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Choosing High Quality Children's Literature/Traditional Literature

Children's traditional literature refers to stories, tales, and books that have been passed down throughout several generations, often have no known author, and have a clear theme.

"Literature serves an important function in our society, for children shape their reality about themselves and others based on much of what they read. Students' attitudes, values, and beliefs are influenced by children's literature" (As cited in Diamond, B.J., & Moore, M.A. 1995, p. 11). Young (2004) gave a clear description of traditional literature in the introduction to the book Happily Ever After: Sharing Folk Literature With Elementary and Middle School Students:

Also known as traditional literature, folk literature is essentially the canon of tales or stories of a people, passed down orally through many generations. Folklore referring to a variety of oral lore including greetings, jokes, remedies, stories, etc. emerges from the folk, or grass roots, culture and becomes folk literature when it is recorded in written form. (p. 2)

Traditional literature:
 * was transmitted from one generation to another through oral storytelling
 * was narrated mostly
 * had no identified authors
 * explained the origin of natural events and reveals the social, political, and spiritual beliefs of society

Traditional literature includes these features:
 * Short plots
 * Concentrated and fast paced action, which adds interest
 * Two-dimensional characters that could easily be identified as either good or bad
 * Unimportant setting
 * Limited themes, such as good vs. evil and right vs. wrong
 * Happy endings

Young (2004) also indicated that "traditional literature has served to educate listeners/readers about the creation of the world, the history of its people, and the moral values a particular culture holds dear" (p. 5). Such "oral history" and "oral deed" was a corridor, which enabled people to get to know the cultures of various foreign countries or tribes. In the past, traditional stories were once presented to adult (and sometimes child) audiences, but they have become a major part of children's literature during the 19th and 20th centuries. Some of the stories' content, however, involved crude humor and sexual implications. The criterion for selecting a traditional tale might depend on the reader or audience who would be enjoying the tale. As a prerequisite, it would be wise to consider the age and appropriateness of the content for the reader or audience.

Criteria for Selecting Traditional Literature
According to Donna E. Norton (2007, p. 212 and 253-254), traditional literature should be enjoyable to the reader and the following criteria should be considered:

 * the ages, interests, and prior knowledge of the reader
 * the amount of text written in the tale and the attention span of the reader
 * the traditional literature features, including a satisfying ending
 * the writing stays true to the oral storytelling style
 * helps the reader understand the world and its cultural traditions
 * displays the connections between various types of stories around the world (i.e. Cinderella tales)
 * teaches appreciation of culture and art from different countries
 * portrays the culture accurately and not stereotypically
 * uses dialects and languages of different countries
 * inspires creativity through artistic expression (i.e. drama, writing, art, etc.)
 * acknowledges the goodness, compassion, bravery and the human struggles of people from other countries
 * author's note was included at the beginning or the end with more information about the tale and its culture

Types of Traditional Literature
Listed below are the common types of traditional literature:

Folktales
Folktales, literally, were the tales of the folk. Folktales were understandable light literature, which flew orally from the general public. Folktales were divided into several categories. This was a brief introduction of a few that were presented from Types of Folktales.

 * Cumulative tale - repetitive tales that were added on to as the story progressed (i.e. The Gingerbread Man)
 * Pourquoi tale - tale used to explain why animals or humans have certain characteristic (i.e. Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears)
 * Beast tale
 * Trickster tale
 * Noddlehead (Noodlehead), and numbskull tale
 * Realistic tale - tales based on an actual historical event or figure in history (i.e. Blue Beard)
 * Fairy tale

The Grimm Brothers, Jacob (1785–1863), and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), were both well-known linguists in Germany and famous for collecting fairy tales and folktales. Their household tales such as The Bremen Town-Musicians, Rapunzel, and Hansel and Grethel were diffused worldwide.

Another collector of some of the more popular traditional tales, Charles Perrault, preceded the Grimm Brothers by collecting French folktales and modifying them to be appropriate for the aristocratic French courts. According to Lydie Jean (2007), his modified tales were unique because Perrault "remade a popular style by keeping the structure of the stories and some typical phrases, and he created a sense of belonging with intellectuals and aristocrats by using precious vocabulary and respecting the requirements of the salons fairy tale writing" (p. 279). In other words, Perrault was able to bridge the enjoyment of several classes of French society without directly offending each class. Jean (2007) mentioned that "his success was quite uncommon: fairy tales were usually not popular among the lower classes" (p. 278), which preferred the vulgarity of traditional tales. Some of his well-known retellings were Little Red Riding Hood, The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, and Beard.'' An excellent example of a folktale that met the high quality criteria of traditional literature was the Way to Lhasa: A Tale from Tibet'' retold by Barbara Helen Berger. This tale was a simple story about a boy traveling to the holy city and finally reaching it. The small amount of text in this story might help readers with short attention spans focus on the story at hand.

Tall Tales
Tall tales were unique to American folk literature because the characters were based on historical figures or folk heroes who were just as EXAGGERATED as the situations they were put in. Most of the characters were usually larger than life and their occupations were included within the tall tales to further define the characters' traits. Two famous characters were Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan.

Reminiscent of Paul Bunyan, Doňa Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart by Pat Mora, was about a giant woman who helped her neighbors and the surrounding animals with her big heart and physical strength. These similarities among tall tale characters displayed connections between various types of stories around the world, in accordance with the criteria for traditional literature listed above.

Fables
Fables were short, brief stories that were intended to teach a moral lesson. Talking animals were featured as having human characteristics in these stories. Aesop's Fables are the best-known fables.

Jerry Pinkney's rendition of fables, Aesop's Fables, was an example of high quality children's literature. Each fable was one page in length and was accompanied with a picture and simplified moral.

Other sample such as The Tree on the Mountain was the 17th book embodied in Outer Chapters of a Chinese Taoist ancient book, Zhuangzi. The story was about the Tao philosopher, Zhuangzi, and his followers as they attempt to understand two dilemmas: a tree remained uncut by a woodcutter because its wood was good for nothing, but a goose was killed because it could not cackle like the other geese. In other words, the tree on the mountain was seen as worthless to the woodcutter and therefore remained living, whereas the goose who couldn't cackle was useless to the host and therefore worth killing for dinner. As a result of these dilemmas, Zhuangzi explained that it was wise to avoid stereotypes or subjectivity when making decisions/judgments. Zhuangzi, who was good at writing apologues (allegorical narratives with morals) and seizing every chance to convey his philosophical thinking, related his explanations to the Tao and its Attributes.

Ballads
A ballad was a folk rhyme told in song form about a sad death, a tragic romance, or a stirring and dramatic adventure of a hero. Some examples were: The Iliad and Beowulf.

A good example of a ballad is the book Frog Went A-Courtin' retold by John Langstaff. It originated in Scotland hundreds of years ago and it has no author. This ballad was sung or told to children from generation to generation.

Epics
Partitioned into The Folk Epic and the Literary Epic, epics were long narratives in verse form that told about the adventure of a hero or some historical events. In some classification systems, an epic was a sub-category of a myth, such as The Odyssey and The Iliad. These major ancient Greek epic poems were created by Homer, a legendary ancient Greek blind poet.

One of the more popular epics, The Iliad, has been retold by several authors in order to make it accessible to readers of every age. It was, however, more difficult to find a version where the author's writing stays true to the oral storytelling style. Rosemary Sutcliff's retelling, Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad, included aspects of the original epic's verses and metaphors throughout the book, which reflected the oral storytelling style. For example, Sutcliff (1993) included, "In the high and far off days when men were heroes and walked with the gods,...." (p. 6).

Myths
A myth is a sacred story from an ancient time. It explained people's origins and beliefs of the universe and of life, or the culture's moral values in human terms. Myths also included the powers that control the human world and the relationship between those powers and human beings. Atlantis: the Myth was a famed example. Although Greek, Roman, and Norse myths were some of the most famous myths, other myths from around the world had similar attributes. For example, the characters, in general, were gods and goddesses observing human life from a setting that was high above earth.

A collection of myths called The Children's Book of Myths and Legends: Extraordinary Stories from Around the World retold by Ronne Randall, related to the criteria of teaching appreciation for different countries. Throughout the book, myths (and legends) from many countries were categorized based on the origins, beliefs, and adventures of different cultures (i.e. tales of creation and death, etc.). These comparisons might help the reader gain a greater understanding and appreciation of different countries' myths.

