Read it again. Choosing and using children s books

Transcription

1 Read it again Choosing and using children s books Millions of teachers scan miles of bookshelves every year hoping to Þnd books that will inform, challenge, and delight the children in their care. But how do you choose the best of children s books? And how do you keep the books looking new and inviting? A few simple guidelines will help you choose and maintain the books children will ask you to read again and again. Use guidelines for choosing books Some early childhood teachers have rich memories of books they loved and learned from as children. Others are more interested in books published recently. Whether you re selecting a new or old story books, concept books, or a book of poetry, ask yourself the following questions to guide your selection. Is the book appropriate? Does it respond to the experiences, interests, and personalities of the children you teach? Successful children s books connect with children through their language and word play, their ability to excite responses, or content information or a story that stimulates a child s imagination. For example, in the classic, Ira Sleeps Over, Bernard Waber describes a sleepover dilemma in logical, realistic, and compassionate terms. Be mindful of story content that is new, unfamiliar, or confusing. Children younger than 5 often have difþculty distinguishing what is real from what is fantasy. When you choose books, therefore, make sure the characters, plot, and actions are related to real life situations and experiences. For example, even the whimsy and humor of Cloudy with a Chance for Meatballs by Judi Barrett reinforces children s understanding of weather and human relationships in the town of Chewandswallow where it rained juice and soup. Is the book interesting? Interest will vary with the ages and interests of the children. Infants and toddlers will be content with a few pages of bright photographs or illustrations. Preschoolers want more detail. The books you choose should catch a child s attention in the Þrst few sentences and hold that attention to the end. If you don t have the group s attention, put the book aside for another time. 2 Texas Child Care / Spring 2002

2 Is the book of desirable length? The younger the child, the shorter the book should be. Most preschool children can listen to an engaging story for Þve to 15 minutes. School-age children usually enjoy chapter books because they are able to remember details from day to day and chapter to chapter. Is the book suitably illustrated? Illustrations should support the text by moving the action of the story forward, helping create a mood, and contributing to a child s understanding of the book s setting. Look for pictures that are large, frequent, distinct, easily distinguished, and free of too much detail, especially if you are going to read the book to a group of children. In general, the younger the child, the more realistic the pictures should be. The best books match illustration to the story line. Owl Moon by Jane Yolen is a superior example of this story-illustration combination. Is the book ethically sound? The content of the story should be morally and ethically acceptable. Children learn subtle lessons from books, so avoid those that demean individuals or highlight behaviors that are unacceptable. The popular Berenstain Bears books usually describe a particular ethical issue or family crisis. Unfortunately, while the cubs and Mama bear solve problems, Papa bear usually contributes to the crisis and is often portrayed as silly or even stupid. Do we want to teach children this image of fathers? Is the book free from bias? The book should be free of stereotypes and bias. Watch for culturally or sexually loaded terms like black sheep, jew down, or Þreman. Look for books that reßect the dignity of all characters regardless of gender, age, race, culture, ethnicity, or ability. An impressive example of universal human dignity and emotion is in The Day of Ahmed s Secret by Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland. In the story, Ahmed, a boy in bustling Cairo, shares a success that every reader and young listener will celebrate. Is the conclusion of the story satisfying? The end of the story should leave children with a pleasant feeling of closure and satisfaction. Don t share stories that are likely to leave children in tears or with doubts. Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney describes a woman s long and satisfying life and her determination to do something to make the world more beautiful. Even young listeners realize that her death does not minimize her success. Is the book attractive and durable? The book should have strong binding, pages of durable paper, large and clear print, an easy- to- handle size, and attractive outside cover. If you are choosing a big book for the group, plan to use an easel or chair to prop the book to your side so you can maintain eye contact with the children. Avoid books with tabs, ßaps, folds, cutouts and similarly engineered pieces. While thrilling for a single child to manipulate, these books don t hold up well in classrooms. Is the writing style suitable? Make sure sentence structure and grammar are correct. If you plan to share a book with slang and dialect, plan some additional preparation and practice time. Don t, however, shy away from books with a few new vocabulary words or tongue-twisting rhymes. Chickens Aren t the Only Ones, written and illustrated by Ruth Heller, teaches basic science concepts in verse, sharing exciting new words as in Chickens aren t the only ones. There s no more to discuss. Everyone who lays an egg is o-vip-a-rous. Texas Child Care / Spring

