31 Days, 31 Lists Returns! ▬ SLJ

31 Days, 31 Lists Returns!

@FuseEight

SLJ: 11.30.2020 by Elizabeth Bird 

I am pleased to announce that in spite of COVID-19 doing its best to remove the memory of physical galleys and ARCs from our collective consciousness, I was able to work on these lists all the year. I definitely missed things. We all did! How could we not? But thanks to the efforts of my library’s 101 Great Books for Kids committee, I have a pretty good sense of the year. I’ve seen beautifully written, horribly depressing middle grade novels galore (more than usual, I think). The physical abuse of girls? Everywhere! Picture books, on the other hand, couldn’t be sunnier, though many tackled serious issues with aplomb. I don’t envy the Newbery/Caldecott/ALA YMA committees this year one smackerel. However, I bet they’ll all do a stand up and cheer job.

Starting tomorrow, here are the lists I’ll be releasing.
All 2020 titles. All good as gold.

December 1 – Great Board Books
December 2 – Board Book Reprints & Adaptations
December 3 – Transcendent Holiday Picture Books
December 4 – Picture Book Readalouds
December 5 – Rhyming Picture Books
December 6 – Funny Picture Books
December 7 – CaldeNotts
December 8 – Picture Book Reprints
December 9 – Math Books for Kids
December 10 – Bilingual Books
December 11 – Books with a Message
December 12 – Fabulous Photography
December 13 – Translated Picture Books
December 14 – Fairy Tales / Folktales / Religious Tales
December 15 – Wordless Picture Books
December 16 – Poetry Books
December 17 – Easy Books
December 18 – Early Chapter Books
December 19 – Comics & Graphic Novels
December 20 – Older Funny Books
December 21 – Science Fiction Books
December 22 – Informational Fiction
December 23 – American History
December 24 – Science & Nature Books
December 25 – Unconventional Children’s Books
December 26 – Unique Biographies
December 27 – Nonfiction Picture Books
December 28 – Nonfiction Books for Older Readers
December 29 – Older Reprints
December 30 – Middle Grade Novels
December 31 – Picture Books

#31days31lists

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders)

Picture Book Month ▬ The Secret Power of the Children’s Picture Book ▬ Book Start Fund

The Secret Power of the Children’s Picture Book

#PictureBookMonth

Book Start Fund: 11.09.2020 [ Published by WSJ, Jan 19, 2019, by Meghan Cox Gurdon ]

Millions of people—perhaps you’re one of them—have watched viral videos of a Scottish granny collapsing in laughter while she reads to a baby. Comfortable on a sofa with her grandson, Janice Clark keeps cracking up as she tries to read “The Wonky Donkey” and, in a second video recorded a few months later, “I Need a New Bum.” 

The Wonky Donkey

Her raspy burr sounds great, and she’s fun to watch, but the real genius of the scene is what’s happening to the baby. Tucked beside her, he’s totally enthralled by the book in her hands. In the second video especially, because he’s older, you can see his eyes tracking the illustrations, widening in amazement each time that she turns the page. He’s guileless, unaware of the camera. He has eyes only for the pictures in the book.

I Need A New Bum

What’s happening to that baby is both obvious and a secret marvel. A grandmother is weeping with laughter as she reads a story, and her grandson is drinking it all in—that’s obvious. The marvel is hidden inside the child’s developing brain. There, the sound of her voice, the warmth of her nearness and, crucially, the sight of illustrations that stay still and allow him to gaze at will, all have the combined eect [sic] of engaging his deep cognitive networks. Unbeknown to him and invisible to the viewer, there is connection and synchronization among the different domains of his brain: the cerebellum, the coral-shaped place at the base of the skull that’s believed to support skill refinement; the default mode network, which is involved with internally directed processes such as introspection, creativity and self-awareness; the visual imagery network, which involves higher-order visual and memory areas and is the brain’s means of seeing pictures in the mind’s eye; the semantic network, which is how the brain extracts the meaning of language; and the visual perception network, which supports the processing of visual stimuli.

