Offers brief descriptions of 25 recent outstanding books (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry written for children in grades K-12 and published in 1998) chosen for the 1999 list of Notable Books for a Global Society. Notes that these books celebrate the diversity and common bonds of humanity. (SR)

Reviews 43 recently-published collections of poetry for children that were considered by the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Committee. Groups them in terms of: evoking an image or idea; visual poetry; word play; and the voice. (SR)

Offers a profile of Ann Turner. Examines her background, her approach to writing, and to writing historical fiction. Looks at aspects of Turner's historical writing and aspects of her style. Considers if there is a place for poetic language in historical fiction for children. (SR)

Considers the reasons Advanced Placement (AP) English teachers might give for their literature selections. Suggests eight works for further reading outside the canon for AP and Honors English Teachers. Lists and gives annotations for 10 "new or overlooked" Young Adult books worth reading. (SG)

Examines print access in a comprehensive way to include home, school, and community resources. Finds that consistent with previous research, convenient access to reading material, regardless of these eleventh-grade students' reading ability, was associated with more frequent reading. Discusses implications for providing students with easier access…

Georgia's Choice/America's Choice (GC/AC) is a school reform model, which was adopted in approximately 160 schools across the state to focus on student work and achievement, to align the instructional process and to place emphasis on results. Library Media Specialists (LMSs) are important to school community's spirit of acceptance and should serve…

Reported here are the results of a research project that examined the role of UK public libraries in addressing adult literacy including approaches and issues. Eight public libraries were selected as case studies and adult literacy provision was investigated using staff interviews. The interviews provided support for the role of public libraries…

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the perceptions and experiences of one class of sixth grade students enrolled in a Title I supplemental reading class. Qualitative research methods included observations, interviews, archived data, and Miscue Analysis. I examined the data through a Vygotsky constructivist perspective to provide…

Library media specialist should be prepared to select books appropriate for each student's needs. In this article, the author suggests that when making selections for Spanish-Speaking ESL students, look for the following characteristics: (1) Choose books with simple, limited text and pictures on each page, (2) Select bilingual books with text in…

This article features some of the programs offered in the Reno conference. Two of the preconferences at Reno will focus on children's literature. Judy Freeman will talk about some of the current and future trends for books for younger readers. She will share a plethora of some of the best picture books and chapter books. Ruth Cox Clark will take…

This paper presents three consecutive studies on the effect of extensive reading on the development of reading and vocabulary for Taiwanese university non-English majors. Each study used a different approach, with subsequent studies adjusting the methodology in response to the results of the previous year. These results confirm other findings,…

My goal in this article is to discuss the empirical support for extensive reading and explore its pedagogical applications in L2/FL learning. I argue that the benefits derived from diverse studies on extensive reading in many different contexts are so compelling that it will be inconceivable for teachers not to make it an important feature of…

Nine graduate students (teacher-researchers) with an average of 6 years teaching experience (1-15 years) participated in action research to examine the influence of teacher-chosen visual aids (pictures) on children's writing. A total of 165 elementary students participated in the two phases of the research project: 83 boys and 82 girls in…

Recently the author was working with a group of elementary bilingual teachers along a remote section of the Texas/Mexico border. She had been asked to facilitate the development of their social studies curriculum for their new dual-language program. She realized that although these teachers had experience working with culturally and linguistically…

The key to improving students' attitudes about reading is to expose them to more contemporary literature--books to which they can relate in settings and themes--books that they are more likely to enjoy. This article describes a collaborative literature circles project between an English teacher and a media specialist that was extremely successful…