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Beasts of Lore: Dragons | Focus On
Beowulf’s fiery nemesis, Tolkien’s dwarf-munching Smaug, the sinuous creatures of Chinese folklore—throughout literary history, dragons have captured the imagination as worthy foes and wise ancients....
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Easy as ABC, 123 | Focus on
Are those red or blue? Which is the biggest? Let’s count them! As young children encounter the many sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures around them, they need help grasping the basic concepts...
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Real World Readers: Attention-Grabbing Titles | Focus On
“Real world readers do not wait for a teacher to tell them what to read. They read what interests them, what suits their purpose….When kids define what they care about, they begin to define who they...
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Alice in Wonderland: A Very Important Date | Focus On
It was during a long-ago summer river outing that a young Oxford mathematics instructor invented the story of a little girl chasing a rabbit down a hole for Alice Liddell and her two sisters. Charles...
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Going Viral: Books About Infectious Diseases | Focus On
Humankind has always been plagued by infectious disease. It is likely that Ramses V died of smallpox in 1157 BCE in Egypt. In 160 CE, China’s Han dynasty was devastated by plague. Who hasn’t heard of...
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YA Genre-Blending | Focus On
During an after-school rush, one of my favorite teen patrons bounded up to the desk to ask for book recommendations. “I’m looking for a book with action, adventure, time travel, maybe a little bit of...
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Futurology: Dream On | Focus On
The genre of science fiction is built on questions and possibilities. What can we invent or discover? What can we do with it? Where will it take us? What will we become? Unlike the genre of fantasy,...
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A Roundup of Excellent Graphic Nonfiction | Focus On
©2015 by Jessie Hartland, from Steve Jobs: Insanely Great, published by Schwartz & Wade Books an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. Some readers prefer memoir to biography. They choose,...
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Make A Splash: Wellness, Fitness, and Sports | Focus On
Thinkstock/iStock Experts in psychology tell us that satisfying four human needs—physical, emotional/social, mental/intellectual, and spiritual—is key to attaining a productive, vibrant, and healthy...
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Social Justice: Teachable Movements | Focus On
Digital Picks Take any major headline from the news this year and issues of social justice abound. Racial violence, immigrant discrimination, and marriage law disputes tread heavily on foundations of...
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Viva Cuba | Focus On
Illustration ©2015 by Rafael López, from Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle.Reproduced with the permission of publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. After more than half a century of embargo and...
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Sex Education: Covering the Bases | Focus On
In school, as in life, the place where private values and public responsibility most frequently clash is located between the legs of our young people. In fact, many of the books recommended in this...
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A Gallery of Artists’ Biographies | Focus On
Digital Picks Teachers and librarians know that if they provide students of any age with art supplies, they need only observe what happens next. Kids instinctively understand what to do when given...
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Upsetting the Apple Cart | Focus On
Books for young people are filled with rebels. One only has to look as far as the next dystopian novel to recognize the appeal of challenging a corrupt government, of standing up for the downtrodden,...
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A King for All Seasons | Focus On
Each evening from December to December Before you drift to sleep upon your cot, Think back on all the tales that you remember Of Camelot. —Alan Jay Lerner, Camelot, the musical (1960) These words...
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25 Kid and YA Books That Lift Up Immigrant Voices
Immigration has been a focus in the news and public mind of late, with worldwide politicization around refugees on the move and thousands of unaccompanied Central American children entering the U.S. in...
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10 Titles to Promote Clean Water Awareness
In this article Digital Picks Considering the ongoing clean water crisis in Flint, MI, and other cities across the United States and the globe, children and teens likely have a number of related...
View ArticleStriking a Chord: 20 Exceptional Books on Music for Young People
The following fiction and nonfiction titles demonstrate the world-changing power of music, from the birth of the blues to today’s top 40.
View Article25 Titles and Resources To Explore the Vietnam War
Fifty years after the Vietnam War, authors revisit and examine the conflict and its aftermath with appropriate content for their audiences.
View Article50 Years Later: Books for Kids and Teens About Martin Luther King, Jr.,...
A selection of books that provide a look back at some of the tumultuous and impactful events that occurred 50 years ago, the ramifications of which are still being felt today.
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