Volume 5, Issue 5
May 2006
Search Tip of the Month
This Month's Features
Spreading the News
One of the cornerstones of librarianship is the ability to help patrons locate the information they need as quickly as possible. Since several of us at the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database Company (CLCD) are, in fact, librarians it is no surprise that key components of our database are accurate information and speed of response. In looking over the list of the top 50 U.S. Schools of Education published by U.S. News and World Report this spring, we discovered that 30% of the top 20 colleges and universities subscribe to CLCD. Now perhaps it would be a bit presumptuous to think that the CLCD put them on the list. However, since we regularly hear how faculty have made our database an integral part of their classes, perhaps we are on to something here. If you teach a class in children's or young adult literature, shouldn't you be subscribing to and recommending the database for your students? If you are a subscriber, then please let your colleagues know how valuable it is for your students work as well as your own research.
CLCD is pleased to announce that new reviews from the UK have been added to the database. Launched in 1980, with a readership of over 45,000 worldwide Books for Keeps reviews over 1000 children's books each year including fiction, poetry and nonfiction, in both paperback and hardback. In 1996 Books for Keeps won the prestigious Eleanor Farjeon Award for distinguished services to children's books. We are including current issues and also have added the extensive backfile of reviews. To learn more about Books for Keeps and what it offers in its publication, please visit http://www.booksforkeeps.co.uk/.
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 six books about baseball that meet that criteria and four additional ones that mention baseball in the review. Anytime you want to check what you keyed in as your search criteria, click on the detail button on the left side of the screen and the pop-up window will show what you keyed in the search box.
ISBN Search
For a quick way to locate unrelated titles just key in the ISBN numbers in the search box without the dashes and with one space between each string. To illustrate: 0689834756 0060295090 will bring up the following books: Mama's Day and My Mother's Voice. It is recommended to do no more than 10 at a time to eliminate frustration in case of a keying error. Remember if you select and copy and paste text into the search box you avoid keying errors which will save lots of time. Also if you just click on modify search whatever you have keyed remains in the search box.
Features
Our features for the month of May include an update of our books about Mother's Day. Here you will find stories of animal babies and their relationship with their mothers as well as stories of children and young adults and their mothers and grandmothers, some contemporary and some historical.
Have you noticed the increased numbers of cyclists on the roads these days, in both rain and shine? This is National Bicycle Month. We could not have a feature without presenting a biography or two about Lance Armstrong. There also are nonfiction titles that discuss various types of bikes, such as dirt bike racers. Bicycles are the centerpiece of many fiction titles as well.
Jill Wolfson's carefully crafted What I Call Life is an exceptional title in our feature for Foster Care Month. Here you will find nonfiction and fiction for children and young adults, some adult-focus books and web links, too.
Are you trying to find ways to connect girls and science? Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie is an inspirational role model. There are a number of well-written biographies that have been published about her, and we have brought them together for you in this feature.
A holiday that has become more widely know in the U.S. due to the large Mexican population is Cinco de Mayo. This month we have added recently published titles.
Author Features
Julius Lester responds to questions about Time's Memory, his most current novel in which he brings together the Dogon religion of West Africa and a boy living in slavery just prior to the Civil War.
The timely issue of illegal immigration is the topic of Crossing the Wire. Don't miss this interview with Will Hobbs in which he discusses his latest book. Reviews of some of his other works are here as well.
Elizabeth Winthrop discusses her most recent book, Counting on Grace, a historical novel set in Vermont, and the Lewis Hine photograph that inspired her to write the story.
As you have noticed we present interviews with authors and illustrators in this section. Ed Young's works have such depth to them that we decided to include an article written about his book, Beyond the Great Mountains.
Quote of the Month
"Students (elementary education/children's literature) use CLCD extensively in writing their research papers. We consider it an invaluable resource and highly recommend it."
Dr. William Bingman, Frostburg State University
CLCD Newsletter Editor, Sharon Salluzzo serves as a library and education consultant to CLCD. In addition, Sharon is a book reviewer, a storyteller, an editorial board member of Capitol Choices and a member of The Children's Book Guild of Washington, DC. She earned her MLS at SUNY Geneseo.
About the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database
Our monthly newsletter is now available to everyone within an organization, not just the primary contact. A new feature at www.childrenslit.com will provide you with a form allowing you to sign up for just the electronic newsletter. The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database, updated mid-month, is your most complete source of information about children's books. Indeed, it is the next best thing to having the book in hand, and the best tool for leading you to the best books. All at a most affordable price. To subscribe to the CLCD or contact us, go to www.childrenslit.com.