BOOKS FOR CHILDREN: How do you know what's good?

While there are many places (especially on the internet) where you can read book reviews, how do you really know if it's a good book or not when a single book might receive anywhere from one to five stars?
The answer: read the reviews of a book-addicted teacher librarian.


NOTE:
** The age recommendations are guidelines only; whether or not a certain book is suitable for a particular child depends on multiple factors, including their maturity, reading level, interests, and in some cases their experiences.
** While the ratings are largely based on my own personal appreciation/enjoyment of the book, they are also influenced by my experiences as a teacher and the potential attraction for the target-aged child (acknowledging that what one child may love, another may find exceptionally boring). A rating of 5 indicates the book is likely to be popular with the majority.


Saturday, August 8, 2015

Grammar and Punctuation in Children's Books

I am a stickler for grammar and punctuation. No one is perfect, and I can pretty much guarantee that I've made errors in this blog, but I feel that any error detracts from the fluidity of a story because it 'catches' in your mind like a fish hook. Published works can and should be held to a high standard.

I feel no different about children's books. Children gain so much language by reading and being read to, that we shouldn't be reading them things which don't facilitate this.

These two books in particular really got my goat. I cringe just knowing that they exist.

The first is an obvious one.
Please burn any copy you may come across.


Hooray for hat.  No. Just no. No. No. No.
Hooray for hatS. Yes. Fine. Good!
Hooray for MY hat. Yes. Great!
Hooray for THE hat. Yes. Fine. Not as good, but perfectly acceptable.

'Hat' should not be used as a proper noun unless it is anthropomorphised (which it is not in this case).

The story is about animals which are upset and a friend gives them a party hat and they cheer up and say, "Hooray for hat".

Sure, perhaps the author was trying to connect with his audience by failing to use correct grammar, but he has failed if this was his approach. The only time this ploy works is when the story features direct speech from a toddler who can't speak properly.


Which brings me to the next example.


Did you notice? Missing quotation marks.

Reported speech does not need quotation marks, e.g.: Milana's grandfather noted that there were many children there. Milana's grandfather told her to look at all the people.

However, this is quoted speech and REQUIRES quotation marks.
"Wow! Look at all the people. And [there are] so many children," said Milana's grandfather.

This may be a small thing that children (and some adults) won't consciously pick up, but language is picked up subliminally in young children, and I could not have a child look at this without correcting it.


All I can say to these authors is, "Fire your editor", or maybe get one in the first place.

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