Parenting Pick: Caldecott Medal Books
A love of reading and appreciation of literature is my main education goal as a home schooling family.
As an avid writer, reader (and home schooling mom), when a list of award-winning book titles arrives in my inbox, local librarians cringe. Thanks to current technology, I can place a hold on books without going to the library, meaning some poor soul (to whom I owe a big hug) has to locate and shelve a heavy load each week!
We often randomly select from the shelves, but I lose sleep over the books that are waiting in a stack with my name on them.
"Chasing the Caldecott" was the title of the email from Playful Learning this morning. http://playfullearning.net/2015/01/chasing-caldecott/
Awarded picture books dated back to 1940's. Drool!!
Our local library is tops.
They carry current titles from the latest authors (Jon Klassen, Mac Barnett, Oliver Jeffers, Julia Donaldson), classics from my childhood and some old goodies from the likes of Leo Leonni, Maurice Sendak, Ezra Jack Keats, Anita and Arnold Lobel.
I have read about new titles I'm interested in, one word to the librarian, and she has it on order to arrive in a few short weeks. They are passionate about offering free lit. We use our borrowed books to determine if they make the cut, before adding them to our growing wish list!
However, the library cannot house everything.
From the Caldecott list, there were a load of not-so-well-known authors whose works cannot be borrowed here in town.
We own sheer brilliance written by Byrd Baylor, The Funny Little Woman (Arlene Mosel), Umbrella (Taro Yashima) thanks to second-hand bookstores who understand the value in buying these books.
They made the list and won't be leaving our home library for years to come.
EXPAND ON LITERACY
Cultural Literacy. In scouring home schooling books, I came across an excellent resource, that listed more resources within. The Lifetime Learning Companion, by Jean and Donn Reed http://www.amazon.com/The-Lifetime-Learning-Companion-School/dp/0919761305.
Essentially, this home schooling duo has done all the homework. The book not only outlines their home schooling philosophy, (which strongly supports John Holts view of child-led learning being the most effective education) but lists loads of books that they have loved along the way.
In addition to buying their book to use as a resource, we bought another book they touted, The New First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy http://www.amazon.com/New-First-Dictionary-Cultural-Literacy/dp/0618408533/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422531037&sr=1-3&keywords=cultural+literacy as a quick reference to world events, religion, history, literature and more. This is a fabulous book to offer little snippets of topics that could be further explored.
20th Century Children's Treasury. http://www.amazon.com/20th-Century-Childrens-Book-Treasury-published/dp/B00E324ALG/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422531326&sr=1-2&keywords=20th+century+childrens+book+treasury I picked up this book years ago, second-hand. It is by far the best book on our shelves, for children. I'm guilty for being a fan of treasuries, but this one introduces stories throughout a span of recent history that are absolutely tops. When I had to choose a few books before shipping the rest from China to Canada, this one was at the top of my list. It's not surprising most are Caldecott winners.
It's worth it's weight in gold.