Books Received
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Books Received
Best Books for Boys: A Resource for Educators. By Matthew D. Zbaracki. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.
This annotated bibliography includes approximately 500 entries on books that appeal especially to boy readers between grades three and ten. The book is organized by genre with chapters on humor, realistic fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, poetry, graphic novels, nonfiction, and modern classics. There are about 260 authors whose works are represented in this book. Some authors, such as Gordon Korman, have many of their books featured, while other authors whose books are popular with boy readers, including Roald Dahl, Robert Cormier, and Harry Mazer, have none of their books featured. Still, this resource should prove to be helpful to teachers, librarians, and parents who want to encourage boys to read on a regular basis.
This annotated bibliography includes approximately 500 entries on books that appeal especially to boy readers between grades three and ten. The book is organized by genre with chapters on humor, realistic fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, poetry, graphic novels, nonfiction, and modern classics. There are about 260 authors whose works are represented in this book. Some authors, such as Gordon Korman, have many of their books featured, while other authors whose books are popular with boy readers, including Roald Dahl, Robert Cormier, and Harry Mazer, have none of their books featured. Still, this resource should prove to be helpful to teachers, librarians, and parents who want to encourage boys to read on a regular basis.
Exploring the Connection between Children’s Literature and Music. By Regina Carlow. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008.
Intended as a practical book for teachers and librarians who work with children in preschool and elementary school, this resource provides tips and advice on how to incorporate music into storytelling and reading activities. Regina Carlow is especially insightful in the sections that deal with the connections between music and poetry for children.
Intended as a practical book for teachers and librarians who work with children in preschool and elementary school, this resource provides tips and advice on how to incorporate music into storytelling and reading activities. Regina Carlow is especially insightful in the sections that deal with the connections between music and poetry for children.
Hidden in Plain Sight: The Tragedy of Children’s Rights from Ben Franklin to Lionel Tate. By Barbara Bennett Woodhouse. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008.
Although this book does not deal specifically with children’s literature, its focus on the legal rights of children should be of interest to children’s literature scholars who are also engaged in childhood studies. Barbara Bennett Woodhouse is an expert on family law, and she draws on this expertise in her examination of the history of children’s rights in America.
Although this book does not deal specifically with children’s literature, its focus on the legal rights of children should be of interest to children’s literature scholars who are also engaged in childhood studies. Barbara Bennett Woodhouse is an expert on family law, and she draws on this expertise in her examination of the history of children’s rights in America.
Rhetorics of Fantasy. By Farah Mendleson. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University ress, 2008.
This scholarly volume on fantasy literature does not focus entirely on children’s books, but Farah Mendleson includes children’s fantasy books in her study. Mendleson is especially interested in the protagonist’s relationship to the fantasy world. In analyzing this relationship, she finds it helpful to classify fantasy literature into four broad categories: the portal-quest, immersive, intrusion, and liminal fantasies.
This scholarly volume on fantasy literature does not focus entirely on children’s books, but Farah Mendleson includes children’s fantasy books in her study. Mendleson is especially interested in the protagonist’s relationship to the fantasy world. In analyzing this relationship, she finds it helpful to classify fantasy literature into four broad categories: the portal-quest, immersive, intrusion, and liminal fantasies.
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America. By David Hajdu. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.
David Hajdu is hardly the first person to write about the controversy surrounding comic books during the 1950s. However, Hadju’s book is still well worth reading even for those who are familiar with the history of this controversy. Haju conducted many interviews with the comic book writers and illustrators whose works came under attack during this period, and the insights that he gained as a result of these interviews add a human dimension to this oft-told tale. [End Page 322]
David Hajdu is hardly the first person to write about the controversy surrounding comic books during the 1950s. However, Hadju’s book is still well worth reading even for those who are familiar with the history of this controversy. Haju conducted many interviews with the comic book writers and illustrators whose works came under attack during this period, and the insights that he gained as a result of these interviews add a human dimension to this oft-told tale. [End Page 322]
