Sara L. Ambarian
Copyright 2012
All Rights Reserved
Children’s
Books for Summer Reading:
Part 1--Resource Partner Picks
Article by Sara L. Ambarian
As
parents and educators we all understand both the importance of reading and the
potential for engagement which can be found in the pursuit. This potential is
even more impressive when students have choices about what books they will
read.
Many
of us remember the excitement of “library days” in school, with the whole
collection available to us, and the decision of what to read next all ours to
make. Many of us have retained
that excitement into adulthood; so a trip to the library, book store, on-line
vendor, or even our own home book collections feels like the beginning of an
adventure for which we are completely in the driver’s seat.
If
we can help the children in our lives develop that same enthusiasm and
curiosity, we have given them a priceless, life-long gift.
In
addition, Maria Montessori said, “The first essential for the child's
development is concentration. The
child who concentrates is immensely happy.”
Both
listening as someone else reads aloud and spending independent time reading can
be very effective activities for allowing children to develop concentration. In our modern, fast-paced,
over-stimulated world, it is harder—and more important—than ever to help
children learn this skill. Reading
time (whether in a group or solo) can put the brakes on a busy world, as well
as opening up many new horizons for our children and students.
With
summer reading season coming up, we asked the American Montessori Consulting
Primary Recommended Resource Center partners http://www.amonco.org/resource_topic.html
to share with us some of their favorite children’s books. Here are the
recommendations and some comments of the business people who responded.
A,
You're Adorable
by Martha Alexander—“Once the adult and child know this song well, the child
can sing the letter and the adult answer, and vice versa.
This
Little Chick-by
John Lawrence—“This can be sung to the tune of ‘Mulberry Bush’.”
Runaway
Bunny
by Margaret Wise Brown—“This book suggests lots of movement. Have the children
do the different movements and the control is, ‘now run back to me’, etc.”
Larry
and Karen at the Farm Country General Store, http://www.homeschoolfcgs.com ,
suggested several well-loved series which could provide many hours of happy
reading over the coming summer.
Little
House on the Prairie
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The
Chronicles of Narnia
by C.S. Lewis
The
Henry and Ramona
series by Beverly Cleary
Ligia
from Childsake said it was not easy to decide on just a few favorite children’s
books. The ones that came to mind,
however, were these:
Farewell
to Shady Glade
by Bill Peet
Flute's
Journey
by Lynne Cherry
Tree
of Life
by Barbara Bash, which tied in her estimation with
Alejandro's
Gift by
Richard E. Albert
To
find more of Ligia’s recommendations of books about nature and the environment,
visit her website, which includes about 400 more titles. http://www.childsake.com
Kathie
from INSTA-LEARN, http://www.insta-learn.com
, like many of us, remembers many happy times reading – and re-reading—favorite
books to her own children. These were her family’s most memorable:
Peeping
Beauty
by Mary Jane Auch
The
Easter Egg Farm by
Mary Jane Auch
Jillian
Jiggs
by Phoebe Gilman
Dumbstruck by Sara Pennypacker and
Mary Jane Auch
The
Madeline Series
by Ludwig Bemelmans
The
Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Choose
Your Own Adventure books
(Various Authors)
Where
the Wild Things Are by
Maurice Sendak
The
Dark Crystal
by A. C. H. Smith
The
Berenstain Bears Series by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The
Babysitter's Club
by Ann M. Martin
Scary
Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Fear
Street &
Goosebumps
by R.L. Stine
Diana
from Nature’s Workshop Plus, http://www.workshopplus.com
, recommends the following classic
stories, especially as read-aloud books.
Hans
Brinker; or, the Silver Skates: A Story of Life in Holland by Mary Mapes Dodge
Robinson
Crusoe
by Daniel DeFoe
The
Black Stallion
by Walter Farley
The
Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
The
Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling
The
Yearling
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The
Sign of the Beaver
by Elizabeth George Speare
The
Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain
Charlotte’s
Web by
E. B. White
As
the grandmother of four children under the age of 6, I love to read to them the
book, Everybody Poops, by Taro Gomi. It results in giggles, but also in engrossed
listeners. This book is used in Japanese schools; and it informs children that
creatures that eat, poop. Some do it in the water, while on the move, in
diapers or in the toilet. It is educational not only because it makes a body
function a normal topic of conversation, but it includes drawings of wild
animals and their names. My grandchildren, clamor for it, sit close, laugh and
learn. Ah, if every learning experience were that fun! This book can be used
for kindergarten through 6th grade.
Lucas
and His Loco Beans,
by Ramona Winner, is a story about a boy whose grandfather shows and explains
about Mexican Jumping Beans. This educational story is written in rhyme and
introduces Spanish words. It also gives a complete explanation of how a moth
lays her eggs in a flower, and the larva end up in the seeds. The feeding of
the larva is what causes the motion of the bean. This book is good for
kindergarten through 6th grade.
You can also check
out Georgette’s own chapter book, Andy and the Gold Mine. Here is a description
of the book in Georgette’s own words, and an activity she has provided for your
students.
Andy
and the Gold Mine
introduces California gold mining in a true story adventure. Ten year old Andy
spends summers in Randsburg, CA. One year, after a harrowing encounter with a
rattlesnake in an abandoned mine, Andy finds the Butte Mine. Jake, an
experienced miner shows Andy how to crush rock and rinse the powdered stone to
find the specks of gold. Students can be shown where Randsburg, CA is, and
learn about a town that had one of the most abundant gold mines of the time.
The
story ends with young Andy, taking his gold dust to the General Store. The
store manager pockets the gold vial and puts a few coins in the register. A
complete discussion about honesty can be started or students can speculate
about what really took place. Ages
8-11
ACTIVITY-
students could each bring in a rock about the size of their fist, sit out in
the playground, crush the rocks with rubber mallets (while wearing protective
glasses), put the powder in Styrofoam bowls with water, swirl it around,
allowing the large sediment to settle to the bottom and experience the type of
work done by young Andy who in the end (with much trial and error) did find
some gold dust.
Read the second part of this two part article by pointing your browser to
Copyright
2012
Sara
L. Ambarian is an author, designer, illustrator, wife and mother with
professional and personal experience in a wide range of subjects, including:
arts and crafts, fashion, weddings, homeschooling, cooking, nature, and travel.
