The Road to Reading
By Sandy Meagher

Introducing teachers and students to books that they might like to read themselves is a big part of librarianship. Here are some wonderful new books for classroom teachers, librarians and parents. Enjoy!

Early childhood reads
Reading Makes You Feel Good by Todd Parr (Little, Brown & Co., 2005, ISBN: 0-316-16004-0) uses colorful shapes and patterns that primary students will love. Parr shows the different places we can read (in bed, in school, etc.) and the fun things we can learn.

Miss Bindergarten Has a Wild Day in Kindergarten by Joseph Slate (Dutton, 2005, ISBN: 0-525-47084-0) will make children laugh and feel very comfortable on their first day. There are five more wonderful titles in this series. Be sure to visit www.penguin.com for more information.

Since letter recognition is synonymous with early childhood, ,em>Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet by Gianna Marino (Chronicle Books, 2005, ISBN: 0-811-84789-6) is a great book for reading and active learning. I can envision an alphabet soup day, a writing model for an ABC book and the list goes on. Imaginations will fly with this fun story.

Rosemary Wells' ,em>My Kindergarten (Hyperion, 2004, ISBN: 0-786-80833-0) is another delightful resource for first days. Go to www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com and click on "Teachers and Librarians" to download a Teacher's Guide.

Super series
Some series that will motivate early readers are the I Am Reading series (Kingfisher) with titles such as Creepy Customers by Samantha Hay (2005, ISBN: 0-753-45857-8) and Alligator Tails and Crocodile Cakes by Nicola Moon (2005, ISBN: 0-753-45853-5).
Marc Brown's new series, Passport to Reading, encourages children to read together, read with assistance and read alone. The PBS show that's tied into the series, Postcards from Buster, has Buster sending e-mails and postcards back to Arthur and his buddies as he travels all over the United States. Our third graders always study the Alamo in social studies and that's exactly where Buster visits in Postcards from Buster: Buster Plays Along (Marc Brown, 2005, ISBN: 0-316-15886-0).

A wonderful sports-centered series for boys and girls is Winning Season by Rich Wallace (Viking, 2005). The titles so far in this series are The Roar of the Crowd (ISBN: 0-670-05940-4), Technical Foul (ISBN: 0-670-05941-2), Fast Company (ISBN: 0-670-05942-0) and Double Fake (ISBN:0-670-05943-9). Read the first one during football season and students will keep returning for more.

Research reads
How to do research is a big component of what librarians teach. This year, the classroom teachers, technology teacher and I have done some important planning. When teachers are teaching seasons, the Monarch butterfly is always included. I'll have a stack of books and videos and a list of websites to help teachers add to their teaching strategies and enhance their classroom curriculum. I like the book An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly by Laurence Pringle (Orchard, 1997, ISBN: 0-531-30002-1). A brand-new butterfly book that would also be good to use along with this type of study is Hurry and the Monarch by Antoine Flatharta (Knopf, 2005, ISBN: 0-375-83003-0).

Endangered animals come up in research, and middle grade teachers have some wonderful art, science and writing activities to go with student projects. My part is usually research, but I like to include a read-aloud as an introduction. I really like to use the book Arrowhawk by Lola Schaefer (Holt, 2004, ISBN: 0-805-06371-4).

The students begin their research with a form that they and the teacher have worked on, and then we use endangered animal encyclopedias, animal books and websites. Our art teacher had students draw the hawk – what a beautiful art exhibit we had in the library! Our tech ed teacher also had students work on PowerPoint presentations, and the animal reports were truly interesting for everyone.

The craft of writing
Middle grade teachers have been working hard at the craft of writing. An excellent resource is Models for Teaching Writing-Craft Target Skills by Marcia S. Freeman, Luanna K. Mitten and Rachel M. Chappell (Maupin House, 2005, ISBN: 0-929-89580-0). This book shows students how other authors apply writing skills. It matches skills such as sentence variation, voice, repetition, contrast, cause and effect, etc. to trade books.

A useful book for primary teachers is Listening to Young Writers by Melissa Hare Landa (Maupin House, 2005 ISBN: 0-929-89581-9).

Working together, listening to everyone's ideas and learning more are included on my list for making this year a great one.

SPECIAL SECTION
Getting Parents Involved
Reading at home is crucial for your child's success. Try some back-to-school stories like Seymour Slug Starts School by Carey Armstrong-Ellis (Abrams, 2005, ISBN: 0-810-95779-5). A great book that features interactive scenarios, clap rhyme, etc. is Zig Zag: Zoems for Zindergarten by Loris Lesynski (Annick Press, 2004, ISBN: 1-550-37875-9).

Always ask your child questions like, "Is your teacher reading a chapter book to you?" If the answer is yes, try to read the book yourself. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (Knopf, revised edition, 2001, ISBN: 0-375-81526-0) has always been a favorite of teachers and students.

If you or your child are fantasy lovers, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (HarperCollins, 2004, ISBN: 0-060-59824-7) are also good chapter reads. A movie version is coming out in December.

A good rule is to always read the book first and then go see the movie together. This is a wonderful way to compare and contrast and discuss what your child liked or disliked about the differences.

Sandy Meagher is the Library Department Chairperson and School Librarian in the Wayne Highlands School District, Honesdale, PA.