Perhaps no factor has a greater influence on children's literacy learning than exposure to engaging, authentic, culturally relevant texts. This concise practitioner resource and course text helps K--8 teachers make informed choices about using children's literature in their classrooms, from selecting high-quality texts to planning instruction and…

The theme of this year was educate to liberate. A reminder to the literacy community that education, and literacy extend beyond the content and courses we teach. As Freire puts it, "Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people--they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are…

In his hugely successful "Connecting Boys with Books" (2003), the author delved into the problem that reading skills of pre-adolescent boys lag behind those of girls in the same age group. In this companion book, Sullivan digs even deeper, melding his own experiences as an activist with perspectives gleaned from other industry experts to help…

Based on more than twenty years' experience working to get boys interested in reading, the author now offers his first readers' advisory volume. With an emphasis on nonfiction and the boy-friendly categories of genre fiction, the work offers a wealth of material including: (1) Suggestions for how to booktalk one-on-one as well as in large groups;…

Many reading programs today overlook an essential component of literacy instruction--helping children develop an enduring love of reading. This authoritative and accessible guide provides a wealth of ideas for incorporating high-quality children's books of all kinds into K-6 classrooms. Numerous practical strategies are presented for engaging…

Life's Little Lessons is a delightful and humorous story about a caterpillar named Cyrano and his misadventures. In school he struggles, at times he gives up, until one day he discovers that he and only he is in charge of his own happiness. Children, will easily identify with Cyrano, his feelings and his flight, as they learn that although life…

Because they're quick and fun to read, riddles can "hook" even reluctant readers and keep them coming back for more. Riddles also improve vocabulary, comprehension, and oral reading; enhance deductive and inductive thinking skills; and promote libraries as places for fun. Drawing on her work with children in schools and public libraries, Dee…

Offering over 300 successful "booktalks" for librarians, teachers, and parents, this book shows how to "hook" reluctant readers onto books. The field-tested booktalks (brief "commercials" for books that give just enough information to promote reading the book) are divided into three reading levels: elementary, middle…

This volume, a companion to "Talk That Book: Booktalks To Promote Reading," presents 263 new booktalks on classics and best sellers that serve a wide range of interests for all ages and reading interests. Usually, booktalking is an oral presentation of 10 or 20 booktalks lasting about 30 minutes; however, this book can also act as a…

This book presents ideas for more than 350 booktalks to use with children in grades 1-8. It is written in a conversational style and is divided thematically into the following seven high-interest chapters: (1) "Great Disasters," including shipwrecks and disasters at sea, fires, floods, diseases and other natural disasters; (2) "Fun…

This guide features booktalks for elementary grades of recently published (1998-2001) fiction and nonfiction titles that are either award winners, written by award-winning authors, positively reviewed in national reading advocacy journals, or representative of an emerging trend in children's literature. Each booktalk entry consists of…

This cookbook is designed to help teachers and librarians engage in beneficial collaborations to bring reading to the lips of students in new and "delicious" ways. The more than 200 recipes offered in the book will tempt even the most reluctant reader of any age to "nibble" at a new book. The book's recipes enhance the process…

Children learn to love reading by sharing quality books. Intended for children's librarians, media specialists, teachers, day care providers, and parents, this book will make it easy and fun to conduct book club meetings with little preparation time. Everything needed to start a weekly book club at school or at the library is included--detailed…

Offering over 200 ready-to-use, successful "booktalks" for librarians, teachers, and parents, this book shows how to "hook" reluctant readers onto books. The field-tested booktalks are brief "commercials" for books that give just enough information to promote reading the book, and that help match the right reader with…

This book arranges more than 900 children's books, both fiction and nonfiction, by school grade (one through six) and by difficulty level (easy, average, challenging), enabling teachers, librarians, and parents to have an extensive bibliography of interesting and worthwhile books for every child's interests and reading abilities. The book lists…