Professional Reading

In Part 1, each chapter offers a number of ideas and gives multiple ways to use riddles. The author suggests creating appealing and interactive bulletin boards that promote reading with riddles and book jackets; humorous ways to practice reading for a purpose—like using riddles in daily school announcements to practice public speaking; using them on publicity handouts to promote the library; and presenting puppet skits with them. All of these ideas will appeal to children, and they don't take great artistic talent or funds to implement. Part 2 includes hundreds of riddles organized by subject. The collection excludes topics such as underwear, bodily functions, disrespectful attitudes, and contemporary fads that will quickly fade. This is a fun, interesting resource that will be used again and again. "What happened when Humpty Dumpty read a riddle book? He cracked up."—Renee McGrath, Nassau Library System, Uniondale, NY

This annotated bibliography evaluates more than 500 titles selected by professionals in the fields of education and librarianship from the U.S. and by experts from the Reading Orientation Service (SOL) in Spain. Arranged alphabetically, it highlights a wide spectrum of fiction and nonfiction originally written in Spanish, bilingual titles, and a reasonable number of translations. They reflect a diversity of authors, publishing houses, genres, themes, geographical locations, and cultural identities. Out-of-print materials are included. Selectors can find this practice frustrating but other professionals offering reading programs and readers themselves should be able to locate these titles in existing collections. Another aspect that can disappoint selectors is the lack of consistency in the citations. Some titles are recommended by grade level and others by age level. Some citations specify the genre and others do not. Nonetheless, the information provided is accurate. With its pros and cons, there is no doubt that this guide is a valuable reference resource that expands the selection options for librarians and teachers.—Freda Mosquera, Broward County Library, FL

The activities in this book are designed to help librarians or teachers impart information literacy skills in an enjoyable, relevant way. They are presented in a lesson-plan format and are meant to take about an hour of classroom time. The book builds on Hunt and Birks's Hands-On Information Literacy Activities (Neal-Schuman, 2003). Both titles should be in all secondary school libraries. Downloadable documents of all activities and worksheets are available on the companion CD.—Angela Washington-Blair, Emmett J. Conrad High School, Dallas, TX

Iakovakis has created a "stock company" of puppet actors to present basic early literacy skills. Her lead character is Piggy Rae, who speaks with a Southern accent, carries a feather boa, and bears more than a passing likeness to a certain pig whom Muppet fans adore. While the scripts—and the skills they impart—will work well in classroom or storytime situations, the author doesn't spend enough time helping readers create characters of their own. The book includes sample handouts, bibliographies, and activities to be used with adults accompanying children to the programs. Puppet Plays Plus may best serve as a launching pad for professionals wanting to blend puppets and early literacy by adapting versions of these scripts to use the puppets they already own. Illustrations are minimal and mostly generic line drawings.—Walter Minkel, Austin Public Library, TX

Both new and veteran storytellers will appreciate this book. Sixteen chapters are arranged by themes such as "All About Me," "Animals," and "Holidays." Whenever a flannelboard idea is listed, a thumbnail pen-and-ink sketch of the necessary pieces is included next to a Web icon. Readers can then proceed to an ALA Web page to view the actual-sized pattern. An appendix gives further instruction on how to use other props or costumes along with a story. Unfortunately, the index of titles and first lines uses the articles "A," "An," and "The" in the alphabetical sort. The authors provide helpful group-management advice for all age ranges, as well as for incorporating American Sign Language into stories. This book is similar in scope to Elizabeth Low's Big Book of Animals Rhymes, Fingerplays, and Songs (Libraries Unlimited, 2009). However, Low includes some Spanish rhymes and musical notation for 94 songs. Storytime Magic is equally fine for professional collections.—Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA

A professional tool gets a much-needed update and expansion. This edition includes 2200 series, an increase of more than 700 from the first edition. Each series is listed with bibliographic information, an annotation, and a title list. Publication dates, grade level, and Accelerated Reader indication accompany each listing. Annotations are generally broad, covering the overall story line of the series instead of events in individual titles. Appendixes highlight series that hold appeal for boys, girls, or reluctant readers. A helpful title index allows librarians to identify the series that a title comes from. A must-have.—Melissa Rabey, Frederick County Public Libraries, Frederick, MD