Book-Love

I've written before about my daughter's book blog; her latest post is one that warms the heart of a teacher/Mom/Gran-Nan who loves to read and wants the children in her life to love reading, too. 

Joanna describes how she read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars at school while her students read their independent books: "My students delighted in watching me read it, as I laughed out loud, (and) shared lines and paragraphs with them. (They) could hardly wait for me to finish so they could fight over who would check it out next from our school library. I finally felt, with my reading of The Fault in Our Stars, that I could at last show my students what it means to fall head over heels in love with a book -- with the characters, with their predicaments, with the plot ups and downs."

Of course, Joanna's blog is just one of many that review great books for young people and adults. If you're especially looking for teachers to follow who are dedicated to instilling a love of reading, I suggest that you start with:

Sarah Mulhern Gross, contributor at The Learning Network at the New York Times, who blogs at The Reading Zone, and is @thereadingzone on Twitter, and

Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer, whose Twitter ID is @donalynbooks. Her Facebook page is also called The Book Whisperer.

I'm looking forward to reading this book, and perhaps seeing the movie, which is currently in pre-production.

Nerdy Book Club - Picture Books for the Secondary Classroom

Good Morning, blog friends! Just time for a quick post before a busy day.

You know how I love picture books, and that I think they are great for us older folks as well as our kiddos. 

I want you to click over to Nerdy Book Club, where you'll find "Top 10 Picture Books for the Secondary Classroom" by Kim McCollum-Clark. Kim includes books by some of my favorite authors (Cynthia Rylant, Maurice Sendak, Judith Byron Schachner), and briefly describes how you might use them as instructional tools.

From NBC, here are Kim's creds: "Kim McCollum-Clark teaches English and English Education at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, where her collection of young adult literature, graphic novels, and picture books are on constant loan to her teacher-babies. You can find her on Twitter as @KimMcCollum."

I'm impressed, and I'll be following her from now on on Twitter!

Welcome-Back-to-School Book Lists

In Warren County, TN, where I taught for 28 years, today is the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! I shared in the excitement of that day for a long time, and I heard it in our teacher-daughter's voice as we chatted this morning. She has lots planned for the day, and I know that part of it involves books. She has always been an avid reader, as have our sons, and I've mentioned her book blog before. But what if your students or your own children need encouragement to read? What if they just haven't quite found books they love?

As promised, I'm sharing one feature of James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead today. On the Lists page you will find

• Almost Can't-Miss Sure Shot Books for Boys
• Almost Can't-Miss Sure Shot Books for Girls
• Best Books of the Decade
• Ultimate Summer Reading
• and more!

Especially for back-to-school, Judy Freeman, reader, writer, and story-teller, has compiled two lists of books about the school experience, one for younger readers and one for older ones. The lists are annotated and include suggested activities for parents and teachers. You're going to love it, and I think your kiddos will, too!

Whether it's today or coming soon, have a wonderful FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

The Horn Book

My librarian friends subscribe, as they should, to the American Library Association's publications as ALA members. Since I didn't have that resource for help in choosing great books for kids, I sometimes called or emailed them to ask for recommendations and critiques. Thanks to The Horn Book, you don't have to do that, even if you have librarian friends yourself!

You can subscribe to their print or online publications, such as The Horn Book Magazine:

OR, you can read many, many recommendations and reviews for free at their website!  A great example is their 2012 Summer Reading List. It's divided by level, from Picture Books to High School. I LOVE free, and I'll bet you do, too!

Children's Book-a-Day Almanac

Anita Silvy estimates that she has read about 125,000 children's books over the last 40 years (and I thought I had read a lot)! For 11 years, she was the editor of The Horn Book Magazine, a publication many call “the Bible of children’s literature.” Click on over to her website to read more about her life as a reader, writer, professor, publisher, and expert.


You will LOVE her Children's Book-a-Day Almanac, where she shares daily 

• Recommendations
• Stories behind the books 
• New books
• Events

You can also search the archives by age group, subject, author/illustrator, and genre. What a treasure trove for you and your kiddos!