3 Preparing books for children When you invest in books you want them to last a long time. Before you buy a hardcover book, check the binding, page weight, and cover. Avoid books that look too fragile for the children using them. After your purchase, take a few protective measures to keep the book looking new. Open the book properly. Place the closed book on a table. Open the front cover and run your finger lightly along the crease between the cover and first page. Do the same on the back cover. Turn the first couple of pages from the front and run your finger along the crease again. Do the same from the back of the book. Continue, alternating a few pages from the front and the back until you reach the center of the book. Opening the book this way will loosen but not break the binding. Never bend back the cover or pages this will break the binding and soon pages will drop out. Paste in identification bookplates (decorative papers with space to write the name of the donor or owner of a book). Or stamp the book with identifying information. Use colored tape to identify the category of book for example, red tape for fairy tales and purple tape for wordless books. Cut a strip of tape 1-inch long and place across the spine of the book about an inch from the bottom. Make a catalog card for the book. Use an index card to record the title of the book, the author, copyright date, category, and purchase price. As your library grows, you can choose to sort these cards alphabetically by title, author, or category. Use the cards to record children s responses to the book and repairs you ve made. You can use the back of the card to record the loan and return of the book. Paperback books need a little extra attention. Although they are less expensive than hard cover books and you don t expect them to last as long you can prolong their life by reinforcing the binding. Make book bumpers by cutting strips of clear, 2-inch wide book tape. Place the tape across each of the four corners of the book on a diagonal, folding the ends to the inside of the cover. Cut an additional strip to cover the spine of the book. Or use clear, adhesivebacked plastic to wrap and reinforce the book s paper cover. Use a craft stick to smooth the tape for a bubble-free, long lasting application. Will the book extend the children s knowledge? Look for books that contain some new information, encourage children to think, give them a new approach to something familiar, or help them understand human behavior. Gail Gibbons writes and illustrates informational books for children. Whether describing the post ofþce, ßying, tools, boats, tunnels, or holidays, she satisþes children s curiosity about the why s and how s of the world. Consider different categories of books Collect books in all of the following categories for your classroom library. Be especially careful to include books that show the rich diversity of our world. Fortunately, publishers now print classics like Goodnight Moon and Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People s Ears in Spanish and French translation. Additionally, there are many excellent books that portray people of various ethnic groups (African- American, Asian, Native American, European, and Hispanic) in realistic, afþrming situations. ABC books. Alphabet books are among the earliest illustrated books for children. Use them to teach interesting vocabulary and concepts, help children recognize pictures of common objects, and entertain. Alphabet books are not intended to teach the alphabet or phonic sounds. Few ABC book illustrations appropriately correspond to the letter sounds of spoken English. Preschool children enjoy On Market Street by Anita and Arnold Lobel. In this book, each alphabet letter is illustrated by a shopkeeper dressed in wares donuts, gloves, and shoes, for example. Antics! by Cathi Hepworth is an ABC book of word play and illustration in which the personality traits of ants represent the letters of the alphabet Brilliant, Gallant, and Observant, for example. School-age children and adults will appreciate its wit and sophistication; it will be over the heads of most preschoolers. Counting books. Number and counting books are also among the earliest illustrated books for children. But unlike alphabet books, many can help children better understand numbers and counting. Typical counting books are richly illustrated and invite children into the discovery of numerals and one-to-one correspondence. They might also show numeral, 4 Texas Child Care / Spring 2002

