The Boy who was Raised by Librarians


Author/Illustrator: Carla Morris/Brad Sneed

Plot Summary: With exaggerated illustrations of wacky librarians, a boy's relationship with his library and the librarians who work there, is described. He doesn't live in the library but he spends lots of time there over the course of his life.

Comments: It seems that librarians can never have enough books about librarians in their repertoire.
Great book for promoting the library and all the things it can do and provide for students of any age. Good book for de-nerdifying the library.

Extensions:
1. Use as a read aloud in the Media Center at the beginning of the year or when introducing a reference or research project. It would be best for second or third grade; maybe first. I think it might be a little long for kindergarten.
2. After listening to the book, in their classrooms, the students would write, and illustrate, a written piece(for display in the library.) It would list all of the things they like about the library; why they like coming to the library; and what they do in the library.

Themes/keywords: librarians, libraries

Age/Reading Level: K-3; ATOS - 4.0; Follett - 4.1; Lexile - 720

Standards:
ELA2R4 The student uses a variety of strategies to gain meaning from grade-level text.
ELA3R3 The student uses a variety of strategies to gain meaning from grade-level text.
ELA4R2(through eighth grade) The student consistently reads at least twenty-five books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) each year. The materials should include traditional and contemporary literature (both fiction and non-fiction) as well as magazines, newspapers, textbooks, and electronic material. Such reading should represent a diverse collection of material from at least three different literary forms and from at least five different writers.

Publisher's Info: Peachtree Publishers; Atlanta, Georgia. 2007

ISBN-13: 978-1-56145-391-7
ISBN-10: 1-56145-391-9


Awards/Review Sources:

School Library Journal 06/01/07

Kirkus Review starred 03/15/07

Booklist 05/01/07

Library Media Connection 10/01/07


Genre/Dewey: Fiction; Easy/Everybody

Websites:
Author's website. She is a public librarian in Utah.
The illustrator's website.

Notes for Booktalk:

Vocabulary:

Comments

Unknown said…
You make an interesting point. We can never get enough books about librarians, but only those showcasing librarians in the best light. I guess we are always battling the old lingering stereotypes.