DOCUMENT BESUMO ED 117 681 CS 002 394 Engrossing Books TITLE . A. Banquet. of Books. In Assortment for All -AgesandP.ead INSTTTUTION 711-a.nitctha. _nein. at Eattcation_e_Wilinipg. PUB DATE Sep 75 NOTE 216p. _ . -IMES PUCE MP -5 .83 HC-$11.37 Plus P-Oitage DESCRIPTORS *Ann _ated Bibliographies; Elementary Secondary Educ Lion; Fiction; High Interest Low Vocabulary Books; Large Type Materials; *Low Motivation; nonfiction; *Reading Interests; *Reading Materials IDENTIFIERS *Reuctant Readers ABSTRACT The books"listedin this annotated bibligraphy have been selected torassist teachers, librarians, and other interested ,persons in choosing books for reluctant readers. The books present a wide range of high interest material which is not always at a low reading level. Books are listed in three categories: picture books, intended mostly for use with primary grade children; fiction--adventure and mystery, animal stories, fantasy and science fiction, sports stories, mitllaneous fiction, and story collections; and nonfiction- iography, haunted houses , monsters and UFOts, hobbies and crafts, the world of entertainment, Indians of North America, science, sports, wild animals and pets, wings and wheels, and the world at war.' Annotations for each entry include bibliographic data, a brief description, print size, vocabulary rangeAd reading and interest levels. (JM) r *****************************************;k******* id****A********it******* * Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished *- * materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort * **toobtain .the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality * * of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ER/C.'makesievailable * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS isnet * * resp6nsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original. * ***************4!***************************t************************ r S OEARTHENT OF HEALTH, -411..CX) EOUCATION & WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EOUCATION ,.,5 DOCUMENTHAS BEEN R EPRO. tr, OLoCE 0 EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM r-4 'NE PERSON OR ORGA,NZt.TON ORtOott- TNO T RON TS OX Y.E,' OR 04)40+00+0 S'A"E0 00 NOT NECESSARILY RERRE SEN. OC;tC AL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF --E-tr..KX-TTONPOS, A BANQUET erEOOKS AN ASSORTMENT OF ENGROSSING BOOKS FOR ALL AGES AND, READING LEVELS 1 School Library Services and Department of Education Library Winnipeg, Manitoba September, 1175 ( 2 14 4 . TABLE OF CONTENTS Page' GENERAL INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION TO FICTION SECTION 4 FICTION 5 i'd , 5- Adventure and Mystery , Anim6.1 Stories . 35 Fantasy and Science Fiction 47 Sports Stories . .... 79 'Miscellaneous Fiction , 86 , Story Collections .. 106 / INTRODUCTION TO NON-FICTION SECTION '111 ,NON-FICTION 1 . 112 Biography 112 : Haunted,Houses, Monsters,and UFO's 121 Hobbies,'Crafts, and the World of Entertainment 126 Indians of North America 134 Science 137 Sports 139 147 --) Wild Animals and Pets Wings and Wheels 157 t The World at War , 162 "Miscellaneous 165 INTRODUCTION TO PICTURE BOOKS SECTION 170 PICTURE BOOKS 171 4 3 4 General Introduction This bibliography has been prepared in order to assist librarians, teachers, and other interested persons in selecting print materials it . book form for reluctant readers. By "reluctant readers" is meant those students who, because of lack of interest, lack of reading ability, or a combination of both, do not,enjoy reading as a leisure activity. Because the needs of these readers are as varied as their abilities, thiS bibliography attempts to present a wide range of material of high interest, but not necessarily always at alow reading level. Some of the books, listed here. are quite challenging with respect to the degree of difficulty of the vocabulary used,in them, but it is to be hoped that the contents are of such a high degree of interest that_the reader will be encouraged to continue reading. It must be emphisized that the present bibliography is not definitive and that it merely attempts to indicate titles which may prove successful with reluctant readers. Opportunities for disagreement with the'choice of titles in this list, and for substitution of more appropriate .titles are unlimited. All the books cited herein have been personally examined by the author of this bibliography, and all the titles in this list are known to exist in at least one of two places, viz. the Manitoba Departmentl4f Education Libraiy, Room 206, 1181 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, and the Winnipeg Public Library, 380 William Avenue, Winnipeg. Some explanation of the,format of the bibliography may be in order. 