Who SAYS kids aren't reading? (written in 2010)

 I originally wrote this (in my now defunct writing spot, The Grind) when a woman said, very offhandedly, to me "Kids today don't read."  I was furious and pounded out the piece below.  Sadly, the sentiment remains.

Who says kids aren’t reading?  I find myself constantly defending kids and their reading habits to adults who seem to feel that kids aren’t reading at all, distracted by texting, computer games, and really bad movies (really, Jackass 3D?!?!?!?).

Thirty nine years after I was in junior high (go ahead, I’ll wait while you do the math) I am FINALLY cool to teens BECAUSE I read their books.  I find I can talk to almost any kid because I just ask them what they’re reading and then the conversation goes from there.  I do not cut down their tastes (even if they’re reading Twilight, we are all allowed our ‘trash’ reading) and I love to hear how they view various characters and plot.

We know the stereotype of 8^th graders:  too cool for words, into fashion, video games, boys or girls and perhaps sports.  Excited about a book?  Nope, that’s not what we think of.  Well, let me tell you about my morning.

Today, I paid a surprise visit to my daughter’s 8^th grade Language Arts class (YES, I asked her permission first, so it wasn’t a surprise to her, just the teacher and her classmates).  I had gone to Kepler’s (our local, independent bookstore) to pick up Mockingjay, the final book in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy that was just released today (August 24). 

I knocked on the classroom door and when I walked in, I didn’t say a word, I just held up the book and grinned.  There was a moment of silence and the room just exploded.  The kids who knew the book (about 85% of them) were going “Woo Hoo!  No way!!  I want it!!” as I handed the book to their teacher (it was a gift for her) who hugged it and said, “Mine, all mine.”  (yes, she’ll share, but she’ll definitely be reading it tonight)  The kids who didn’t know it were saying, “What?  What’s happening?”  Guaranteed, all those kids will be getting Book 1 today, in order to be in the loop.

Of course, I also handed a copy to my daughter, so she can start reading it during SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) today (why else do you think she gave me permission to come into her class on the second day of school?).

I left with a huge grin on my face and realized that I had not said a single word while I was in the room.  I didn’t have to, the book said it all. 

The End of an Era... my last 'first day' of school

I remember (and right there, that's a shock, given the quality of my memory), anyway, I remember Elise's first day of kindergarten. (1999).  We were sitting at the kitchen table and she was eating her breakfast and I was looking at her, feeling tired (we aren't morning people) and thinking, "Oh my gosh, this is my life for the next 15 years.  Grey, early mornings at the kitchen table.  Wow."

So, it was with shock and sadness that last Tuesday was Sasha's last 'first' day of school.  Well, as far as I'll experience it.  When she's off to college next year, her first day will not have an impact on my daily schedule (I may possibly be curled in a fetal position and sobbing, but technically, her first day won't have any impact on me).

She wasn't at the kitchen table drinking her cocoa, as Elise had been all those years ago.  I 'deliver' cocoa to her room and she drinks it while she gets ready, I sit at the kitchen table still, with my coffee and newspaper.

Nevertheless, I was very aware that this was the end of an era.  Setting the alarm to get a 'kidlet' off to school with breakfast, lunch and a kiss (when it's allowed), that's not going to be my reality next September, unless I'm like the creepy, obsessive mother in Love You Forever, and if I am, please whack me upside the head.

I feel like there's one of those montages running through my mind (like in t.v. shows when they want to put a cheap episode together).  In the beginning, the girls always wore a tie dyed dress on the first day.  We used to buy them at an art and wine festival every year, then we decided to start making our own.  So a week before school started, after I'd rush ordered the dresses from Dharma Trading Company (because I procrastinate in EVERY area of my life), we'd be in the backyard with the gloves, dye, clothing and having a great time.  Although, I do remember ANOTHER end of an era in the middle of that, Elise no longer dying dresses, but thongs instead (let me tell you, the dye goes a long way when you're only dying 2 inches of fabric).  :-)

So then on the first day we'd get a picture of our two girls brightly dressed, looking cheerful (no, really), thumbs up (that would be Sasha, who is more apt to flash a different digit now) and ready to go off to school.  Sigh.  

