A Family of Readers    by Roger Sutton & Martha Parravano Order:  USA  Can Candlewick, 2010 (2010) Hardcover Read an Excerpt     Reviewed by Bob Walch With so many books available for young readers, both parents and teachers can use all the help they can get when it comes to selecting reading material for their children or students. Roger Sutton, editor in chief of The Horn Book since 1996, and Martha Parravano, the publication's executive editor, put their heads together to offer suggestions on various types of reading material. Besides their own commentary, this book contains essays by a number of authors and artists (Maurice Sendak, Katherine Paterson, Margaret Mahy and Jon Scieszka are among the 43 contributors) who discuss the genres they know best. The volume is divided into sections that discuss picture books, easy reading chapter books for beginning readers, the various fiction and non-fiction genres (fantasy, humor biography, etc.), titles for boys and girls, and young adult stories. The short essays address a range of topics from What Makes a Good Thriller? (Nancy Werlin), and What Makes a Good Sex Ed Book? (Christine Heppermann) to What Makes a Good Preschool Science Book? (Betty Carter) and Scary Picture Books (Deborah Stevenson). Naturally there are loads of lists of titles that offer short descriptions and other important information about various categories of reading matter. If you are home schooling your children, this guide will be an invaluable resource for setting up a reading schedule that will expose your young ones to some classic books. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more NonFiction books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews