because the library probably would NOT have gotten it back!) I bought a copy.It isindexed to give you ideas for incorporating the picture books into everydaylessons, units, themes.It can be used in ALL subjects! even math!Thereare even ideas for lessons/activities to incorporate the picture books aswell as recommendations for tie-ins with novels, music, and other picbooks! The pictographic index allows you to find the best books forteacher read-alouds, student performance, art and music units, etc.Theauthors are superb and though the writing is less, the content is more. These are picture books specifically for young adults and adults.They areNOT children's books.Many of them deal with sensitive and mature themeslike war, family issues, social problems, etc.The pictures in many ofthese books are more artistic than they are "cartoony".Anecessary book in every secondary student's classroom or home library! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

not bad at all
beautiful illustrations as one would expect and want, and good background coverage of the greats of children's illustrators, but i'd like a more comprehensive list of illustrators, there are only the most well-known, arthur rackham, edmund dulac, edward lear, beatrix potter, etc.

Fabulous insight into legendary illustrators.
As an illustrator, I find it fascinating to learn a little about what made these legends tick - their educations, techniques, working style, etc. As a reader of children's literature, my mind is blown by these artists bodies of work and their ability feed my imagination. Ms. Meyer has done a wonderful job of presenting the information behind these great artists. And we get to see plenty of illustrations which remind us of the contribution each of these artists made to children's literature. ... Read more

Book Description

375 Reviews of Favorite Books that Get Children to Read and Read and Read!
Now kids can make informed decisions about which books to read! This friendly reference book‹filled with more than 400 lively book reviews for kids by kids‹is organized so children (teachers and parents) can easily locate books by subject, title, or author. And, the book selections are flagged with genre labels so young readers automatically learn about book categories and types. Sprinkled throughout are mini-author bios, fun facts, photos, and much, much more. A must-have reference for home and school. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Soldier's Heart
Soldier's heart is about a boy who was fifteen when union was looking for men to fight the CivilWar.Charley Goddard the main charater in this story fough in the First Minnesota Volunteers. This story talks about all the promblems and fears thet charley had during this time.At the time that Carley sign up to fight he didn't understand what he was fighting for!All he knew was that he didn't want to miss out a great adventure. Charley tolds how it felt to cross a field towards the enemy, seeing the dead just laying there so helpless. When Charley left for the war he was a boy but when he came back only nineteen,but he was man.He was said to have a "soldier's heart".
haleigh

GHOST CAMP
This story is about a brother and sister that go to a camp for the summer.Harry and Alex get a bit freaked out by Camp Moon Spirit.The name of the camp is not the only wierd thing about the camp,the jokes they tell are a bit scary but they are getting scarier and scarier afterall they are only jokes are'nt they.............. This story is more of a diary than a story because they tell it like they are talking to you.This is an extract of Ghost Camp: "ohhh."I let out a groan.My fork clatted to the floor.Joey grinned at me. His fork bobbed up and down, stuck in his neck.

The ghost of Mercy Manor is one of the best books I,v read
The ghost of Mercy Manor. Is about a girl named Gwen who go,s to live with the Mercys.After her Aunt Mary dies and her brother refuses to take her.Gwen trys very hard not to let The Mercys become her family. And the blond haired ghost who shows up in the window makes it even easier. The ghost bothers her so she asks Deana Mrs.Mrecy about it .But she refuses to talk about it.At first she just trys to forget about it.But when a paper rose shows up in her room and Tessie tells her its from a ghost its pretty hard.Ang as the ghost shows up in the hallway at night it makes her want to leave evenmore .Later Tessie takes her to the river.As shes laying on a rock she sease the ghost girl and two men in a boat in the rivr.When she askes Tessie about it she sais she had fallen asleep. But she still believes she saw the ghost so she tells Deana.But Deana just gets upset.So upset that Frank Mr.Mercy sais she better stop talking about it or she will haft to leave.But she needs someone to believe her.So she convices Jason . That night Jason stays up and seas the ghost.The next night they follow the ghost.Will they catch the ghost and let Gwen stay. Read the book to find out.

