This resource provides teachers, librarians, parents, and others who work with children ages 9 - 12 with an annotated bibliography of children's books that contain characters who display positive family oriented values in their relationships with others. Sample activities and lessons related to the books in the bibliography will help children in responding to the thoughts and feelings of selected characters as they strive to understand their own thoughts and actions about family oriented values. Educators and parents can initiate the activities as presented or use them as a starting point for their own lessons. Parents and educators, including homeschooling parents and instructors in religious settings, will benefit from this helpful resource.

This resource provides teachers, librarians, parents, and others who work with children with an annotated bibliography of children's books that contain characters who display positive values as they relate to others. These stories will help children build associations related to their family values, help them understand the importance of the way values support a family, and recognize how values help overcome certain obstacles. A feature of this volume is the inclusion of sample activities and lessons related to the books in the bibliography. Educators and parents can use the activities as Dr. Roberts presents them, or they can use them as starting points for their own activities and lessons. The activities extend the literature by providing thought-provoking exercises and topics for discussion. They reinforce the sometimes subtle presentation of moral qualities by focussing the student's attention on the decision and actions that express them. Parents and educators, including home schooling parents and instructors in religious settings, will benefit from this helpful resource.

Matches quality children's books with each day of the year to provide a focus for story time. The lessons in this book will help children develop creative connections between reading and the world around them, introducing them to many other people and places throughout the world.

Designed for K-5 classrooms, these creative bulletin board ideas link Bible themes to classwork. The authors have created 110 different concepts, with complete instructions and illustrations. Following the school year, the bulletin boards can be used as springboards to promote discussion and as reminders of the central message in a particular lesson. The authors have also outlined ideas for classroom activities, suggestions for appropriate books, field trip ideas, party plans, cooperative learning activities, and Web sites. Faith lessons are generously sprinkled throughout. A section called "Bible Heroes from A to Z" provides brief retellings of heroic deeds that bring Bible heroes to life. Even students who know their Bible well will enjoy these 5-minute short stories. The Bible has been a teaching tool since it was written, and Good News: Thematic Bulletin Boards for Christian Classrooms makes it easy.

Color and Shape Books for All Ages calls attention to more than 450 titles focused on the concepts of color and shape. The purposes of the color and shape books range from simply learning the names of colors or identifying simple shapes, to recognizing intricate geometric shapes, or even understanding how color affects responses, moods, and attitudes.

A new, interactive approach to storytime, The Whole Book Approach was developed in conjunction with the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and expert author Megan Dowd Lambert's graduate work in children's literature at Simmons College, offering a practical guide for reshaping storytime and getting kids to think with their eyes. Traditional storytime often offers a passive experience for kids, but the Whole Book approach asks the youngest of readers to ponder all aspects of a picture book and to use their critical thinking skills. Using classic examples, Megan asks kids to think about why the trim size of Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline is so generous, or why the typeset in David Wiesner's Caldecott winner,The Three Pigs, appears to twist around the page, or why books like Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express and Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar are printed landscape instead of portrait. The dynamic discussions that result from this shared reading style range from the profound to the hilarious and will inspire adults to make children's responses to text, art, and design an essential part of storytime.

Reflecting on the different and varied uses of biography depending on the age, interests, and developmental needs of students, Lukenbill breaks the genre down into the different types of biographies and how they have changed over time. He includes author and literature suggestions throughout the text and concludes with an extensive bibliography of selection aids, including books and periodicals, for locating recommended titles.--SLJ.

Contains approximately 20,000 mostly English language sources for academic libraries of all sizes.