books and reading

Shakespeare professor and prison volunteer Laura Bates discusses her time teaching Shakespeare to prisoners, how she became friends with Larry Newton, and how they bonded over the playwright.

"Utopian and Dystopian Writing for Children and Young Adults is the first study devoted to this increasingly popular genre of literature for young readers focused on the question of ideal social organization. The collection defines and explores the category of utopian writing and its thematic conventions, offering detailed case studies of individual, works from the eighteenth century to the present day. Ten critical essays, all appearing here for the first time, discuss how imaginary worlds are created, how characters travel there, and how these worlds function as perfect or radically imperfect societies. All address the pedagogical implications of writing that challenges children to grapple with questions of social organization, individual autonomy, and just governance. In addition to critical analyses, the volume includes essays by leading contemporary authors of utopian fiction - James Gurney, Monica Hughes, and Katherine Paterson - as well as an exclusive interview with Lois Lowry, whose award-winning novel The Giver has generated ardent response from adults and children alike. The collection concludes with an annotated bibliography of primary sources, a valuable tool for those readers who wish to pursue further this pioneering exploration."--Jacket.

Provides strategies for teachers and librarians on using picture books to teach literary devices to kindergarten through twelfth grade students; providing a summary of forty books, describing the devices they reinforce, and including curriculum tie-ins for each selection.

Provides short summaries of 100 hihg-rated children's books selected by Judy Freeman for 2008 and outlines short reading, writing, and illustrating activities for each title. Discusses how to fit each book into normal classroom curriculum and offers lists of related titles for further reading.

Contains 220 reading comprehension quizzes with answer keys for a variety of children's literature written by such authors as Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and E.B. White.

Contains reproducible quizzes that may be used to test reading comprehension on 120 popular books for students in grades three through eight, and includes a teacher's guide to setting up a reading program, an answer key, and a catalog of titles.

Presents a comprehensive fiction resource guide for middle and high school readers covering over eight hundred series along with annotations, character lists, grade levels, genre, and more.

Provides teachers in grades kindergarten through five with advice, strategies, and sample lessons designed to help their students move beyond leveled books and into more difficult materials; and discusses the uses and limitations of leveled books in kindergarten and first grade as well as how to organize a classroom library.

A guide for teachers and parents of children in grades 3 through 6 that offers suggestions for increasing children's interest in informational books about a wide variety of topics.