Kids Friendship
These kids book are about friendship for children ages from 3 to 8. "Cat and Mouse" by Tomek Bogacki is about a different kind of cat-and-mouse story about friendship. "Wanted: Best Friend" by A.M. Monson, What do you do when your best friend walks off? "Ruby the Copycat" by Peggy Rathmann is a story about Ruby is in a new school and figures out how to win friends. "Cliques, Phonies, & Other Baloney" by Trevor Romain is a book for every student who has ever felt shut out or trapped by a clique, this book blends humor with practical advice. "Emily and Alice" by Joyce Champion is story about Emily and Alice are next-door neighbors and best friends - most of the time. "Chesterīs Way" by Kevin Henkes, what happens when eccentric Lily moves into the neighborhood, best friends Chester and Wilsonīs routine is disrupted, but the twosome becomes a trio once Lily proves her mettle. 
A guide book for selecting books for the young
Anita Silvey has written "100 Best Books for Children". Ms. Silveyīs list includes books that should be part of every childīs literary background. Books such as Margaret Wise Brownīs "Goodnight Moon", Virginia Lee Burtonīs "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel", Dr. Seussī "The Cat in the Hat", Laura Ingalls Wilderīs "Little House in the Big Woods" and Kate DeCamilloīs "Because of Winn-Dixie".
It is not just a list, it provides the titles, age ranges (preschool to age 12) and plots, she adds interesting tidbits of information about each book. For example, Robert McCloskey, who wrote and illustrated "Make Way for Ducklings", kept ducks in his bathtub to observe how they behaved. For the "Little House" manuscript, Laural Ingalls provided the information, and her daughter, Rose, translated it into fiction. It took a year for Theodor Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss) to write the text of "The Cat in the Hat", which depended on only 220 words was published in 1957 and became the top 10 best-selling childrenīs hardcover books of all time.
Esther (aka Madonna) read to children
 Pop star Madonna (she now wanted to be called Esther as part of her following of the Kabbalah religious teachings) spent a day reading to schoolchildren and fans as she launched her fourth book The "Adventures of Abdi". The fourty something year old entertained 250 people who queued for tickets for the reading at the Selfridges Department Store in Oxford Street, London. Later, she also read a 10-minute extract to 30 pupils from St Winifredīs Catholic Junior School in South London.
The book is based on the Kabbalah faith which Madonna have embraced in recent years. The latest illustrated story, part of a series of five tales, centres on Italian greyhound Lotsa de Casha, a wealthy dog who is still unhappy. Madonna has said she wanted her books to have a message as well as inspire young people.
Lead your kids into developing a reading habit
"Parents can, however, help make reading a palatable, pleasurable activity, one that children ultimately will pursue on their own, to their own tremendous benefit," says an academic researcher. Recent research conducted on reading and literature for children and youth, as well as library services for young people, points repeatedly showing that children who find reading a pleasure have a much easier time understanding and learning math, geography, history and almost every other academic subjects. Non-readers, on the other hand, pay a very high price in terms of academic failure.
Here are some tips for parents to encourage, teach and help their children to read:
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Limit the amount of time a child spends watching television. Television watching isnīt bad. A 1982 meta-analysis of 23 studies dealing with television viewing and achievement in various academic areas - as well as additional studies in more recent years - found that watching up to 10 hours of television a week is beneficial and correlates positively with reading achievement. Above that amount, however, the correlation is negative; reading achievement declines sharply with increased viewing. When the children do watch television, says parents would do well to engage in "guided viewing," helping their children choose programs and discuss those programs with them.
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Read yourself, read what you like and let your children see you reading. Children model the behavior of their parents and older siblings. If parents canīt read, they need not feel ashamed, but need to seek the free help available to get them started. For parents who donīt read much or donīt like to read to start perusing materials with which they are comfortable, whether they are comic books, graphic novels, magazines or newspapers. And they can read in their native language, as well as English. The point is to let children see that reading is something their parentsī value as a worthwhile activity.
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Read aloud and often to young children who do not yet know how to read for themselves. Start with picture books for little kids, even non-reading parents can do that. Tell them the story, although they will want you to tell each one 40 times. Then let them ītellī you the story. This is an imitation of reading and is part of the learning process, and once they can read, let them read to you. That, too, is part of the process.
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Make reading time special. Make it a time to relax before bedtime, or a time during which you sit down with your child over cocoa or a cup of teaa nice time shared by the two of you. Parents also read to older children. Reading to children, she adds, offers the opportunity to introduce new material beyond their reading level. Chapter-by-chapter readings of age-appropriate mysteries, fantasies and adventure stories that provoke anticipation often prove very satisfying to youngsters.
