Compiled by teachers, administrators, curriculum planners, and librarians. Designed to: 1. encourage school children to read and to view reading as a worthwhile activity; 2. help local curriculum planners select books for their reading programs; and 3. stimulate educators to evaluate and improve their literature programs. More than 1,200 annotated titles represent the finest works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. The literary contributions of specific ethnic and cultural groups are represented. Best seller! Illustrated.

This booklet was prepared for use as a staff development presentation in response to an official statement by International Reading Association's "Executive Board that literature (and the reading and writing that goes with it) must be the foundation of the language arts curriculum. The purpose of the booklet is to provide alternatives to conventional teaching methods that not only require more reading and writing on the part of the student, but which also get students to think, focus on meaning, and consider the literary elements of a story. Activities included are classroom tested, may be tailored to fit each selection, may be accomplished in small or large groups, and may be used as an end in themselves or as a means to an end. Included in the booklet are the following sections: (1) Rationale for Responses to Literature; (2) Engagement Activities, and (3) Management Issues. The contents of the booklet are germane to districts/divisions which are just beginning to use literature in classrooms or which are in the process of implementing a comprehensive literature-based reading program. They are designed as a package to be presented in small conferences or workshops; the three divisions of the package represent, respectively the "why,""what" and "how" for attendees. (MG)