Right Book, Right Time

Not sure if your 6 year-old is ready to tackle reading Harry Potter?  Finding the right book at the right time can be a challenge for the parents of eager young readers.  Janice N. Harrington, an associate professor of English Literature at the University of Illinois, has some interesting insights on this dilemma in her online article posted on nytimes.com.  Click on the link below for some helpful advice. 

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/12/26/what-books-are-just-right-for-the-young-reader/right-book-right-time-right-child

The Children's Room staff is happy to help you find the right book for your child.  We read widely,  and we have a plethora of book lists and other tools that we can use to help you identify the books that meet your child's interests and are developmentally appropriate.

Family Time

School’s out and it’s time for family, friends, and fun.  We blogged before about reading aloud, but there are lots of possibilities for taking a quick “book break.” Consider some of these:

• Joke books – just be prepared to hear the same joke again & again!
• Folk & fairy tales – we have a large collection, including variations of tradition tales – consider versions of Cinderella from Persia, Korea, Egypt, Mexico, and more – there’s even a Cinderella Skeleton!
• Anthologies of short stories – in addition to folk and fairy tales, consider Encyclopedia Brown (short mysteries) or any of the “Guys Read” series by Jon Scieszka.
• Poetry – I recall loving the story and the rhythm of Longfellow’s “Hiawatha”. We have a tremendous variety of poetry books, including some “concrete poems”.
• Non-fiction- look for trivia books, or any of the incredibly detailed and beautifully illustrated DK books on a huge range of subjects, including history, animals and science (Robots! Weather!)

What kinds of books do you like to share with your family?

"Old" Favorites for Christmas

Perhaps no other time in our calendar is so tied to tradition and nostalgia as Christmas.  Re-reading and re-viewing favorites of the season is part of baking cookies and putting up the tree.  Christmas is really not Christmas for me until I read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.  Published in 1972, this funny, warm, charming, and ultimately very moving account of a family caught up in the annual staging of Jesus' birth never fails to put me in the Christmas spirit.  It also makes a great read-aloud for all ages.  Even if the book is not technically an oldie, I am also drawn to Christmas stories of times past.  Here are some recent books you might consider adding to your Christmas repertoire.

Visit 1930s Maine

     

Visit a rustic time past

Visit NYC in the 1800s



Stories With Santa!

Thank you to all those who joined us for Stories With Santa. Click here to view the album of pictures from the event. Enjoy your photo and have a happy holiday!

New Audiobooks!

Audiobooks are a great way for children and families to experience literature. Listening to books can help children understand story structure and develop a fondness for reading. In a practical sense, audiobooks can be a great source of entertainment while you're in the car with your kids--whether you're running errands around town or heading to Grandma's house in Michigan. To highlight new additions to our audiobook collection, we're now shelving new audiobooks with new print chapter books. Check out these recent additions to our collection--and happy listening!