Reading Aloud: Not for Wimps

So I’m tooling around in my library’s shelves containing ancient children’s books of yore yesterday, which happens to be a lot of fun.  Nothing puts the current world of publishing in perspective quite like waltzing through decades and decades worth of out-of-print gems.  At one point I was going through the autographed book section when I stumbled on a familiar name.  “Lucy Sprague Mitchell”.  It rang a distant bell in the old noggin but I was hard pressed to remember why.  Later at home I cracked open my copy of Minders of Make-Believe (the go-to tome for all things simultaneously historical and children’s literature related) and there she was.  Mitchell.  The woman behind New York’s Bureau of Educational Experiments (which wasn’t half as terrifying as the name implies).  Mitchell paved the way for progressive education and that little bureau she founded would go on to become The Bank Street College of Education.

Why am I telling you this?  Because Bank Street is a vital, contributing member of the children’s literary world, dagnabbit.  In fact I was just there last week when Candlewick presented their upcoming fall list (but more on that another day).  And while I was there I also learned of the release of their newly revisited, revised edition of Best Books to Read Aloud with Children of All Ages. Written by Lisa Von Drasek, Linda Greengrass (awesome name) and Jennifer M. Brown the book looks like one of those necessary tools for folks new to the readaloud game and others who need a quick pick-me-up.  Actually Lisa put it better than I in a recent email exchange:

“This past Monday morning, I had the opportunity to observe a story time for toddlers in a tiny rural public library. The woman leading the story time was delightfully engaging, she sang, the children played maracas, rang bells, danced and did simple yoga stretches. (I will be stealing not only her song, but also her yoga ideas for my preschool classes.) Unfortunately she lost most of their attention every time she read aloud.  Her choices weren’t great for the age group. As a children’s librarian, I often forget how hard it is to make developmentally age appropriate choices. The Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street has provided a neatly curated collection of titles, some new, some classics arranged by age group and searchable by theme in the Best Books to Read Aloud.”

The result is an eBook.  Yep.  A $2.99 eBook.  So I figured I’d buy one.  I’m no Mr. Moneybags but I can shell out three bucks.  Apparently it’s also available through a nook app, Amazon and soon Google Books with links to Indie Bound.

Normally I don’t shill others’ wares as directly as I am here but this is the kind of thing I tend to believe in.  Of course Lucy Sprague Mitchell would butt heads with my predecessor Anne Carroll Moore over all sorts of things (fairytales : ACM = pro, LSM = con) but they were both fighting the same fight in the end.  It’s all about the kids and books, man.  All about the kids and books.