And it is all happening exactly when it needs to happen, which is early. In the first year of life, an infant’s brain doubles in size. By his second birthday, synapses are forming for language and many other higher cognitive functions. And by the time he’s blowing out five candles on his birthday cake, today’s viral-video infant celebrity will have passed through stages of development involving language, emotional control, vision, hearing and habitual ways of responding.  READ MORE  ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 13

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 18-19 yrs. old

(college level entry)

4 Ways to Teach With Wordless Picture Books ▬ Middleweb

4 Ways to Teach With Wordless Picture Books

#PictureBookMonth!

Middleweb: 3.05.2018 by Megan Kelly

Picture books are no longer relegated to elementary school. Middle school teachers love them because they are accessible to all learners, are a quick way to share a text, and there is a picture book for every topic. My favorites are the books without words.

When I use wordless picture books in my classroom, I am able to push my students even further, because they are doing all the textual work. I love the freedom and the range of interpretation that these books give my kids.

There are four main ways that wordless picture books improve my teaching practice.

Improve inference skills

Inference is a reading skill that helps students comprehend texts and explore them more deeply. Wordless picture books don’t explicitly explain what is happening, so students need to pay close attention to the illustrations. In discussions, they can explain their inferences using evidence from what they’ve seen.

Reinforce vocabulary usage

Students can retell the plot of a wordless picture book, challenging themselves to include the vocabulary they are studying. To make it more challenging, students could use vocabulary lists that don’t automatically pertain to the story.

Inspire descriptive writing

Wordless picture books can jumpstart descriptive writing sessions in your class. If you have students who struggle to create ideas for their writing, the basic frame is already done. With the plot, setting, and characters already created, they can fill in the blanks with beautiful language and dialogue.

Help ELL students build language skills

There are many wordless picture books that English language learners can use to strengthen their growing skills.

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Choosing books

How do you decide which wordless picture books to use? Luckily, it takes no time to browse through the books and choose the right one for your class. Here are a few titles to start your exploration:  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

The Best Wordless Picture Books to Build Literacy & Comprehension Skills! ▬ Happily Ever Elephants

The Best Wordless Picture Books to Build Literacy & Comprehension Skills!

Happily Ever Elephants: 1.09.2020

I know.

Wordless picture books are daunting.

In fact, the first time I picked up a wordless picture book, I put it right back down.

Why?

I’m a reader and a writer. I love words. I love reading words. I love the way phrases turn into sentences which turn into paragraphs and then pages. I love word play and dialogue and figurative language. I love the way some words ignite fires in my soul, and others are so achingly beautiful they strike me right in the gut and before I know it, my heart is full and I read a particular page over and over because it feels like magic as the words dance in my head.

So a book with no words and only pictures? It totally freaked me out. 

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How to “read” Wordless Picture Books

Here are some simple tips for sharing a wordless picture book with your child:

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Wordless Picture Books are chock full of benefits for kids!

The benefits of reading wordless picture books with children cannot be understated. Don’t believe me? Check these out:

➤ When your child comments on the pictures, she begins to learn important storytelling elements. As an example, questions like “who do you see?” or “where is the little boy” introduce concepts of character and setting.

➤ Wordless picture books encourage children to make inferences, summarize what they see, and analyze illustrations for information, context, and connections.

➤ When kids “read” wordless picture books, they become aware of elements like beginnings, middles and ends as well as characters, settings and plots. Thus, they gain a keen understanding of how stories are constructed.

➤ Wordless picture books demonstrate how illustrations drive plot and often supply critical details and story elements — even if the story contains words!

➤ This unique format fosters creativity and imagination, while simultaneously enhancing reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Our Favorite Wordless Picture Books  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 7

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 11-13 yrs. old

(Sixth and Seventh graders)

Discovering Children's Books ▬ British Library

Discovering Children's Books

British Library: 2020

Explore centuries of stories, poems and illustrations with Discovering Children’s Books, a free online resource for children, teachers and book-lovers of all ages. The site explores the history and rich variety of children’s literature, drawing on inspiring material from medieval fables to contemporary picture books. 