Legends
A legend was a saga that concerned people, places, and events from the past. They were usually about a saint, a historic hero, or a major incident that was based on either a true historical happening or associated with a particular place and time in history; for instance, Arthurian Legend and The Story of El Dorado.

The Two Mountains: An Aztec Legend retold by Eric A. Kimmel, was about a god and goddess who fall in love while disobeying their parents' wishes. The couple was married but they defied a sacred promise, which caused them to become mortal and bound to the earth as two mountains for eternity. This legend's descriptions provided the reader with a greater understanding of the world by reflecting the cultural traditions (and beliefs) of the Nahua people (who were the descendants of the Aztecs).

Religious Stories
Most people did not like to classify religious stories with traditional literature because it insinuates that these stories were fictionalized, like myths, and denounced religion. However, religious tales did have features of traditional literature. According to Tunnell and Jacobs (2000), religious tales involved a "human's quest to discover and share with one another the truth concerning the spiritual aspects of existence" (p. 72), which were first told through oral storytelling. Some examples of religious tales were The Bhagavad Gita - The Divine Song of God and The Old Testament. Also, tales associated with religious celebrations and holidays were considered religious stories, such as the Christmas story of La Befana from Italy.

Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale'' retold by Angela Elwell Hunt, was about three trees who grew up to become the lumber used to create the manger, the fishing boat, and the cross for Jesus Christ. The third tree, which became the cross, discovered that God's love was more powerful than hatred and this gives strength to His Christian followers. Although this religious tale discussed the hardships Jesus Christ encountered on the cross, the features of traditional literature were present and did include a satisfying ending for its readers.

Cinderella Tales
Cinderella Tales were types of fairy tales that shared characteristics and motifs with hundreds of other versions from around the world. Some of the shared similarities were:

A good example of a Cinderella story was Little Gold Star: A Spanish American Cinderella Tale retold by Robert D. San Souci. This story comprised the essence of "Cinderella" and it was revised from the Spanish origin, which maintained the Spanish dialects and languages. With Sergio Martinez's vivid and transparent style of drawing, the illustrations might inspire and attract readers as well.

Links for Traditional Literature

 * Brothers Grimm Complete List of Tales
 * - Brothers Grimm Animated Movie Clip of The Bird, The Mouse, and the Sausage (Click on the butterfly to begin the movie clip).

 * Chinese Fables - Scroll over button in upper right hand corner (under the roof) for English
 * Aaron's World of Stories - list of traditional literature
 * Aesop Prize and Accolade Winners - traditional literature books written in English for children
 * Oral Literature and Traditional Literature Online - list of tales
 * Links to Traditional Literature - lesson plans and activities
 * Paul O. Zelinsky books - retold and/or illustrated traditional tales
 * - Rapunzel
 * - Rumpelstiltskin
 * - Hansel and Gretel

 * Cumulative tales
 * Animated Movie Clip of cumulative tale: This is the House that Jack Built
 * cumulative tale lyrics: There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea
 * More Cindrella Tales
 * Lesson plans - for traditional literature
 * Mythic Journeys - myths from different regions of the world
 * Starfall Bookshelf - interactive reading of traditional literature
 * Fables, Fairy Tales, and Folklore - list
 * Kids' Space Storybook - read tales from other countries and kids can create own tales
 * Guidelines for Teaching With Folktales
 * Myths, Folktales, and Fairy Tales - Scholastic website for writing traditional tales


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Choosing High Quality Children's Literature/Modern Fantasy

By Heidi Payne and Andrea Schmidt

Introduction to Modern Fantasy
Modern fantasy is literature written by a known author that is set either in a make-believe or imaginary world in which places, people and creatures could not exist,and/or have events that could not possibly happen such as tiny people, talking animals, or traveling through time.

Categories of Modern Fantasy
According to C. Huck, S. Hepler, J. Hickman, B. Kiefer ( Children's Literature in the Elementary School 1997) there are several categories of children's modern fantasy books.

Animal Fantasy
The category of animal fantasy is often given to stories about animal characters that still maintain their animal characteristics, such as Wilbur in Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, who lives in a barn and eats slop, but also displays human characteristics such as being able to talk with other animals.

Toys and Objects
This category is about toys and objects that have a secret life with or without the knowledge of their owner. For example the Velveteen Rabbit who wants to become real and of course the well known and loved Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne.

Tiny Humans
This category is about humans who are extremely tiny. They have human traits and have real human situations but are just little. Some examples are The Borrowers by Mary Norton and Thumbelina by Hans Christian Andersen.

Unusual Characters and Preposterous Situations
This category is about strange and unusual characters such as Willy Wonka, Mary Poppins, and the Mad Hatter. These types of characters portray human characteristics but put themselves in strange situations. Some books that fall into this genre would be Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater.

Imaginary Worlds
Imaginary Worlds begin in the realm of reality then move rapidly into a world of make believe where situations seem impossible but still have a realistic quality. For example Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

Supernatural
Books under this category capture the attention of children because they enjoy the different types of characters and places that appear in supernatural books. Places such as Hogwarts school found in the Harry Potter series by J.K.Rowling are intriguing in the minds of its readers.

Time-warp
Time warp books start out in the "real world" with characters who find a way to travel back in time or to the future. In the book The Golden Hour, by Maiya Williams, four children find themselves in the middle of the French Revolution while trying to discover the secrets surrounding the town and the abandoned Owatannauk resort. In Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt, Winnie falls in love with Tuck who is a character that has the gift of everlasting life, a person from the past must now help a friend in need.

High Fantasy
High fantasy includes popular books like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis. These books involve the battle between good and evil and their characters may include elves, dwarves, witches, dragons and other mythical beings as well as humans. High fantasy books typically have a quest for a lost or stolen object of power that the protagonist and antagonist need for different reasons and purposes.

Science Fiction
Science Fiction books are those that contemplate future worlds and may often include space travel. Readers will find real scientific information included in these books. Literature books such as A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle or The Giver by Lois Lowery are included in this category.

Related Links for Children's Modern Fantasy Literature

 * Modern Fantasy Fiction Books
 * Children's Fantasy Book List
 * Children and Young Adult Modern Fantasy
 * Modern Fantasy

Chapter Books
East by Edith Pattou (2003)

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (2003)

A Stranger Came Ashore by Mollie Hunter (1975)

Matilda by Roald Dahl (1988)

The Goodness Gene by Sonia Levitin (2005)

The Golden Hour by Maiya Williams (2007)

The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien

Easy to Read Books
Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe (1983)

The Magician's Boy by Susan Cooper (2005)

The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary (1965)

Witch Twins by Adele Griffin (2001)

Picture Books
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin

The Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman (1899)

Monster Mama by Liz Rosenberg (1993)

Zathura by Chris Van Allsburg (2002)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Choosing High Quality Children's Literature/Historical Fiction

by Mary Leininger and Becky McMichael

What is Historical Fiction? Sarah Johnson, Assistant Professor, Eastern Illinois University, states that "the obvious definition that comes to mind is that historical fiction is simply "fiction set in the past" (March 2002). The words "historical fiction" themselves represent a controversy of meaning.  To be considered historical means that the story is based on fact or attained from research.  To be considered fiction means that the story is not true.  So how is it that this literary genre can be both?  Historical fiction uses real characters along with fictitious characters to tell about factual events which occurred more than 50 years ago.  In this way the story can give shape to the past while also making it come alive in the present.  It allows children to see that those characters also dealt with problems that we still face today. Johnson (March, 2002) concludes that the "very best historical fiction presents to us a TRUTH of the past that is NOT the truth of the history books, but a bigger truth, a more important truth - a truth of the HEART."

Types of Historical Fiction
According to Tunnell and Jacobs, ( Children's Literature, Briefly, 2000) there are four types of Historical Fiction:
 * 1) A Story of Historical Events Happening Before the Life of the Author
 * Stealing South by Katherine Ayres Katherine Ayres
 * 1) A Contemporary Novel Becomes Historical Fiction With the Passage of Time
 * The Sound of Music, 1949 The von Trapp Family Story
 * 1) An Author Chronicles his/her Own Life Story in a Fictional Format
 * The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder are books of this type. Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frontier Girl
 * 1) The Protagonist Travels Back Into History
 * The Magic Tree House books Mary Pope Osborne

Criteria for selecting High Quality Historical Fiction

 * 1) The historical facts must be correct and true without being overbearing to the story.
 * "Telling a good story is the essence of historical fiction." (Tunnell and Jacobs,  Children's Literature, Briefly , 2000)
 * 1) The dialogue, thoughts, actions, and motivations of the characters must be true to the time period of the story.
 * The stories should not be "candy coated" to appeal to reader simply to shield readers from the horrific and disturbing events of our history. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". (George Santayana)
 * 1) The setting, characters, plot, mood, word choice, and themes need to be interesting to keep the attention of young readers.
 * The story must be written so that the reader feels as if they have time-traveled to a place of long ago and immersed into authentic historical detail.

