September 2005
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Upcoming Events for Children's Librarians
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Upcoming Events for Children's Librarians
BayNews needs you! BayNews welcomes any articles, news, ideas on storytime or programs, etc. Just send any articles as a Word attachment to email, to Penny Peck at Pikly@aol.com. Thanks!
Tips on completing ISBN information
Remember to check for, and include, prices and ISBN #s for any trade, library binding, or paperback editions of the book you're reviewing. Resources you can use to locate this information include BWI Titletales or Books in Print online. If your library doesn't subscribe to these or you're not currently working in a library, you might try Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com...or call your local library desk! With the book in hand, you can usually find the ISBN on the back cover, and the price on the inside front flap. The ISBN is usually also on the t.p. verso (the back of the title page), along with ISBNs for other available editions. Please do always check another source, however, to make sure you have complete and accurate information. The few minutes you take to do this saves your colleagues from repeating the work, and ensures that BayViews remains on par with other professional reviewing sources! -- From the Editors
Louise Rennison readalikes:
Middle and high school girls (and a few boys) have been big fans of Louise Rennison’s diary series that began with Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging (Harper, 2000). Here is a compilation posted to the PUBYAC listserv by Stacie Barron, a librarian in Louisiana, of books that are similar in format and style to Rennison’s “Georgia Nicolson” series:
I Love You, I Hate You, Get Lost by Ellen Conford
Pulling Princes by Tyne O'Connell
Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchette
Beacon Street Girls Series by Annie Bryant
Trust or Dare Series by Cathy Hopkins
Mates, Dates, and.... series by Katie Maxwell
Alice Books by Susan Juby
Girl, 15, Charming but Insane by Sue Limb
Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech
Cartherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty
Vegan, Virgin, Valentine by Carolyn Mackler
How My Private Personal Journal Became a Bestseller by Julia Devillers
My Scrumptious Scottish Dumplings by Cherry Whytock
The life of Angelica Cooksen Potts by Cherry Whytock
Planet Janet by Dyan Sheldon
Bras and Broomsticks by Sarah Mlynowski
Crush by Ellen Conford
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
Without a Doubt by Robin Jones Gunn
Goodbye to All That by Jeannette Hanscome
Opportunity Knocks Twice - Lissa Halls Johnson
The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart
Just Like That by Marsha Qualey
If We Kiss by Rachel Vail
Sandpiper by Ellen Wittlinger
Contents Under Pressure by Lara M. Zeises
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubow
The AuPairs Series by Melissa de la Cruz
Girls in Love by Jacqueline Wilson
What my Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
Princess Diary Series by Meg Cabot
Truth or Diary by Catherine Clark
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn
Gossip Girls Series by Cecily Von Ziegesar
Owl in Love by Patrice Kindl
The True Meaning of Cleavage by Mariah Fredricks
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
Who am I Without Him? by Sharon Flake
Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
Snail Mail No More by Paula Danziger
Ttyl by Lauren Myracle
The Year My Life Went Down the Loo by Katie Maxwell
Harley, Like a Person by Cat Bauer
Bloomability by Sharon Creech
True Confessions of a Heartless Girl by Martha Brooks
Diary of a Teenage Girl by Melody Carson
The Mediator Series by Jenny Carroll
A-list series by Zoey Dean
Daughters of the Moon by Lynne Ewing
Confessions of a Not It Girl by Melissa Kantor
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty
Weeds in Bloom; Autogbiography of an Ordinary Man by Robert Newton Peck New York , Random House, 2005. 210 pp. 0-375-82801-x / $15.95
Robert Newton Peck’s autobiography is a carefully staged introduction to selected places and people in his life. Anyone reading it for insights into the man himself will be sorely disappointed. Those who have read his books will find the originals of some familiar characters, e.g. Luther Vinson, aka “Soup” from the eponymous children’s series. The audience for this work is adult, not because of anything unsuitable for young readers, but because there is little in it of interest to anyone not familiar with a wide swath of Peck’s works. Written in taut, conversational prose, he seems to claim kinship with the rural and largely uneducated acquaintances he celebrates by the conceit of dropping the final “ly” from such words as “actually”, “particularly”, “possibly”. While many of the scenes and characters Peck describes are colorful, there is a sameness to the presentations that serves to emphasize the lack of texture to the characterizations and the banality of his nostalgic conclusions.
Elizabeth Overmyer, Berkeley PL
SPECIAL EDITIONS
Various. Farm Tales: A Little Golden Book Collection. Random House, 2005. $14.95, ISBN 0-375-83190-8.
The third such compilation released this year, Farm Tales gathers a dozen Little Golden Books into one gold-edged volume. The two previous compilations, released earlier this year, are Sleepytime Tales and Animal Tales. The collections reproduce the books page for page will all the text and artwork. There is no introduction or note on the authors or illustrators, or how Little Golden Books were produced; this is for parents and grandparents to buy for their kids.
Many of the authors and illustrators were noted contributors to children’s books. Nearly all of these were originally published in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, only The Boy With The Drum came out in 1969. Written by David L. Harrison, it was illustrated with dramatic colored pencil artwork by Eloise Wilkin. It looks a lot different than the others, which have more of a retro 1950’s look.
