Search Tip of the Month
This Month's Features
Spreading the News

With great fanfare, we announce the addition of The Horn Book Guide's critical annotations to the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) this month. In addition to The Horn Book Guide ratings and The Horn Book Magazine Audio Reviews, which are currently included in the CLCD, we will add more than 50,000 annotations that have been published since the inception of the Guide. Issued twice a year, each issue of The Horn Book Guide covers virtually "all hardcover trade children's and young adult books published in the United States within a six-month period." These annotations will broaden the coverage in the CLCD bringing the total number of reviews in the database to well over 200,000. We are certain this will help you make your selection and weeding decisions more quickly and confidently.

We are also pleased to announce that Marilyn Courtot, the founder of Children's Literature and the president of the CLCD Company, LLC, has been selected to be a member of the SB&F Key Award committee, and has also been named the chairperson of the selection committee for the 2005 Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Award for Nonfiction.

Science Books & Films, (SB&F), the review journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), with funding from Subaru, is sponsoring a lifetime achievement award for outstanding success in science writing. This is the inaugural year of the SB&F Key Award, named after Benjamin Franklin who was a lover of science, books and libraries. Winners will be announced at the AAAS Annual Meeting in February 2005.

The Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Award for Nonfiction honors an author or author-illustrator whose body of work has contributed significantly to the quality of nonfiction for children. Any living American author or author-illustrator is eligible. The 2004 winner of this award is Dorothy Hinshaw Patent. Visit The Children's Book Guild for more information.

Search Lexile Score & Subject Term Together

If you need to search for a specific Lexile score and combine it with a subject term, you can do it just by putting the information in the search box. For example, baseball lexile 540 brings up four books about baseball that meet that criteria and two additional ones that mention baseball in the review. Anytime you want to check what you keyed in as your search criteria click on detail in the menu list on the left side of the screen and the pop-up window will show what you keyed in the search box.

Age and Grade Searching

Currently you can search for books using an age range which is based on information contained in the reviews. How can you relate this to grade? A general rule of thumb for converting grade to age is to add 5. For example, using this rule of thumb, 4th grade translates to Age 9.

You can also enter the information such as grade 4 in the search box and pick a genre which will generates a reasonable number of results. Most books are identified as appropriate for a range of grades; therefore, it is probably better to structure the search to enter the subject term and also the words grades 3 to 5. This type of search would net books in that grade range or whatever range you specified. Also, keep in mind as you use the database that age and grade information varies by review media, and it is based on the reviewers opinion and/or the publishers recommendation.

Among the Thanksgiving Books in our themed review section, you will find Pilgrim Cat by Carol Antoinette Peacock and illustrated by Doris Ettlinger. Faith and her cat, Pounce, will draw the reader into this fictionalized account of the first year at Plymouth Colony. For a contemporary approach, try The Firefighters' Thanksgiving by Maribeth Boelts and illustrated in bold acrylics by Terry Widener. It is an action-packed thank you to these men and women who bravely serve their communities. For our complete list, go to our Thanksgiving review section

Although the voting will be over for the presidential election, our Election Feature can continue to help you inform today's children about their future citizenship responsibilities. It can be found here.

With the inauguration of the president in January 2005, you will want to be prepared with new titles on what a president does, and on life in the White House. Students will learn about some presidents and a bit of American history as they enjoy Wackiest White House Pets by Gibbs Davis and illustrated by David A. Johnson. The White House : an illustrated history by Catherine O'Neill Grace does an admirable job of presenting the past, the present and the spirit of the “The People's House.” These and other titles and reviews can be found at our About U.S. Presidents reviews section.

Mark Twain's birthday is November 30. To celebrate, we have an interview with R. Kent Rasmussen, author of Mark Twain for Kids: his life and times, 21 activities. Rasmussen has been reading, researching, and writing about Mark Twain for many years. His adult book, Mark Twain A - Z won ALA's "Outstanding Reference" award in 1996.

Marlo Thomas has edited a new collection entitled, Thanks and Giving All Year Long. It includes stories, poems, songs and art by children's book authors and illustrators, as well as famous actors and athletes. In this interview provided by the publisher, you will discover why she undertook this project.

Our monthly newsletter is now available to everyone within an organization, not just the primary contact. A feature at www.childrenslit.com will provide you with a form allowing you to sign up for just the electronic newsletter. Discover for yourself what Karla Schmit, Professor, Library Department, Librarian Laboratory School, Shippensburg University says about the CLCD, -"Every author, every title, every time."

About the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database
The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database is your most complete source of information about children's books, audio recordings, and films. Indeed, it is the next best thing to having the item in hand, and the best tool for leading you to the best materials. All at a most affordable price. To subscribe to the CLCD, go to www.childrenslit.com.