Examples of High Quality Historical Fiction

 * Picture Books
 * Rudy Rides the Rails: A Depression Era Story written by Dandi Daley Mackall and illustrated by Chris Ellison
 * This story weaves an accurate picture about the lives of hoboes during the Great Depression. The theme is of family love that drives "Rambling Rudy" back to his home in Akron, Ohio.  The author and illustrator share symbols, dialogue and action from this time period with the reader so that one feels as if they are riding the rails, searching for work and food, along with the characters.  Teacher's Guide
 * The Wall written and illustrated by Peter Sis
 * This story depicts Peter Sis' view of growing up behind The Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War. The author is true to the time period and does not shield the reader from the atrocities of the brain-washing done by the government in the Soviet Union.  His illustration horrifically reveal the mindset of the time by the Soviet leaders.  Together the story and illustrations show one little boy's "awakening" of a better life because of the crack that rock-n-roll had put in the wall that kept him from the western world.
 * Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride written and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
 * This book is a light-hearted story about the first hot-air balloon ride. It recounts the travels of a sheep, a rooster, and a duck  who were the first to take flight in a hot-air balloon.  Luckily, theirs was a happy ending which led to Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier making the first public flight.

 * Chapter Books
 * Worth by A. LaFaye
 * This is a heart-felt story about the struggles of two boys during the late 1800's when orphan trains were a way of life for some unwanted children.  The author's word choices and use of figurative language throughout the book pull the reader into the text.  The dialogue gives the reader the feeling that they have stepped back in time to the old west.  There is a mix of historical facts and literary elements that make this story's theme come alive as the plot unfolds.  This book leads to many enriching discussions about friendship, family, and right versus wrong.  Kids really enjoy reading this story.
 * The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
 * This story is truly written to touch the reader's heart as it draws us into the lives of several women in war-torn Afghanistan. The struggle, fear, and raw perseverance of the main character truly reflects the depth of despair that the human spirit can be capable of enduring.  The author successfully conveys the horrific lives of Afghan women without too many details about their plight.  The plot, setting, and characters bring this historical time period alive for the reader.
 * Remember My Name by Sara H. Banks
 * This story is a masterpiece of emotions ranging from courage to heart-breaking defeat about the Indian Removal Act of 1838. The author's word choice and dialogue help the reader envision a much less "sophisticated" world.
 * Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
 * This is the story of Elijah Freeman, the first free black person born in the settlement of Buxton, Canada. His claim to fame is throwing up on Fredrick Douglas when he visited the colony when Elijah was a baby.  Elijah is an eleven year old boy who is treated like an adult because he is an only child.  He is born into freedom which makes him innocent and gullible so when he experiences the evil of slavery and crime his mind is opened to the cruelty around him.   What is so special about this book is it's authenticity.  The settlement of Buxton, Canada actually existed as a place for runaway slaves.  Douglas did visit this settlement at one time.  The fear and treatment of the slaves is accurately detailed, they hide from the slave traders while trying to survive in a new place.  The book is written in southern twang with a slightly educated tone to it because Elijah is going to school and the teacher is from New York. Elijah faces many decisions that the students can relate to.

Internet Links to High Quality Historical Fiction

 * Award winning books
 * Historical Fiction bookspot
 * Historical Fiction Network
 * Historical Fiction for Children


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Choosing High Quality Children's Literature/Informational

By Brittany Dudgeon

Informational books have evolved in the last several years. These books are no longer left on the library shelf. Illustrations have improved and the books are targeted to younger audiences. Authors of informational books are working hard to make learning enjoyable for children. Informational books are nonfiction books that present current and accurate knowledge (Tunnell and Jacobs, 130). Students can use informational books to write reports, develop critical reading and thinking skills, and expand vocabulary. Authors of informational books often write them to encourage self reliance. A great reason to read informational books is for their enjoyment value. Children can spend hours reading and discovering new facts and ideas (Norton, 501).

How to select Quality Informational Books
Several aspects need to be considered when searching for quality informational books. The book should have an attractive format and design. The content should be appealing with a sufficient mix of text and illustrations. The text needs to include compelling details such as quotations and anecdotes. The accuracy of the text is important. It needs to have current information that is factual and reliable(Tunnell and Jacobs, 133). Authors can not include anthropomorphism in the text. This means they can not give animals or objects human-like characteristics. Stereotyping is also discouraged in informational books (Norton, 502).

Teachers and parents can choose award winning books to find quality informational books (Narang, 1). The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award is one well respected award. This award was established by the American Library Association. Three books that were given this medal or honor are described below. Another informational book award to look for is the Orbis Pictus Award. The National Council of Teachers of English give this award to an outstanding nonfiction book published each year.

Excellent Informational Books
Secrets of a Civil War Submarine Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley
 * By Sally M. Walker

This book tells the story of the H.L. Hunley. A Civil War stealth weapon. It was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in 1864. After the attack, something happened to the submarine because it never returned to port. Decades later the H.L. Hunley was found on the ocean floor. This Robert F. Sibert Medal winning book uncovers the mystery of what happened to the H.L. Hunley.

Sequoyah The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing
 * By James Rumford

This Robert F. Sibert Honer book is about a man named Sequoyah who created a writing system for the Cherokee Indians. In the 1820s, Sequoyah invented letters to spell out the sounds of his language. The Cherokee honored Sequoyah by naming him after redwood trees called Giant Sequoias.

Brooklyn Bridge
 * By Lynn Curlee

Brooklyn Bridge is a Robert F. Sibert Honer book about the eighth wonder of the world. The Brooklyn Bridge is a monument that has an interesting and scandelous history. Lynn Curlee presents the story in fascinating text, informative maps, and realistic illustrations.

Informational Books- Internet Links

 * Informational Materials
 * Informational Facts
 * Find Informational Books


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Choosing High Quality Children's Literature/Biography

By Beth Constantine and Cheryl Hartman

A biography falls under the category of Non-Fiction/Informational Books. It is a vast category which is usually approached in one of several ways. In the past, biographies were fictionalized because many experts felt that children would not read a biography unless it read like a good story. This approach to biography often fell victim to inaccuracies in order to make the story compelling. In order to meet the needs of children, today's trend in biographies is to approach the story of a subject's life both authentically and in a compelling, entertaining manner. As challenging and technical as this sounds, the biographical author is mostly driven by their primary goal, which is to reveal the subject's inner mind and feelings and get the reader to emotionally connect with the subject, thereby making the subject more human and memorable.

Categories
Often confused by the differences among biographies of the same person or event, readers of biographies are left wondering about the authenticity and accuracy of each book. The answer is simple: it lies in the inherent purpose of the book and the intended audience. There are six categories in biographies, each offering a different perspective and appeal. All six are listed here with descriptions and examples.

Picture-Book Biographies
Biographies under this category are mainly directed at young children. They may cover a certain part of the person's life or span the person's whole life. The illustrations carry much of the story and connect the reader emotionally to that person. Many of the facts are woven throughout the story and conveyed through the illustrations. An excellent example of a picture-book biography is Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Weatherford's main purpose of this book is to convey the spiritual journey of Tubman. Nelson's illustrations beautifully portray Tubman's struggle to freedom and the intensity of emotions she experienced along the way.

Simplified Biographies
Created especially for the newly independent or lower skilled readers, simplified biographies tend to provide straightforward accounts of people's lives. These biographies are short and contain many illustrations so they receive high marks for readability. On the other hand, due to the simplistic nature of this category, many of the complexities and details are left out. Because the sentences are manipulated in such a way to make the text more readable, many of these books sound choppy. However an example of a well written biography from this category is F. N. Mojo's I Can Read History Book The One Bad Thing About Father. This story reveals the life of a boy, (Theodore Roosevelt's son) living in the White House with his uncontrollable sister, Alice.

