Choosing books for young readers

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called Reading – Choosing what to read in the holidays? and included an infographic. In the first week of our school holidays I have spent my time looking after three primary school children. Two are just beginning to read on their own. The weather has been cold so although we have spent some time outside, we have also done a few indoor activities as well. Reading with the two boys was part of it. It was a great way to share my enjoyment of some of my favourite children’s books. The boys enjoyed snuggling up and being read to as well as having a go themselves. The Peter Rabbit stories are currently being televised as a cartoon and this was a great starting point.

I thought would share this infographic that seeks to give some advice about books for younger readers if  you are interested in some more  ideas about what might make good starting point. The following is another infographic, created by Personal Creations, that might be a useful starting point. They have analyzed over 50 popular children’s books, from the classic The Tale of Peter Rabbit to the more contemporary bestseller, Harry Potter and given some idea about how long it might take younger readers to finish the books.

They followed the fluency standards for elementary grades, based on academic fluency standards (US) and calculated how long it takes kids to read these books.

How Long It Takes Kids to Read Popular Books shows each book accompanied with the number of words, and the reading time – split into three grades: 2, 3, and 4.

Wondering where your child falls in this list? Follow the fluency standards for elementary grades 1 – 6 below and you can quickly calculate how long it’ll take your eager reader.

Grade 1: 50 words per minute (wpm)
Grade 2: 70 wpm
Grade 3: 100 wpm
Grade 4: 130 wpm
Grade 5: 140 wpm
Grade 6: 160 wpm

Reading comprehension is not built into calculations and it is important to talk about what the young reader has understood about the text and illustrations, but most of all the activity needs to be about encouraging an enjoyment of reading.

Please include attribution to PersonalCreations.com with this graphic.

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CBCA 2014 Books of the Year – Winners and runners-up

Congratulations to the authors and illustrators of the books below. To their editors and publishers and also the CBCA judges.

The CBCA winning books for 2014 voted on by the judges, were announced this afternoon. The judges have a difficult job and I know that a lot of deliberation and discassion has gone on. The CBCA awards are given to works that are the benchmarks for quality in Australian children’s literature. The books that made to this short list are being read and enjoyed by the boys. I wrote a post about the older readers shortlist with links for follow-up earlier in the year.  As is usually the case the books chosen this year were quite varied in their styles and subject matter.

The 2014 CBCA Book of the Year awards have been given to the authors and illustrators in the following five categories from older readers to early childhood

Older readers

Winner: Wildlife by Fiona Wood

Honour Books

• Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near
• The Sky so Heavy by Claire Zorn

 

Younger readers

Winner: City of Orphans: A very unusual pursuit by Catherine Jinks. Catherine has an interesting page about the title, there are teaching notes and, from the Allen and Unwin site, there are Reviews by teachers (PDF) also.

Honour Books

• My life as an alphabet by Barry Jonsberg. There are teaching notes, on the Insideadog site there are reviews by YA readers and plenty of other reviews including a Readplus review
• Light horse boy by Dianne Wolfer

 Early Childhood

Winner: The Swap by Jan Ormerod and Andrew Joyner.  Teacher notes here 

Honour Books:

• I’m a dirty dinosaur by Janeen Brian  and Ann James
• Banjo and Ruby Red by Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood

 Picture book

Winner: Rule of Summer by Shaun Tan. I am so pleased that another wonderful book by the brilliant author Shaun Tan won this section. There are some great resources  – my post with links including to videos, a teachers’ guide here and a podcast on The art of Shaun Tan.

Honour Books

• King Pig  by Nick Bland
• Silver Buttons by Bob Graham Classroom ideas here

 Eve Pownell Award for Information Books

Winner: Jeremy by Christopher Faille

Honour Books

• Welcome to my country by Laklak Burarrwanga and family  There are Notes for teachers (PDF) and Reviews by teachers (PDF) from the Ale and Unwin site.
• Ice, wind, rock by Peter Gouldthorpe

The most popular books of all time

I have seen many lists of popular books but below is a new infographic explaining a few different things on their infographic.

