Annotated Bibliography Genre 6: How to books

Genre Study

      The book genre that I decided upon this week is that of How to books. The How to books genre has been around for a long time. There are many different types of How to books on the market such as How to plant certain veggies, to How to play a certain type of sport. I would say that the books of this genre are harder to put down as decent informational text. Anyone can write a book on how to do something, but that doesn't mean that their methods are worthwhile, and even if they are, they may not work for everyone. Regardless, these books need to have some factual backing, and should be in the realm of actual completion provided one wishes to follow through. These can be of varying difficulties as far as the reading goes, and many provide pictures and/or illustrations to help along with working out how to complete the given task. I don't think that How to books are used often in most schools, and I can understand why. Unless the book is related to a specific topic it is essentially useless save for maybe a fun book to have around. I could see some How to books used in certain units, such as a book on how to plant carrots, which could be used for a plant science unit. I could see some used as part of a classroom library as well. Some books have simple activities that can be done with little to no supplies.

Selected Titles

1. 50 Ways to Have Fun With Old Newspapers 

      Could not find a Lexile on this book, but could probably be used with 3rd-6th grade classrooms. This book has a table of contents. The book shows ways that students can use old newspapers to create some pretty fun outfits and objects. I would wager that students as low as 1st grade could figure out some of these configurations, mainly due to the excellent illustrations. This could be read aloud and done with a class. This would be a fun way to play with a social studies lesson. Discussing current events usually requires newspapers, so after the key activity is finished, one could have the students make some of the creations from this book for fun before recycling the newspapers. Certainly more of a fun book than anything else.

References:

 Severn, B. (1978). Fifty ways to have fun with old newspapers. McKay.

2. How to Beat Your Dad at Chess 

      Couldn't find a Lexile level for this book, but it seems to be fairly high because of writing and the complex topic. I would say it is around 5th to 6th grade, and could certainly be used for higher grade levels as well. The book does have a table of contents, but lacks a glossary which is odd considering some of the complex words to describe some of the plays. This book uses some simple illustrations that go through the different plays bit by bit, while using text to further describe what is going on. This book is actually pretty serious business, and I can't see this being used in too many classes. This seems like more of a fun book to have around the classroom, provided you also have a chess set as well.

References:

 Chandler, M. (1998). How to beat your dad at chess. London: Gambit.