This piece explores the instructional possibilities of picturebooks in middle grade classrooms, illustrating the central tenets of how to effectively introduce these resources to middle grade students. Through today's multiplicity of illustrated texts, students can discover the finest uses of language, as well as encounter images that inform,…

Presents an annotated bibliography of 22 works of children's literature that do not fall easily into thematic categories but which are worth reading nonetheless. (RS)

Presents annotations of 26 picture books and chapter books that expose readers to a range of characters and a range of techniques used by authors to develop characters. (RS)

Offers brief annotations of 26 picture books and chapter books that all deal with special relationships between and among people, or connecting people to nature and/or animals. (SR)

Presents brief annotations of 19 children's picture books and 9 chapter books considered by the authors to be too wonderful to miss. (SR)

Reviews and annotates 24 children's trade books which have a great deal in common with stories from the oral tradition. Divides the books into categories for younger and older readers. (MG)

Presents annotations of two groups of children's books that celebrate 1 or more art form: 15 picture books or chapter books that reveal the way in which an art form impacts and enriches the lives of characters; and 8 nonfiction and narrative nonfiction works that provide information about an art form or about the lives of artists. (RS)

Presents brief annotations of 14 children's books that take readers beyond their own boundaries to explore other times and other places. (SR)

Provides annotations of 35 easy-to-read picture books, informational books, easy-to-read chapter books, and poetry collections that serve as bridges from one type of reading to another. (RS)

Offers brief annotations of 23 children's books in which characters read, talk about their reading, or in which the act of reading is important to the story line. (SR)

Offers descriptions and annotations of 23 children's books that tend to move students' talk in different directions. (SR)

Presents annotations of 26 picture books and chapter books in a number of different formats/genres that impart information but are not necessarily nonfiction. (RS)

Shares responses from Violet Harris, Kathy Short, and Yetta Goodman on three questions related to the issue of multicultural tradebooks. Reviews and annotates 18 multicultural tradebooks representing 5 different cultures. (MG)

Presents brief annotations of 25 children's books that focus on heroes and heroines: ancient, traditional, and modern; real-life and fictional; and prominent and not prominent. (SR)

Highlights 27 books that invite children to write. Organizes them into four types: the predictable story, stories that reflect significant childhood experiences, stories with novel structure or content, and open-ended stories. (SR)