Partial Biographies
The partial biography covers only a part of a person's life, usually a dramatic or high interest event. Many authors choose this category because of their own interest in a certain event or aspect of the subject's life and because covering the subject's entire life would make the book too long and difficult for primary readers. Many of the partial biographies not only address the events of the subject's life, but act as a social history of what life was like for a group of people. This is the case in the book Rosa by Nikki Giovanni. While this book is specifically about the bus incident of Rosa Parks, it also is a social history of how black Americans struggled long and hard to win their civil rights and what life was like for them in America in the 1950's.

Complete Biographies
The complete biography covers the subject's entire life. Complete biographies, although typically long and detailed, can also be conveyed in other categories, such as in picture-books and even in fictionalized versions. The reader can expect an in-depth and complex look at both the positive and negative aspects of the subject. Many complete biographies will contain reproductions of original maps, journal entries, direct quotes and photographs. Amos Fortune, Free Man, by Elizabeth Yates is a Newberry Medal winning book revealing the moving story of a man born in Africa, enslaved in America, who managed to purchase his and others' freedom.

Collective Biographies
Collective Biographies were written to provide a brief explanation about specific groups of people, such as presidents, sports heroes and scientists. Some of these biographies detail the lives of lesser-known individuals who have performed some great contribution to their trade or had a great impact on their culture, others' lives or the world. A notable example from this category is Leagues Apart by Lawrence Ritter. This book reveals the contributions and racial struggles faced by twenty-two African Americans who played baseball in the Negro Leagues.

Autobiographies
Under this category we have stories written by the subject about the subject. The reader can expect great insight into the subject's life, although biased and subjective. Most of the books in this category for primary children are partial biographies, meaning they do not cover the subject's entire life. Some of these books are not about the person's personal life, but their work. And still others reveal much about themselves through personal memories, journals, letters and photographs.

In terms of journal writings/memoirs, nothing is perhaps more famous than the Diary of Anne Frank. Although written by an older child, it is an example of an autobiographical journal, which recounts her life as a Jew hiding from Nazis. Due to the traumatic nature of events in American and World history, like the Holocaust, such autobiographical work is not as welcome within young children's literature as other topics. Publishers of children's literature have struggled in the past to provide an accurate, yet protective, personalized view of the Holocaust as Frank in her autobiographical journal.

On a more positive note, current trends within this category reflect the child's growing interest in favorite authors. Newberry Honor book, Homesick, My Own Story by Jean Fritz tells a revealing story about life in 1920's China, her father's stories of America and her ensuing desire to go to America, followed by her feelings of displacement once she arrived there.

Criteria for Selecting High Quality Children's Biographies
Donna E. Norton in Through the Eyes of a Child, An Introduction to Children's Literature, suggests the following criteria to use to select Children's Biographies:

 * 1) Does the biography meet the criteria for good literature?
 * 2) Is the subject of the biography worth reading about?
 * 3) Is the biography factually accurate in relation to characters, plots, and settings?
 * 4) Does the biographer distinguish between fact and judgment and between fact and fiction?
 * 5) Does the biographer use primary sources when conducting research for the text?  Are these sources identified in the bibliographies or other notes to the readers?
 * 6) Does the biographer include photographs and other documents that increase the credibility of the text?
 * 7) If the biographer uses illustrations other than photographs, are the illustrations accurate according to the life and time of the person?
 * 8) Does the writing style appeal to the readers?

Compare and Contrast
Select at least two books about the same historical figure for each student to read. Have them work individually or in groups to record information about one or more elements of the biographies:
 * 1) Did you find conflicting information? Different versions of the same story?
 * 2) What source materials did the authors use? How do you know? Which sources are more likely to be accurate? Which are less likely to be accurate?
 * 3) What was the main theme of each biography? How did you determine this?
 * 4) What information did the biographer choose to include and how was it presented?
 * 5) Is there information about how the author became interested in the historical figure?

Biographies as Writing Models
In their Classroom Connections Journal Article, "Picture-Book Biographies as Writing Models", Sheryl Saunders and Mary McMackin suggest that "Effective instructional strategies that can help students transform their blasè report writing into robust expository prose may be no farther than your school or classroom library." The article goes on to say that, "When teachers analyze what authors have done to create notable leads, transitions, and conclusions, students will discover that these books can serve as exemplars to improve their own nonfiction writing, incorporating similar effective beginnings, middles, and ends into their own reports—and that satisfies both writer and reader." The article lists several quality biographies and provides examples that can be utilized to instruct students on how to write quality texts.

Additional Resources
An additional resource for classroom activities on the topic of biography can be found at 42explore and The Biography Channel.


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Choosing High Quality Children's Literature/Picture Book Illustrations

Typically, the first books that children will read are picture books; they should, therefore, be a positive experience for children. In addition to teaching children that reading is fun, picture books have an important role in a child’s development. When books are read to children, and as they look at the pictures, language development and auditory discrimination are stimulated. Early concepts of reading such as how to turn the pages and which way to hold a book come into play. Concepts of print such as recognizing sound-symbol relationships and the position and order of words are introduced. It teaches children that shapes and symbols on the page have meaning. Of course, picture books can be used to teach young children to read, but readers of all ages can gain so much more. Readers can use the illustrations to find further meaning, value symbolism, and practice higher level thinking skills. It allows people of all ages simple, aesthetic pleasure.

What Are Picture Books?

 * Typically picture books have pictures on almost every page. The illustrations are so essential to the story that sometimes they could tell the story by themselves. In fact, there are picture books with no words at all. Sometimes the pictures expand the story line or give more significance to the words.  The books are either intended to be read aloud to children or for children to read themselves with guidance. (Lynch-Brown, 2008)

What Do I Look for in High Quality Books?

 * There are multiple criteria for selecting excellent children’s picture books. Most importantly, we must choose the right book for the right child in the right situation.  It should be a book that has “high literary merit” and one the child enjoys (Kurkjian, 2005) Parents and teachers are in the best position to determine what books are appropriate.  However, students can also be taught how to choose books for themselves.  The following are some ideas to consider when choosing books for children: (Lynch-Brown, 2008) (Norton, 2003) (Kurkjian, and Livingston, 2005)

 * Topics and themes that children enjoy or need such as: of imagination in overcoming fear as in Where the Wild Things Are adjusting to new siblings, as in Darcy and Gran Don’t Like Babies, or the importance of friendship as in Officer Buckle and Gloria.  Children often enjoy and can relate to stories that use animals that are disguised as people.   Jan Brett is an excellent author of such books. The use of humor and fantasy as in many Dr. Seuss books such as And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street and Chris Van Allsburg’s Jumanji where animals enter real life through a game.
 * Illustrations are accurate to the plot, characters, and setting, as well as pleasing to the eye. The pictures must support the text.  The less words there are in a book, the more the pictures must convey.  Understanding how illustrations show visual elements such as line, color, shape, texture, and composition can help to appreciate and understand the artists’ intentions through the artwork. Children and adults can begin to identify illustrators’ styles such as realistic, impressionistic, expressionistic, abstract, primitive, and surrealistic. The manner of creating the artwork is unlimited.  Examples include: drawing, collage, print making, photography, and painting. Early exposure helps to develop the aesthetic sensitivities of young children.

Kay E. Vandergrift explains on her website at http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/Culture/illustration.html that ''Children's book illustration is both an art form in its own right and an integral part of the literary composition of the book as a work of art. To fully appreciate all the styles, media, and techniques represented in children's literature, one must be knowledgeable about art in general as well as about the composition and design of children's books.''
 * Pictures should avoid stereotyping. Children are very impressionistic. Not only should the pictures that accompany the text avoid stereotyping, they should encourage children and adults to think outside of the box. Teachers should choose books with care, considering their own teaching situation.
 * Length and amount of text per page should be appropriate to the age or development of the child. Wordless books require the reader to rely on illustrations only to present the story. An example is A Boy, A Dog, and a Frog by Mercer Mayer. A few words allow the reader to use the pictures to help figure out the words to the story. Chris Rashchka’s Yo! Yes? uses just a few words to describe a story of friendship between two people who are very different.  Without the pictures and punctuation the story wouldn’t make very much sense.  If there are too many words on a page or the words are too difficult, the reader may become frustrated. Generally, the longer the text, the more mature a child must be to appreciate it.
 * Books should offer something to the reader and listener. As children become more mature and better readers, they may think that picture books are for babies. Understanding what the illustrations add to the story will help children and adults to better appreciate the text. The illustrations can also provide hidden meaning or underlying storylines that wouldn’t be able to be perceived if it were not for the illustrations.
 * Use professional recommendations such as Caldecott Medal Award Winners, The New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the Year, and reviews in journals such as The Horn Book, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly.

