uncommonbooks (pdf of slide show)November 1st, ISLMA Conference 2013, Springfield, IL

Hi ISLMA friends! I’ll be updating this post during the upcoming week, adding annotations and the new resources I added for the second chance presentation. Thanks so much for coming, and if there’s anything you’d like to add please leave a comment!

Here is my list of resources from my presentation for ISLMA. Annotations in quotes taken directly from the website of the resource.

This post is updated as of 11/8/2013. It will be a living document and be revised as further resources are found.

ALA

The ALA award and booklists are a natural place to start. Here’s a handy run down of all the lists and awards.

YALSA

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/great-graphic-novels
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/outstanding-books-college-bound
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/popular-paperbacks-young-adults
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/quick-picks-reluctant-young-adult-readers
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/readers-choice
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/fabulous-films
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/best-fiction-young-adults
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/amazing-audiobooks

ALSC

http://www.ala.org/alsc/booklists
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia
http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/ (Newbery and Caldecott Challenges)

Other Book Awards

Cybils
http://www.cybils.com/
The Cybils are given out by book bloggers, whose ranks include teachers, librarians, authors, and voracious readers. Awards are given in many categories, including book apps, speculative fiction, beginning chapter books, poetry, and nonfiction. “The Cybils awards are given each year by bloggers for the year’s best children’s and young adult titles.”

Eisner Awards
http://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisners-current-info
The Eisner awards are considered the “oscars” of comic books.

Science Fiction Awards

I’m a big proponent of using science fiction and fantasy as a way to ease into having kids read books with more “text complexity.” The world building, vocabulary, and themes inherent in most speculative fiction make an easy argument for complexity. Plus, the genres can have a lot of reader appeal (seeing as the dystopian and paranormal subgenres are part of speculative fiction).

The Hugo Awards
http://www.thehugoawards.org
The Hugo Awards are a set of awards given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year.

Mythopoeic Society
http://www.mythsoc.org
“The Mythopoeic Society is a national/international organization promoting the study, discussion, and enjoyment of fantastic and mythopoeic literature through books and periodicals, annual conferences, discussion groups, awards, and more.”

The Nebula Awards
http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/
“The Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy is an annual award presented by theScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to the author of the best young adult or middle grade science fiction or fantasy book published in the United States in the preceding year.”

Multicultural Awards

You can’t deny that we live in a global society, and kids need books that act as windows into this wider world. Being aware of what other countries consider to be excellent examples of children’s literature is one way to do this; seeking out awards for specific cultures is another.

Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals
http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/home/
“The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are the UK’s oldest and most prestigious children’s book awards. Often described by authors and illustrators as ‘the one they want to win’ – they are the gold standard in children’s literature.” Essentially Britain’s Caldecott and Newbery.

International Board on Books for Young People
Hans Christian Andersen Awards
http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=273
“Every other year IBBY presents the Hans Christian Andersen Awards to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children’s literature.”
IBBY Honor list
http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=270

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
http://www.bookcentre.ca/awards/td_canadian_childrens_literature_award
“On October 28, 2004 the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and the TD Bank Group announced the establishment of a brand-new annual, children’s book award, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award for the most distinguished book of the year. “Distinguished” is defined as marked by conspicuous excellence and/or eminence, individually distinct and noted for significant achievement with excellence in quality.”

Tomás Rivera Book Award
http://riverabookaward.org/book-award-winners/
http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/tomas-rivera-award
“Texas State University College of Education developed the Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award to honor authors and illustrators who create literature that depicts the Mexican American experience.  The award was established in 1995 and was named in honor of Dr. Tomas Rivera, a distinguished alumnus of Texas State University.”

Bibliographies and Databases

The Center for Children’s Books
http://ccb.lis.illinois.edu
“The Center for Children’s Books (CCB) at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) is a crossroads for critical inquiry, professional training, and educational outreach related to youth-focused resources, literature and librarianship. The Center’s mission is to facilitate the creation and dissemination of exemplary and progressive research and scholarship related to all aspects of children’s and young adult literature; media and resources for young (age 0-18) audiences; and youth services librarianship.”

