Matching books and students

Parents at a private school in Montgomery County, Maryland, recently complained when a teacher read to a group of third graders from a book containing gruesome descriptions of conditions on slave ships that brought enslaved Africans to the United States. The parents thought their children were too young for the difficult theme and graphic language, according to an article by Valerie Strauss in The Washington Post.

Meanwhile, parents at a junior high school in the District of Columbia were concerned that their children were reading books they considered too easy for advanced seventh graders. All in all, these examples and others demonstrate that picking books that are appropriate in theme and reading level is an art rather than a science.

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