Some of My Best Friends Are Books: Guiding Gifted Readers from Preschool to High School

This book contains an annotated bibliography of more than 300 books recommended for gifted students, as well as some good advice about the importance of reading and how to encourage it in children and adolescents. Because gifted students often intensely identify with characters in books, it is important for them to read well-written books with complex characters and plots. When the characters in the books face some of the same issues and concerns that the gifted reader is facing, the child gains new insights into his or her own problems or worries, as well as potential ways of handling them. In this way, good books can provide bridges to new insights, better communication of feelings and values, and more thoughtful decision making. Well-selected books also can help gifted children learn new social and emotional skills, while at the same time fostering intellectual and creative development.

Topics include:

• Intellectual and emotional needs of children of high ability
• Typical and advanced reading patterns for children in grades K-12
• How parents and teachers can provide reading guidance and discuss books with young readers
• A well-indexed annotated bibliography of more than 300 books for readers of all ages, carefully selected to promote intellectual and emotional development
• Books that deal with themes of achievement, aloneness, arrogance, developing imagination, intensity, introversion, perfectionism, relationships with others, sensitivity, and resilience
• An extensive index with suggested titles for each theme, in addition to indexes by book title and author