Children's Book-A-Day Almanac
by Anita Silvey
Roaring Brook Press, 2012
Professional Reference Book
The reviewer received a copy of the book from the publisher.
Summer is the perfect time for teachers, librarians and book lovers to catch up on their reading. Sit outside with a glass of lemonade and a good book, and that's what I call the perfect day. If you're not sure which books to read this summer or which books to share with your students or patrons, never fear. Anita Silvey has a book for you! In fact, she has 365 books for you.
Organized chronologically, the Children's Book-A-Day Almanac features a different children's book each day of the year. Silvey provides readers with a review and the story behind each book. For example, Johnny Tremain is the featured book on January 1st. Did you know that author Esther Forbes had dyslexia? "She could not spell words and used the dash as her only form of punctuation" (p.1). Silvey highlights Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca on November 28th because November is National Aviation Month. Readers learn that Floca studied with David Macaulay at Rhode Island School of Design.
Silvey does an excellent job of balancing fiction and nonfiction, classics and new titles, and she includes books for a range of readers from "babies to age fourteen." Nonfiction titles include The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, Martin's Big Words, The Notorious Benedict Arnold, So You Want to Be President?, and many more. In addition to the featured book, each page includes a sidebar containing special events, author birthdays, and historical events related to the date. I was most impressed the indices in the back of the book that organized all the books by author, by age and by genre.
Silvey's Children's Book-A-Day Almanac is a resource that children's librarians and reading teachers should have on hand. Readers will be reminded of classic stories that may have been forgotten as well as new books you haven't read yet, and kids will love hearing the stories behind their favorite books. Be sure to visit the Children's Book-A-Day Almanac for your daily dose of reading inspiration. http://childrensbookalmanac.com/