Family reading needn’t come to an end when your child decides he’s “too big” to be read to at bedtime.
A good way to continue to share the joy of reading with your growing children (and to gain insight into the way they think) is to have the whole family read the same book and then talk about it over dinner or in the car.
Some children’s books are pretty lame, so if you want books that won’t bore you, browse the list of Newbery Medal winners. They are not superficial child-pleasers, but books that can be enjoyed by readers of any age.
The Newbery book award, established in 1921, is conferred annually by the American Library Association. The award is for the most distinguished American children’s book published the previous year. It’s named for an eighteenth-century English bookseller named John Newbery (this Newbery really is spelled with just one r.)
The first Newbery winner was The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon in 1922. The 2008 medal went to Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz.
I haven’t read all the winners, but I’ve read a good many, both as a child and in my grown-up years.
2 Responses
Sandi,
I guess you mean Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz? (I’d misspelled her name in the original post). I haven’t read it, but I’ll make a point of looking for it and see what I think of it.
Thanks for commenting.
Horrible book by Schultz for young readers. Torture and agony were definitely part of the Mideavel times but I thought we had moved past that. I cannot believe that anyone would think that this is appropriate for elementary kids. Makes Grimm’s stuff look like Mother Goose. Keep it away from your kids until they are 14 !!!!!!!