Great Books About Things Kids Love: More Than 750 Recommended Books for Children 3 to 14 [Paperback]

Kathleen Odean (Author)

Book Description

BOOKS THAT TURN CHILDREN INTO LIFE-LONG READERS!

Most children want to read a book because it's about something they love or are curious about--dinosaurs, magic tricks, ballerinas, sports, secret codes, and a host of other topics. Now with this unique book, Kathleen Odean, current chair of the Newberry Award committee and author of Great Books for Girls and Great Books for Boys, makes it easy for parents and teachers to satisfy a child's individual cravings for good reading on any subject. Inside you'll discover

¸  More than 750 books divided into 55 categories, from Airplanes to Zoos
¸  Professional appraisals that are balanced, intelligent, and fun to read
¸  Stimulating book-related activities and helpful tips for parents

Whether the format is picture book, poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, here are wonderful selections like Why Does the Cat Do That? and Exploring the Titanic . . . tried and true characters, from the beloved aardvarks Arthur and D.W. to the hilarious Junie B. Jones and the courageous Harry Potter . . . new heroes and heroines to cheer for such as Katherine Paterson's Princess Miranda from The Wide-Awake Princess and the exciting Jack Black from Jack Black and the Ship of Thieves by Carol Hughes.

Great Books About Things Kids Love creates a book-rich environment in which the habit of reading can take hold and flourish for a lifetime.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

This is a wonderful book to give to parents who want to extend their child's reading beyond the school day as the information about guiding a child's reading is written with them in mind. It will also be useful for public and school librarians in developing subject bibliographies. There are tips on topics ranging from reading aloud to using books to enhance field trips and travel. The arrangement falls under eight broad categories: animals; arts and crafts; folklore and fantasy; history and adventure; games, puzzles, hobbies, and holidays; science, math, and technology; sports; and transportation and engineering. Books were chosen because librarians and teachers have found them to be great read-alouds or big hits with independent readers. Most of the titles are standard, recommended books, and bibliographic information includes everything except the ISBN. The arrangement within the broad categories is by age level. This requires use of the index to determine if a title has been included. Fortunately, there are separate indexes for author, title, and subject.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A child's interest in a particular subject can be a great motivation for reading, and Great Books makes it easy to find age-appropriate titles on subjects from magic to black history to explorers. Odean (Great Books for Girls, LJ 1/15/97, Great Books for Boys, LJ 9/15/98), a Newbery Award committee member, organized the book into eight broad subjects with subcategories. Entries include bibliographic information, age range, and annotations (ISBNs not included). Within subject areas, items follow an age-level order. Librarians will find the arrangement useful for recommending books and for collection development. Titles selected are currently in print and reflect the author's concern for balancing diverse cultures, girl and boy main characters, and, in the case of picture books, artistic style. The book offers resources and tips for parents on topics such as book theme parties, reading aloud, fiction in series, and much more. Librarians needing subject information may rely on the Dewey arrangement of Juliette Yaakov's Children's Catalog (H.W. Wilson, 1996 and supplements) or the subject index in Eden Ross Lipson's newly revised The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children (Three Rivers, 2000). In view of Great Books's useful format, lively style, and affordable price, libraries will want reference and circulating copies. Recommended for public libraries. Katie Sasser, Bowdoin Coll. Lib., Brunswick, ME
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345441311
• ISBN-13: 978-0345441317
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Awesome Resource, April 8, 2003

By 

StarGymnast (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Books About Things Kids Love: More Than 750 Recommended Books for Children 3 to 14 (Paperback)

This is another great guide of recommended books by Kathleen Odean. In this book, there are over 750 books about the things kids love, and many, many different subjects. Whether you like cats, kings and queens, basketball, math, or magic tricks, there's sure to be a book in here that is right for you. The book is divided into subject categories with categories about the subject. (e.g.: sports, than one of the categories is football.) The back of the book includes a basic reference shelf for home, book-related parties, tips for reading out loud, lists of books in series, and much, much more. This is an invaluable resource and a perfect gift for all kids.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great gift and resource for parents., June 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Books About Things Kids Love: More Than 750 Recommended Books for Children 3 to 14 (Paperback)

Kathleen Odean's books are a gift for parents and grandparents. With so many books to chose from for kids, we all need help picking the perfect one for our kids or our friend's kids or our grandkids. Odean has expertly organized the best of the best and given us a great guide. I would recommend this to everyone and plan to give it to all my friends who are parents or grandparents.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great ideas, October 20, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Books About Things Kids Love: More Than 750 Recommended Books for Children 3 to 14 (Paperback)

I was flipping through this book, and I did indeed find some books that I would snub... but I found many more books that we have LOVED. And I used the book to get even more ideas to feed the brains of my family of boy readers.

One of the things I like most about this book is that it offers major topics, then lists books at many age levels. This is perfect for a family trip to the orchestra (load your kids up with picture books and fiction books... whatever they like). Smae thing with a new pet -- the choices listed will fit most kids' interests, even in a family with far-flung ages.

I added about 100 books to my wish list -- I had to stop dog-earing pages.