It never ceases to amaze me how many parents come into the library looking for a book that's good "for a fifth grader" or "for a second grader" or "for my child's grade level". This is always incredibly frustrating for me because not all kids of the same age or in the same grade will react the same to a given book. And not every kid in a given grade will read at the same level. There is no single "perfect book" that's good for a kid just because they're in a certain grade. It's really much more important that we know what sorts of things your kid is interested in and what kinds of books they have read recently. Do they like sports? Adventure stories? Fantasy? Mystery? It really doesn't do your child any good if they aren't reading something they'll enjoy, even if it is at their reading level, because if they don't enjoy it they won't want to keep reading!
The moral of my story and my message to parents is: Take your kids to the library with you and help them pick out books. Help your child think about what type of book they want to read, and don't stress out about "grade level" material. Reading of any sort is beneficial. While it is certainly a good guideline to know what grade your child is in and how voracious of a reader he or she is, it is certainly not the only factor that is important when looking for the perfect book.
A Youth Services Librarian shares stories about the library, book reviews, and more.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Breaking Dawn
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1) Where did all of the Cullen's funky nicknames (Em and Jazz?) come from? Will we start calling Edward "Eddie" next?
2) What did you think of Jacob's narrating in Book 2? Personally, I'm not a fan; I felt like we lost a lot more than we gained when we lost Bella's perspective - we didn't get to see her and Edward work through some really tough stuff.
3) How was the quality of writing? I didn't think it was quite as strong as the previous books in the series. They say that in writing you're supposed to "show" rather than "tell." While I don't think that was a problem in this book, I think that we were "shown" an awful lot of things that didn't necessarily need to be dwelled on and missed a few things that might have made more impact. Anyone want to argue with me?
4) Did anyone else think that Edward's character wasn't really there? He seemed more like a placeholder for the character that needed to be there than like the actual, interesting, perfect character we've all grown to love.
5) Did everything end too neatly, or was the resolution just right? What about everything that happens to Bella? Did she get off to easily? Personally, I'm somewhere between the two...
I have additional things I wouldn't mind discussing if someone wants to bring them up in the comments, but I won't put anything else here for fear of giving anything away. Generally I'm actually happy with the book and many of the events make sense in the context of the rest of the series - I'm just not completely satisfied with the way it was presented.
Overall grade: B/B-
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Savvy
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This book reads quite a bit like Sharron Creech's Newbery Medal winner Walk Two Moons. Fans of this beloved book should take note! Mibbs' voice resonates throughout the book, and I am eager to hear an audio version of this book.
Overall Grade: A+
Edit 1/26/09: Today it was announced that Savvy won one of this year's Newbery Honor Awards. Congratulations to Ingrid Law on a job well done!
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