Valerie and Walters Best Books for Children

by Valerie V. Lewis, Walter M. Mayes

With wit, candor, and boundless enthusiasm, Valerie V. Lewis and Walter M. Mayes have selected more than 2,000 wonderful books for children from birth to age 12. Here is the most useful, candid, and convenient guide to children's literature ever published, featuring in-depth reviews, concise ratings, tips for finding the perfect book for your child, and mountains of essential hints and sound advice to help you pass along the gift of reading to the next generation. This fully revised and updated edition includes: Reviews of the best new books for children

More of Valerie and Walter's patented back-and-forth dialogue

Handy cross-references by theme and interest

And much, much more

From stories that babies can literally chew on, to the very best choices for bridging the gap between listening and reading, to the right books to tempt an adamant nonreader, this truly is the last word on children's reading and the first book a parent should buy.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

Reviews

[Emily Mellow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going through this book very slowly because every page has one or two books I want to get from the library... and right now the library has 12 books for us to pick up! That, and I think we have at least 40 children's books checked out already. So, it has great recommendations for books I wouldn't have heard of otherwise. Unfortunately I rarely need more book recommendations, so I never need to open this book...

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A serious list, not for the faint of heart. Recommends books starting from babies up to teenagers, seperated by both reading level and listening level. Includes a FANTASTIC thematic index, using descriptors like cats, friendship, trains, etc.

[Carolynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful thumbnail review of hundreds of tried and tested books for children. Excellent selection of books. Includes possible curriculum connections. Terrific for teachers and parents, and fun for book lovers. Fabulous!

[Peggy Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved their comments and recommendations - however, information is lacking such as number of pages, year published and awards received. This is more to be browsed than used as an actual reference source.

[Marissa Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awe-some! I've been using it to add books to our library queue for months (I've had to return it and check it out three times so far), and still I'm only about 20 percent through the listings.

[Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that it is out of print and we have taken the rights back, it is time to find a new format, but it was a good ten-year run and I am immensely proud of what we did with this book.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book listing great read alouds for children. I found their comments interesting, but that format wasn't that well organized.

[Lourie Kelly]

great kids readers advisory