CLCD NEWS Volume 1, Issue 12 December 2002 Happy Holidays to All! This cold, dark time of year and the holidays of the season certainly encourage the use of candles. Their shimmering light delights the eye and renews the spirit. But if you find yourself burning the candle at both ends to get your work done, then consider a subscription to the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database. It's as if you had an assistant, 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week/ 365 days a year and all for less than a dollar a day. Search Tip of the Month If you want to find picture books to use with older readers here are two approaches Enter the phrase picture book in the text part of the search box Then select Exact Phrase Then select your Age Level (that does limit it to books that have been reviewed) If you had entered Age 9 you would have nearly 3000 items results of which can be sorted in any sequence you like Age 10 would yield a little over 2000 Age 11 yields more than 1500 Age 12 yields more than 1100 Age 13 yields more than 600 Age 14 yields about 500 and so on That will help you pull up a list that you can go through fairly quickly and make your selections and produce a tailored bibliography. For a specific subject such as the Civil War picture books for older reader, put civil war picture book in the search box and select an Age Level. If you had put in Age 12 then you would have a list of 160 plus titles (not all of which are picture books, but many are). From this point you can sort the list and go through it fairly quickly selecting the picture books to produce your own listing of appropriate titles. It will save many hours of research time. The Free Stuff This month's featured illustrator is the incredibly talented Robert Sabuda. Two years ago he created an intricate edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This year, he brings The Night Before Christmas to life with his pop-ups within pop-ups. It is a tour de force! Check out the reviews of the winner and runner up books for the recently announced National Book Award. Consider a book for the holidays, we have reviewed more than 100 new ones that came out this year. In addition to the latest Christmas books there are links to those reviewed in previous years. The Planets in Our Solar System is the first of a twelve part series that will focus on the books that discuss various aspects of our universe, space exploration, the planets, stars, and much more. Check out our feature entitled, "Back In Print." We hope that you will find some old favorites here that have made a comeback with the publishers. And to brighten your day, be sure and read Sharon Levin's Book Corner column. The CLCD Company, LLC Click here to go back to the newsletter index.