The Ultimate Backseat Bookshelf: 100 Must-Reads For Kids 9-14
As we enter the last stretch of summer before school starts again, we present our big annual book list — and this year, we're focusing on great reads for kids. Back in June, NPR's Backseat Book Club — our book club for young readers — asked you, the NPR audience, to nominate your favorite books for kids age 9-14. More than 2,000 of you replied, giving us hundreds and hundreds of titles to consider. So we turned to our expert panel (read more about them — and their Newbery honors! The final 100 has a little bit of everything: tales of trying to fit in, escaping to magical lands, facing prejudice, coming of age and fighting to survive. So if you're looking for a new book for the young readers in your life — or you want to relive that age yourself — please stick around and browse our bookshelf.
Best Young Adult Novels, Best Teen Fiction, Top 100 Teen Novels
It's almost a cliche at this point to say that teen fiction isn't just for teens anymore. Just last year, the Association of American Publishers ranked Children's/Young Adult books as the single fastest-growing publishing category. Which is why we were only a little surprised to see the tremendous response that came in for this summer's Best-Ever Teen Fiction poll. And now, the final results are in. Selecting a manageable voting roster from among the more than 1,200 nominations that came in from readers wasn't easy, and we were happy to be able to rely on such an experienced panel of judges. Summer, like youth, is fleeting.
Book Recommendations — Melissa Wiley
This page is a work in progress: a master list of all my booknotes and recommendations over the years. I’ll update as time permits. Clicking on a title will take you to my post about the book. Sometimes a single post will contain commentary on several books, so you may have to scroll down a bit. For books I’ve written, click here. Picture Books listed: author, illustrator • Natalie Babbitt: Bub, or: The Very First Thing. • Molly Bang: The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher. • Chris Barton, Tom Lichtenheld: Shark vs. • L. • Mem Fox, ill. by Pamela Lofts: Koala Lou. • Mem Fox, ill. • Ole Konnecke: Anton Can Do Magic. • Lerryn Korda: Rocket to the Moon. • Lisa Kopper: Daisy Thinks She’s a Baby. • David LaRochelle, ill. • Antoinette Portis: Not a Box. • Sherri Duskey Rinker, ill. • William Steig: When Everybody Wore a Hat. • David Ezra Stein: Interrupting Chicken. • Jeremy Tankard: Grumpy Bird. • Jeremy Tankard: Me Hungry. • Jan Thomas: Rhyming Dust Bunnies. • Patricia Thomas, ill.
AASL Best Apps for Teaching and Learning: News-O-Matic (ages 7-10)
I often wonder about how to encourage my kids to learn more about current events. We don't watch the TV news in the evening the way my parents did, and I primarily read the newspaper online. At school, they read the Scholastic News but it doesn't really engage them. News-O-Matic, named one of the Best Apps for Teaching and Learning in 2013 by the AASL, presents the news specifically written for kids ages 7 to 10. News-O-MaticDaily Reading for Kids developed by Press4Kids available for iPad ages 7-10 app is free weekly, monthly & annual subscriptions availablefor schools $29.99 for one year (2013-2014) The writers at News-O-Matic really understand kids. Take a look at a page from last week: it's fun, colorful and draws you right in with engaging images. Each news article is written specifically for kids by the Press4Kids writers. News-O-Matic releases a new issue each day. This app is one of the twenty five selected by the AASL Best Apps for Teaching and Learning, 2013.
Promoting a Positive Relationship with Print | The Right Side of Normal
There’s so much pressure around learning to read in our culture. Not just learning to read, but learning to read early. We have come to associate early reading with higher intelligence or a sign of future academic success. Photo by Tim Pierce This is a big problem for most right-brained learners who typically will begin to learn to read between 8 and 10 years old. This is considered “late” in our culture but absolutely normal for this brain processing preference. The prevalent choice in our culture is to test these children for a learning disability, whether it be dyslexia, vision processing disorder, or other brain exercise needs. For those who find my right-brained information about later reading acquisition being normal for these learners with the evidence as to why, it can make sense. Supporting right-brained children in their natural reading development is not about doing nothing. How can a parent promote a positive relationship with print for their right-brained child? From Robyn:
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