You'll never be short of something to read!
I literally went page by page through this book! It is a wonderful collection of stories of all kinds, for pleasure and exitement; and you always know it must be a good book when you hear that every single review is written by a kid who loved it! Many of the reviews have pictures of the kids who wrote the reviews, along with some pictures and hilarious tidbits about some of the authors and illustrators of the reviewed books. The minute I got this book I sat down with my mom and we went through it, page by page making a list of must reads. With this book, you'll never be short of something to read! ... Read more

Book Description

The contributors to this collection of essays address children's literature as an art form, rather than an educational instrument, as has been the traditional approach. Scholars from 10 different countries present a variety of approaches to the history of children's literature, including views on sociological, semiotic, and intertextual models of its evolution. Other issues explored include influence and interaction between stories and their countries of origin. This strong presentation of international perspectives on children's literature will be a valuable resource for scholars of children's and comparative literature. ... Read more

Book Description

This groundbreaking study introduces and explores Lacan’s complex theories of subjectivity and desire through close readings of canonical children’s books such as Charlotte’s Web, Stellaluna, Holes, Tangerine, and The Chocolate War. Looking Glasses and Neverlands thus provides an introduction to an increasingly influential body of difficult work while making the claim that children’s textual encounters are as significant as their existential ones in constituting their subjectivities and giving shape to their desires. The texts render lucid Lacan’s theory, and the theory helps explain why the texts remain so profoundly influential in constructing a child’s sense of self.

Coats shows how our literate culture has come to define and cope with the inevitable losses and separations of childhood, and how discourses of race, gender, and desire get written on our bodies, transforming us into the subjects we are. The book offers a comprehensive introduction to Lacan’s theories of subjectivity, gender, and ethics and also extends those theories into discussions of race and the distinctions between modernist and postmodernist subjectivity.

Coats explains Lacanian concepts such as the registers of the real, the imaginary, and the symbolic, alienation and separation, and the nature of desire, the objet a, and jouissance; she also takes up Lacan’s concept of logical rather than chronological time, showing how picture books facilitate the child’s emerging sense of boundaries and otherness and help her establish the imaginary ideals that will foster her growth. Finally, Coats looks at how children’s books help a child situate himself with respect to language in the symbolic order, acquire a preferred psychic structure, adopt a gendered public identity, and develop a sense of ethics that may or may not respect the space between the self and other.

Looking Glasses and Neverlands will be of great interest to students and scholars of children’s and adolescent literature and readers interested in Lacanian psychoanalytic theory and the psychoanalytic study of culture and society. ... Read more

Book Description

Our Family, Our Friends, Our World is the first and only comprehensive, global resource that focuses on the life and character of diverse ethnic groups in North America, as well as the interdependent native cultures in Asia, Central America, Africa, and other lands.This annotated selection guide covers 1,000 of the best English-languge fiction and non fiction multicultural books published in the United States and Canada since 1970. Each chapter introduces a culture or ethnic group, highlighed by a map of the region, and provides an annotated list of books for preschool through grade 12. Professional Sources, a List of Series, and a Directory of Publishers, as well as three indexes, are also included. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume examines a variety of utopian writing for children from the 18th century to the present day, defining and exploring this new genre in the field of children's literature. The original essays discuss thematic conventions and present detailed case studies of individual works. All address the pedagogical implications of work that challenges children to grapple with questions of perfect or wildly imperfect social organizations and their own autonomy. The book includes interviews with creative writers and the first bibliography of utopian fiction for children. ... Read more

Book Description

Frequently identified as sensational literature filled with violent characters, intricately woven plots, changing identities and confusion between issues of right and wrong, many considered the Dime Novel guilty of sending serious and improper messages to the day’s impressionable youth. Though read by many from the middle of the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, these short, pocket-sized publications were severely criticized.

This work looks at the authors, publishers, illustrators, and subject matter of the dime novel. Other types of children’s literature, such as story papers, chapbooks, broadsides, serial books, pulp magazines, comic books and today’s paperback books are discussed, as well. The author explores the ways in which these works reveal much about early American life and thought and how they reflect cultural nationalism through their ideological teachings in personal morality and ethics, humanitarian reform and political thought; a study of the dime novel’s contribution to the genre of children’s literature is thus provided.

Eight appendices are offered: Appendix A provides a chronology of the Dime Novel and related works from 1860–1902; Appendix B is an annotated bibliography of Dime Novels; Appendix C lists Series Books; Appendix D lists Story Paper periodicals; Appendix E is a chronological list of significant children’s literature published year by year; Appendix F provides pseudonyms; Appendix G is a list of character names and Appendix H is a biographical dictionary. A book and periodical reference section, an index and illustrations are all included. ... Read more

Book Description

Librarians and educators have long recognized the power of literature to touch the hearts and minds of readers of all ages. Lesbian and Gay Voices celebrates an exciting body of work that is emerging in the field of literature for young readers. Though more than three million lesbian and gay teenagers live in the United States, and millions more young people live with gay or lesbian family members, their diverse voices are often neglected. One way to provide help for these youngsters who often experience isolation and despair is to share compassionate books that deal honestly with the very issues with which young people themselves are grappling. Here at last is a unique and comprehensive reference tool to fill that need. Written to support librarians and educators in their efforts to provide young people with positive literary images, this groundbreaking guide provides detailed annotations and recommendations for over 275 books. ... Read more

Book Description

This study examines children's films from various critical perspectives, including those provided by classical and current film theory. ... Read more