Reading Logs Helps Kids Savor Books
Tulsa World
Dec 07, 2009
Some people think that coming to the words "The End" on the last page of a book means the experience of reading is over.
Judy Pelikan's "Books Make Me Happy: My First Reading Log" (Workman Press, $9.95) is a way to show even the youngest readers that finishing a book is really just the start of the process.
"Books Make Me Happy" goes beyond providing spaces to record the title, author and illustrator of a book. Each entry prompts readers to write down their favorite parts, reasons why they would or would not recommend a particular book to a friend, even an area where they can create their own drawing inspired by the original book's illustrations.
The illustrations in "Books Make Me Happy" are all by children who live in the small town of Littleton, N.H., where Pelikan often spends the summer. She writes about discovering an excellent children's section in the town's book store, which hosted a contest for young readers to design book markers.
One of those served as the inspiration -- and the cover image -- for "Books Make Me Happy." The others are spaced throughout the book, accompanied by questions to get young readers thinking about stories in new ways.
For example, a drawing of two happy stick figures with the caption "We Like Books" has a list of questions about the books one might share with friends, while a cartoon of a squirrel saying "I'm Nuts About Books" has questions asked what the reader might be "nuts" about.
The book also includes 16 book plates that
can be affixed to one's own books. Fifteen use illustrations from the book, while one is blank for readers to create their own drawing.
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