Every year, there is a long list of children's books that find themselves sitting on the lists of honorees or winners for various children's literature awards around the world. Having a background in elementary and middle school education, I was always keen on keeping on top of the good reads that came into the school libraries, but when I retired, I began to lose touch with what middle readers and young adults were reading. I miss blasting through a good children's story on my own or reading one aloud to a class of students. I miss sitting with small reading groups, discussing a good book and marveling at what middle readers pick up from storylines and characters. I miss seeing the various connections that kids make between the stories they read and their lives and experiences. I miss teaching reading. Period. Time does march on though, so I chat with the kids at church or my young neighbor or an occasional young person while waiting in check-out at the public library and sometimes I get titles from them. Which brings me to my 2015 reading goal .......
This year, my quest is to look for some new titles and authors in children's literature and re-visit some of the classic kid's books that have either been nominated for or have won awards. That brings me to the awards. I want to try to learn a little more about the awards themselves. Over the years, there have been a bunch of awards that have cropped up ... many more than the well-known Newbery Award. Some links are here for reference and inspiration ... interested in children's and young adult literature? Have at it and let me know what you're reading ...
A really great timeless selection of kids books is the Five Children an It series by Edith Nesbitt. Every now and then I read one of them, and they make me laugh still. A delightful whimsy permeates her books.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great goal for the year Susan. I recently read brown girl dreaming- it's incredible. My most recent book was Redwall, oh how I wish I'd read it earlier. I read mostly children's literature. A few years ago I set myself the goal of reading the 1001 Children's Books You Should Read Before You Grow Up, it's been a great ride. I set up a yahoo group, and a dedicated band are reading our way through these amazing books. You'd be welcome to join us if you really want to get swept up in kids books. But I know that there are too many to read anyway.
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Brown Girl Dreaming is one of the titles I have llisted for the next month's reading ... also Chickadee ( Louise Erdrich),Chains (Laurie Halse Anderson), and I Lived on Butterfly Hill (Marjorie Agosin) ... thanks for the link to the 1001 Books site! Am always looking for titles!
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