I know next fall will hold new adventures for all of us, but for this school year, I am just going to happily/sadly wallow in every event, moment, passage that I can.

(NOTE:  yes Sasha's first day was in August, see MANY references to my procrastination, hence the actual writing and posting of this blog)

Who knew the age and fitness of my DOCTOR determines MY care?

I am Une Femme d'Un Certain Age (woman of a certain age, it just sounds better in French, everything does).  What does this mean?  Well, it means I can walk down Michigan Avenue in Chicago in November in shirtsleeves and be really happy.  It means that I carry a fan AND a spritz bottle in my purse (much to the dismay of my daughters).  It means that every calorie I consume likes to stay with me and every calorie I burn (and dammit, with this 'internal summer' I have there should be SOME burning) doesn't seem to have any impact.

Such a joy, let me tell you.

So, recently the lovely spousal unit and I went to Washington D.C. (yeah, cuz that's where a woman who runs hot belongs in July).  We walked 8-9 miles/day, ate really healthfully (they have some great and healthy restaurants in D.C. like Sweetgreen sweetgreen.com/ and Protein Bar http://www.theproteinbar.com/  with very few snacks or unhealthy food (okay, there were a couple of iced mochas consumed, but it was frigging DC in frigging July!)

ANYWAY, I thought, "Well, even though weight loss is not the reason for the trip and I never want to obsess about it (I have two daughters, I try to be sane about that kind of thing) there's NO WAY I won't have lost weight from this trip."  Apparently, "NO WAY" does not mean what I think it means, because not one pound had left me (I guess it's so faithful to me that it will never leave, but honestly, my feelings would not be hurt if some poundage and I parted ways).

Before my trip I had seen my doctor and talked to her about the extreme fatigue I had been feeling, probably due to perimenopause, but I wanted to check. She also said that I'd feel better if I dropped about 20 pounds, which I agreed with in theory, at the rate of about 1 pound a week.

So, when we got back, I e-mailed my doctor and said, "Oh lovely, young slender Dr. X, here's what happened on my trip.  How the heck am I going to lose weight?"  She said she could give me a referral to a nutritionist, but that she and I could also discuss surgical options.  SURGICAL OPTIONS!??!?!?!?  Are we talking lap band surgery?  What the Heck?!?!?!  Even discounting my lovely lying friends aside who say, "Oh you look fine."  my DOCTOR friends all said, "Um, you are not badly overweight.  You would NEVER be a candidate for that kind of surgery.  It's shocking she would even suggest it."

So, am I being punished, mistreated (not as in 'beaten' but as in getting bad medical treatment) because my doctor is in her 30's and seems to be naturally slender?

If this were an isolated incident, I wouldn't be writing this blog (venting, yes, venting is also an apt word) but it's not.  So let me tell you about the other incidents (interestingly enough, these are all at the same large medical entity).

About two years ago I went in because my knee hurt a LOT and it made what I call 'crunchy granola' noises when I squatted down and then stood up again.  I went to the orthopedist and he did his thing (x-rays, manipulation, etc.) and said that I should exercise 1. 5 hours 2-3 times a week.  I said, "Low impact?  Swimming?"  "Nope", he said, "anything"  REALLY? Cuz you know, my knee really hurts (I didn't say that, hence the lack of quote marks).  His assistant asked why I didn't exercise and I said, "Because I'm a slug." and she said, "Well, at least you admit it."  Wow, nice bedside manner.  I did go on to inform her that I am LITERALLY (and I ALWAYS use that word correctly) allergic to exercise, having exercise-induced anaphylaxis, and no, you DON'T want it, believe me, it is not nice having an 'excuse' not to exercise.

I did take the Rx for Physical Therapy, I did NOT take the advice to do aerobic, high impact exercise 2-3 times a week.  When I talked to my PT, he said that was HORRIBLE advice and would definitely do more harm than good.

So, was it because my doctor was very fit?  Was I running (well walking) into fat bias?  Probably.  I was being treated based on who HE was and his judgement, not MY reality.