Over 150 treasures are waiting to be found, from one-of-a-kind manuscripts to original illustrations. Collection highlights include original drafts, artworks, poems and notebooks by beloved authors and illustrators including Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, Kenneth Grahame, Judith Kerr, John Agard, Quentin Blake, Axel Scheffler, Lauren Child, Zanib Mian and Liz Pichon.

The website also provides access to some of the earliest printed works created for a young readership and an array of movable, miniature, noisy and toy books, propaganda stories, comics, poems and fairy tales.

For the writers and artists of the future, there’s a gallery of activities to spark children’s creativity and inspire their own stories, poems, illustrations and more.

The site also includes films showing illustrators at work in their studios, including Axel Scheffler’s masterclass on how to draw a Gruffalo. Plus you'll find interviews with authors and illustrators such as Quentin Blake, Julia Donaldson, Michael Rosen, Lauren Child, Andy Stanton, Zanib Mian, Joseph Coelho, Jacqueline Wilson, Viviane Schwarz and SF Said, revealing their creative processes, memories of childhood reading and tips for budding writers and artists.

Themes

Creative activities

Articles

Collection items

Videos

READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 16

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: College graduate

D

Discover the Benefits of Picture Books for Older Readers @ Children’s Library Lady

Children’s Library Lady

Discover the Benefits of Picture Books for Older Readers

Children’s Library Lady: 12.20.2019 by Kirsten

There is a perception that illustrated books are only for young children, but many authors create them for older children too. Read on to discover the literacy benefits of picture books for older readers.

Discover the Benefits of Picture Books for Older Readers

Picture Books Are Not Written to Teach Reading

I believe children of any age, including in middle and high school, enjoy exposure to picture fiction. Illustrations along with text lead to more complex analyses and reading between the lines provides opportunities for different interpretations. Exposure to picture books for older readers promotes reading for pleasure.

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Using Picture Books for Older Readers

Listening to a picture book read-aloud benefits children of all ages. They can concentrate on comprehension, inference and predicting what will happen next while someone else carries the reading load.

Share a book on an interactive whiteboard, if you can. This allows the whole class to engage with the book in their own way. Presenting the book gives each student the time to process the story along with the imagery.

Displaying the illustrations gives students time to confirm their ideas and predictions. Illustrations are a wonderful way for students of varying abilities, to engage at their own level.

As you are reading pause when appropriate to focus on plot, characters and dialogue. Pausing aids students in making connections and forming empathy for characters and their situation. Here are a few questions about character development to get you started. You can discover other prompts here.

➤ How do you know what the characters are feeling?

➤ What is the character thinking? How do you know?

➤ What is the character’s goal/mission? How will they achieve their goal?

➤ Why did the character make this choice? Could they have made a better choice?

➤ What is the character going to do next? How will their actions affect the story?

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Recommended Picture Books for Older Readers

These picture books introduce more complex themes and are wonderful discussion starters. They will appeal to children who are newly fluent readers who want a rich reading experience. Many recommendations are by authors whose other picture books are also suitable for older students.

These picture books are also great examples of picture books for middle school, or course depending on your needs.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 8

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. old

(Seventh and Eighth graders)

Take on Our Challenge: Read Across the Library ! @ LOC

Read Across 

the Library

Take on Our Challenge: Read Across the Library!

LOC Blog: 8.21.22020 by Sasha Dowdy

We are five weeks away from the 20th annual National Book Festival! If you are a parent following this blog, you are likely a fan of the Library or the festival, but how could you get your kids excited, too? We challenge you and your family to read across the Library!

The Library of Congress collects widely, and contains the largest collections of comics, maps, foreign language materials, and more in the world. Can you read a book that matches material from each of these 12 areas of the Library? Use the descriptions below and examples from past National Book Festivals as inspiration for the challenge. Or, use the challenge as a way to organize your experience at this year’s National Book Festival; representative titles are included below.

When you find the perfect book, you can use this printable book journal and “bingo”-style game board to have kids record their books and to compete or compare their challenge with siblings or friends.