Baby Books
Intended for children 0-2,these books must be durable for little mouths and hands because children of this age need to experience books through feel. They may be made of plastic, vinyl, cloth or board books. The content is usually focused on developing vocabulary, familiar objects and routines such as bedtime or bath time. There is usually little or no text.

Interactive books
Intended for children 2-6,this type of picture book encourages a child to participate through rhyme, repetition, predictability, or movement such as clapping or dancing. One classical interactive book is Dorothy Kunhardt’s Pat the Bunny. In this book children are encouraged to lift flips and feel different types of material in the book.

Wordless books
Children must rely on pictures and their imagination to figure out the story line. They teach children about book structure typically before they are able to read words. However, Reading A-Z.com, the Online Reading Program located at http://www.readinga-z.com/more/wordlessbooks.html list 150 books that are available and suggested at various levels. There are also lesson plans available for primary and intermediate teachers. These types of books often encourage children to invent words to the story which promotes language skills on multiple levels.

Alphabet books
This type of book can have an audience of a large age range. They usually present letters one at a time usually with a theme such as animals, foods, ocean life, or some kind of device such as showing pictures that start with the sound of a letter. Most are intended for the pre-reader or beginning reader, however there are rather complex alphabet books that can be enjoyed through adult age. One example is The Z was Zapped where the letter is related to a action that begins with that letter. The easier books encourage print-sound correlations, phonics skills, and vocabulary.

Counting Books
This type of book introduces children to numerals and words that represent numerals. It allows children to practice one on one correspondence. Children count hidden pigs in Arthur Geisert’s Pigs From 1 to 10. Counting books for older children focus on math concepts such as addition, subtraction, or multiplication. Inez Ramsey, Professor Emeritus in Library Science, James Madison University has identified the criteria she uses to evaluate counting books at http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/counting.htm#TOP. First, it must be clear what is being counted. The children must be able to identify the objects. The numbers themselves must be clear, especially for young children. It should also be clearly accurate. The number of legs on spiders, for instance, may be easily confused with the number of spiders. There should be plenty of open space and uncluttered illustrations. Even though a book is advertised as a counting book, advanced math concepts may be taught as well.

Concept Books
Intended for children 2-4 These types of books teach concepts such as opposites, fast/ slow shapes, and seasons. Eric Carle’s My Very First book of Colors is a wordless book where a child is to match a color block to a picture of an object with that color. These books usually do not have a plot. The Internet School Library Media Center at http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/concept.htm lists several recommendations in the following categories: How to Draw, Time, Calendar/ Clocks, Days, Months, Colors, and Opposites.

Nursery Rhymes
Bobbie Crane and Andrea Owens have explained that many basic skills are taught through rhythm, rhyme, and melodies. They teach concepts such as counting, abc, body parts, and vocabulary. Of particular interest on this site is works by Mother Goose. Each nursery rhyme is a little story unto itself. In many ways they function as simple parables. Traditionally, nursery rhymes have been a vehicle for children to safely explore age appropriate questions about identity and their emotions. Many of these rhymes help children to confront their fears about losing things, getting in trouble or getting hurt. Numerous collections feature charming illustrations full of descriptive detail which explore and expand the rhyme's theme in a comforting and entertaining way. You can investigate this more at http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/academics/LS/PreK/MotherGoose/

Early Reading/ Pattern Books
Intended for children 5-7. These books are easily decorable and predictable. An example is Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? By Eric Carle


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Choosing High Quality Children's Literature/Children's Literature Awards

By Jay Bitner

How do you find the best literature for your child or classroom? Begin with those books that have won awards for excellence. In an age of classification of literature into genres attractive to specific social groups, the number of awards created for recognizing high quality children's literature has grown in recent years, but it is still a manageable list. The table below is a listing of the most significant U.S. children's book awards.

Keep in mind that, in most cases, award winners are selected by adults with extensive exposure to children's literature. They judge books based on specific criteria and the award-winning books, though they may be technically superior to other books under consideration at the same time, may not strike the reading audience in the same manner as they did the judges. The selected books may also not be as popular as other books published within the same time frame as the winner. However, the long track record of the success and major influence of award-winning books is undeniable.

The most reliable resource parents and teachers have is the knowledge they possess of the strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes of their child(ren) or students. I suggest to adults that they read or research the books they want children to read prior to introducing the books to the children. Just as there is no one movie that appeals to all moviegoers, so it is with award-winning books. There generally is no one book that will appeal to every reader. Excellence does not imply acceptance, understanding, or appreciation, but quality is a permanent attribute. Use discretion, knowledge, and resources before asking your children to read a book. Take care to select books they will learn to know, enjoy, love, and share with others.

Reading is a wonderful skill that can provide a lifetime of enjoyment. Allow your readers to develop their imaginations, their language, and their insight into how and why others behave as they do. Understanding is the beginning of knowledge and books are a perfect means to set our readers on that course. Reading is fundamental.

John Newbery Medal
The Newbery Medal is America's oldest and most prestigious children's book award. Since 1922, The American Library Association has annually awarded the Newbery Medal for the best children's book published in the previous year. Those books worthy of consideration, which also have been considered for the medal award, often are selected as Honor books.

The importance of the Newbery Medal and Honor books is evident by the long-lasting appeal of many of the books that have received the award. Award-winning books that were of excellent quality in the year chosen, are still of excellent quality today. Charlotte's Web, a 1953 Honor book, is still read by children today with as much enjoyment as when it was first selected. Quality remains, no matter the passage of time.

2010 Medal Winner

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

2009 Medal Winner:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

2009 Honor Books

The Underneath by Kathi Appeit

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle

Savvy by Ingrid Law

After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

2008 Medal Winner

''Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village'', by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick)

2008 Honor Books:

Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic)

The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion)

Feathers, by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam)

Medal and Honor Books from 1922-present (most recent are listed first)

Randolph Caldecott Medal
Since 1938, The American Library Association annually awards the Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished illustrations in a children's American picture book, published in the previous year. Those books worthy of consideration, which also have been considered for the medal award, often are selected as Honor books.

2009 Award Winner

The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson (Houghton Mifflin)

2009 Honor Books

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, by Maria Frazee

How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz

A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant

2008 Medal Winner

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)

2008 Honor Books

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine (Scholastic/Scholastic Press)

First the Egg, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter)

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtin, by Peter Sís (Farrar/Frances Foster)

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, by Mo Willems (Hyperion)

Winning and Honor Books from 1938-present (most recent are listed first)

Michael L. Printz Award
Since 2000, The American Library Association annually awards the Michael L. Printz Award for the best young adult's book published in the previous year. Those books worthy of consideration, which also have been considered for the medal award, often are selected as Honor books.

2008 Award Winner

The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean (HarperCollins/HarperTempest)

2008 Honor Books

Dreamquake: Book Two of the Dreamhunter Duet, by Elizabeth Knox (Farrar/Foster)

One Whole and Perfect Day, by Judith Clarke (Boyds Mills Press/Front Street)

Repossessed, by A.M. Jenkins (HarperCollins/HarperTeen)

Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath, by Stephanie Hemphill (Random House/Knopf)

Past Winning and Honor Books from 2000-present (more recent are listed first)

Coretta Scott King Award
The American Library Association annually awards the Coretta Scott King Award to African American authors and illustrators for outstanding inspirational and educational books published in the previous year. Books selected for the award must promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all people. Those books worthy of consideration, which also have been considered for the award, often are selected as Honor books.

The first Coretta Scott King Award for authors was presented in 1970, while the award for illustrators was initially presented in 1974. Honor Book awards for authors began in 1978 and for illustrators in 1981. A careful examination of the Past winners will reveal years when no Honor Book awards were made. In 1985, no book was awarded for illustrator.

