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From toads to bats and the Beatles to doctors, Junior Library Guild editors select new informational picture books for young readers that complement Common Core State Standards and do more than just fill a hole in the lesson plan.

Summer Time, and the living is easy. Unless you are a children’s or teen services librarian in a public library. Summer Reading Programs can be a tough time for librarians: it’s a busy time, with lots of prep work. There are all sorts of demands, and expectations, and stresses. It can be frustrating; and it [...]

Junior Library Guild editors select illustrated picture book biographies on remarkable Americans that are perfect for inspiring children in Grades 2 to 6. These include a new take on Albert Einstein and a brief look at how libraries became more accessible to young readers.

How can we use the summer to provide kids with more opportunities to grow confident as nonfiction readers? The authors offer suggestions and recommend a few reading lists to share with students.

Junior Library Guild editors select new titles for independent readers that feature characters with some of the same problems that children deal with everyday: bullying, not-so-fun summer camp experiences, and the arrival of a new sibling. Reading about how these protagonists figure out their solutions just might help youngsters approach their own issues. And, these chapter books will remind them that they're not alone.

In the last 12 years, the fantasy genre has dominated the middle grade market. Thanks to “Harry Potter”, children worry less about the number of pages, and authors have been happy to comply with longer imaginative offerings. These lengthy tomes are fast-paced reads, full of magical creatures, daring adventures, and loyal characters that fight for the good of all. In the following titles selected by JLG editors, themes of family and friendship are woven into sets of enchanted lands, and fans can escape to a place where their own problems seem far away.

  Katie Bircher and Elissa Gershowitz bring you our annual list of summer reading recommendations for kids. Strictly recreational, of course, and librarians are welcome to place a “COMMON-CORE FREE!” sticker on the PDF. What about your own reading? I’m juggling audio editions of The Woman Upstairs and Inferno on my phone; The Oracle Glass and [...]

The post What’s on YOUR list? appeared first on The Horn Book.

Junior Library Guild editors present a selection of some of the latest chapter books that can encourage beginning readers to take steps toward reading longer texts. From new titles by favorite authors like Kevin Henkes to the next installment of the popular "Bink & Gollie" series, these picks will delight youngsters not quite ready for full-length novels.

The Summer Reading Program is Loudon County Public Library's biggest event of the year, and for the first time, residents of the Gum Spring area will have the chance to experience it at our new library. We're hoping for a record turn-out for our 9-week program, In Your Backyard... and Beyond.