Books for Early-Grade Kids, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Books for Early-Grade Kids, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Worlds Awaiting - Season 1, Episode 12

  • May 21, 2016 6:00 pm
  • 28:20 mins

Books for Early Grade Kids (2:46) Ed Spicer, elementary school teacher and book reviewer talks about what kinds of books are best-suited for First and Second Grade kids. Is fiction better? Or non-fiction? Graphic Novels? Picture Books? Any others? He and Rachel discuss how a child can benefit from all these genres. As a teacher, Spicer spends most of his time with his own first grade students, but also loves building young high school authors through the Tiger Tales literary contest (which he has coordinated and judged for 15 years). Visit Ed’s Teen Book Review, called “Spicey Reads." Ed Spicer has also served on the Caldecott, Printz, and various other award committees of the American Library Association. Two of Mr. Spicer’s students: First, Brycen (video) talks about why he likes “Snowman Magic” by Katherine Tegen. Incidentally, Brycen wasn’t interested in reading until he discovered “Snowman Magic.” Now, he checks it out all the time!  Another of Ed’s students (video) gives a review of the illustrations in “Drum Dream Girl” by Margarita Engle and Illustrations by Rafael López. 1000 Books Before Kindergarten (17:05) Next, Shauna Mundinger, educator and librarian, talks about a program called “1000 Books before Kindergarten” that she heads up in the Orem, Utah Public Library.  Many libraries nationwide offer this program. Check your local library to see if they have it! Shauna describes the success experienced by many children and parents in the program at the Orem Public Library. Favorite Book for Life (26:56) Steve Oliverson, principal of Provost Elementary in Provo, Utah talks about a childhood experience that made a certain book his favorite for life.

Episode Segments