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Let children pick out their own books and other reading materials. Let your child get a library card. It is likely to be the first official document with his or her name it. Then take them to the library! Librarians are trained to help find the very kind of book a specific child - even a non-reading child - might want to dip into, based on the childīs interests, hobbies, fears, what other children find appealing and whatīs going on in their lives."
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Be sure there is a place at home to read and a time to do it. Ideally, it would be a comfortable, quiet place with good lighting, indoors or outdoors. Enthusiastic readers always will find a place to read, but if you are encouraging a child to read, help him or her find a spot that makes it a little easier. Give the child time to read. Donīt constantly interrupt or tell them theyīre reading too much, or too long.
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Donīt criticize what your child has chosen to read. Once youīve made your recommendations and suggestions about what to read, respect a childīs decision. Some children will not like " The Secret Garden," even if you loved it. Comics, fantasy, science fiction, picture books, mysteries, animal stories, romances, novels and non-fiction material of all kinds will appeal to different children at different ages and times in their lives and can enrich them in different ways. Be patient, even if it seems that your child has been reading nothing but " Spiderman" for three years. Remember that many research scientists developed their interests as children immersed in science fiction.
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Talk with children about what they read and what they think about it. You will learn a lot about their interests and opinions that you may not learn any other way. If you can get them to write about their reading - in a journal, for instance - thatīs even better. Children who write about what they read tend to become better writers and readers. Their comprehension goes up, and that skill will be applied to all academic subjects.
Reading opens our minds to new ways of thinking and seeing. It enriches our lives and broadens our experience.
Great Halloween Books for your Kids.
Treat your children to more than candy this Halloween by giving them one of these great new childrenīs books:
Spot canīt make up his mind what he wants to be this Halloween. Should he be a cowboy, a bunny or a superhero? Find out what Spot finally decides in "Spotīs Halloween" (Putnam) by author / illustrator Eric Hill. (Ages 1-3).
Peterīs looking for a particular pumpkin. It canīt be a "lumpy, bumpy" pumpkin or a "stumpy, grumpy" pumpkin. In "Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin" (Aladdin / Simon&Schuster), author Mary Serfozo tells what happens when Peter finally finds the perfect pumpkin. Young readers will love Serfozoīs rhyming text, as well as Valeria Petroneīs boldly-colored illustrations. (Ages 2-4).
Sam is thrilled to find 16 pumpkins. But then disaster strikes. In "Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins" (McElderry Books / Simon& Schuster), author Dianne Ochiltree and artist Anne-Sophie Lanquetin detail what happens when Samīs wagon breaks and the pumpkins go rolling down the hill. (Ages 4-7).
A free book inside every Cheerios
Starting in November and continuing into early 2005, Cheerios is giving away more than five million childrenīs books free inside Cheerios boxes. The free books, which include five different titles, are part of the ongoing Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program, which helps get books into kidsī hands. Cheerios also is donating $500,000 to First Book, a national childrenīs literacy organization, and teaming up with actor and best-selling childrenīs author John Lithgow to help First Book get books to kids who need them.
This yearīs book offerings from Cheerios include five great titles from Simon & Schuster Childrenīs Publishing, including a book that Cheerios had specially printed in both English and Spanish.
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" Bear Snores On" by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman. While bear hibernates, the woodland animals take refuge in his den. Find out what happens when bear wakes up! A New York Times Bestseller and winner of an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Book Award.
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" Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type" by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin. This Caldecott Honor Book and New York Times Bestseller tells the story of what happens when Farmer Browns literate cows start leaving him notes. This book was named a Notable Children's Book for the Language Arts by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and as one of the American Library Associations Notable Children's Books.
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" Marsupial Sue" by John Lithgow and illustrated by Jack E. Davis. A story about a kangaroo who decides to try out the identities of other animals and, in the process, learns the joys of being herself. A New York Times Bestseller.
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" Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin" by Lloyd Moss and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman. Irresistible rhymes and illustrations provide a wonderful introduction to musical instruments and musical groups. A Caldecott Honor Book.
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" Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, and illustrated by Lois Ehlert. A favorite rhythmic, rhyming alphabet book that follows the letters of the alphabet on their climb to the top of the coconut tree and down again. Won a Parents Choice Award and a Children's Choice Award from the International Reading Association.
Cheerios, First Book, and John Lithgow will be officially kicking off this yearīs Spoonfuls of Stories program during National Childrenīs Book Week. For more information on First Book and the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program, visit Cheerios.com.