• Bibliographies http://ccb.lis.illinois.edu/bibliographies.html
• The Bulletin of the Center of Children’s Books http://bccb.lis.illinois.edu
• Resources for Storytellers http://ccb.lis.illinois.edu/resources/storytellers.html
• Reader’s Advisory http://ccb.lis.illinois.edu/resources/readersadvisory.html
• Research Centers and Special Collections http://ccb.lis.illinois.edu/resources/centers.html

Cooperative Children’s Book Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/default.asp
“Cooperative Children’s Book Center is a unique and vital gathering place for books, ideas, and expertise in the field of children’s and young adult literature.”

Picture Book Month
http://picturebookmonth.com
http://picturebookmonth.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Picture-Book-MonthTeachers-Guide.pdf
Picture Book Month is an international literacy initiative that celebrates the print picture book during the month of November.

Picture Book Database
http://www.picturebookdatabase.com
“Anyone who loves picture books … authors, illustrators, public librarians, media specialists, educators, researchers, students, and parents. The database eliminates the need to consult multiple resources and helps readers find picture books that best suit their needs.”

Reading Rockets
http://www.readingrockets.org
“Reading Rockets is a national multimedia literacy initiative offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.”

Text Types

One of the elements of the Common Core State Standards is the different text types children will be required to read, including fairy tales and folk tales, myths, drama, poetry, and technical writing. These are some of my favorite sources for a wide variety of text types that have kid appeal.

Best American Series
http://www.hmhbooks.com/hmh/site/bas
“The Best American Series is an annually-published collection of books, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, each of which features a different genre or theme. Each book selects from works published in North America during the previous year, selected by a guest editor who is an established writer within the given field.”

Sur La Lune Fairytales
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com
“SurLaLune Fairy Tales features 49 annotated fairy tales, including their histories, similar tales across cultures, modern interpretations and over 1,500 illustrations. Also discover over 1,600 folktales & fairy tales from around the world in more than 40 full-text eBooks. Read the SurLaLune Blog where daily postings discuss fairy tales in popular culture and academia and more.”

Bloggers

Bookshelves of Doom
http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com
Leila reviews a lot of speculative fiction, and also reviews for Kirkus.

Shakespeare Teacher
http://www.shakespeareteacher.com/blog/
“This blog isn’t exclusively about Shakespeare. Instead, it is approached with the philosophy that a love of Shakespeare is only the beginning of a life of examination and discovery. This is a blog that documents that journey, and tries to have some fun along the way. The title, I think, has more to do with the author than with the intended audience at the moment.

I am involved with a variety of professional activities in the broad field of teacher education. I only occasionally teach Shakespeare, but that’s where my background and passions lie, and the name Shakespeare Teacher makes sense to those who know me.”

Stacked Books
http://www.stackedbooks.org
One of the most comprehensive book review sites for YA literature. Great booklists, great information about the publishing industry, and thorough reviews– great to turn to when you need the full scoop but don’t have time to read the entire book yourself.

Audio & Visual Resources

Lit2Go
http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/
“Lit2Go is a free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format. An abstract, citation, playing time, and word count are given for each of the passages. Many of the passages also have a related reading strategy identified. Each reading passage can also be downloaded as a PDF and printed for use as a read-along or as supplemental reading material for your classroom.”

L.A. Theatre Works
http://www.latw.org/
“L.A. Theatre Works is a non-profit media arts organization based in Los Angeles whose mission for over 25 years has been to present, preserve and disseminate classic and contemporary plays.

Our unique hybrid form of audio theatre and innovative use of technology in the production and dissemination of theatre keeps this venerable art form thriving, assuring wide and affordable access.”

National Theater Live
http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/
“National Theatre Live is the National Theatre’s groundbreaking project to broadcast the best of British theatre live from the London stage to cinemas across the UK and around the world.”

Digital Theater
http://www.digitaltheatre.com/
“Digital Theatre works in partnership with Britain’s leading theatre companies to capture live performance authentically onscreen. With our unique methods we bring online a library of diverse and acclaimed productions from some of the finest theatre talent around. Each production is available to rent online for a limited period or downloaded to your desktop and enjoyed as many times as you wish.”