6 Things You Should Know About Children’s Literature

Photo CC – by Boston Public Library

1. You are never too old for children’s books! Sure, it’s embarrassing the first time you go to the library, only to head straight to the kids section and return with a pile of books. But embrace it! When I did this my first time, I got to remember how fun it is checking out library books. I love the selection, the smell, and the crinkly wrapping! Once I got home with them, I discovered once again how lost you can get in a good picture book. You are never too old for children’s books!
2. Libraries are your friends. As mentioned in number one, where else can you find a huge selection of books for free? I found myself especially liking the library when I found out you can make an account at their website. Here, I could see which books I had checked out, keep a “wishlist” that I added to as I got recommendations, and even hold books! My local library was a life, (and money) saver!
3. The list is never ending! Starting this class, I quickly found out that I wanted to read every book that was recommended to me or looked good! I very soon had a huge list. As soon as I got through some, I would find five more that I wanted to read! Not really a bad thing, but just know that there are always good books out there that you will want to check out.
4. Like an author? Stick with them. Sometimes I will read a book and think, “Wow, that was really good,” and then later find out it was written by the author of another book I loved! A good example would be Jez Alborough, who did Watch Out, Big Bro’s Coming!, It’s the Bear!, and Where’s my Teddy?, all great books! I didn’t even know they were by the same author until this class! So what I’m trying to say is, if you’re ever in a stump to find a good book, try looking at what you already have!
5. Don’t rush reading. I thought I was going to be able to get through a lot of books this semester, and I did! But not as many as I had hoped. I forgot that I also have other duties. 😛 So when you’re not doing assigned reading, don’t try to rush through your books. Your book pile will always be waiting for you and doesn’t have an expiration date. Enjoy them, even if it takes you years!
6. Never stop reading! Reading is a joy that I think sometimes we forget about with the rush of life. Take time to enjoy a book, even if it’s only a picture book. As future educators, we can keep up with new book releases and keep up with what the students are enjoying in our classrooms. Read books recommended to you by students! They will love you for it. Reading also keeps our minds open and informed, always a good trait to have.

Alright fellow bloggers, I still have my A-Project that I will be posting here soon, so keep an eye out for that!

Reading Aloud

Photo CC – by US Army Africa

I was read aloud to alllll the time when I was little. In fact, my list, which you’ll see at the end of this post, is heavily based on books I loved hearing again and again when I was young. Reading aloud brings a whole different experience. For young kids who can’t read fluently yet, it gives them a chance to experience books that they can’t read by themselves. For those of any age that can’t read very well, it helps them hear stories. As Katherine Sokolowski said in her post, hearing a book aloud can also help with understanding. Hard-to-read books are much better when you’re not trying to struggle through it. In addition, kids can get so into books when you read it together as a class because then the whole class knows the book and loves it, not just some students that might have read it on their own time. It brings the class together. As for audiobooks, in my opinion, I would use them for if you’re not feeling well and can’t read, but I would want to read the books myself. I love using expression and hearing the kids laugh and gasp at the story.

I choose my list based on books that are really fun to read aloud because you can read them with lots of expression. For example, when I read Watch Out! Big Bro’s Coming! to my little cousin, I use different voices for all the animals, like a high squeaky voice for the mouse and a croaky voice for the frog. When I read Another Monster at the End of This Book to him, (which is his favorite), I shake the book around whenever Grover yells. We have to close the door when reading that one!

Books that kids love because they’re crazy or silly also made this list. These are all aimed at younger grade levels, like 3rd and below.

Top 10 Books to Read Aloud that Kids will Love

1. Watch Out! Big Bro’s Coming! by Jez Alborough

2. Another Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone

3. No Jumping on the Bed! by Tedd Arnold

4. Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman (Bonus idea: Make pumpkin pie to be eaten during or after the story!)

5. Elmer Blunt’s Open House by Matt Novak

6. Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss

7. Big Al by Andrew Clements Yoshi (Not crazy or silly, but a wonderful story that deserves to be on this list.)

8. The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

9. Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

10. Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann

There were a lot more that I would like to add, like A Visitor for Bear but here’s just a start. Was any of my books on your list? Let me know in the comments!

