Books With Lasting Connections

The January 2011 issue of Book Links features Lasting Connections of 2010, a "list of the 30 picture books, novels, and nonfiction books that most effectively connect to the K–8 curriculum." If you haven't seen the list, you should check it out. There is a wealth of poetry on it (hurray!) as well as many other wonderful titles. Here are a few.

• Borrowed Names: Poems about Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madam C. J. Walker, Marie Curie, and Their Daughters, written by Jeannine Atkins - It took me until mid-summer to finally get my hands on this book, but once I started reading I could not put it down. This one is beautifully written and utterly fascinating.

• Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems about Love, written by Pat Mora - I had the pleasure of hearing Pat read some of these poems at NCTE in November. They are breathtaking.

• Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse, written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Josee Massee - I wrote about Marilyn's work and this book as part of the lead-in to NCTE. What else can I say about this title? Perhaps that I'm still astounded every time I read it. I've read and re-read and it never gets old. (Read my post.)

• Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors, written by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Beckie Prange - This one is a perfect combination of science and poetry. How you can you possibly go wrong?
  

There are many other terrific books on the list, so head on over and check out the Lasting Connections of 2010 list.