2 4 - 2 -. Therelm-three-large-diyj:sions iticture books, intended mostly for use fiction and non- fiction there are further-subdivisions,- e.g. in the case of fiction, Adventure And:Mystery Animal Stories, Fantasy and ScienCe Fiction, etc. Subdivisions With the heading, "Miscellaneous", include titles which simply do not fit easily intoany 'one category. Within their respective subdivisions, annotationsare arrang d alphabetically by the surname of the author. The format of the.annotations isas follows. Author, titlelrplace of publication, publisher, date of publicationare first given, followed by a brief comment on, or description of, the contents of the book. The next, parts may require more explanation. A very general comment on the-size of print has been made because reluctant readersare often deterred by small . print: The presence of illustrations has been notedas a_source of appeal to the reader. Comments on the degree of difficulty of vocabularya 're to be taken as approximations only, not as exactor scientifically'verifiable .statements. In'categorizing vocabulary as easy, fairly easy, or moderately easy, an attempt has been made to indicate three ascending degree's of difficulty. The emphasis on "easy" is to avoid unnecessary discouragement of reluctant readers. Where the vocabulary does present any unusual difficulties, this is indicated bymeans of a longer comment, in the. A annotation. The average sentence length is based on random samples of imselections from the works in question.Reading levels have been based, in some cases, on application of the Dale Chall Readability Formula,in others, on a statement of reading level in the book in question, and instill others, on an estimate made by the author of this bibliography. Interest levels are estimates only. In neither reading nor interest levels need the statements be interpreted too stringently. Because of individual . differences among readers, the levels canserve only as guidelines. Finally, it will be noted-that not all the foregoing elementsappear in every annotation. It was not considered necessary to include them all in, every case. - 3- In conclusion, grateful acknowledgement is offered tothe following persons for theirassistanceand advice in the preparation of_this _ bibliography:- Mr: Michael Angel, Mrs: Judy Dilk, Mrs. Olaf Hardy, and Lamb, librarian of Dufferin School, Winnipeg; and Mrs. Helen S. Robertson, :librarian of the Children's Departunt.of the Winnipeg Public Library, whose patience and kindness merit special tribute. David Rozniatowski, S.T.E.P.. Reading Bibliography Project, Library' Services. Branch, August, 1975. 4 4 4 r -IntrodUction to Fiction Section (See also General Introduction to the complete bibliography.) The'titles in this,diVision represent a Selection of,fictional imoterial$ which can tie used with students from the elementary'to the senior grades. The works listed vary 'considerably, in the-degree of difficulty thaVhe authors' vocabUlary orstyle present to the reader, , but a genuine Attempt has been made to select °materials in whichyoung - readers are-likely to le.interested. For example; the bizarre and beautiful style of Ray Bradbury!s Something.Wicked This Way Comes - f ;may prove too challenging for some readers, but the appeal-of the supernatural elements,in the story may well hold the attention of. others. =For, the most part, titles have not been selectedfrom series el designated for the uSe of reluctant readers,'bui,from general fiction collections. Librarians; teachers, and other persons who are interes- ted in.obtaining information about special series, shouldcon -tact the Department of Education Library, Room 206, 1181. Pottage-Avenue, Winnipeg. os < S. cs. 5 Adventure and.Mxstery Allan, Mabe Esther; Ship of Danger; New York, Abelard Schuman, 1974: 153p,. ollAnt on, his sh p s Easter crud but the trip proves more unsettling than she or anyone'e SP anticipate gapriati_ _ ___ ____ - . , , Ea .y vocabulary. A erage sentence length: 18 words. ft ading Level: Grade 7. nierest leVel: Grade 7-12. Pon r Eric. The tevanter. New York, Atheneum, 1972. '307p. - A good action and espionage novel. Michael Howellwho runs a small fleet of argo vessels in the Eastern Mediterranean is forcedby,a.Palestinian gu illa organization to serve as an accomplice in theplanning and execution ofa major strike against Israel. Average size print. Fairly easy vocabulary. Average sentence 'length: 22 words. Reading leVel: Grade' 6-7. Interest Level: Grade 7-12'. ? erman, Lockhart. Cape Cod Casket. New York, Harcourt, Brace and World, 964. 192p. o Jonathan Flower, son of secret agent Major Flower, takes a summer'iob as a tutor to two children, and finds hitself-plunged into a mystery which reaches a climax when one df the children disappears. Average size print. , Vocabulary,