Children’s literature

The Best Children’s Books

Some of the best children’s books are those that help push children into reading in stronger ways. Scholastic books help children to read based on level while stretching their skills. Books like the Harry Potter series, Twilight, or even Amelia Bedilia are great books for children to read that stretch their reading skills and they entertain their brain.

How to Identify a Good Book

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Some of the good books for kids use their language. Lanuage is important or a child will not be able to use his or her imagination. Some of the keys to look for include word count and word length. For children that are in the sixth grade, there will be multiple words of six letter or more per sentence. This is because a child should be able to comprehend the structure of the blends and then from there gain understanding.

The next thing to look for is to see if there is a series for something available that has a review. Most reading lists at schools will have a selection for a reason. The books on the list are recommended based on the criteria that they will have an entertainment value along with the vocabulary and word strength.

For most readers this is not an issue, but your reader is struggling, there is nothing wrong with finding fun reads that may be a little below their reading level. This will help encourage them to read more and feel comfortable with reading and diving into books regularly.

Filed Under: Children's Books, Reading Tagged With: Arts, Children's literature, Shopping

Should Parents Read Children’s Books? Here Are Two Important Reasons

Is it important for parents to read children’s books before they are passed on to their kids? Admittedly, you might not look forward to the task of reading fairy tales and other such childish stories that provide neither entertainment nor information. However, there are many reasons why you should glance through these books before proceeding.

The first and the most important task is to find out whether there is anything inappropriate in these books. Recently, there was a big controversy regarding the book Huckleberry Finn because of certain words being used in the classic that are no longer considered polite. Of course, books that were written more than two hundred years ago cannot reflect current social positions.

In such a scenario, you should be prepared to clarify certain points even before your child poses queries. In any case, there is no guarantee that your child will approach you with doubts and queries. From the internet to friends and teachers – there are many source of information that kids rely on.

The last thing you want is for your child to say the wrong work to the wrong person in an innocent manner. If you are in a position to point out certain words and certain concepts used in the book that are no longer relevant or polite, you can avoid many complications that otherwise might take place.

The second reason why you should read these books is to plan ahead and improve your child’s gain from the book. If you know the plot in advance, you can come up with meanings of cool sounding words and various drama ideas for certain chapters. This will help keep the child excited and interested in reading.

Filed Under: Reading Tagged With: Book, Child, Children's literature

Want Your Child To Read Books? Simply Buying Lots Of Books Will Not Work

Steel walls do not prison make. In their same way, having lots of children’s books at home is not going to automatically inculcate the reading habit in your child. Why? Children have absolutely no motivation to read books. Books are passive form of entertainment as one is forced to rely on imagination to convert the written text into real life scenarios. Once the child is motivated to use imagination, he or she may read on a continuous basis.

However, until then, children may be comfortable with internet and television because all the senses are gratified without any effort from their side. What seems like a wonderful experience for you is nothing but lots of hard work for your child. Hence, you will have to work harder than simply purchasing lots of children’s books for your house.

For starters, you will have to inculcate reading habit into your schedule. If you read before going to sleep every night, your child will observe this and will try to make an effort to inculcate reading in his or her schedule. On the other hand, if books simply accumulate dust in your house, can you really blame your child for not bothering about books?

Another reason why children do not like to read is because they do not find interesting books. Of course, a six or seven year old child may not have specific reading tastes as far as genres and writing style is concerned. However, if your child prefers fast paced books, there is no harm in going in for fiction that involves a bit of adventure and excitement for the child.

This will force you to observe your child carefully to determine which type of book he or she would like to read. Belief that buying books is all that one needs to do to inculcate reading habit in your child is based on a flawed premise.

Filed Under: Children's Books Tagged With: Book, Children's literature, Reading

Successful Book Publishing

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A great deal of writers and some non-writers seem to think that you create a book, sign a contract for a large amount of money and then the book publishing company sends you on an all expense paid book tour. This is fantasy for most authors. The big money is reserved for the likes of Nora Roberts, Stephen King and other big name authors. The truth is that even if an author is signed to a big publishing house they are pretty much on their own when it comes to promoting their book. This is where creativity and drive are necessary. Being fearless helps as well.

Successful book publishing involves picking up the phone and setting up their own book tour. This means that all expenses are coming out of their pocket so that should be taken into consideration. Writing up press releases to as many PR places as possible is always a good idea. Writers should find out if the local radio or even television station will give them a short spot to discuss their book. The best type of promotion is to think “outside of the box”. This may involve doing book signings at local schools for children’s books or perhaps at coffee houses if the target reading audience visits coffee shops.

The point is that no matter what type of book publishing company is used, the success of a book is all up to the author. They must get their name out to the public and their book into the hands of readers. The second most successful way to build up a writing career is to continue writing. The more books an author has published the easier it is to sell their work. Plus if readers like one book then they are likely to go back and purchase the previous work of an author.

Filed Under: Reading Tagged With: Author, Children's literature, Nora Roberts, Press release, Publishing, Stephen King, Writer, Writer Resources

The Art of Reading Presented by Madisonavenuebookstore.com

Madisonavenuebookstore.com was started as a way for anyone interested in books, reading, writing, book publishing, or other literary pursuits to stay connected to that world. It is an adventure in learning about the old and the new of the literary world. Books have transformed over the centuries but are still the basis of entertainment and information. For readers, it is always an adventure. They can never get enough of learning about new characters, new worlds, or even traveling back in time to a place where they can never go.

Reading books is an exploration. Madisonavenuebookstore.com encourages that exploration with their informative articles about a plethora of books. It’s not just about specific books but about the benefits of what reading can do for each and every person. From gathering information from inspirational books, finding religion, or rediscovering the classics, there is something to be found on this website. They discuss how books can make you a better problem solver or simply cause your brain to work at a higher level than before. Books, whether fiction or nonfiction, contain knowledge, having knowledge and taking action with it is a powerful thing. This creates productive individuals in society.