Read Across the Library game board

International collections 

African & Middle Eastern

Asian

European 

Hispanic

A book about countries and cultures in these regions; a book by an author from these regions; a book translated from languages spoken in these regions: Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Central and South America.

All the Way to Havana by Mike Curato (ages 3-8)

Nya’s Long Walk by Linda Sue Park (ages 5-8)

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (ages 8-12)

When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park (ages 9-12)

2020 festival, children’s stage:

Kwame Mbalia, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (ages 8-12)

Angela Dominguez, Stella Diaz Never Gives Up (ages 6-9)

Science, Technology and Business

A book about business, farming, money, or the economy; a book about running and managing a business or farm; a book that made a lot of money! A book on STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math; a book about cooking and food.

Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World by Reshma Saujani (ages 9-16)

2020 festival, children’s stage:

Sophie Blackall, If You Come to Earth (picture book, ages 5-8).

Jon Scieska & Steven Weinberg,

AstroNuts Mission 2: The Water Planet (ages 8-12)

Tonya Bolden, Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 13

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 18-19 yrs. old

(college level entry)

Alphabet City @ Summer Learning Tips to Go !

Summer Learning Tips to Go !

Start With A Book: August 2020

Sample tips

Here are examples of the kinds of tips and activity ideas you'll receive though our text messaging service.

Alphabet city

On a walk together, look for the shapes of letters in the buildings all around you. More ideas: Builders and Buildings

Ciudad del alfabeto

Den un paseo juntos y busquen figuras de letras en los edificios a su alrededor. Más ideas: Builders and Buildings

Mapmaker

After reading a favorite book, have your child draw a map of the book's setting. More ideas: Map Making

Cartógrafo

Después de leer un libro favorito, ponga a su niño a dibujar un mapa de la configuración del libro. Más ideas: Map Making

Nature scavenger hunt

Make a list of things to find outside (such as an acorn, stone, or feather). Give your child the list and let the hunt begin! More ideas: Outdoor Explorations

Casería de la naturaleza

Dele al niño una lista de cosas para buscar afuera (bellota, piedra, pluma) y ¡qué comience la cacería! Más ideas: Outdoor Explorations

Be sure to come back in May to sign up for another summer season of learning tips in English or Spanish, delivered by text message!  READ MORE ➤➤

Alphabet City - Stephen Johnson

Best Children's Books

Alphabet City is a wordless tour of NYC, with each photo-realistic illustration depicting a different letter of the alphabet. Kids will delight in finding letters depicted in ordinary street objects like a Z in a fire escape or a P in a subway handrail.

Johnson's stunning illustrations are so photo-realistic you'll have to continually remind yourself that they are paintings, not photographs! While most letters are immediately apparent in the illustration, other letters are less obvious. However, since the book is in abc order, the reader knows what to look for an the shape pops out fairly quickly.  READ MORE ➤➤

Alphabet City

Grafik: 7.21.2014

The Big Letter Hunt is the first book by a new indie publishing house in London, Tower Block Books. Living up to it's name, the book is a visual tour of east London architecture, picking out letter-shapes in the fabric, facades and structural features of buildings.

Graphic designer Amandine Alessandra and architect Rute Nieto Ferreira conceived the project in response to their children's burgeoning interest in the alphabet, which led to a game spotting letter shapes in the buildings on a favourite walk on the Regent's Canal.  READ MORE ➤➤

Kickstart Your Creativity With An A - Z Photo Project Today

ePHOTOzine: 8.12.2020

Bring the alphabet to life in an interesting and challenging photoshoot than can last a few hours, a whole day or how about an entire year?

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A Twist On The Theme

The other thing that you could try with this theme is an A - Z of photography styles. B for Black and White, S for sepia, etc. This is probably suited to more experienced photographers who know more terminology, though.

Another more fun thing you can try is getting a group of friends to pose as all the letters of the alphabet or as mentioned above, capture objects that begin with each letter of the alphabet. If you've already tried an alphabet project why not take on a number challenge instead?  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 8

Reading Level: fairly easy to read.

Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. old

(Seventh and Eighth graders)