Reading Challenge: The Pile Just Keeps Growing…

Photo CC – by Georg Mayer

Oh boy. I haven’t been looking forward to this reading challenge post because truthfully I haven’t gotten very far. In some ways I have, I said that I liked picking out books from the library that looked interesting and reading them. Which I have been doing! But all these library books have been taking up my time and I still haven’t started on the huge bag of books from my little sister! We’re already half way through the semester and look at me! Oh goodness. It’s a lot of books.

This week I vow to finish my last library book then start on that bag. I already have my first book from it picked out and is sitting in my “read-next” pile, the first Ever After High book. I’m pretty excited to read this one because I’m secretly a huge Monster High and Ever After High nerd. (Alright, it’s not so secret if you see my room. The amount of dolls I own is not okay.) I have three Monster High books that I still haven’t managed to finish so those are up for reading soon as well. Sometime this week I would also like to visit the public library to pick out a stack of children’s books, because that’s always fun. I also have managed to read some books that have been recommended to me by my fellow bloggers that were at the library so that was fun as well. Others that aren’t at the library I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get to.

There are so many books in the world that I want to read, but alas! There aren’t enough hours in the day! Let’s all write a note to our other teachers and responsibilities that excuses us so we can read all day. My “to-read” list is quite the conundrum; the more I finish books off it, the more it grows.

How has your reading and “to-read” list been going? As always, let me know in the comments!

What Should I Read?

Photo CC – By torange.biz

I’ve been thinking about my reading challenge this week and it’s been hard coming up with one. For one, I was thinking about the grade level I’m hoping to teach. As some of you may know, I would like to teach English in a preschool in Japan. Reading books to them in English would definitely be part of the curriculum. But what books? I’m not quite sure. I’ve been trying to do some research into this but I haven’t been able to come up with much.

Another thing that’s hard about my reading challenge is my selection of books I have right now. I borrowed a ton of books from my 11-year-old sister since I never read her books and she’d love for me to. The only thing is, these are all middle school level books, which does not match up with preschool at all!

So!

I’ve decided since I like picking out books to read solely on the cover and summary, I’ll be picking out children’s books from the library to read this way. I also like reading recommendations from other bloggers, if the library has them.

My other challenge is to finish all the books that I borrowed from my sister. (It’s a big bag!)

I’m really looking forward to reading all of her books because she talks about them all the time and then I’ll be able to share an interest with her. The only thing is, they are some longggggg books. One series is a total of 816 pages and another is 537. With small print. So they might take some time. I haven’t been able to start on them yet because we have had other required readings and then I wanted to get other books done first, like library checkouts.

Another thing I would like to do, (if I have enough time), would be to re-read some of my childhood favorites. I loved A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket when I was young, but it’s been so long since I’ve read them, I barely even remember what happens. I also love the Wizard of Oz books, but it’s also been a while since I’ve read them and I don’t remember as much as I’d like. More reading!

Got any children’s books that you’ve liked that would be easy enough for preschoolers to understand? Comment below!

What do I Read?

Photo CC – Brandon Warren

Until I was asked this question, I hadn’t really considered what I read. When people asked me my favorite genre, I always said horror, which is still true, but there’s not very many children’s books in that category. Reading only children’s books has made me realize what else I like! As a reader, my personal tastes center around storyline and illustrations. I’m not a big fan of books with a simple storyline and very little words. (Unless it is in an artistic way.) I also find that illustrations make up for half of my reasons on liking a book. (Picture books, that is.)

I have also come to realize that my favorite types of stories are what I read all the time as a child: fairytales. Princesses, fairies, mermaids, yeah, you get the picture. I still love those stories dearly and maybe it’s because I was that girl in elementary school that wanted to be a princess when she grew up. (Still applies.) I also like books that are cute: cute characters, cute storylines, cute illustrations, cute everything. These usually have my favorite animals in them. (See One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo: cute main character, and also penguins. Perfecto.)

One thing that I know I don’t like, (and is kind of contradictory to my love of fairytales), is love stories. Yick. I can’t stand romance novels, and won’t even pick up those girl-meets-boy summer romance stories. “Typical Girl Name was a normal girl who enjoys hanging out with her friends and shopping until she meets Typical Boy Name” and I’m out the door. I prefer strong independent characters, and I don’t see why every story needs to have romance. Like I said, contradictory of fairytales, but I guess I make those an exception since they’re classics.

Taking the above factors into account, my perfect book would be pink, sparkly, no love story, full of fairies, princesses, and mermaids, and the main character would be a shark. Sharks are my favorite animal. ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

Photo CC – Elias Levy …beautifully edited by me.