Along with higher brain function, reading books can be fun. Learning to appreciate such classic books as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe or The Catcher in the Rye will help to teach a valuable history lesson as well as see where the world of books and reading have come from.

Madisonavenuebookstore.com also talks of children’s books. Not only about classics but about illustrators as well. There is a full discussion about Mo Williems, Dr.Seuss and much more. The Eric Carle museum for children’s picture book art is discussed as thoroughly as the concept of reading itself. This highlights the entire world of reading, writing, book publishing and illustration. Which is the entire reason for madisonavenuebookstore.com

Filed Under: Reading Tagged With: Children's literature, Publishing, Shopping

Books Celebrated in Children’s Literature

: Cover of Where the Wild Things Are

The world of children’s literature has changed dramatically over time. When children’s books first appeared they were created to either entertain or teach. Some were intended for both. It is often said that children’s fairy tales are stories intended to teach basic lessons to children. An example of this is the story of Little Red Riding Hood. This story is a way of striking fear into children so that they will not talk to strangers. The story of Cinderella is one of being true to oneself and good things will happen. Even stories and books from this era created an overall theme that good will almost always win over evil. Other stories such as The Wizard of Oz or Through the Looking Glass were meant to teach a subtle lesson while allowing the reader to escape into a magical world that was far from reality.

The world of today’s books generally fall into one of two categories. One is to teach lessons and the other is to entertain. While some of them do both, it is not uncommon to find writing that is merely for entertainment. It is not to say that one way is better than the other, it is simply put that children’s books of decades ago are not able to be compared with those of today. This would be the equivalent of trying to compare Where the Wild Things Are to Captain Underpants. The only books that might be relevantly comparable are those such as The Wizard of Oz to Harry Potter.

There are a great deal of amazing children’s books both past and present that should be read and appreciated for exactly what they are. This allows readers to be hopeful of finding the book that really speaks to them in one way or the other. It is not always important what is read but that a child reads.

Filed Under: Children's Books Tagged With: Children, Children's literature, Harry Potter, Little Red Riding Hood

A Celebration of Children’s Book Art

: Image via Wikipedia

Much of the charm of a good children’s book is in the illustrations. The simpler the story, the more important the visuals can be. There are even some great children’s books such as Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day that have no writing at all, and depend entirely on the pictures to tell the story. Then again, some classics like The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster have an engrossing and complex narrative, but the occasional, simply sketched illustrations by Jules Feiffer still add immeasurably to the reading experience. Whether deceptively simple, like the drawings of Mo Willems or Dr. Seuss, or detailed and lush like the magnificent illustrations of Arthur Rackham or Jan Brett, children’s book art is truly a fine art, and deserves to be honored as such.

To this aim, the highly acclaimed children’s book author and illustrator Eric Carle has opened The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts. Carle is the author of over 70 children’s books, the most famous of which is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. His artwork is both simple and visually complex, as it is created by a collage of brightly colored hand-painted paper that he cuts or tears and layers to create his images. All of his work is instantly recognizable, and always a feast of color.

The museum features not only his work, but also that of many of his favorite children’s book artists. Maurice Sendak, who wrote and illustrated Where the Wild Things Are, is prominent among them, as well as Leo Lionni, whose work had an influence on Carle. There is a special exhibition of Dorothy Kunhardt’s classic Pat the Bunny, and one for the Hans Christian Anderson Award winner Lisbeth Zwerger.

Whether in the traditional stye of Beatrix Potter, the more modern look of William Steig or the pop-ups of Robert Sabuda, the illustrations in children’s books are often the very first art that young people are exposed to. It’s important that it be a valuable introduction. The story it tells may be silly, but the art, itself can be quite masterful. In the best of children’s literature, it is.

Filed Under: Children's Books Tagged With: Arts, Children, Children's literature, Where the Wild Things Are

A Tale of Two Cities and a Tollbooth

The best books for children are the ones that grown ups love too. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is just such a book. Published in 1961, and sometimes compared to Alice in Wonderland, it is a modern classic. It has adventure, fantasy and wisdom as well as wondrously droll illustrations by Jules Feiffer. What’s not to love?

The central character is a bored young man named Milo who comes home from school one day to find a mysterious package containing a tollbooth with a map of the Lands Beyond. Having nothing better to do, he gets in his toy car, drives through the tollbooth and finds himself on the road to adventure.

From the road to Expectations, he gets lost in a hazy, gray place called the Doldrums. Here he meets Tock, a very large watchdog (whose body is actually a watch) who doesn’t believe in wasting time. Tock helps Milo out of the Doldrums and joins him on his journey.

Together they head into the Kingdom of Wisdom, and their first stop is the city of Dictionopolis. Here, in the marketplace where all letters are sold, they meet the Humbug who also comes along for the ride. At a banquet for King Azaz the Unabridged, they find themselves eating their own words for dinner.

So it goes. On to Digitopolos, a rival city ruled by the Mathemagician. Of course this is where all numbers come from, out of mines deep in the ground. Milo and Tock learn that the rival kings had two sisters named Rhyme and Reason, who have been banished from the kingdom for refusing to declare either words or numbers supreme. Now that the land has fallen into disharmony, Milo is asked to travel through the Mountains of Ignorance to bring the princesses home.

Of course this noble quest takes them through many more fabulous adventures with even more peculiar characters. All along there is wisdom, depth and a large dose of humor. If this is a children’s story, then it’s for the child in each of us. Like Milo, you will walk away a little more interested in the wonder of life.

Filed Under: Famous Books Tagged With: Children's literature, Fantasy, Phantom Tollbooth

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