4 object, and number word associations; addition and subtraction problems; and story problems. Include a variety of counting books in your collection and include some that tell a story involving numbers. For example, in Moja Means One, Muriel and Tom Feelings count in Swahili, while in Ten, Nine, Eight Molly Bangs tells how a little girl prepares for bed, from ten small toes all washed and warm to one big girl all ready for bed. Arlene Alda s 123 What Do You See? combines clever photographs with numeral recognition. And Pat Hutchins imbeds a math problem in her story about bakers, cookies, and hungry children in The Doorbell Rang. Concept books. A concept book is non-þction in its simplest form. Alphabet and counting books are concept books, but the category is much broader. It includes any book that helps children make associations among things in their world opposites, color, shape, function, or other characteristics. Tana Hoban specializes in nearly wordless concept books, including Is It Red? Is It Yellow? Is It Blue?, Look Again, and Circles, Triangles, and Squares. Donald Crews concept books include Freight Train, Flying, and School Bus. Anne and Harlow Rockwell collaborate in richly illustrated books that offer children basic information including My Doctor, My Dentist, and The Toolbox. Concept books also include how to books, biographies, and books that focus on a single topic that can be addressed with factual information. Categories of children s books Picture books including ABC books Counting books Concept books Response and participation books Wordless picture books Board books Story books Beginning reader picture books Engineered books Traditional fantasy, fairy tales, and folk tales Poetry Simple Signs by Cindy Wheeler illustrates children using American Sign Language. Fire Trucks, by Hope Irvin Marston, tells young children all about Þre- Þghting equipment. They Call Me Woolly by Keith DuQuette helps children understand relationships between animals and their names. Response and prediction books. Response books are designed to involve children physically or verbally in the story. Classic examples include We re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, Where s Spot by Eric Hill, and Each Peach Plum Pear by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. Prediction books involve children in a refrain or answer to a question. Sometimes called pattern books, these books often help children leap to independent reading through the use of repeated language, story patterns, or sequences. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See by Bill Martin, A Dark Dark Tale by Ruth Brown, Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw, and The Napping House by Audrey Wood reßect the wide range of books in this category. Frequently, you can easily adapt response and prediction books to use with a ßannel board or in dramatic play. Wordless picture books. Wordless books support children s emergent literacy that is, they pave the way for reading. By simply handling the book and following the story in pictures, children learn that in English we read from left to right and top to bottom, and that reading is fun. The best wordless books tell an effective, powerful story. For example, Texas Child Care / Spring

5 in Mercer Mayer s A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog, facial expressions and smooth page-to-page action build a satisfying tale. Other wordless favorites include Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day, Rain by Peter Spier, and Tuesday by David Wiesner. Encourage children to dictate or write text to accompany a wordless picture book. Board books. Board books, and other books designed to be used by infants and toddlers, bring the pleasure of reading to the youngest listeners. Usually board books are wordless and show a single object on each page a dog, hat, or house, for example that the baby can recognize. Board book pages are usually plastic-coated and should be sanitized with other baby toys and equipment. Cloth books don t usually stand up to this necessary regular cleaning. Helen Oxenbury has produced a series of board books Dressing, Friends, and Playing, for example. Eloise GreenÞeld adds simple text to her board books Big Friend, Little Friend, Daddy and I, and I Make Music. Planning great book experiences 1.Choose a book. 2.Look at the pictures. If the pictures appeal to you, read the text. 3.Ask yourself: Is the book appropriate for the ages and interests of the children in my care? Is the book free of ethnic, racial, and sex-role stereotypes? Can I share the book with a group of children, or is better for one child at a time? Will I want to read the book over and over? Do I like the book? 4.If you choose to use the book, consider how it will fit into your curriculum plan. 5.Read the book aloud. 6.Plan your introduction to the book. Try to connect the book to children s interests and experiences. Always share the title of the book, its author s name, and the name of the illustrator. 7.Consider follow-up questions. Open-ended discussions about books give children an opportunity to try new vocabulary and explore ideas. Adapted from Young Children and Picture Books by Mary Renck Jalongo Story books. The original picture storybook is Beatrix Potter s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, published in It was the Þrst children s book to mesh illustration with text to tell a story. Picture storybooks are plentiful, and many are good to read with children. Because there are so many, you can afford to be selective in your choices share only the best. Among the thousands of available books, there are common themes, characters, and situations that make many books appealing to children and the adults who read them. These include: Talking, human-like animals, toys, and machines like the hippopotamuses George and Martha, the aardvark Arthur, Lyle the crocodile, the teddy bear Corduroy, and the Little Engine That Could. Books in this category tell children about human dignity and emotion and help them identify with the strengths and weaknesses and the successes and failures of the characters. Dream fantasy helps children confront and overcome their fears. Popular examples of these books include There s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer, Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, and Maurice Sendak s Where the Wild Things Are. Humor and exaggeration books like Imogene s Antlers, It s Your Turn, Doctor, and The Giant Jam Sandwich tickle children and encourage them to explore their own creativity. Realistic Þction shows children solving everyday problems with their family and friends. Realistic Þction can be humorous like Judith Viorst s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day or Cynthia Rylant s The Relatives Came. It can also describe serious problems and reasonable solutions like Cynthia Rylant s The Old Woman Who Named Things or The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson. Beginning reader picture books. Beginning readers usually want books with few words and powerful stories. Limited, or controlled, vocabulary enables new readers to successfully decode text. Controlled vocabulary shouldn t, however, limit the story and writing style. Avoid beginning reader picture books that are contrived and stilted remember the old Dick and Jane readers? Some of the most successful books for beginning readers are published in collections of short, chapter-like stories. Look for Three Up a Tree by James 6 Texas Child Care / Spring 2002

