Helping our kids find something new to read can sometimes feel like a never-ending quest. How do you find appropriate and engaging books, especially when those children are voracious or reluctant readers?

While many readers work on a system of recommendations from friends, or trial and error, it is nice to have a curated list to start from. There are a number of useful websites and lists online that can serve as guides, helping you and your child branch out and find good books that you might not have heard of yet, and more importantly, that your child may not have read yet!

Here are a few of those lists and links:

• “Find a Book” by Lexile measure This site offers a number of customizable search features, including one you can use to generate a list of books using your child's Lexile measure information (found on your child's MAP scores). You can also find out the Lexile measure of most book titles.
  

• Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Award Program This program offers a number of lists by age group (and a T-shirt award for children who read everything on a particular list).

• The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) lists award and honor winners from current and previous years on their website, including books that have been honored with the Newbery Medal and Honor, the Sibert Informational Book Medal, and some listed otherwise as Children's Notable Books.

Of course, teachers and librarians can be great resources as well! Our local libraries maintain many reading lists available online or at the youth services desk.

If you have any reading lists or other resources to share, we'd love to hear about them! Add as a comment below or email us at [email protected].

While gathering information for the November 5 district Gifted Committee meeting on the subject of gifted and talented education at the middle school level, we found this recent article on gifted and talented education in The New York Times. This op-ed piece is written by Chester E. Finn, Jr., co-author of a book about exam high schools--schools like our own Illinois Science and Math Academy (IMSA). In his article, “Young, Gifted, and Neglected,” Mr. Finn advocates for more educational opportunities for our nation's gifted and talented students.

Thank you for visiting the CANDO blog! We hope to use this space to share information, articles, and other food for thought about parenting and educating gifted and talented students of all ages.
Have you visited the blog run by our BPS Gifted Specialists? They use the site to keep parents updated on the district's gifted and talented services, link to helpful sites, and remind parents of important dates. In addition, they have made available a PDF of the new district Gifted and Talented Handbook. It's definitely worth a look if you haven't seen it yet. Here's the link: http://bps101gat.blogspot.com/