Saturday, March 10, 2007

Publisher Spotlight - Sleeping Bear Press

In recent weeks I have noticed that many books by a few small or regional publishers are appearing with regular frequency in my posts. I thought it might be nice to actually feature some of these folks, as I regularly search out their books and am rarely disappointed by what I find. So, without further ado, I present the first in what I hope will be a series highlighting publishers with a catalog of works of which I am particularly fond.

I was first introduced to Sleeping Bear Press through two books. H is for Home Run: A Baseball Alphabet and Z is for Zamboni: A Hockey Alphabet. I wrote a post a few weeks ago about baseball books, and frankly, I'm surprised I left this one off! In addition to being a lover of all things related to baseball, I also love hockey. I was a fanatic when I lived in Buffalo, but it's a bit hard to follow now without an NHL team in the city. I fell in love with these books for the way they both captured the spirit of the games, and for the format in which the letters introduce the concept in rhyme, but also in anecdotal bits of information in the margins. I was intrigued and looked for other books in this series. There are LOTS of them, and they're all terrific. Some of my favorites include:
  • D is for Dancing Dragon: A China Alphabet
  • G is for Galaxy: An Out of this World Alphabet
  • I is for Idea: An Inventions Alphabet
  • P is for Passport: A World Alphabet
  • R is for Rhyme: A Poetry Alphabet
  • W is for Wind: A Weather Alphabet
Another popular series is Discover America State by State, an alphabetic tour of the United States (51 volumes with D.C.) that examines what makes each state unique, from indigenous plants and animals to the famous people and significant landmarks.

There are many other wonderful selections in the Sleeping Bear Press catalog. In addition to many fine books, you will find that this publisher is particularly teacher friendly, as evidenced by the extensive list of downloadable (PDF) teacher guides for many of their books.

All-in-all, this is a publisher with works that elementary teachers will enjoy using in their classrooms.

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