Beyond Picture Books: A Guide to First Readers

Book by Barstow, Barbara, Riggle, Judith

This bibliography of first readers--" books intended for children at first or second grade level (occasionally third) that have a recognizable format and generally belong to a series" --was first published in 1989. The first edition contained 1,610 titles; the second contains 2,495. The authors state that the net gain is 885 titles, because many from the first edition were deleted for various reasons.

Following the preface is a list of 200 outstanding first readers currently in print. The list has undergone much revision since the first edition. More than 75 titles were dropped and more than 60 were added. This list includes informational and recreational books. The annotated bibliography, arranged by author's last name, provides full bibliographic information (except price) as well as series note, subjects, and reading category. If a title is out of print, it is so noted. The annotations are brief, ranging from 20 to 50 words. They give a brief summary of contents, note illustrations, and occasionally have a critical comment.

The authors state that "the most challenging task was the selection of subject headings." The Sears' List of Subject Headings, tenth edition, was the most useful source. The most controversial part was the assignment of reading levels. Following discussion of readability formulas, the authors note that readability formulas were not used, rather "reading level assignments were used in the most general way to identify books on the low, middle, and high range of difficulty for children beginning to read." There are extensive indexes: subject, title, illustrator, readability, and series. The authors are experienced children's librarians. Barstow is assistant manager of children's services for the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library; Riggle is director of the Avon Lake (Ohio) Public Library.

Beyond Picture Books continues to be a useful complement to Bowker's A to Zoo, a subject guide to picture books. It is a valuable guide to first readers, fiction and nonfiction, for public and elementary-school libraries.