Wow, this post has gotten crazy. Let’s bring it back to a more serious conversation. After reading all the different award winning books, I would have to say that Newbery Award books are my favorite. I adored The One and Only Ivan and when looking for Newbery Award books to read this week, there were so many I wanted to read, there isn’t enough time in the day to read all of them! I’m thinking I like early elementary better. I have a big pile of books that my 11-year-old sister wants me to read so that would count as older elementary but I haven’t gotten very far in that pile. After I finish a lot of them, I’ll have to see if my mind changes!

I really do feel the need to make this pink sparkly shark story now. I’ll add that to my bucket list.

Alright School, When the Heck do I Read?

Photo CC – By Christian Schnettelker

This semester has already been crazy busy for me. Crazy busy. I cannot believe the amount of time I’ve been spending doing homework. I’m taking 6 classes, two which are junior level classes. (I’m a sophomore.) But it still seems like that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. However, all I seem to be doing outside of going to classes is homework. Just hours of sitting on my computer doing homework. (At least I’ve been getting though a lot of playlists on 8tracks!)

I’ve actually been really excited to read more books because of this class. I’ve always loved reading, but all I’ve been reading the past few years is online books and graphic novels. It just hasn’t been happening recently though. I think what I need to do is actually schedule my reading time, just like it’s homework. I downloaded a planner for my computer and have scheduled some time segments to read. I’m really hoping this planner will help me out. I also have this weekend to read, which is nice for a change. Last weekend I went back to Rapid to work. No reading for me then.

When I have read, I did it in big chunks of time. Like when I read for our first, “It’s Monday, What are you Reading?” post, I went to the library, sat down, and read about 17 children’s book straight. Later I read the rest of the books I had while sitting on my couch at my apartment. This seems to work the best for me, but I would also like to read during “edge time”. I would like to start reading before bed, (which I’ve always done before, except it was stories on my phone) and the short times I have in-between classes. Hopefully this works out for me! I really think planning my reading times instead of just trying to find the time will help.

Anyone have any tips or things that worked well in particular for them?

Reading: Past, Present, Future

Photo from Goodreads

Before I even knew how to read, I loved to read. All throughout grade school, I had what we called my “comic book box”, in the backseat with me. In this, I had old comics ranging from Little Dot to Tales of Suspense. This was among other great classics like Casper, Wendy, and Richie Rich. Before I knew what the words said, I would sit in the backseat of my parents’ car on my way to school just looking at the pictures. My parents are both teachers so I knew how to read before I was in Kindergarten, but it was only Level A books. By the time I was in first grade, I was reading Junie B Jones chapter books and loving it.

Photo CC – By SA 3.0

My love for reading continued throughout elementary school and middle school. My favorite book series as a child was A Series of Unfortunate Event by Lemony Snicket. I began reading it in 4^th grade and continued until the series ended in 2006. In middle school I really got into graphic novels and mangas and some reading online. A fun thing I would do at my library in middle school would be looking up random names and subjects and then checking out the book that came up as a result, just by the summary. For example, I searched my name with my spelling, “Aimee” and came up with a powerful book called, “Looks”. It about two girls, one struggling with anorexia and the other with obesity. When I moved on to high school, I can say that I defiantly missed my library at my middle school.

Photo CC – By Evan Bench

With high school came AP classes, and with AP classes came assigned readings. I defiantly didn’t read as much in high school as I did when I was younger, although I still enjoyed reading online comics. Often books that were assigned were old “classics”, and I never enjoyed them. I never understood why “classics”, were praised so highly when they weren’t that good. (At least the ones I read) That was, until I found one series.

Photo is Public Domain

When people ask me what my favorite book series of all time is, I can right away say the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. When I was younger, my dad offered me $100 dollars if I read all of the Oz books. At first I did because, hey, who could pass up that. But then it made me realize that not all old books are bad! There’s so much more to the magical land of Oz than what’s shown in the first book and movie. This also goes for Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, another old book series I’m very fond off.

Photo CC – By Jemimus
One thing I am thankful for because of my love of reading would be the internet. Without the internet, I would not have found so many great stories online. There’s so much written by talented people online that will never be in print. There’s also scans of comics from other countries translated into English online, something I would not be able to find otherwise. With technology evolving more, I’m excited to see what the future brings for reading!