Judith Wynn Halsted
List Price: $26.95
By: Great Potential Press
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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> Children's Literature Guides
Subjects -> Children's Books -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Education Theory -> Gifted Students
Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
A terrible disappointment! 1 out of 5 stars.
47 of 58 people found this review helpful.
I bought this book, hoping for good guidance to help my son, an early reader. After having read the book carefully, I have to say that much of the book is useless. The reasons:
(1) The first 5 chapters of the book cover emotional and intellectual development traits of "gifted" kids, and I suspect these chapters are aimed at parents who are looking for affirmation that their kids are little geniuses. Only the last three chapters (6,7,8) talk about books. Chapters 6 and 7 cover all areas of literature that gifted children may find interesting, but the coverage offers no real depth. It is as if the author scans the Internet to see who-is-who in, say, science fiction, then lists a few of those names without actually reading their work. Surely noone can argue with the inclusion of such names, but *why* those authors will be good
for gifted kids is not discussed.
(2)The bibliography section (chapter 8) contains books that are appropriate for average children, not early gifted readers. For example, it lists books in the grade 3-5 that my own son read when he was in 1st grade.
(3)If, as a parent or teacher, you think you might have a truly gifted readers in your hand, then you probably would not want to wait until the kid is in 6th grade or older to offer some guidance, would you? So why this author does not emphasize books in the early years,and spends a good chunk of her book describing what to offer 6th graders and older kids is beyond me
(4)The bibliography section mentions very few books in the area of science or mathematics. It is as if the only books that can possible excite a kid's imagination in the non fiction world are biographies, map books, psychology self-help guides, or books on historical inventions. I wonder what would happen if Reid Barton's parents had read this book and followed its advice.
My suggestion? remove the word "Gifted" from the title...
Editorial Review:
Need a good reading list for bright students? Books give important emotional and intellectual support for gifted children, many of whom face unique issues in their lives due to their special talents and abilities. The author describes how to use books as bibliotherapy to provide support, guidance, and insight.
Now in it's second edition, this is an in valuable resource for parents looking for books to recommend to gifted readers not only to enjoy, but also to gain perspective on themselves and others.
-Intellectual and emotional growth through reading
-Reading needs of gifted children
-Summaries of just under 300 books
-Books indexed by author, title, and theme
-Books organized by grade level
-Discussion topics provided for every title
-Annotated bibliography
