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In Times Past
an eBook on CD
by Carol Hurst and Rebecca Otis

Integrating US History with Literature in Grades 3-8.

Enliven your US History curriculum!

Teach US History using great kids books.

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Newsletter, Volume 10, Number 1

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Welcome to our newsletter. If you'd like to have each issue delivered to your email address you can sign-up for a subscription.

In This Issue You'll Find:

• News. See Below.
• Featured Book: Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes

News:

We apologize for the long drought in newsletters. We publish this newsletter as often as we are able and there has been quite a gap. But it's good to be back and as always this is an exciting time of year in the world of children's books.

The American Library Association has announced the winners of this year's Newbery, Caldecott, Silbert, and King Awards. Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadahata won the Newbery, Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes won the Caldecott, The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman won the Silbert, and Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison won the Coretta Scott King Award. For more information see:
http://www.kidsreads.com/features/2005-ala.asp

We will be providing Teaching Guides for one or more of these books in the next couple of newsletters.

We are stunned to realize that this issue marks the beginning of our 10th year publishing this newsletter. It has been a wonderful experience. We are so grateful to our readers for their loyalty and kind words of encouragement. You are quite an inspiration. Most of you are teachers, parents, or college students and instructors. Keep up the good work out there and if there's anything else we can do to help you in your efforts please feel free to ask.

As a token of our gratitude here are the answers to your three most frequently asked questions:

• "How do I contact an author?"

If an internet search for their web site comes up empty the best way to reach an author is to write to him or her "in care of" their most recent publisher. You can find their most recent publisher and its address at your local library or by calling the reference librarian at your nearest city library.

• "Are there online teaching guides available for books you don't cover?

A good place to look for materials on individual titles is the Doucette Index at:
http://www.educ.ucalgary.ca/litindex/

• "What titles would you recommend for a student reading significantly above grade level?"

When recommending reading materials for children who are reading above their grade level we do not suggest going to books targeted to older readers. Remember that gifted readers do not need to be challenged with books which are more and more difficult to decipher. They will easily master that as they get to those grade levels.

What they do have an opportunity to do is to read more of the really great books that are targeted to their general age group. There are so many fantastic books and their reading proficiency allows them to focus on the deeper layers of the story. This can give them an exceedingly strong literary background which will serve them throughout their education.

Therefore, we recommend you go to their age grade level of recommended books on our site (and on other sites) and make sure they have been exposed to all the highly recommended books and that they choose their reading materials from these type of resources.

For those who missed our last newsletter the most recent additions to our web site are:

• Featured Subject: The Holocaust
• Featured Subject: The Times of the Pilgrims
• Featured Book: Charlotte's Web
• Featured Book: Look to the North: A Wolf Pup's Diary
• Featured Book: Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel
• Featured Author: Susan Goodman
• Featured Book: Attaboy, Sam! by Lois Lowry
• Featured Book: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein
• Featured Subject: Weather in Kids' Books
• Featured Book: A Killing in Plymouth Colony by Carol Otis Hurst and Rebecca Otis

Next Section of Newsletter:

Featured Book: Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes