Annotated Bibliography Genre 4: Almanac/Atlas

Genre Study

      The book genre that I chose for this week is that of Almanac/Atlas. The Almanac genre is considerably different than that of the Atlas genre. The almanacs tend to be focused on statistics and are published annually. They focus on weather forecasts and tide tables for the coming year, among other statistics. The atlas on the other is more focused on certain areas of the earth and details those inhabit the area and what makes up the given area, such as key monuments and the flora and fauna. These books can be based on a range of reading levels. Often they will have plenty of pictures and/or illustrations, so even certain books that are over a child's given reading level can still be accessible to a certain extent. This genre for the most part lends itself to social studies, but with what the almanac and atlas cover they could be used for science as well. I always see almanacs and atlases as books that teachers of any content area can have in their respective classroom libraries. I'm more into social studies so I would use these to supplement given lessons, but have a few of these for leisurely reading as well.

Selected Titles

1. The Children's Atlas of Exploration

      I couldn't find an exact Lexile level for this book but from what I gathered reading through it, I would wager it is somewhere in the 5th to 6th grade reading level. This books fits into the atlas genre, and is a pretty dense book to be honest. This is not a book that is read aloud cover to cover, but is something that certain segments can be taken from for class reading. This book in particular investigates places that are known to many explorers. This is a great book to just have around the classroom for children to look through, or to use as a possible reference. The book contains an index, table of contents, and a time line of discoveries.

References:

 Mason, A., & Lye, K. (1993). The children's atlas of exploration: Follow in the footsteps of the great explorers. Brookfield, Ct.: Millbrook Press.

2. My First Atlas 

      

      Again, I couldn't find an exact Lexile level for this book, but it would probably fit best for 3rd and 4th graders, and could really extend to later grades as well. This book is based in the atlas genre if that wasn't already obvious by the title. This book has a table of contents and an index. It contains mostly illustrations, but there are some photographs as well. A far more simple book than the previous one, but still should not be read aloud cover to cover. This is more of a book that covers countries throughout the world by giving a slight overview on each that is listed. I would use this in social studies class without question, and it would be a great library book as well.

References:

 Boyle, B., & Hopkins, D. (1994). My first atlas. London: Dorling Kindersley.