English Books for Children: a Graded Annotated Bibliography
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English Books for Children: A Graded Annotated Bibliography Prepared & Compiled for The Bombay Community Public Trust By Ms Hema Ranganathan Harsha Parekh Mumbai 2010 © The Bombay Community Public Trust Earnest House, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021 2010 Telephone: 022-22845928; 022-22836672 Email: [email protected] Website: http://bcpt.org.in In this Series: 1. Development of Reading: A Guidebook 2. Magazines for Children: An Annotated Bibliography 3. A Manual of Library Procedures and Routines 4. Children’s Books in English: An Annotated Bibliography Forthcoming: Children’s Books in Hindi: An Annotated Bibliography Children’s Books in Marathi: An Annotated Bibliography Directory of Publishers & Booksellers of Children’s Books in Mumbai Directory of developers/distributors of AV resources for children A Manual of Library Procedures and Routines (Hindi) Development of Reading: A Guidebook (Hindi) PREFAC E In the year 2005, the Bombay Community Public Trust (BCPT) started a few “Community Learning Centres” with the objective of providing opportunities to under-privileged children to read by accessing different types of books and other information sources. Comprising of a children’s library, support classes and recreation facilities, these centres attracted a large number of children. As the project was implemented, we began to recognise the role of language development as an important component in the child’s educational, social, emotional and intellectual growth. Listening, reading and writing are the three main pillars of language development. Listening which begins in the womb and continues through the early years of a child’s life enables a child to articulate – from incoherent to coherent words, from words, through phrases to sentences which get refined as the child grows. Reading and writing usually takes place in a school, with teachers playing a pivotal role in this development. The family and environment have an equally important role in this developmental task. For various reasons, a large percentage of our children today lack the ability to read and write though they may be schooling. Books, others than school books, are rarely known and thus children miss out on the magical moments of enjoyment and recreation one gets from reading extensively. The teaching of reading skills to children and developing sound reading habits emerged as the most important challenges. Our original project took a slightly different focus as we worked with several NGOs to promote reading in schools, public libraries and community centres. English Books for Children: A Graded Annotated Bibliography is one amongst other materials being developed to assist the NGOs who are doing their best to address the issue. It provides an annotated list of children’s books in English, published in India. The bibliography is arranged in 5 sections according to reading skill levels viz. Reading Readiness, Entry Level Reader, Beginning to Read, Familiar Readers and Fluent Readers. To help us categorise the books into these levels we used a variety of parameters. Frequently we were guided by the categories used by the publishers themselves; although these were generally age groups, we used these to help us determine the level. The mix of text and illustration, the size of the font used, the vocabulary and the content theme all contributed towards deciding the level. Each section is further divided into the following categories: General, Picture Books, Traditional Literature, Fiction, Poems, Songs & Plays, Science, History, Geography & Travel and Reference Books. The use of this tool by librarians and teachers will help them in selecting appropriate reading materials for the children. They will enjoy reading as they enter into a magical world they had missed so far! November 2010 CONTENTS Level Category Page No I Reading Readiness 1-10 General 1 Picture Books 1 Traditional Literature (fables, legends, folk and fairy tales) 3 Fiction 3 Poems, Songs and Plays 9 Science 9 Sports, Games and Hobbies 10 II Entry Level Reading 11-20 General 11 Traditional Literature (fables, legends, folk and fairy tales) 11 Fiction – Adventure and Detective, Ghost and Mystery Stories 12 General Fiction 13 Poems, Songs and Plays 19 Science 20 History, Geography and Travel 20 III Beginning to Read 21-45 General 21 Traditional Literature (fables, legends, folk and fairy tales) 22 Fiction – Adventure and Detective, Ghost and Mystery Stories 28 General Fiction 31 Biography and Autobiography 40 Science 40 History, Geography and Travel 42 Reference Books 44 IV Familiar Readers 46-68 General 46 Traditional Literature (fables, legends, folk and fairy tales) 46 Fiction – Adventure and Detective, Ghost and Mystery Stories 53 General Fiction 56 Poems, Songs and Plays 62 Biography and Autobiography 62 Science 65 History, Geography and Travel 67 Sports, Games and Hobbies 68 Reference Books 68 V Fluent Readers 69-77 General 69 Traditional Literature (fables, legends, folk and fairy tales) 70 Fiction – Adventure and Detective, Ghost and Mystery Stories 70 General Fiction 71 Biography and Autobiography 74 Science 74 History, Geography and Travel 76 Reference Books 77 Author Index 78-83 1 Graded Bib liography of Children’s Books in English I. Reading Readiness Category: General they see around them and how fascinating parents find their simple questions. 