6 Marshall, Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel, and Oliver Pig at School by Jean Van Leeuwen. Poetry. Books of poetry belong in every classroom. Sharing poetry with children helps them appreciate the rhythm, rhyme, Þgurative language, and metaphor that make language rich. Some poetry books tell a story. Bill Martin and John Archambault s Barn Dance or Verna Aardema s Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain are both sure to convert any verse hater. More traditional poetry forms including nursery rhymes, jump rope songs, and Þnger plays also deserve a place on the classroom bookshelf. Look for Anna Banana by Joanna Cole, Mary Ann Hoberman s A House Is a House for Me, Jack Prelutsky s Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young, and Mammalabilia by Douglas Florian. Traditional fantasy, fairy tales, and folk tales. Folk tales, myths, legends, tall tales, trickster tales, fables, and fairy tales were Þrst shared by story tellers. Many current tales are actually hundreds of years old. Many tales are cross-cultural. Cinderella, for example, has counterparts in China (Yeh-Chen, retold by Ai-Ling Louie), Egypt (The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo), Native America (The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin), and Africa (John Steptoe s Mufaro s Beautiful Daughters). Sometimes traditional fantasy is condemned as too violent and frightening to children. But before Teach children to care for books Model your appreciation of books and care for them wisely. Wash your hands before using a book. Use bookmarks. Store books neatly on a designated shelf. Handle books gently. Make repairs immediately. you banish it to the back of the closet, consider that these tales usually tell listeners, especially children, that the smallest, youngest, and least powerful characters use wit, creativity, and determination to make their world a better place. Fairy and folk tales give children a message of hope; they teach that even in the darkest of situations there is a way to make it through and come out on top. Evil is destroyed (the big bad wolf is killed in boiling water; the elephant s trunk is not so ugly as it is useful) and justice and good prevail. Look for these collections of traditional fantasy: American Tall Tales by Mary P. Osborne, Frederick s Fables by Leo Lionni, Fables from Aesop, adapted by Tom Lynch, and Trickster Tales from Around the World, compiled by Josepha Sherman. Armed with these guidelines and book suggestions, build a classroom library that satisþes you and the children. Make books available in every area of the classroom and know that you are supporting the literacy development of all of the children in your care. And remember use your public library. Resources Highsmith. Call to request a catalog of library supplies and materials. Jacobs, James S. and Michael O. Tunnell. Children s Literature, Brießy. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, Jalongo, Mary Renck. Young Children and Picture Books: Literature from Infancy to Six. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children, Texas Child Care / Spring