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books of 2003
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From: Hollis Rudiger <hmrudiger>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 10:31:08 -0600
I loved so many of these books, and I thank you all for refreshing my memory on books I haven't thought of in awhile. I've thought of how A Northern Light might be a wonderful companion to an American History/Language Arts course, as offers both rich content on so many American struggles including race and class (not to mention gender) and interesting literary techniques. I would especially like to see how a high school English teacher might be able to incorporate some kind of vocabulary or word development component into a course in a very natural way by using this book rather than dry text books. And I wonder whgat it would be like to read Dreiser's version of the story as well.
I think my favorite picture book of the year has to be Blues Journey, by Walter Dean Myers. It was such a surprise for me, how intense and rich such a slim book with so few words could be. Everything from the illustrations to the text to the appendix/glossary contribute to the books's ability to celebrate and mourn aspects of the African American experience through a combination of media. The couplets on each page could as easily have been punctuated by screeching guitar licks as by illustrations and a turned page. I imagine older kids who are really interested in music might get a lot out of this book, too, and artists can learn a lot about form and function and mood.
I have been out of a school library for less than a year, but I still know to which kids I'd pass these books. It's fun to read how you are finding books to both love yourselves and share with kids.
Hollis
Hollis Rudiger, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706
hmrudiger at education.wisc.edu Voice: 608&3930 Fax: 608&2I33 www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Thu 18 Dec 2003 10:31:08 AM CST
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 10:31:08 -0600
I loved so many of these books, and I thank you all for refreshing my memory on books I haven't thought of in awhile. I've thought of how A Northern Light might be a wonderful companion to an American History/Language Arts course, as offers both rich content on so many American struggles including race and class (not to mention gender) and interesting literary techniques. I would especially like to see how a high school English teacher might be able to incorporate some kind of vocabulary or word development component into a course in a very natural way by using this book rather than dry text books. And I wonder whgat it would be like to read Dreiser's version of the story as well.
I think my favorite picture book of the year has to be Blues Journey, by Walter Dean Myers. It was such a surprise for me, how intense and rich such a slim book with so few words could be. Everything from the illustrations to the text to the appendix/glossary contribute to the books's ability to celebrate and mourn aspects of the African American experience through a combination of media. The couplets on each page could as easily have been punctuated by screeching guitar licks as by illustrations and a turned page. I imagine older kids who are really interested in music might get a lot out of this book, too, and artists can learn a lot about form and function and mood.
I have been out of a school library for less than a year, but I still know to which kids I'd pass these books. It's fun to read how you are finding books to both love yourselves and share with kids.
Hollis
Hollis Rudiger, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706
hmrudiger at education.wisc.edu Voice: 608&3930 Fax: 608&2I33 www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Thu 18 Dec 2003 10:31:08 AM CST
