From: Angie Miles <readingam_at_prodigy.net>
Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2011 10:18:36 -0700 (PDT)

Greetings all

As I read the posts here so far, my heart grows MANY sizes.  It's so exciting and affirming to feel your passion for reading aloud and to be immersed in the collective wisdom regarding this oft-undervalued practice.

For pairing poetry and prose, Sharon Creech has produced great literary wor ks WHILE providing a wonderful service for educators. Love that Dog and Hat e that Cat give us natural segues to introduce children to the work of many noteworthy poets.  My husband and I regularly read aloud with our four b oys, and we have enjoyed exploring the work of Walter Dean Myers, William C arlos Williams, Edgar Allan Poe, TS Eliot and many others as perfect accomp animents to the novels.

In addition to having prose and poetry as complements, I would urge everyon e to remember that picture books make perfect accompaniments for novels for readers and listeners of ALL AGES.  Great picture books can be bridges t o more sophisticated works of fiction and non-fiction.  The Cats in Krasi nski Square or Polacco's The Butterfly or Eve Bunting's Terrible Things, fo r example, can really whet the curiosity and/or provide a foundation for te aching comprehension strategies before moving on to a longer work like Diar y of Anne Frank or Maus, for example.  D.B. Johnson's Henry books pair be autifully with Jane Langton's The Fledgling or with essays by Thoreau or Em erson.

I think of picture books with novels as strawberries with chocolate. Delicious alone.  Sublime in concert.

Best Angie Miles www.happyreading.org
Received on Sun 03 Apr 2011 10:18:36 AM CDT