2008 Author Award

Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic)

2008 Author Honor Books

November Blues, by Sharon M. Draper (Atheneum Books for Young Adults)

Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali, by Charles R. Smith Jr., illustrated by Bryan Collier (Candlewick Press)

2008 Illustrator Award

Let it Shine, Ashley Bryan, written by Ashley Bryan, (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

2008 Illustrator Honor Books

The Secret Olivia Told Me, Nancy Devard, written by N. Joy, (Just Us Books)

Jazz On A Saturday Night, Leo and Diane Dillon, (Scholastic Blue Sky Press)

2008 John Steptoe New Talent Author Award

Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It, by Sundee T. Frazier (Delacorte Press)

Past winners and Honor Books from 1970-present (most recent are listed first)

Pura Belprè Award
Since 1996, The American Library Association biannually awards the Pura Belprè Award for the best literature for children and youth, which is representative of the Latino cultural experience and published in the prior two years. Those books worthy of consideration, which also have been considered for the award, often are selected as Honor books. Beginning in 2009, the award will be presented annually.

2008 Author Award

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sean Qualls (Holt)

2008 Author Honor Books

''Frida: ¡Viva la vida! Long Live Life!'', by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand (Marshall Cavendish)

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, retold by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael Austin (Peachtree)

Los Gatos Black on Halloween, written by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Holt)

2008 Illustrator Award

Los Gatos Black on Halloween, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Marisa Montes (Holt)

2008 Illustrator Honor Books

My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: la vida de Gabriel García Márquez, illustrated by Raúl Colón, written by Monica Brown (Luna Rising)

My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo, written and illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez (Children's Book Press)

Winning Books from 1996-present (most recent are listed first)

Schneider Family Book Award
Since 2004, The American Library Association annually awards the Schneider Family Book Award to an author or illustrator of a book that communicates to readers the experience of living with a disability. The disability may be that of a friend or family member and be physical, emotional, or mental. The portrayal of life with that disability is required within each book considered for the award. The award is given in age groups that approximate elementary school, middle school, and high school readers. There are no awards for Honor books.

2008 Young Children Book

Kami and the Yaks, written by Andrea Stenn Stryer, illustrated by Bert Dodson (Bay Otter Press)

2008 Middle School Book

Reaching for Sun, by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer (Bloomsbury USA Children’s Press)

2008 Teen Book

Hurt Go Happy, by Ginny Rorby, a Starscape Book (Tom Doherty Associates)

Winning Books from 2004-present (most recent are listed first)

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
Since 2006, The American Library Association annually awards the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the best beginning reader's book published in English in the United States in the previous year. Those books worthy of consideration, which also have been considered for the medal award, often are selected as Honor books. Judges look for creativity and imagination in books that engage children in reading.

2009 Winner:

Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems

2009 Honor Books

Chicken Said, 'Cluck' by Judyann Grant

One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Stinky by Eleanor Davis

Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator by Sarah Campbell'

2008 Winner

There Is a Bird on Your Head!, by Mo Willems (Hyperion)

2008 Honor Books

First the Egg, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter)

Hello, Bumblebee Bat, written by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne (Charlesbridge)

Jazz Baby, written by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Harcourt)

Vulture View, written by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins (Holt)

Medal and Honor Books from 2006-present (most recent are listed first)

Orbis Pictus Award
In November each year, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) awards the Orbis Pictus Award for the best children's nonfiction book published in the United States in the previous year. Those books worthy of consideration, which also have been considered for the award, often are selected as Honor or Recommended books.

According to the NCTE web site, "The name Orbis Pictus, commemorates the work of Johannes Amos Comenius, Orbis Pictus—The World in Pictures (1657), considered to be the first book actually planned for children."

Nominated books must meet detailed criteria for accuracy, organization, design, and style. The NCTE web site states: "In addition, each nomination should be useful in classroom teaching grades K-8, should encourage thinking and more reading, model exemplary expository writing and research skills, share interesting and timely subject matter, and appeal to a wide range of ages."

2007 Award Winner, Honor, and Recommended Books

Winner: Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Nic Bishop (Houghton Mifflin)

Children's and Young Adult's Book Awards
The International Reading Association annually awards the Children's Book Awards for the best fiction and nonfiction books for children through young adults, published in the previous year. There is not an award for Honor books. Books published in any country and in any language are eligible for consideration.

Introduced in 1975, the number and name of award categories have changed over the years, which is evident in a listing of Past Winners. The current categories were first used in 2002, though variations of those categories existed in years past.

Fiction
The International Reading Association annually awards the Children's Book Award for the best fiction books for children from birth to seventeen years of age, published in the previous year.

2007 Award Winners

Primary: Tickets to Ride: An Alphabetical Amusement, by Mark Rogalski (Running Press Kids)

Intermediate: Blue, by Joyce Moyer Hostetter (Calkins Creek Books, Boyds Mills Press)

Young Adult: Leonardo’s Shadow: Or, My Astonishing Life as Leonardo da Vinci’s Servant, by Christopher Grey (Atheneum Books, Simon & Schuster)

Nonfiction
The International Reading Association annually awards the Children's Book Award for the best nonfiction books for children from birth to seventeen years of age, published in the previous year.

2007 Award Winners

Primary: Theodore, by Frank Keating (Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster)

Intermediate: Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium, by Carla Killough McClafferty (Farrar Straus Giroux)

Young Adult: The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, by Margarita Engle (Henry Holt)

Robert F. Sibert Award
Since 2001, The American Library Association, with support from Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc., annually awards the Robert F. Sibert Award for the best children's informational book published in English in the previous year. Those books worthy of consideration, which also have been considered for the medal award, often are selected as Honor books.

2008 Medal Winner

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtin, by Peter Sís (Farrar/Frances Foster)

2008 Honor Books

Lightship, by Brian Floca (Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson)

Nic Bishop Spiders, by Nic Bishop (Scholastic/Scholastic Nonfiction)

Winning and Honor Books 2001-present (most recent are listed first)

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
The Boston Globe and The Horn Book annually award the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for the best children's books published in the previous year. The number and name of categories have changed over the years, which is evident in a listing of Past Winners. Except for the initial award year of 1967, those books worthy of consideration, which also have been considered for the award, often are selected as Honor books.

Picture Book
Since 1967, The Boston Globe and The Horn Book annually award the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for the best children's picture book published in the previous year. Honor books have been selected annually since 1968.

2007 Picture Book winner

Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories (Porter/Roaring Brook) written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

2007 Honor Books

365 Penguins (Abrams) written by Jean-Luc Fromental, illustrated by Joelle Jolivet

Wolves (Simon) written and illustrated by Emily Gravett

Fiction
From 1967 through 2000, The Boston Globe and The Horn Book annually awarded the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for the best fiction children's book published in the previous year. Honor books were named and received awards from 1968-2000. In 2001, the classification was modified to include books of poetry and the award renamed Fiction and Poetry.

Fiction and Poetry
Since 2001, The Boston Globe and The Horn Book annually award the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for the best children's fiction or poetry book published in the previous year. Honor books are also selected annually.

2007 Fiction and Poetry winner:

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party (Candlewick) by M. T. Anderson

2007 Honor Books:

Clementine (Hyperion) written by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee

Rex Zero and the End of the World (Kroupa/Farrar) by Tim Wynne-Jones

Nonfiction
Since 1976, The Boston Globe and The Horn Book annually award the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for the best children's nonfiction book published in the previous year. Honor books have been selected annually since the creation of this category.

2007 Nonfiction winner:

The Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr (Groundwood) written and illustrated by Nicolas Debon

2007 Honor Books:

Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion (Houghton) by Loree Griffin Burns

Escape! (Greenwillow) by Sid Fleischman


text:
User talk:Freefallin002~enwikibooks

Come introduce yourself at the new users page. If you have any questions, you can ask there or contact me personally. – Mike.lifeguard  | talk 19:24, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Freefallin002. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Freefallin002~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

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Renamed
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title: User talk:Freefallin002~enwikibooks


text:
User talk:Jorge Morais

You may write downbelow, but if you want a faster reply, please refer to my discussion at pt.wikibooks. Thank you.

title: User talk:Jorge Morais


text: User talk:63.238.216.253

title: User talk:63.238.216.253


text:
Super Smash Bros.

Introduction
Super Smash Bros., an innovative fighting game by Masahiro Sakurai, is one of the top 40 best selling console games of all time (2.5 million copies by 2004). As a fighting game, it revolutionized its genre by introducing the "platform fighter" concept, where 12 different Nintendo characters (up to 4 at a time) battle on one of 9 platforms and if they are thrown off of said platform, they die. Instead of having health bars, characters' damage percentages are increased as they are hit, and the more damage they have, the further they fly from a given attack. You can play either in single-player mode, where you fight different groups of enemies in sequence, or you can play multiplayer, where up to four people can compete on a single stage. Though single-player has many devotees, the multiplayer portion of this game is where most players spend their time. Therefore, this guide is devoted solely to multiplayer with an emphasis on 1v1 duels, though some of the same tactics will work in a more populated fight. With diligent practice and people to practice with, it is amazing how far you can come from the first time you ever play.

