Annotated Bibliography Genre 2: Action/Adventure

Genre Study

     The book genre that I decided to look at this week is that of action/adventure. The action/adventure genre is characteristic of exciting stories with characters going on journeys that may or may include some dangerous situations and drama along the way. This could be a story about a forest expedition to some type of battle. For informational texts of this genre, the books should be based on true events, and should at least be moderately exciting. These books should also be quasi tame considering the young audience. These books would probably be used to supplement social studies type material. For example, if the class was tackling one of the key wars throughout U.S. history then it would be fair to use some supplemental books detailing certain events that took place. The books I would most be interested in using in a classroom would be fairly short in length and would be read aloud to the class and/or would be available to class to read by themselves. Books like these are highly valuable classroom assets, as they can captivate children with both exciting stories and knowledge on the history behind them. 

Selected Titles

1. Children of the Trail West

      Boasting a 800 Lexile level this book would fit fairly nicely in a 3rd or 4th grade classroom. It could certainly be used as a read aloud in 2nd grade though, but it would be lengthy read. The theme is essentially on what life was like for children on the wagon trains during the 1800's. The children basically go through the same hardships that their parents go through. The book is well written, with many good paragraphs. There are some technical terms that may confuse some students such "cholera" and "nooning", but there is a short glossary located in the back of the book. There is also a useful timeline of events in the back of the book as well, which can better help children piece everything together.

References:

Littlefield, H. (1999). Children of the trail west. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books.

2. Wanted Dead or Alive: The True Story of Harriet Tubman 

      

       This book has a 540 Lexile level, so it would work best in 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. It would probably be fine as a read aloud in both 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. The book is about Harriet Tubman's life, such as the horrible things that she had to go through and the good she did for many others. The book doesn't really have any complex language throughout the text. There is no glossary to speak of, and all you get for content is the story itself. I would think that most teachers would want to go through the topics discussed in this book because of the subject matter, but there is nothing explicit in the book.

References:

McGovern, A. (1965). "Wanted dead or alive": The true story of Harriet Tubman. New York: Scholastic Book Services.