Humanities Iowa and a primary school media specialist have teamed up to produce study guides that will help develop critical reading skills for children in the K-2 grade levels. The guides, specifically designed to accompany ten of today’s most popular children’s books, help volunteer readers frame the reading and discussion experience with pre-readers around six ethical values identified by CHARACTER COUNTS!, a project of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and its state affiliate, the Institute for Character Development at Drake University. The "Six Pillars of Character" are: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

Educator, Barbara Stein, a media specialist at Irving Weber Elementary School in Iowa City, worked with Humanities Iowa, chose the books and wrote the study guides. According to Stein: "Reading aloud and discussing books is of prime importance for young students as they develop literacy skills. Hearing stories helps students develop comprehension skills, critical thinking skills and understanding of themselves and others. [Hearing stories also present] a fine opportunity to discuss the actions and decisions of characters in stories as they encounter life’s problems. The characters face real life dilemmas and the listener gets to observe and think about what course of action is best."

Stein’s selections emphasize diverse ethnic characters and the ethical issues they encounter, and include instructional material for adults about the kinds of unformulated questions young readers may have about the places, situations, traditions and people found in the readings. The material also stimulates adults to ask and anticipate questions from the child’s perspective.

Four of the books selected for study guide development received the Caldecott Medal, the annual award given to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. Named in honor of 19th century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott, the medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. One of Humanities Iowa’s selections also received the Coretta Scott King Award, which is presented yearly by the American Library Association’s Social Responsibility Round Table to the best author or illustrator or of African descent. The books specifically chosen for use with study guides are: Alfie Gives a Hand, The Bat Boy & His Violin, A Chair For My Mother, Chicken Sunday, Strega Nona,The First Strawberries, The Gardner, The Summer My Father Was Ten, The Talking Eggs and Ira Sleeps Over.

Follow these links to each of the study guides. You can then print these guides to your printer.