Children’s Literature Reviews: Invitations to Reading: 2012 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts

The Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts offer invitations to young readers to interact with excellent books highlighting many and varied uses of language. The collection of books selected for the 2012 list invite readers from kindergarten through eighth grade to participate in language play and use innovative texts as models for their own writing, to observe and marvel at the natural world surrounding them, to laugh at humorous incidents or unexpected ways with words, to imagine new and different experiences, to preserve and learn from diverse cultural heritages, to question their own thoughts and feelings, to take the perspective of others, and to take action on behalf of issues and people that matter to them.