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Fiction for grades three to five can take on tough subjects―abandonment, foster families, and racism. Handled with tactful gloves, the following fiction titles, selected by the editors at Junior Library Guild, allow readers to learn about themselves and empathize with those who are struggling with difficult issues.
Publisher Kane Miller is cosponsoring a nonfiction writing contest for budding poets. Educators can enter the “Pin It to Win It” MathMovesU sweepstakes via Pinterest. From September 17, 2013 through March 24, 2014, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, is featuring the artwork from Carle’s new picture book, Friends. The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has announced the finalists for its seven major children’s book awards.
From breaking gender barriers to being the forerunner in children’s books illustrating, the subjects in the following titles selected by the editors at Junior Library Guild were ordinary people who did extraordinary things.
Along with the Common Core, many state standards ask that educators incorporate multimodal resources into their lesson plans. As time goes on, more and more quality apps are available to meet that requirement. Here are a few digital resources to consider for your nonfiction science collection.
As educators, it’s essential that we teach our students how to become informed citizens–to examine evidence and argument related to the issues that shape political opinion and decisions. It’s as Common Core as it gets.
Tech maven Joyce Valenza and longtime SLJ contributor Joy Fleishhacker share the latest tools and book picks for the back-to-school season. From curated reading lists to useful tech trends and tips, School Library Journalhas gathered the following resources to help your students, patrons, parents (and you) get back in the swing of things.
New baby sisters, substitute teachers, and friends (even if it’s a bowling ball) are frequent themes in short novels for young readers. Favorite authors such as Karen English and Andrea Cheng deliver new titles in popular series, while Neil Gaiman and Mal Peet (who usually write for older readers) provide humor and thought-provoking storytelling for kids who are getting comfortable reading on their own. The following titles selected by the editors of Junior Library Guild are just the ticket.
For those of you who have been sitting under a shady tree or on a beach these past two months—and we hope that’s most of you—we’re offering a summary of the app reviews published over the summer. The list includes picture books, poetry, music, a reference guide or two, and some beloved characters and timeless stories. These are titles you want to load onto your school devices ASAP.
Sesame Street’s “Maria,” Sonia Manzano, received top honors in the 2013 Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature for her The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. Celebrate International Dot Day with its creator, author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds, at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, on September 15.
The following shelf-worthy additions selected by the editors of Junior Library Guild offer readers hard-to-put-down follow-ups by Newbery-winning and NY Times-bestselling authors. From the conclusion of Gennifer Choldenko’s “Al Capone” series and the latest title in Margaret Peterson Haddix’s “The Missing” books, these choices will be a slam dunk for kids and librarians.
The first round of Common Core assessment results are in. What do they tell us, and what should librarians be asking? Marc Aronson weighs in.
From Anna Branford to Patricia MacLachlan, favorite authors offer fiction for independent readers who have their own challenges to face. Selected by the editors at Junior Library Guild, the following titles feature protagonists who overcome their conflicts, and will be available for readers this fall.
Enter a contest to determine who will voice Four in the Allegiant audiobook, the final book in Veronica Roth’s young adult dystopian trilogy. RIF and Macy’s have donated 10 million books to kids in need. Visit the Library of Congress’s 2013 National Book Festival in Washington, DC, in September.
From Rita Willams-Garcia’s P.S. Be Eleven to Cynthia Kadohata’s The Thing About Luck, these middle grade novels selected by Junior Library Guild editors showcase plucky protagonists who learn to forge their own paths despite the circumstances that come their way.
Two delightful new apps that introduce the joys of poetry will have listeners of all ages reciting odes to the seasons and some well-known verses.
Babymouse, Lunch Lady, Squish, and other familiar characters are back in this year’s crop of new graphic novels for elementary school students. Check out these recent arrivals selected by Junior Library Guild’s editorial staff.
Findaway World launches the Playaway Bookpack program, which features preloaded audiobooks and their print versions. There are currently more than 200 titles available for preschool through young adult readers. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is now accepting nominations for the 2014 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The National Book Foundation’s Up All Night online exhibit showcases National Book Award Winners and Finalists in Young People’s Literature. Educators interested in integrating educational games into the K-12 curriculum are invited to attend a one-day workshop on August 19 during the Serious Play Conference.
Are there lessons to be learned from those perennial state assignments? On a road trip, Marc Aronson reconsiders his position.
The following picture books, selected by Junior Library Guild editors, highlight real-life people who had the strength to be who they truly were. Share these titles with students to encourage them to accept the differences in all of us.
The nominees for the 2013 Teens’ Top Ten have just been announced by the Young Adult Library Services Association. Kids Read Now combats summer slide with a summer reading program focusing on children in first through third grades. Channel One News is expanding its digital distribution so that its education content can be accessed inside and outside the classroom. Chronicle Books celebrates its 25 years in children’s publishing with a tween and teen book giveaway, with entries due July 3. A school librarian at Hitchin Boys’ School in the UK has discovered a poem incorrectly attributed to William Blake.
