I love Children’s Book Week, but I also feel as though it’s somewhat redundant, especially for schools and libraries. Don’t get me wrong – there is no such thing as too many books, but I also sometimes feel that there isn’t a need for a special week to introduce books to your children and encourage them to read. We do this without thinking from the time they’re born; before they’re born.
Think of all the reading your family already does with your children: street signs, storefronts, grocery and Christmas lists, comic books, magazines, and of course all the books that line our shelves.
The huge varieties of available children’s books today meet the needs of all kids including those who are kids at heart. I still recall my favorite children’s books from childhood – The Magic Tunnel by Caroline Emerson, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder – timeless treasures that can be read again and again. They continue to reside on my bookshelves.
I truly believe that almost all books can be used in all grade levels. Picture books have moved well beyond simple stories and large illustrations. I would read higher end picture books to toddlers when I was teaching in the early childhood field, and I’d read picture books to elementary level kids. Everyone loves to be read to.
Here’s a sampling of what I mean. They can all be read with and without the words, and they can be used as supplements to other subjects. I would bring in A Medieval Feast by Aliki yearly on Halloween to explain how my medieval costume was similar to a princess, but I wasn’t a princess. I was sometimes surprised at how much young children will accept when talked to on their level, with respect and honesty. I used the same book with a sixth grade class as part of their unit on The Middle Ages. It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw is beautiful on its surface, and is a jumping off point to exploring our imaginations and simply lying out in the grass surveying the clouds above us.
Good places to start for selecting books are with the Caldecott Medal and Newberry Medal winners.
These are five of my favorites that are appropriate across all ages, but they don’t begin to scratch the surface of good books for children:
The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery by Graeme Base
St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
At the start of this I said that I didn’t feel there was a need for Children’s Book Week, but you know what? Why shouldn’t there be a week to celebrate children’s books? Children’s books are wonderful and we should promote them everywhere, so I’ll admit it – I guess I was wrong. And it perfectly lined up falling right after Free Comic Book Day!
Enjoy the rest of this week, the 2015 Children’s Book Week!
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 