Children’s Books of 2013

I love to read. Always have. Always will. I like escaping into a book to visit another place and time, and perhaps even become another person for a while. But you know what I love even more than getting lost in a book? Fostering a love of reading in children.

When my teenage daughter was in elementary school, I spent several summers facilitating book groups for girls her age. A dear friend who owned an old-time bookstore with squeaky wooden floors invited our group to use a big wooden table at the back of her store for our discussions.

I would prepare for the summer by spending weeks reading children’s literature to find just the right books to share with the group. I would pore over lists of titles in search of topics that would capture the girls’ interest. I wanted books that would inspire them to think deeply about ideas that were bigger than they were, but at the same time they had to be ideas to which the girls could relate. These summers were so special for me as an educator and as a mom. I was lucky enough to experience groups of girls reading, learning, and growing together.

A few days ago, the New York Times released their Notable Children’s Books for 2013. As I read over the list, I got that familiar feeling of wanting to jump right in and read every book hoping to find one that would be just right. A title that immediately caught my eye was a picture book, This Is the Rope by Jacqueline Woodson. The book tells the story of one family’s experience during the Great Migration, which is when more than six million African Americans left the rural South of the United States to move to urban areas in the Northeast, Midwest, and West.

Although the book is marketed for K-3 students, I love sharing picture books with older elementary students. While the words might be simpler and the pictures bigger than what they normally read, often the stories in picture books tackle complex issues in ways that just seem more accessible. All I need now is a copy of the book. Oh, and some children who would like to hear a great story.