And just because I like the sketch (and it is Friday) a short video – Mr Bean in the library

This is a visualisation of data on the most popular books every written. It includes number of editions, number of translations and units sold. Sourced from http://www.lovereading.co.uk/

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CBCA 2013 Books of the Year: Winners and runners-up

After several months of speculation the CBCA award winners for 2013 have been announced. The CBCA awards are given to works that are the benchmarks for quality in Australian children’s literature. Even making the short list guarantees that there will be attention given to these works.  In two posts about the 2013 shortlists ( older readers and younger readers) I wrote about these books and offered links to follow up each of them. The books chosen this year were quite varied in their styles and subject matter.

The winners and honour books have a gold medallion put onto the covers and they will be bought by schools for their libraries and their use in classes, public libraries and parents (and relatives) of young people.

The 2013 CBCA Book of the Year awards have been given to the authors and illustrators in the following five categories from older readers to early childhood.

OLDER READERS:

Winner: Sea Hearts  by Margo Lanagan 

Honour books: 

• The Ink Bridge by Neil Grant;
• Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield

YOUNGER READERS:

Winner: Children of the King    by Sonya Hartnett

Honour books: 

• Pennies for Hitler by Jackie French
• The Tender Moments of Saffron Silk  by Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King (illus.)

EARLY CHILDHOOD: 

Winner: The Terrible Suitcase  by Emma Allen & Freya Blackwood (Illus)  Teacher’s notes have been written for this book

Honour books: 

• With Nan by Tania Cox  and Karen Blair
• Too Many Elephants in This House by Ursula Dubosarsky and Andrew Joyner

PICTURE BOOK: 

Winner: The Coat  by Ron Brooks (illus) and Julie Hunt. Also available: Teacher Notes and Teacher reviews 

Honour books:

• Herman and Rosie by Gus Gordon
  
• Sophie Scott Goes South by Alison Lester

INFORMATION BOOK:

Winner: Tom the Outback Mailman by Kristin Weidenbach and Timothy Ide. Also available: Teacher Notes 

Honour books:

• Lyrebird! A True Story  by Jackie Kerin and Peter Gouldthrope
• Topsy Turvy World: How Australian Animals Puzzled Early Explorers by Kirsty Murray

What’s a good book for me to read?

Above is a question that all those who have worked in libraries are asked many times. It is a question that I always answer with more questions. What do you regard as a good story? is one of the questions I often ask back. More information comes from me asking the students to tell me about the books they have enjoyed, the tv or films they chose to watch, the games they like to play. These are all examined before I can even begin to answer.

Over the two weeks so far this term, I have spent a lot of time assisting our students find something to read for the wider reading program. Many English classes are studying a film text this term but have to continue with some regular reading, both at home and for 10-15 minutes most English classes.

All our school library staff help students (and staff) not just find what the book they are  looking for but also help them discover books they are not aware of or haven’t heard about. This is still a valuable service to our readers. Find the right book for them and these students/staff may become part of you  “good” or regular readers.

We have a digital space and offer e-books and databases and have pointers to reading and various guides, a blog and reviews. Whilst they can find out about books any number of ways , we know that there are still many in our community who like  personal attention and a conversations as they look for a book. They also often like the tactile experience of reading a printed book. They still like how the book feels and smells.

There are others who just love the stories. These students want nothing more than to get their hands on the story, in whatever format. This is especially so of books in series. There are many of our boys who read “safely”. They are not confident readers and they would rather re-read a book they have read and liked before than try a new one that they may not like. Series have been a great boon for us as we can find books for them to read. By reading through a series our boys often find a level of success that we use to get them on to other novels with a similar theme or style. Success breeds confidence and we can build on this as we get to know our readers.

Of course there are many good readers, including the staff, who love to read series. They build a connection to the characters, the settings and/or enjoy the author’s writing style. I am collecting my thoughts on a number of popular YA  series that I have been reading over the last month and will write more about them soon.

The infographic below tries assist with the definition of the ‘perfect’ book. A piece of literature that pleases a broad crowd with the bestselling books having just under four hundred pages. Men are more likely to read science fiction and a story with a male protagonist. However a publication with women protagonists are much more likely to become a bigger hit. Books still seem to have a huge market, be they in digital form or in print, for the moment at least, e-book have not killed off paperbacks rather they co-exist.

Why I Can’t Skip My 20 Minutes of Reading Tonigh | Create infographics

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