Read Anything "GOOD" lately?

 Each August 10^th for the past 5 years librarians, teachers, and readers the world over have stopped to consider what their top 10 picture books would be #pb10for10.  What a challenge!  With so many books and so many choices – the idea of selecting just 10 good books was difficult. 

Sometimes I felt as I stacked books, looked at my choices and picked my 10 that I was leaving behind my good friends.  But, as I sorted a thought came – what if I considered Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences for the books in my stacks?  What were the books’ strengths?  Just because I didn’t choose one book over another didn’t mean it wasn’t good.  It’s strength was just in a different area.  

As educators we know how important it is to help our students recognize what they consider good about themselves, those special skills and talents that best help students understand new concepts and work through essential understandings.  The books I’ve chosen for #pb10for10 are all titles that I feel are especially good at guiding readers toward developing their self-awareness, that ability to understand your own inner feelings, beliefs and values.  Gardner’s theory calls this Interpersonal intelligence.

This year in the Eubank library we will be working with our students to consider that whole idea behind the word “GOOD”.   What does it mean when we apply that to the stories we read, the words we say, the things we do?  I think these books will lead to some interesting discussions – it’s a good start.