In today's developing view of education, a disquieting trend looms--the erosion of students' right to choose what they read. This erosion, fueled by an alarming surge in censorship attempts, casts a shadow over the very essence of intellectual exploration. Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented number of challenges aimed at restricting…

Updated to include the 2012 award and honor books, this new edition of the annual guide to the Newbery and Caldecott awards gathers together the books deemed most distinguished in American children's literature and illustration since the inception of the renowned prizes. Librarians and teachers everywhere rely on this guidebook for quick reference…

Updated to include the 2011 award and honor books, this new edition of the annual guide to the Newbery and Caldecott awards gathers together the books deemed most distinguished in American children's literature and illustration since the inception of the renowned prizes. Librarians and teachers everywhere rely on this guidebook for quick reference…

This paper examines the usefulness of poetry book prizes as a selection tool by evaluating their fairness, meaningfulness, and reliability as an indication of quality. The results of two surveys, one collecting data on poetry book prizes and the other asking librarians about their collecting practices, suggest that selecting on the basis of prizes…

Audiobooks are excellent tools to help students build literacy skills as well as improve listening, writing, and vocabulary competencies. In many shared or independent reading situations, audiobooks offer support to reluctant and struggling readers, special-needs students, and English-language learners. They are also embraced by voracious readers.…

A school librarian and book reviewer argues that buyers, reviewers, editors, and publishers need to look more carefully at series books. Discusses series and reviewing tools and ways reviewers can help colleagues make the best choices for students. Recommends two social studies series, and suggests questions to ask when buying series books. (PEN)

This book provides a straightforward approach to finding and recommending good novels based on what sparks a reader's interest. With emphasis on award-winning fiction, the guide features more than 500 novels published between 1990 and 2001. This companion title uses the same easy-access organization used in the original "Now Read This: A Guide to…

Since 1959 the Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) Outstanding Books for the College Bound committees have debated and selected both classic and contemporary book titles for recommended reading lists of books for young adults who are planning to continue their education beyond high school. This book presents their cumulative…

This book focuses on the selection of books in an elementary school and on the resources designed to help in that process. Resources that support other aspects of collection development are identified, along with a number of established surveys of children's literature that discuss specific titles. The following chapters are included: (1)…

Noting that research indicating Newbery Medal books are not popular with elementary students in spite of their unquestioned superiority in plot, characterization, and style, a study examined the readability level of Newbery Medal winners from 1974 to 1986. Three readability formulas were used to assess readability: Gunning's Fog Index, Fry…

An examination of how well the Canadian public library is meeting the needs of the serious reader interested in self education, as compared to new and secondhand book stores and academic libraries, found that the public library is the most important and effective agency in providing materials for this group. (CLB)

This collection development aid lists more than 10,000 titles of children's materials available in a variety of formats (in addition to print materials, the guide also includes sound recordings, video cassettes, microcomputer software programs, CD-ROM products, and videodiscs). This 20th anniversary edition contains several special features,…

This study identified distinguished children's books read by students attending two elementary schools in Honolulu, Hawaii, and analyzed the effect of reading ability on children's choice of reading material. Average reading scores on the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) were above the norm for students attending one school and at or below the norm…

Offering over 200 ready-to-use, successful "booktalks" for librarians, teachers, and parents, this book shows how to "hook" reluctant readers onto books. The field-tested booktalks are brief "commercials" for books that give just enough information to promote reading the book, and that help match the right reader with…

The importance of reading in the lives of children demands that teachers, librarians, and parents give careful attention to the selection of books from which children may make their choices. The purpose of this bibliography is to acquaint adults and children with the wide range of interesting subjects and readable styles of literature which are…