Adventuring with Books: A Booklist for Pre-K

Book excerpt: Books that expand children's horizons and stimulate their imaginations are the focus of this 12th edition, an annotated bibliography of selected children's books published between 1996 and 1998. The 20 chapters in the book contain traditional and nontraditional categories of literature: Stories of the Universe: From Questions and Observations to Discoveries and Inventions; Our Changing World; Exploring Our Past; Families; Struggle and Survival; School Life; Literacy; Picture Books; Mathematics; Poetry; Fine Arts; Sports, Games, and Hobbies; The Craft of Language: Passages, Profiles, and Puzzles; Fantasy Literature: Making the Impossible Possible; African and African American Voices and Experiences; Asian, Asian American, and Hawaii Pacific Voices and Experiences; Hispanic/Latino, Hispanic American, and Latino American Voices and Experiences; Native American Voices and Experiences; Gender Issues: Spunky, Clever, Caring, and Endearing Girls and Boys in Children's Literature; and Supporting Critical Conversations in Classrooms. New to this edition are extensive reviews of selected books, giving additional information on children's comments and reactions, ways the books have been used in the classroom, and other ideas about sharing the books with children. Introductions to each chapter (by the teachers, librarians, university faculty, school-age and university students, and parents who collaborated in choosing the books) share their processes, the issues they dealt with, and the decisions they made about the books in their section. Books are indexed by author, illustrator, subject, and title. (RS)