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No, really, let kids choose what they read
In case you need something to tide you over while you wait for your copy of Reading Unbound to arrive, here are some more quotes about why we need to let kids choose what they read. We want to help our students fall in love with books in ways that foster a life-long devotion to […]
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Why Kids Need to Read What They Want
In the most recent edition of Cover to Cover by K.T. Horning, there are no early childhood, middle grade, or ya distinctions in books for children. Encompassing fiction and nonfiction, the breakdown is: Picture books (including board books) Readers/Beginning Readers/Easy Readers Transitional books Chapter books That’s it. We have those formats, and within those formats, every genre is […]
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Stuck in the Middle With You
I don’t like the term middle grade, even though I love a lot of books that fall under that umbrella. Middle grade books are not for middle schoolers, but the confusing terminology flummoxes a lot of teachers and parents. If you’re also unclear, here’s the breakdown: Middle grade= a publishing classification; literature for 8-12 year olds. […]
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Wolf Hollow review
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk Cross The Bad Seed with To Kill A Mockingbird and add a dash of Night of the Hunter, King Lear (“I would fain learn to lie,” says the Fool), and Rebecca (the first line of this book is just as haunting as “Last night I dreamt of Manderly again”), and […]
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Wondrous Pitiful
My story being done She gave me for my pains a world of sighs. She swore, in faith, ’twas strange, ’twas passing strange, ‘Twas pitiful, ’twas wondrous pitiful. – Othello, Act 1, Scene 3 The stories of Othello’s youth moved Desdemona to love; they intrigued her, inspired her, incited her to action and emotion. The […]
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How Much Can A Picture Book Do?
update 01/17/16: Scholastic is no longer distributing this title. The picture book, as a form, has been around for years, and has contributed to literature some of its most stunning masterpieces, in terms of both text and illustration. No one can dare deny the genius of Sendak, Kraus, Keats, Williams, or Raschka. The picture book […]
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This Little Light of Mine
Not too long ago there was a discussion in the Storytime Underground Facebook group about whether or not to read the book This Little Light of Mine in storytime. This post isn’t about that, though; the discussion was civil, people made their cases, people made decisions based on their best judgment and what worked for them. […]
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Look Like A Librarian
No, this is not a post about wardrobe or anything like that. Just so you know. I also started writing it two years ago. I took the train to work today because my car will not start thanks to the polar vortex. As I was heading to the exit as my stop approached, a young […]
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Every Action Has an Equal, Opposite Reaction
In my post Where Do The Teens Go? I posited a Youth Services Department which is formed around a core staff of four two-person teams. Ideally they would all be full time, but that might vary depending on the size of your community and the number of schools you serve. Certainly some of the positions […]
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Where Do The Teens Go?
Where do the teens go? (saxophone solo) Where do the teens go? I’ve long had a belief that service and programs in the public library, especially Youth Services (if you define Youth Services as 0-18), is a conveyor belt of sorts. We start with children in lapsit storytime, and our ultimate goal should be to create […]
Hi, Miss Julie
EDI, Leadership, & Storytime
Hi, Miss Julie 