Finding Books to Read!
Finding books for your children to read can be a challenge. After all, there are so many wonderful books published every year! Teachers and librarians even have trouble staying on top of them; it can feel overwhelming to parents to navigate the choices that exist. What follows are resources and ideas for you to mine for your child's next book. Remember that no list of great titles can ever be definitive - new books are being published and each child has a unique constellation of reading interests and needs.
Utilizing the public library is a great strategy for finding new books. Librarians can often direct you to unexpected titles based on your current interests and past books that you enjoyed.
Award Winning books
Each year, typically in late January, the American Library Association bestows awards on children's books published in the previous year by American book creators. The oldest and best known awards are the Caldecott (for illustrations) and the Newbery ("most outstanding contribution to children's literature"), but there are numerous other awards given.
Blogs and Reviews
Nerdy Book Club: This crowd-sourced blog has been a treasure trove for me of information on new books. It's written by teachers, librarians, authors, illustrators, parents, and readers of all ages. Often times there is a review of a new book, occasionally a "retro review" of a book that has been around longer. Authors may create posts describing their inspiration for a book that's about to be published or they may reveal the cover of an upcoming book, creating buzz for it in advance. Top Ten lists are just what they sound like - lists of books that fit within a specific topic. Around the turn of the new year, blog readers share their own favorites in various categories for the "Nerdies:" best of the year books.
A Kids Book a Day: This school librarian written blog posts a short book review every single day. The books are ones that have been published within the calendar year. They tend to be geared toward elementary students, and the author follows a pattern of specific types of books being reviewed on different days of the week. She has started to create lists of books that fit a specific theme (for example, fall, food, Indigenous Americans, and more).
Odds and Ends
I reached out to other educators via social media and garnered these resources. I can't speak to their effectiveness as I haven't utilized them directly as of this moment, but on a quick glance they all look like they would be valuable resources.
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative - "We are a group of librarians, authors, translators, and publishers whose goal is to raise the visibility of international literature in libraries."
A Mighty Girl - "The world's largest collection of books, toys and movies for smart, confident and courageous girls."
Brightly: Raise Kids Who Love to Read - "Helping raise lifelong readers" (A Penguin Random House Company) This website posts suggestions based on age (birth through teens) and topic.
Imagination Soup - "A place where parents, librarians and teachers can find great books as well as educational learning ideas, resources, and community." This also organizes suggestions based on age and topic.
Book Talks and First Chapter Friday titles
Fourth grade students will give periodic book talks throughout the year in addition to my (Kim's) recommendations. I've gathered them into an ongoing document if you ever want to look for suggestions that similar-aged peers have provided. Additionally, I'm trying a new way of book talking this year: First Chapter Fridays, where I read an excerpt from a book to try to hook students on a weekly basis. Some weeks I will share the same title with the two cohorts, and on other weeks they will be different. Check out this Google Doc to learn more.
Book Talks and First Chapter Friday google document