001 Colours of Nature Category: Picture Books Bulbul Sharma Mumbai: Pratham Books, 2009. 006 Rs.20/- Babu the Waiter Sirish Rao An eminent artist plays with the colours of Chennai: Tara Publishing, n.d. nature. A lovely offering for early readers! Rs.35/- 002 Babu is a waiter in a small restaurant. This book Going To Series... [Going to.. Market, to Buy a spends the day with him, following him as he Book, to a Wedding, Home] serves a variety of food to the people who come Rukmini Bannerji; illustrated by Santosh Pujari to eat in his restaurant. Mumbai: Pratham Books, 2009. Rs.15/- each 007 Bamba and the Apple Tree In this fun series children relate their experiences Deepa Agarwal of going to different places and having fun and Noida: Frank Educational Aids, 2007. adventure in their own way. Rs.18/- 003 Bamba sees juicy red apples and wants to have Goloo the Circle them. Did she really enjoy having them? Jagdish Joshi Mumbai: Pratham Books, 2009. 008 Rs.15/- Grandma's Eyes Sandhya Rao; Ashok Rajagopalan A wonderful introduction to the most complete Chennai: Tulika Publishers, 2005. shape - the circle. Rs.70/- 004 A unique bilingual book, which explains why Look and Learn Series [I Want To, Look at Me] grandma is special. Just a dozen lines of simple Pankaj Chaturvedi; illustrated by Ajit Narayan text capture all the warmth of Grandma. Mumbai: Pratham Books, 2009. Animation style pictures make it more Rs. 15/-each interesting. Through these simple stories children learn a lot 009 about their bodies and surroundings. The Moon and the Cap Noni 005 Mumbai: Pratham Books, 2007. Tell Me Now Series Rs.15/- Madhav Chavan; illustrated by Rijuta Ghate Mumbai: Pratham Books, 2009. Do you like to wear a cap on a sunny day? Find Rs. 10/- each out who else likes to wear a cap in this charming book. This series tells you how interesting the 010 inquisitive child's eagerness can be when they My First Step of Birds & Animals want to know about colours and shapes which New Delhi: Unicorn Books, n.d. Rs.15/- 2 Graded Bib liography of Children’s Books in English in this series introduce and talk about a variety Birds and animals evoke a sense of wonder of working people, following them through a among little children and gradually their minds day in their lives. Ponni goes from house to begin to register their presence. This booklet is house selling flower garlands. In the morning created to enhance their learning experience. she buys flowers in the market and strings them The booklet is full of lively and catchy colour together. Then she sets off across the city tosell illustrations on glossy paper them. This book journeys with her as she walks her rounds. 011 My First Step of Vegetables & Fruits 015 New Delhi: Unicorn Books, n.d. Radha Finds the Circle Rs.15/- Subir Shukla; illustrated by Renuka Rajiv Chennai: Tulika Publishers, 2005. Fruits and vegetables are among the first items Rs.60/- the little ones begin to recognise.In addition to evoking a sense of wonder, they help to satiate Radha draws a circle. But it keeps running away. his appetite. This special primer of vegetables This bilingual book draws beginner readers into and fruits brings to children the joy of learning. the imaginative play of a child's mind. The pictures are enticing and children will love 012 looking for the circle in the pictures. My Mother's Sari Sandhya Rao 016 Chennai: Tulika Publishers, 2007. Rapidex Picture Dictionary Rs.100/- New Delhi: Pustak Mahal, n.d. Rs. 60/- The mystery of a sari can be magic for a child and in this story a child lets his imagination run The requirement of small children goes beyond wild. The pictures combine photographs and the alphabet, or birds and animals. This acrylics in dramatic ways.One long stretch of excellent picture book brings them exciting cloth, yet so graceful. What Mother always colourful drawings on different subjects against wears - but sometimes a train, sometimes a an A-Z format. Each letter denotes a name. river, oreven a swing. 017 013 The Runaway Puppy One Lonely Unicorn Sarang Dev Murthy; illustrated by Bindiya Meenakshi Bhardwaj; illustrated by Sonali Thapar Biswas New Delhi: Katha, 2004. New Delhi: Katha, 2004. Rs. 75/- Rs.95/- A story about a little puppy that loved to jump A splendidly illustrated and innovative book that and play. Written by an 8 year old Sarang the introduces the concept of numbers through a story helps the child discover the joys as well as story.