This report shares the findings from a nineteen-month study of The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. Piloted in early 2006 and launched nationwide later that year, The Big…

This article describes an approach to developing student reading materials that support middle school learners in a project-based, inquiry curriculum for grades 6 through 8. Reading materials are designed to encourage sense making beyond the classroom, as students read and write about science as it takes place in a classroom and as it occurs in…

The author identified books most often selected among a sample of economically disadvantaged Black 8- to 12-year-old participants (N = 293) and investigated reasons participants offered for choosing specific books. Participants self-selected books at a book fair providing 412 books. The most commonly selected books supplied descriptive data.…

Reading aloud is an accepted and effective practice in early childhood settings, often taking place several times a day. Research has shown that reading aloud children's literature facilitates literacy development in young children and promotes a love of books and reading. In fact, many children begin to learn to read through their responses to…

Academic inquiry has focused recently on how to create caring classrooms and school communities--that is, classrooms and school communities that encourage children to continue to develop caring feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, or to feel, think, and practice them anew. After reviewing research on caring and attachment, this article discusses how…

Book challenges have become more and more frequent in recent years. In particular, those books that address issues most relevant to preteens and teenagers seem to be the object of many challenges. Many of the hundreds of challenged works represent literary classics and high-quality writing for young audiences. Teachers, administrators and other…

A family reading night is the ideal way to introduce the library media center and actively involve parents in their child's reading success. This event is an opportunity to explain how a reading program works and provide parents with strategies to encourage further reading at home. Parents can sit down with their children and read in the library,…

Native American and other cultural stories provide students with a broader perspective on the world. In addition, cultural stories connect science content and knowledge about the world to cultural interpretations and people's life ways. By implementing the ideas suggested in this article, you can select books that both enrich your science library…

In his book "To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader: Engaging Teen and Preteen Boys in Active Literacy," William Brozo suggested that many adolescent boys have become mentally and academically detached from school. While Brozo acknowledges that a solution to these problems is multifaceted, he asserts that engaging boys in literature that makes use of…

The rapid multiplication of public libraries and the wide distribution of cheap editions, have rendered books upon all subjects and of every degree of merit and demerit so readily accessible, that it has become necessary not only to teach children how to read, but also to give them such instruction as will enable them to decide wisely what to…

The items listed and annotated in this bibliography on intellectual freedom are limited to materials published between 1966 and 1971 in both books and periodicals. As used in this bibliography, intellectual freedom refers to the free access to and acquisition of all materials in whatever subject area and form, and the distribution of those…

Books should be selected on the basis of literary merit, not as a vehicle for instruction, since we don't know the psychological effects of specific works. (DD)

Examines the readability and educational levels of 25 periodicals, classified as newspaper format, neutral, minority, male, and female magazines. Indicates that periodicals have similar readability levels but significantly different reader education levels.

Components of a checklist for evaluating books for gifted children include critical and developmental skills (vocabulary, critical reading skills, story content); creativity (opportunity for imagination, potential for creative follow-up); comprehension; and application (role models, interest, and relevance). (CL)

Special education students (11-14 years old) with poor reading skills make significant gains in handwriting, language, and reading when nontraditional materials, such as the newspaper and the daily lunch menu, were used. (CL)