August 2003

Dear Fellow Book Lovers:

Labor Day may mark the official end of summer for most people, but teachers and school librarians across the country are painfully aware that the beginning of August is the end to their summer. Even if school hasn’t begun, educators are preparing for the herd of children and young adults who will enter their classrooms, and librarians are displaying new books, and reminding teachers of old favorites in an effort to grab young readers on the first day of school. Hopefully all schools will make every day a Book Day and focus attention on the importance of developing lifelong readers. In addition, this is a good time for public and school librarians to suggest novels that parallel the curriculum and encourage teachers to make books part of their social studies, science, and arts courses of study. For example, Land of Hope by Joan Lowery Nixon, Nory Ryan’s Song and Maggie’s Door by Patricia Reilly Giff are excellent books to help social studies students understand the immigrant experience in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. The 2002 Scott O'Dell Winner, Trouble Don’t Last by Shelley Pearsall takes students beyond the facts related to the Underground Railroad and asks them to consider the thoughts and feelings of the slaves who were seeking freedom. North Star to Freedom: The Story of the Underground Railroad by Gena K. Gorrell is a very good companion novel to Pearsall’s story.   Students who have read In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke with Jennifer Armstrong will be drawn to Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. This new novel takes students into the Jewish ghetto in Poland in the 1940s and is an excellent novel to use when studying the Holocaust.  

Students may become aware of ecological issues related to science and social studies by reading Carl Hiaasen’s Newbery Honor Book Hoot .  Accidents May Happen: Fifty Inventions Discovered By Mistake and Mistakes That Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones and illustrated by John O’Brien offer humorous stories of mistakes that led to interesting inventions. What a way to get students excited about science! Other books that explore science topics include: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle and The Cay by Theodore Taylor.

There are many novels that explore the arts, and can be integrated into core curriculum subjects so that all students are exposed to the artistic elements that contribute to culture. A few such novels include: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park and Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry.

Almost all books have natural links to the curriculum taught in schools. School and public librarians hold the key to making the connection between story and learning for students and their teachers.

You may email me at pscales@scgsah.state.sc.us .

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