Contents

 * /Gameplay/ - Instructions on playing the game
 * /Advanced techniques/ - Advanced fighting techniques
 * /Characters/ - The playable fighters in the game
 * /Items/ - The usable items in the game
 * /Stages/ - The playable stages in the game
 * /Modes/ - The playable modes in the game

title: Super Smash Bros.


text:
Java Persistence/Preface

What is this book about?
This book is meant to cover Java persistence, that is, storing stuff in the Java programming language to a persistent storage medium. Specifically using the Java Persistence API (JPA) to store Java objects to relational databases, but I would like it to have a somewhat wider scope than just JPA and concentrate more on general persistence patterns and use cases, after all JPA is just the newest of many failed Java persistence standards, this book should be able to evolve beyond JPA when it is replaced by the next persistence standard. I do not want this to be just a regurgitation of the JPA Spec, nor a User Manual to using one of the JPA products, but more focused on real-world use cases of users and applications trying to make use of JPA (or other Java persistence solution) and the patterns they evolved and pitfalls they made.

Intended Audience
This book is intended to be useful for or to anyone learning to, or developing Java applications that require persisting data to a database. It is mainly intended for Java developers intending to persist Java objects through the Java Persistence API (JPA) standard to a relational database. Please don't just read this book, if you're learning or developing with JPA please contribute your experiences to this book.

Style
This book is meant to be written in a casual manner. The goal is avoid sounding dry, overly technical or impersonal. The book should sound casual, like a co-worker explaining to you how to use something, or a fellow consultant relating their latest engagement to another. Please refrain from being overly critical of any product, ranting about bugs, or marketing your own product or services.

title: Java Persistence/Preface


text:
Total Annihilation

This guide will cover important topics for Total Annihilation, a strategy game released on PC and Macintosh.

Contents

 * /The Basics/
 * /Units/
 * /Structures/
 * /Tactics and Strategy Guide/
 * /Maps/
 * /Patching/
 * /Community/
 * /Websites/
 * Mods and Addons to Total Annihilation
 * /List of Abbreviations/

title: Total Annihilation


text:
Wikibooks:Yiddish bookshelf

Books on Yiddish

 * Yiddish
 * Conversational Yiddish
 * Yiddish for Yeshivah Bachurim

title: Wikibooks:Yiddish bookshelf


text:
World of Warcraft

(This online guide is very incomplete as of this time. It will only give you what you need to start, and much information is missing. For all WoW players out there, please contribute to this guide)

World of Warcraft, created by the video game company Blizzard Entertainment, is a wildly popular massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) which takes place in the mythical and expansive world of Azeroth. A MMORPG is a multiplayer computer role-playing game that enables thousands of players to play in an evolving virtual world at the same time over the Internet. MMORPGs are a specific type of massively multiplayer online game (MMOG).

This world is filled with two types of game play: player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP). In the PvE part of the game, players travel around the world completing thousands of quests with hundreds of interesting story lines, whereas, the PvP aspect of the game pits players against other players in order to gain prestige, power, and peer respect.

In game, players choose to create a unique character from eight unique races and nine powerful classes. Each race in the game has it's own interesting look, a look which is further customizable in the character creation screen. As well as look, each race has a series of racial traits and talents which help to give variability in character types. Further helping to individualize characters, each class is give a plethora of skills and abilities which are enhanced as the character gains levels through game play and exploration. With the added ability to freely create multiple characters in the game, change the abilities of an existing character by respecing their talents, World of Warcraft excels at keeping game content variable thus having long-term playability.

As an added benefit, Blizzard Entertainment has put much effort into creating a game that casual players and hardcore players enjoy alike. For casual players, a few quests can be completed in a matter of a couple hours in the evening, unlike other MMORPG's which require playing the game like a full-time job to feel that you've accomplished something. They also implemented a "rested xp" game mechanism and allows for 200% experience gained from destroying monsters which is activated if a player hasn't gained monster XP for a certain period of time, helping casual players to level at a respectable pace. For hardcore players, who have time and desire to put man hours in, there are item rewards for competing in PvP game play which often requires five or more hours daily, as well, completing instanced dungeons which take hours to complete often yield desirable items.

=Getting Started= This section will cover the most basic aspects of World of Warcraft.

Account Creation
The first step in playing World of Warcraft is creating an account. With a new game, players are given a free trial period to evaluate the game, after that they are required to have an active credit card account or pre-paid game cards in order to continue playing. Account creation is varied and may change if Blizzard Entertainment chooses so. At the time of this writing, you are required to have a valid, purchased copy of the game for account creation. Blizzards' Official website will be linked for accurate and up-to-date account creation guide.

 * | World of Warcraft Account Creation

After you've setup your account, you will likely have to update the game. There are two ways to do this. First, and easiest is to let the client built into the game (blizzard downloader) update it for you. The second is to manually download the updates and apply them yourself. The second method is useful if you are behind a firewall that is tricky and not letting the blizzard downloader work, if you have a slow internet connection you can download the patches off of a faster computer burning it to CD and installing as such, or if you have multiple computers that you want to update it may be faster to manually apply the patch instead of downloading it each time.

Characters
The eight playable races in World of Warcraft are split into two factions, Horde and Alliance. These two factions are at war and the majority of PvP game experience centers around conflict between the two factions. As well, factions cannot communicate with each other so if you want to play with friends, it is wise to choose the same faction. The Alliance consists of Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, and Night Elves; while the Horde is made up of Orcs, Trolls, Taurens, and the Undead.

Each race has specialized talents and a limited number of classes available for them to use. For example, a Gnome can only choose between the classes of warrior, mage, warlock, and rogue; and has racial abilities such as increased engineering skills, and intelligence whereas a Night Elf can be a warrior, druid, hunter, rogue or priest and has the ability to hide in shadows, and increased nature damage resistance. To further complicate the issue, each faction also has one unique class. The alliance have Paladins and the Horde have Shamans.

Each class has special talents and spells which are purchased through in-game trainers after the character has reach a certain level in the game. Each character has three distinct talent trees which strengthen skill classes and give new skills. This aspect of the game allows for great customization between characters of the same class and race.

Below is a link to a detailed guide for creation your characters, and further below that are links to detailed explanations and histories of each race and class in Azeroth.

 * Character Creation Guide

Races

 * Dwarves
 * Gnomes
 * Humans
 * Night Elves
 * Orcs
 * Trolls
 * Tauren
 * Undead

Classes

 * A Quick Introduction to the Classes

For a more detailed instruction for each of the classes, see the links below.

 * Druid
 * Hunter
 * Mage
 * Paladin
 * Priest
 * Rogue
 * Shaman
 * Warlock
 * Warrior

Basics
The basics section contains just enough information so you can get started playing the game.

 * Equipment, Items, and Statistics
 * Combat
 * Grouping
 * Etiquette
 * Addiction, Inactivity, and MMORPGs

Advanced Topics
There are more advanced topics that a person doesn't need to know to play the game, although they help out tremendously.

 * Effective Leveling
 * Raid groups
 * Professions
 * Making Gold and the Auction House
 * Settings, Keybindings and Addons
 * Role playing and Emotes
 * Guilds
 * Faction

=Zones= The zones section contains information about each specific zone in Azeroth. It will serve as a comprehensive guide to the completion of each quest in a particular zone.

