The Pearl Children’s Room is a special place for children to explore the magical world of books. We do our best to keep our collection up to date and filled with appealing books for all young readers. However, when visiting, it is easy to overlook certain areas and so in this newsletter, I want to reacquaint all with the various media which is available for children.
When entering from the Adult Collection, one passes through a short hall. Along the walls of this hall, you will find DVDs, audio books, some CD’s, and book kits which generally means a book with an accompanying CD. Take time to browse in this area. You may be surprised at what you might discover.
Once you enter the Pearl Children’s Room, you will see a variety of shelving. The first free-standing shelf that faces the doorway is a special display of the most recent Juvenile Fiction books which have been added to our collection. It abuts the Juvenile Fiction shelving. Here, one will find chapter books for elementary-aged children approximately 7-12 years.
We have decided to separate out the Early Chapter Books from this collection and place them in the divided cart just past the computers.
These books are for children who are ready to begin reading chapter books, but would benefit from frequent pictures, shorter chapters, and easy to follow plot lines. These books are marked with a bright green circle sticker on the front cover.
Just past the Early Chapter Books cart, you will see a corner bookcase with the sign Readers atop it. Readers are more accessible for readers who are just beginning to read independently than are Early Chapter Books. Their vocabulary is controlled; there are usually illustrations––most often in full-color––on every page. The pictures support the text, providing clues to meaning or action. Sentences are short, type face is large, and often much white space is on the page. These are the perfect books for children to explore and experiment with in order to develop more reading independence before they embark on Early Chapter Books. The library has an extensive collection of Readers leveled 1, 2 and 3, ideal for children beginning to read.
Stay tune for the next installment of Children’s Book News in the upcoming library newsletter when we will continue our tour of the Pearl Children’s Room. Meanwhile, if you or your child has a series or individual book title which you would like to see in the children’s collection, please go to the front desk and ask for a patron request form which can be used to ask for new books, etc.
