Presentation given to parents at the end of the school year about high interest books for highly able readers K-7. Presenter - Beth Novick, NBCT

1. Welcome!
Everyone has the right to read. Here's The Reader's Bill of Rights to help you make the
most of that right:
Readers have:
1. The right to not read.
2. The right to skip pages.
3. The right to not finish.
4. The right to reread.
5. The right to read anything.
6. The right to escapism.
7. The right to read anywhere.
8. The right to browse.
9. The right to read out loud.
10. The right not to defend your tastes.
—Pennac, Daniel, Better Than Life, Coach House Press, 1996.

2. Step 1
Take time to:
• Read to your teenagers as well as to your younger
children.
• Make a time and a place for reading in your
home.
• Encourage talking about reading in your family.
• Set a good example—read on your own.
• Consider: reading level vs. interest level vs. content appropriate

3. First Chapter Books
• Amanda and Oliver Pig by
Jean Van Leeuwen
• Amelia Bedelia by Peggy
Parish
• Frog and Toad by Arnold
Lobel
• Magic Tree House by Mary
Pope Osborne
• Nate the Great by Marjorie
Sharmat
• The Secrets of Droon by
Tony Abbott
• Goosebumps by R.L. Stine

4. Cartoon Books and Graphic Novels
• Captain Underpants by
Dav Pilkey
• The Adventures of Tintin,
by Georges Remi Hergé
• Frazz: Live from Bryson
Elementary by Jef Mallett
• Zombie Butts, by Andy
Griffiths
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan

5. Other Catagories
• Teen Boys
• Girls
• Poetry
• Science Fiction –
elementary/middle
school
• Science Fiction/fantasy
– earlier years
• Building vocabulary

6. Dr. Bob Seney’s
Characteristics of Books for Gifted Readers
• High level of language and vocabulary.
• Use descriptive words that stimulate strong visual
images.
• Authors who delight in the use of language and
the expression of nuances.
• The structure of the book puts the mind to work.
• Setting evokes an experience of other lifestyles.
• Unresolved problems are presented and the
reader must make some conclusions.

7. Seney’s Lists and Notations
• # Language Alert
• * Situation Alert
• e elementary school
• ms middle
school/junior high
• hs high school
National Association of
Gifted Children

8. Books for Young Adults
(Seney’s Suggestions)
• Fade by Robert Cormier
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Interstellar Pig by William Sleator
• Brian Jacques' Salamandaston
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Charlie Jacksons Guide to Not Reading (kindle)
• The Necromancer: The Secrets of the Immortal
Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

9. Best Online Resources
• Hoagie’s Gifted
• Kirkus Reviews
• Tamora Pierce – recommendations
• Goodreads
• Amazon.com
• Reading Rockets
• Youtube video – choosing books to read aloud
to children

10. Books about Books for Kids
• Some of My Best
Friends Are Books
• The Read Aloud
Handbook