One great addition is the sweetly funny Mrs. Mooley, written and illustrated with joyous cartoon art by Jack Kent. About a cow who practices so she can jump over the moon, this would be popular if re-released as an individual picture book.
Two stories feature illustrations by J.P. Miller: A Day on the Farm and The Little Red Hen. Both were done in a style similar to that of Mary Blair, a longtime Disney animator who did several Little Golden Books. These two entries will be popular with kids.
More dated entries include Two Little Gardeners by Margaret Wise Brown and Edith Thacher Hurd, will illustrations by Gertrude Elliot. The artwork looks like an update of Kate Greenaway, but the story is bland. Considering it came from two of the best picture book writers of that era, it was disappointing. Two that are more successful but still seem dated are The Cow Went Over the Mountain and A Name for Kitty, both illustrated by Caldecott winner Feodor Rojankovsky.
More successful is The Animals of Farmer Jones by Richard Scarry. With a repetitive text and a theme similar to Eve Rice’s Sam Who Never Forgets, the animal noises and story will please even young preschoolers. Garth Williams, known for his picture books as well as his illustrations for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” series and the books by E.B. White, has contributed Baby Farm Animals, which names baby animals: “Baby goats are called kids...” The Fuzzy Duckling, who is separated from her family. was illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen.
Will libraries want these to circulate? Probably not unless they have a special interest in Little Golden Books. These seem better suited to Grandma’s bookshelf, to read to the kids when they are visiting. I’m waiting for a collection of old Little Golden Books based on old movies and TV shows; I still have my “Maverick” Little Golden Book with James Garner on the cover!
GETTING STARTED WITH LEVELED READING
By Anita Delany, Palo Alto Public Library
What are benchmark books?
Benchmark books are assessment tools in a guided reading program. The child is given a book he or she has never seen (a benchmark book) and asked to begin reading. The teacher records the child’s reading behavior. If a child is able to read with 95% accuracy and respond well to a series of comprehension questions, he or she can progress to the next reading level.
What does 95% accuracy mean?
Each person has 3 reading levels. They are the recreational reading level, instructional level, and the frustration level. Percentages are given to indicate the placement of the child at the different levels. The recreational level is reading with 95-100% accuracy. The instructional level is reading with 90-94% accuracy. While the frustration level is reading with 89% or less accuracy.
How do I find leveled books at the library?
Different reading programs use various letter and number systems. Many leveled books that are used in schools are written especially for a particular reading series. These books are not trade books and would more than likely not be found at the public library. Most books appropriate for a beginning reader will be found in the reader (or easy reader) section of the public library.
What are the characteristics of the different stages of reading?
(The letters are Scholastic’s leveling system and the numbers are Reading Recovery’s leveling system):
Emerging Reader (levels 1, 2, A)
*Understands basic concepts of print (including direction of the text and the concept of a word)
*Knows some letter sounds and names
*Recognizes some familiar words in other contexts
*Can do word-to-word matching
*Reads books with very brief captions that describe familiar objects or events and are supported by strong illustrations
*Understands the concept of story
*Books may have 10 words or less per page
[Example: Kelli Foster’s A Mop for Pop.]
Beginning Reader (levels 3-6, B)
*Knows small number of words by sight
*Can name most letters and sounds
*Relies on picture clues, rhyme, repetition, familiar words, and knowledge of beginning sounds to read
*Reads books that tend toward a story line with one or two lines of text on a page
*Often reads word by word
*Finger points
*Books may have 15 words or less per page
[Example: P.D. Eastman’s Go, Dog, Go!]
Developing Reader (levels 7-16, C)
*Often knows a large core of words by sight
*Reads books with brief stories that have a beginning, middle, and end
*Uses a variety of strategies including phonetic clues, picture clues, and sentence sense (sounds right) clues
*Reads silently for brief periods, be verbalizes when reading is difficult
*Shows independence and confidence with familiar or predictable books
[Example: Else Minarik’s Little Bear.]
Expanding Reader (levels 17-20, D)
*Reads early reader books with longer stories
*Relies on print more than illustrations
*Uses multiple reading strategies
*Frequently self-corrects when reading aloud
*Reads silently for 15 or 20 minutes
[Example: Marjorie Sharmat’s Nate the Great.]
Moderately Fluent Reader (level E)
*Reads beginning chapter books
*Shows independence, but still may need support with unfamiliar materials and genres
*Is beginning to draw inferences from stories in order to comprehend the message
*Pays attention to punctuation and dialogue when reading aloud
*Reads silently for longer periods of time
[Example: Ann Cameron’s Stories Julian Tells.]
Fluent Reader (level F)
*Reads a greater variety of longer, and more complex, books and materials
*Reads books with smaller print and fewer illustrations that tend to enhance, rather than contribute to, the meaning
*Reads and understands most new words but may need support when dealing with unfamiliar concepts
*Reads silently for extended periods
[Example: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods.]
Advanced Reader (level G)
*Reads most children’s chapter books
*Chooses novels and series of favorite authors
*Uses reference books independently
*Identified and discusses literary elements (plot, setting, character) but may need support to interpret themes and character development
[Example: Jane Yolen’s Dragon’s Blood.]
This continuum is based on Scholastic’s Ready-to-Use: Primary Reading Assessment Kit. Scholastic adapted the continuum from various sources, including The Primary Language Record by Myra Barnes, et al (Heinemann, 1988).