Eastern Kingdom

 * Elwynn Forest
 * Dun Morogh
 * Tiristfal Glades
 * Loch Modan
 * Silverpine Forest
 * Westfall
 * Redridge Mountains
 * Duskwood
 * Hillsbrad Foothills
 * Wetlands
 * Alterac Mountains
 * Arathi Highlands
 * Stranglethorn Vale
 * Badlands
 * Swamp of Sorrows
 * The Hinterlands
 * Searing Gorge
 * The Blasted Lands
 * Burning Steppes
 * Western Plaguelands
 * Eastern Plaguelands
 * Deadwind Pass

Kalimdor

 * Durotar
 * Mulgore
 * Darkshore
 * The Barrens
 * Stonetalon Mountains
 * Ashenvale Forest
 * /Thousand Needles/
 * /Desolace/
 * /Dustwallow Marsh/
 * /Feralas/
 * /Tanaris Desert/
 * /Azshara/
 * /Felwood/
 * /Un'Goro Crater/
 * /Silithus/
 * /Winterspring/

Towns and Cities

 * /Orgrimar/
 * /Undercity/
 * /Thunder Bluff/
 * /Ironforge/
 * /Darnassus/
 * /Stormwind/
 * Tarren Mill
 * Sepulcher
 * Crossroads
 * Camp Taraujo
 * Booty Bay
 * Grom'gol
 * Winterspring
 * Gadgetzan
 * Thorium Point
 * Kargath

=Instances= An instance is a specialized type of difficult dungeon created to prevent problems of over-crowding and kill stealing. These dungeons are often more difficult than the regular PvE experience and require working together in a five-person party, some even requiring twenty or more person raids. When entering an instance, a new copy of the dungeon is created which is unique to the particular party or raid which has entered it thus no one else can enter the dungeon and kill a named boss without being explicitly invited to do so. This helps to stop players who would follow a group into a dungeon, wait for the them to clear the way to the boss, than fight the boss thus exploiting others clearing work. This also prevents over-crowding of a boss because any number of instances can be created and each has it's own copy of that particular boss.

Eastern Kingdoms

 * Blackrock Depths
 * Blackrock Spire
 * Blackwing Lair
 * Deadmines
 * Gnomeregan
 * Molten Core
 * The Scarlet Monastery
 * Scholomance
 * Shadowfang Keep
 * The Stockades
 * Stratholme
 * The Sunken Temple (Temple of Atal'Hakkar)
 * Uldaman
 * Zul'Gurub

Kalimdor

 * /Blackfathom Deeps/
 * /Dire Maul/
 * /Maraudon/
 * /Onyxia's Lair/
 * /Ragefire Chasm/
 * /Razorfen Downs/
 * /Razorfen Kraul/
 * /Wailing Caverns/
 * /Zul'Farrak/
 * /Zul'Gurub/

Battlegrounds

 * /Alterac Valley/
 * /Arathi Basin/
 * /Warsong Gulch/

=Special Events=

Periodically certain events happen in the game, most are calendar based but recently a one-off "world event" has been created.

Regular Events

 * Stranglethorn Vale Fishing Competition
 * Darkmoon Faire

Calendar Events

 * Lunar Festival

title: World of Warcraft


text:
Animal Crossing: Wild World

Welcome to the Wikibook on Animal Crossing: Wild World.

Contents
{|width="100%"
 * - valign="top"
 * bgcolor="#ffeeee"|

General

 * Changes since the GameCube version
 * /Characters/
 * /Tom Nook/
 * /Paintings/
 * /Golden Tools/
 * /Random Tips/
 * }

title: Animal Crossing: Wild World


text:
Civ/Civilization II

This is a strategy guide for Civilization II, as well as its various expansion packs. They include:

 * Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization
 * Civilization II: Fantastic Worlds
 * Civilization II: Test of Time (PC only)

Table of Contents

 * The Basics

Conflicts in Civilization Scenarios

 * After the Apocalypse
 * Age of Discovery
 * The Age of Napoleon
 * Alexander the Great
 * Alien Invasion
 * American Civil War
 * The Crusades
 * The Great War
 * Jihad - The Rise of Islam
 * The Mongol Horde
 * The War for Independence
 * World War - 1979

Fantastic Worlds Scenarios

 * The Age of Reptiles
 * Atlantis
 * Ice Planet
 * Mars Now!
 * Master of Magic, Jr.
 * Master of Orion, Jr.
 * The Mythic History of Midgard
 * The New World
 * Samurai
 * The World of Jules Verne
 * X-COM: Assault

Appendices

 * Forms of Government
 * Unit Index
 * Patch History
 * Test of Time Extras

title: Civ/Civilization II


text:
Chrono Trigger

This Wikibook covers the game Chrono Trigger.

Please note that this guide is riddled with spoilers, particularly in the endings section, and the walkthrough does describe the events on that chapter.

Walkthrough
Chapters are named and numbered according to the name of the saved game file during that point of the game. Since the ending essentially depends upon during what portion of the game Lavos is challenged a small section in each chapter will mention what will happen if you beat Lavos during that chapter.

While the walkthrough is mostly designed around a new game where you will be getting all of the equipment for the first time, Chrono Trigger also has the option to start a New Game + after you beat Lavos through the black omen. You'll be able to take all the levels of your characters and the contents of your save file (with a few exceptions such as the masamune and the bike key) and be able to start the game over with powered up characters. In a New Game + it's also possible to challenge Lavos at almost any point by using the right telepad at the millennial fair. The game is considerably easier in a new game +, making most of the challenge about completeness and finding all the endings.

Walkthrough Contents

 * 1) Chapter 1: The Millennial Fair (1000 A.D. first time)
 * 2) Chapter 2: The Queen Returns (600 A.D. first time)
 * 3) Chapter 3: The Queen is Gone (600 A.D. first time)
 * 4) Chapter 4: We're Back! (1000 A.D. second time)
 * 5) Chapter 5: The Trial (1000 A.D. second time)
 * 6) Chapter 6: Beyond the Ruins (2300 A.D. first time)
 * 7) Chapter 7: The Factory Ruins (2300 A.D. first time)
 * 8) Chapter 8: The End of Time (End of Time)
 * 9) Chapter 9: The Village of Magic (1000 A.D. third time)
 * 10) Chapter 10: The Hero Appears (600 A.D. second time)
 * 11) Chapter 11: Tata and the Frog (600 A.D. second time)
 * 12) Chapter 12: The Rare Red Rock (65M B.C. first time)
 * 13) Chapter 13: Footsteps! Follow! (65M B.C. first time)
 * 14) Chapter 14: The Masamune! (600 A.D. third time)
 * 15) Chapter 15: Magus's Castle (600 A.D. third time)
 * 16) Chapter 16: Forward to the past (65M B.C. second time)
 * 17) Chapter 17: Unnatural Selection? (65M B.C. second time)
 * 18) Chapter 18: The Magic Kingdom (12,000 B.C. first time)
 * 19) Chapter 19: Break the Seal! (2300 A.D. second time and 12,000 B.C. second time)
 * 20) Chapter 20: The Guru On Mt. Woe (12000 B.C. second time)
 * 21) Chapter 21: What Lies Beyond? (12000 B.C. second time)
 * 22) Chapter 22: Lavos Beckons (12000 B.C. second time)
 * 23) Chapter 23: The New King (12000 B.C. second time)
 * 24) Chapter 24: The Time Egg (2300 A.D. third time)
 * 25) Chapter 25: The Fated Hour (All time periods)
 * 26) Chapter 26: The Final Battle (1999 A.D. / ???)

Lists

 * 1) Endings and how to obtain them
 * 2) Locations of Power, Magic, and Speed Tabs
 * 3) /Sealed Chests/
 * 4) Information on Spekkio
 * 5) Characters and Techniques
 * 6) /Bosses/
 * 7) /Equipment List/

title: Chrono Trigger


text:
Chrono Cross

Contents

 * /Characters and Techs/
 * /Combos/

title: Chrono Cross


text:
Chip's Challenge

This is a walkthrough for the 1989 computer game Chip's Challenge, written for the by Chuck Sommerville and others. It shows how to complete every level. Note that the Microsoft Entertainment Pack version (the most well-known) differs from the original in many respects. Some of these differences are bugs which allow shortcuts to be taken. When these differences occur, the walkthrough will (sometimes) explain both ways.

This walkthrough frequently uses directions such as "north" and "west". The direction north means up. A notation such as N12 means to move north twelve squares. An intersection is where you have a choice of directions to take.

title: Chip's Challenge


text:
Castle of the Winds

This book was created to document the 1989 game Castle of the Winds.

Contents

 * 1) /Introduction/
 * 2) /Obtaining the Game/
 * 3) /System Requirements/
 * 4) Gameplay
 * 5) /Interface & Controls/
 * 6) /Battle Mechanics/
 * 7) /Monsters/
 * 8) /Items and the Inventory System/
 * 9) /Magic/
 * 10) /Character Attributes/
 * 11) /Story and Locations/
 * 12) /Strategy/
 * 13) /Cheats and Exploits/
 * 14) /Technical Notes/
 * 15) /References and External Links/

title: Castle of the Winds


text:
User:Purpledesert

Grace Ha's page

 * PsycholARTSical: Psyched about the arts

title: User:Purpledesert