The books, organizations, and online sites in this section are only a few of the many resources to help parents further investigate read-aloud strategies and early literacy issues and locate great books to share with their children.
Books
100 Best Books for Children A Parent’s Guide to Making the Right Choices for Your Young Reader, Toddler to Preteen
Anita Silvey. Mariner, 2005.
Looking for classic literature? Silvey’s list of one hundred “essential” titles, published prior to 2004, is a great place to begin the search, whether the object is a book for a baby or for an older child. Eden Ross Lipson’s The New York Times Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children is another excellent resource for classic titles.
A Family of Readers The Book Lover’s Guide to Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Roger Sutton and Martha V. Parravano. Candlewick, 2010.
In this collection you’ll find essays and articles from children’s books authors, illustrators, and the editors of Horn Book Magazine, which is one of the premier children’s books review journals.
Great Books for Babies and Toddlers
Kathleen Odean. Ballantine, 2003.
Don’t let the copyright date stop you from taking a look at this book. Many of Odean’s suggestions (most published prior to 2000) are still in print and still great choices for sharing with infants and toddlers.
Picture Books for Children Fiction, Folktales, and Poetry
Mary Northrup. American Library Association, 2012.
Northrup offers a choice selection of picture storybooks (poetry and folktales) published during the last decade, for children in kindergarten through third grade.
Picturing the World Informational Picture Books for Children
Kathleen T. Isaacs. American Library Association, 2012.
It’s not easy to find informational books for young children. Isaacs describes more than 250 titles for elementary school children, some of which can be shared with older preschoolers or used for family read-alouds.
Raising Bookworms Getting Kids Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment
Emma Walton Hamilton. Beech Tree Books, 2009.
Hamilton has compiled a wealth of book-reading strategies for parents to use with infants and children right through the middle school years.
Reading Together Everything You Need to Know to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read
Diane W. Frankenstein. Perigee, 2009.
Frankenstein discusses ways to talk to children about books, describing one hundred particularly good ones (preschool through high school) to get a conversation started.
Organizations
Association for Library Service to Children
A division of the American Library Association, ALSC sponsors the prestigious Newbery and Caldecott awards, which are selected by librarians to represent the single best-written and the single best-illustrated (respectively) book of the previous year. The division also sponsors an annual list of children’s notable books, for preschoolers through age fourteen. These lists are available for free download. ALSC also maintains a blog accessible to parents (www.alsc.ala.org/blog/?cat=96).
International Board on Books for Young People
Organized in 1953, IBBY is devoted to “promote international understanding through books.” Its membership includes parents as well as educators, book publishers, teachers, social workers, and others from more than seventy countries around the globe. Annotated IBBY Honor Lists, a biennial selection of the best international children literature (for age six and up), can be downloaded for free from the site.
International Reading Association
In addition to their annual “Teachers’ Choices Reading List” (www.reading.org/resources/booklists/teacherschoices.aspx), IRA offers a number of free-to-download publications especially for parents who want to help their child develop a lifelong interest in reading.
National Association for the Education of Young Children
This nonprofit organization “supports families in early childhood education and parenting needs.” It counts teachers, childcare providers, medical specialists, and parents among its membership.
National Science Teachers Association
NSTA is devoted largely to teachers for grades K–12, but its annual list, “Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12” (www.nsta.org/publications/ostb/), is a great resource.
Reading Is Fundamental
Dedicated to putting books in the hands of all children, RIF is the largest nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. Its home page provides links to book lists, articles, and activities that can be used at home or in a formal educational setting.
Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
This national nonprofit organization is dedicated to providing health, developmental, and early literacy information to “professionals, policymakers, and parents” who are working to improve the lives of the very young.
Online Resources
Bookends
http://bookends.booklistonline.com
Hosted by Booklist Online, (Booklist is the review journal of the American Library Association), this lively blog offers personalized perspectives on current, kid-tested titles for children from infancy through high school.
The Cooperative Children’s Book Center
The CCBC, a noncirculating research library, is part of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It publishes CCBC Choices, an annual list of best books for children, which can be downloaded at no cost. It also maintains a book-related discussion forum open to the public, CCBC-Net (www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/default.asp).
Database of Award-Winning Children’s Literature
Reference librarian Lisa R. Bartel maintains this up-to-date, searchable database of award-winning titles. The database, which displays results of 102 different children’s and young adult book awards, is searchable by author, title, ethnicity, genre, and more.
A Fuse #8 Production
blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production
Children’s librarian Elizabeth Bird oversees this blog, which features a review of the day, links to other reviews, and an extensive list her favorite “kidlit” bloggers.
I.N.K: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids
http://inkrethink.blogspot.com
Book reviews plus interviews and articles by and about some the best nonfiction writers working in children’s publishing today.
Kidlitosphere Central The Society of Bloggers in Children’s and Young Adult Literature
This site hosts the Cybils: Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards (www.cybils.com), an annual list of books selected by discriminating bloggers—reviewers, librarians, teachers, and parents—who are devoted to books for young people.
Planet Esme
Teacher and author Esmé Raji Codell brings her experience with children and love of literature together in a dynamic site with plenty of ideas to help link children to books.
Reading Rockets
Although this site is largely for teachers, it has a special parents’ section and routinely runs reviews and articles of possible interest to parents and caregivers, including reading tips for parents in English, Spanish, and a number of other languages.