What Are They Reading for Fun?
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Compiled by Marlene Charnizon -- School Library Journal, 5/7/2008 11:59:00 AM
This roundup focuses on those most opinionated of children, for whom repetition is everything.
Ellen Heath, Easton Area Public Library, Easton, PA:
The youngest patrons often ask for their favorite books by character, not title. Their best buddies these days are Tedd Arnold’s Fly Guy (Scholastic), Jane O’Connor’s Fancy Nancy (HarperCollins), Judy Schachner’s Skippyjohn Jones (Dutton), Rev.W. V. Awdry’s Thomas the Tank Engine (Random), and Mo Willems’s Elephant and Piggie (Hyperion). Our beginning chapter-book readers still devour Mary Pope Osborne’s “Magic Tree House” books (Random) and Barbara Park’s “Junie B. Jones” titles (Random)—in order, please. In nonfiction, nothing beats the “Blastoff Readers! Mighty Machines” series (Bellwether Media), with M.T. Martin’s Bulldozers and Ray McClellan’s Concrete Mixers and Backhoes leading the noisy pack. And just the other day, preschool storytime came to a screeching halt when Logan arrived with Sandra Markle’s Tough Toothy Baby Sharks (Walker, 2007).
Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, Farmington Hills, MI:
My little patrons here in suburban Detroit just can’t get enough musical or humorous stories. Annie Kubler’s Row, Row, Row Your Boat (Child’s Play-International, 2002), Jane Cabrera’s If You’re Happy and You Know It! (Holiday House, 2005), and Karen Beaumont’s I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! (Harcourt, 2005) are regular crowd-pleasers at storytime. The charmingly simple board books by Leslie Patricelli (Candlewick) and Kit Allen (Houghton) are in constant rotation among families with tiny tots. Hip families love Ted Dewan’s “Bing” (Random). True girlie girls are checking out Victoria Kann’s Pinkalicious (HarperCollins, 2006) and Jane O’Connor’s Fancy Nancy (HarperCollins), while beginning readers are drawn to Mo Willems’s There Is a Bird on Your Head! (Hyperion, 2007) and Doreen Cronin’s Diary of a Fly (HarperCollins, 2007).
Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha Public Library, WI:
Preschoolers are keen for fiction as well as nonfiction about trucks, trains, princesses, puppies, and dinosaurs. They also enjoy classics like "Curious George," Bill Martin, Jr.'s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Holt), and anything that Eric Carle has written and illustrated. Rosemary Wells (especially the “Max & Ruby” board books), Catherine and Laurence Anholt, Dav Pilkey, Laura Numeroff, Jamie Lee Curtis, David Shannon, and Wisconsin authors Kevin Henkes and Lois Ehlert are very hot. Kids here can't get enough of Barbie, The Berenstain Bears, Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora, Maisy, and seek-and-find books like Jean Marzolla’s "I Spy," (Scholastic), Walter Wick's "Can You See What I See?" (Scholastic), and Joan Steiner's "Look-Alikes" (Little, Brown).
