Eureka! Trelease's Read Aloud Treasury

Summer has me in the perpetual hunt for book recommendations and I was very excited to learn about Jim Trelease's book, "The Read Aloud Handbook."*  Originally published in 1979 and in its sixth edition as of 2006, "The Read Aloud Handbook" has chapters dedicated to:

• Why reading aloud is important
• When to begin reading aloud
• The stages of reading aloud
• The do's and don'ts of reading aloud
• Sustained silent reading
• Libraries
• Television, and 
• What Oprah, Harry, and the Internet have gotten right

As you might imagine, Trelease is a passionate advocate for reading to your children early, often, and forever!

Following his informational chapters about the importance of reading aloud, he includes a "Read Aloud Treasury," which lists 113 pages of book recommendations (with short reviews) broken down by genre and age group.  This list of more than 1,000 books is complemented by his website, which showcases his more current recommendations for books that have been published since the handbook's 2006 printing.  Eureka!

In addition to his own treasury, Trelease also recommends these resources (among others) for finding out about quality new children's books:

• "Worth a Thousand Words: An Annotated Guide to Picture Books for Older Readers" by Bette D. Ammon
• The American Library Association parent resource pages as well as their book lists for award winning books like the Caldecott, Newbery, and many others
• Children's Choices and Teacher's Choices from the International Reading Association

This book is a tremendous resource and serves as a perfect starting place for anyone trying to find that next great read.

*I read the 5th edition, so there is likely new material in the 6th edition that isn't covered in this post.