Sunday, August 2, 2009
Some Books to Keep in Mind
I am going to link to this post so I can remember to check out these books.
Every Day I Learn Something New
I just learned today that those little blurbs you find on the back of book jackets are done by professional reviewers. Poor innocent me! I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a professional book reviewer. I often wondered how the publishers knew what people where going to think about the book before it was published. I did figure out that some people have to get some sort of advanced copy of a book. But frankly I didn't give much thought about how this work. Now I know that people actually get paid to read books. I wish somebody would have told me that when I was trying to decide what to do with my life. Maybe I would've been a Professional Book Reviewer instead of a Psychologist.
How did I find this out? Because I have read some posts about it. Mostly because now that there people blogging about books all over the place, some reviewers think that they are not qualified to talk about books (kind of the same thing we hear about homeschooling-how dare we teach our children without an Education degree?). But there is also the bloggers that are being approached by publishers and authors; and, there are those that are being paid but don't say it up front, and those that think they should not be paid, and blah, blah, blah. Why do things have to be so complicated?
In other news about books, I liked this post about reading levels. (HT to Melissa Wiley). I enjoy reading children's books. In fact when I want to know something about a topic, quite frequently by first stop is the Picture Book Section. I have tried to instilled a love of books to my children. Any good book deserves our enjoyment independently of how it is cataloged at the library. count. Sometimes though, I have to admit that when I see A pick up Baby Blues or Calvin and Hobbes for the hundredth time, or when I see G, at 16, enjoying The Rangers Apprentice series rather that The Scarlet Letter, I am visiting by those feeling of "shouldn't they be reading something more challenging?" This post by Jen Robinson reminds me that good literature transcends the boundaries of age or reading levels. The fact that you pick up A Bargain for Frances or Little Critter, Air Mail to the Moon, Peanuts, We Are Going on a Bear Hunt, Blueberries for Sal doesn't mean that you can't read something "more challenging". It means that you have good taste. Never mind your age.
How did I find this out? Because I have read some posts about it. Mostly because now that there people blogging about books all over the place, some reviewers think that they are not qualified to talk about books (kind of the same thing we hear about homeschooling-how dare we teach our children without an Education degree?). But there is also the bloggers that are being approached by publishers and authors; and, there are those that are being paid but don't say it up front, and those that think they should not be paid, and blah, blah, blah. Why do things have to be so complicated?
In other news about books, I liked this post about reading levels. (HT to Melissa Wiley). I enjoy reading children's books. In fact when I want to know something about a topic, quite frequently by first stop is the Picture Book Section. I have tried to instilled a love of books to my children. Any good book deserves our enjoyment independently of how it is cataloged at the library. count. Sometimes though, I have to admit that when I see A pick up Baby Blues or Calvin and Hobbes for the hundredth time, or when I see G, at 16, enjoying The Rangers Apprentice series rather that The Scarlet Letter, I am visiting by those feeling of "shouldn't they be reading something more challenging?" This post by Jen Robinson reminds me that good literature transcends the boundaries of age or reading levels. The fact that you pick up A Bargain for Frances or Little Critter, Air Mail to the Moon, Peanuts, We Are Going on a Bear Hunt, Blueberries for Sal doesn't mean that you can't read something "more challenging". It means that you have good taste. Never mind your age.
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