I am bad, really bad when it comes to books. I LOVE books and always have. I read constantly and usually more than one book at a time--which some people have a hard time grasping. I am currently visiting the US and going crazy with all the books here: discount stores, used book stores, library sales. It's almost too much! I find I can't part with my books either for I enjoy reading them over, and sometimes over. As such, I am also trying to work at instilling this love to my children. Yes, they too love books, but I want them to also love literature. I do think there is a difference. Right now, they too love books, but they haven't quite come to appreciate good literature, even children's literature. As I sit here at the computer on these last days of my vacation, I have been doing a ton of searches on the internet and have found all sorts of fun stuff involving good books.
First, I am so excited to discover that September is Roald Dahl Month. He has always been one of my favorite authors. I have fond memories of my second grade teacher reading us James and the Giant Peach. This was actually one of the first works of good fiction that I was able to get my son to read. He already knew the story from the movie and liked it, but the transformation that took place when he was able to compare the book to the movie. It was like . . .magic! And yes, he did agree that the book was so much better. I am really looking forward to following the activities and having the boys read some new Dahl books in the coming months.
As home schoolers, I see that trying finding literature guides is a common endeavour. I have recently come across a few more sites that might be of interest and include some free literature guides to popular titles. First, there's Glencoe Literature. They have a huge list of guides and seem to be adding new ones. There appears to be a wide range of offerings and for most upper elementary levels and above, everything from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to A Wrinkle in Time, classics and award winners alike.
A site that I just found today and has a smaller listing, but does include books for younger readers is Kidsreads.com. This site doesn't have guides as such, but discussion questions for book clubs. Another book club site that has quite an extensive listing of books is Litlovers. This site is fantastic! It has all sorts of book info, but from what I have seen the titles are for an older audience, although many classics are included too. I liked this one for in addition to the questions, it also includes book info, a synopsis, and reviews.
Finally, there's Books 4 Boys. If looking for guides is a big question, finding books that boys want to read is even bigger. This site has recommendations by age, author, theme and for all age levels, from picture books to young adult. There are no true guides, but several books do have discussion questions to accompany them. Some of the newer books even have excerpts available.
If you have a favorite book or author, please share. I am always looking for new books to read and share. Happy reading!
Over the years I've become disenchanted with literature guides for books. I think that many books can be enjoyed pretty much as they are.
ReplyDeleteThere are some guides that can give you a bit of insight that you missed the first time around. For example, clarifying historical references in an older book or pointing out the funny teacher names in Harry Potter or that the spells use Latin. Or maybe helping the reader to catch historical and literary allusions (Crusty's Waterbeds in Percy Jackson is Procrustes and if you know his story, then you get a little tickle of anticipation knowing this isn't going to be good.)
But guides that are full of vocabulary exercises and fill in the blank questions? Those really leave me cold now. That might be because I did a lot of reading and discussing in college. It might be because I'm older and wiser. Or it might be that the typical guide doesn't do much for the student. I do think they can be useful as a heads up for the teacher/parent to be ready to point out special sections in a story.
On the other hand, I love stuff like what the blogger at Little Blue School House writes where the readers get very active in using the story as a framework for going even farther.