Including books that might not be discovered or fully appreciated by children without introduction by a knowledgeable adult, this book presents annotations of more than 150 trade books appropriate for children and adolescents, complete with teachers' suggestions for curriculum use. Entries in the book are grouped into primary (K-2), intermediate…

Suggesting that the vital element nonfiction lacks is professional attention, this book shows the literary qualities of nonfiction as well as defining its importance for young adults. The book discusses seven issues related to information books, each issue making up a single chapter. The first chapter addresses the reading interests of teenagers,…

Educators have a particular interest in multicultural education and the use of literature as an avenue for the exploration and celebration of diversity within Canada. There is a need to understand the interdependence of all people in a global culture and an urgent need for peace and understanding. Five works of children's literature "Very…

The Girls' Books in Series collection at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Jackson Library contains over 1850 volumes, with publication dates ranging from the mid-1800s to the 1980s. The library's list currently contains approximately 511 different series. The library owns all the titles for 85 of the series. For 167 of the series,…

This paper describes the use of unbiased Native American stories as part of a multicultural perspective in elementary schools. The inclusion of a multicultural perspective will help teach social acceptance rather than separation. Emphasis is placed on developing an antibias curriculum using books from a Native point of view. Well-intentioned…

This short guide, intended for parents, offers 10 suggestions from "Becoming a Nation of Readers," the Report of the National Commission on Reading, along with specific ideas to help children become better readers: (1) help children acquire a wide range of knowledge; (2) talk with children about their experiences; (3) encourage children…

This book is a final report of the Center for the Learning and Teaching of Literature, which was established in 1987 with 3 years of funding to conduct research that would lead to improvements in the learning and teaching of literature, particularly in the middle grades. The report focuses on critical findings in each of the Center's major…

The national problem of literacy has both a basic skills dimension and a general knowledge dimension ("cultural literacy"). Accordingly, since previous research has demonstrated that high-volume reading produces measurable improvement in both dimensions, an "action literacy" project constructed eight reading lists (770 titles)…

Homophobia is accepted and encouraged by society, particularly in the sterile world of academia which allows, promotes, and creates homophobia by not providing lesbian/gay specific texts, examples, assignments, and role models. Composition teachers can make the classroom a safer place for lesbian/gay students, teachers, texts, and issues by: (1)…

For a number of years, charges have flown back and forth about the presence or absence of a literary canon in the secondary schools. A review of surveys, done over the past century, of the literary works teachers say they have assigned their students, shows that only four authors from the 1907 list are present on the 1990 list. There does not seem…

At a workshop exploring practical methods that elementary and secondary teachers may use to analyze texts, three parallel texts were subjected to three forms of analysis: subjective analysis, examination of cohesive ties, and linguistic analysis of selected text variables such as word and sentence length. The subjective ranking of the passages'…

In order to help teachers identify works of literature that will remain vibrant parts of their students' lives and give them new insights into themselves, their friends, and their enemies, this journal contains articles suggesting works that the authors found most meaningful to themselves. Titles and authors are as follows: (1) "'April Morning':…

This document encourages parents to find greater enjoyment in using the children's library and to become reading partners with their children. The pamphlet suggests ways for parents and children to use the library creatively to explore wordless story books. A list of 25 suggested wordless picture books is included. (RS)

A series of nine booklets was developed to help members of textbook adoption committees, teacher educators, inservice leaders, and policymakers gather information, develop evaluation guidelines, and organize their findings as they select new reading programs and evaluate existing ones. Each booklet focuses on a specific aspect of instruction.…

Given the vulnerability of the language arts to "back to basics" pressures, it is wise to consider the purposes that literature serves for young readers. Children read for a variety of reasons, including to escape, to understand themselves and others, and to learn about other times, places, and peoples. Characteristics of excellence to look for…