Disney donates books via NBA teams
In conjunction with the NBAīs annual Read to Achieve Week, DisneyHand, worldwide outreach for The Walt Disney Company, and Disney Publishing Worldwide have agreed to donate more than 160,000 books to NBA teams, which will then be distributed to schools and youth organizations throughout the season.
The tip-off event of the program and the culmination of Read to Achieve Week will be a Basketball & Books Clinic at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, USA, on Tuesday, October 26 2004, when 100 children from the Magic Jr. NBA / Jr. WNBA program will be treated to a reading timeout with Orlando Magic stars Grant Hill and Steve Francis along with Mickey Mouse. Afterwards, they will break into groups and the players will conduct basketball clinics with drills to improve such skills as dribbling, passing and shooting.
"As part of our DisneyHand Reading Together program which encourages adults and children to read together in engaging and effective ways, we have teamed up with the NBA to further reach underserved children with books," said Jody Dreyer, senior vice president, Disney Worldwide Outreach. "We are pleased to work with an organization that shares our belief in the value of reading."
"The new relationship between Disney and the NBA will put books in the hands of thousands of children across the country who do not normally have access to such needed resources," said Kathy Behrens, NBA vice president of Community Relations.
Children participating in the Read to Achieve program will receive books, including: "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" -By Avi, "The Million Dollar Strike" by Dan Gutman, "Praying at the Sweetwater Motel" by April Young Fritz, "Libertyīs Journey" by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Richard Egielski, and "Picture My World: Nature" by Helen Perelman.
Under the Bridge musical show
Kathie Lee Gifford is going "Under the Bridge". Gifford, 51, a former Carnival Cruise Lines spokeswomen, stepped away from her "Live With Regis & Kathie Lee" chair in 2000. In May, she released the gospel album "Gentle Grace," filled with songs she co-wrote. She also wrote the musical "Hurricane Aimee" about evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson.
The former daytime talk-show host has written the book and lyrics to a new musical based on the childrenīs book "The Family Under the Bridge" by Natalie Savage Carlson. The story follows a Parisian hobo who must give up his solitary, carefree life when he finds three children and their mother seeking shelter under the bridge he also calls home. It was a 1959 Newbery Honor Book.
Directed by Eric Schaeffer with music by David Pomeranz, "Under the Bridge" will open a 12-week off-Broadway run at the Zipper Theatre on Dec 1, 2004. The official opening is set for Jan 6, 2005 Ed Dixon will star as the hobo.
Parents want book banned
An English instructor and book reviewer wants to remove a novel from her daughterīs school library in Fargo. Pamela Sund Herschlip and her husband, Mark Herschlip, asked that "Mick Harte Was Here" be plucked from the Centennial Elementary School library because of the "damaging nature of the material." The book, written by Barbara Park, contains themes and language inappropriate for elementary students, they said in a letter to the school.
Sund Herschlip became aware of the book after overhearing her daughter and two friends discussing it. She then read the book herself. Sund Herschlip is an adjunct instructor at Minnesota State University in Moorhead and Minnesota State Community and Technical College. She teaches art, poetry and research writing. She also reviews art exhibitions and books. In her professional evaluation of the book, she found some redeeming qualities. "But I think it takes the structure of an adult mind to deal with most of the themes in the book," she said.
"Mick Harte Was Here" details the grieving process of 13-year-old Phoebe after her 12-year-old brother dies in a bicycle accident. The 88-page novel is told from Phoebeīs point of view. An authorīs note in the back said she wrote the novel to encourage students to wear bike helmets. The book contains profanity, including use of "damn," "suck" and the phrase "Oh Jesus."
The Herschlips also were disturbed by a discussion of unplanned pregnancy and what they viewed as a glorification of eating disorders. As Phoebe describes Mickīs personality, she mentions he was a surprise.
In 1997, "Mick Harte Was Here" received the Flicker Tale Award, which is given annually by the North Dakota Library Association. Flicker Tale finalists are chosen by librarians and teachers, said Marvia Boettcher, a member of NDLA and a public librarian in Bismarck. Most finalists are nominated because of quality or their popularity among young readers, she said. North Dakota students select the winner by casting a vote for their favorite finalist. Between 10,000 and 13,000 students vote each year, Boettcher said.
But despite its popularity among children, "Mick Harte Was Here" has faced controversy before. The book has been challenged in five different school districts since 1998, according to the American Library Association. In two of the cases, which involved Texas schools, the book was removed from the shelves for "offensive language," according to the ALA. The other three challenges, two of which took place in Texas and the other in a middle school in Seneca, S.C., resulted in the book being retained.
Fifth instalment of the Harry Potter
Fifth instalment of the Harry Potter books is still selling well.
These titles are:
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