But the most invasive (and I mean INVASIVE) episode happened a few years ago.  While leaving out details, my urologist felt there was some irregularity in my urine.  He said given my age, I should get images of my bladder interior.  When Ismayil (lovely spousal unit) and I showed up at Stanford (which was NOT the entity that had made the initial diagnosis) the doctor who was to do the imaging said, "Why in the world did they send you in for this?" and I said, "My doctor said given my age, I should get checked."  THIS doctor (who was probably about 60) looked at 45 year old me and said, "You're a baby, you're not at higher risk for this cancer at all."  But, of course, since the 'C' word had been dropped and I was already there, we went ahead with the imaging.  Given the 'path' that needed to be taken, not only was it uncomfortable, I told the doctor that after that he owed me flowers and dinner!  :-)

Yes, everything was all clear (and the images once he got in the bladder were REALLY cool, the ultrasound engineer husband was fascinated) and the test was unnecessary.  So, my medical treatment was based on the fact that my mid-30's doctor saw mid-40's me as old.

Am I venting just to vent?  No (although venting is fun).  The medical industry needs to realize that this is going on and address it, because it adds up to bad medicine.  Do I think that MY posting about it and my 39 regular subscribers reading about it will make a difference?  Well, as one of my heroes, Pete Seeger said, “The world will be solved by millions of small things."  So, if nothing else, it's a start (and hey, maybe by next week I'll have *40* subscribers!)

Reading My Way Around the World - What should I actually call this project?

Wow!  Two posts in one week!  It's a Chanukah Miracle!!  See, this project is actually going to happen, but I'm still working through the details.  Then I realized, I should work through the details on the blog so 1) you all actually know I'm doing something and 2) I could REALLY use some input.

Ann Morgan called her project A Year of Reading the World (or AYORTW) which is a GREAT title, but I can't use it.  I'm also not sure of timing.  Can I do this in a year?  I'm hoping to do a picture book, middle grade and young adult from each official language in each country.  How many books will this actually be? 

So, suggestions please.  Something that's catchy and might work as a Twitter handle (do people say 'handle'?  Am I completely dating myself by using CB language?  Am I completely dating myself by knowing what a CB (Citizen's Band radio for those youngsters out there) is?

Winning suggestion will get books from me!!  I don't know what books yet, but books, I promise will come your way if you come up with a great title for this project.

Well?   I'm waiting..................

Reading the World in Children's Literature

I am getting off my throne as Queen of Procrastination to actually 1) Blog and 2) Start a project I've been intending to start for awhile (as I always say, my road to Heck is very well paved).

So, obviously #1 is happening right now.  What's #2?

Well, I'm sure many of you heard about Ann Morgan who made it her goal to read a book from every country (196 is what she counted) over the course of a year.  More info at her site, http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/

When I heard about her project I thought, "How cool.  I could do that with children's books."  But did I?  NO.  Did I have various friends and colleagues say I should do that? YEP.  But did I?  NO (are you starting to see the pattern?)

Well, today IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) put out their awards www.ibby.org/   so I'm taking that as a kick in the tuchus to get myself moving on this project.

My first step was to e-mail IBBY and see if I'm still a member, if my membership has expired, then I'll sign up again right away because they will be the perfect resource for this.

Why do I want to do this?  Well, I remember taking my first children's literature class 19 years ago and we were taught "If you don't know the story, you can't understand the culture." and I completely agree with this.  A people's values are often shown in their literature, especially the literature written for children.

That same teacher (shout out to Dr. Beverly Vaughn Hock) also ran a conference called Reading the World, which was an AMAZING gathering of people who created and supported multicultural children's literature, so I'm keeping her (and Ms. Morgan's) title for this project.

I love reading and I love learning about other cultures, so this is a perfect way to really expand my worldview. 

 I served for a year on the American Library Association's Mildred L. Batchelder Award Committee (for best books in translation) and truly enjoyed it.  I can't tell you what we discussed because it's one of those "If I told you I'd have to kill you."  committees (like Newbery and Caldecott). But I can tell you that I did help 're-translate' the Batchelder winner for the year before my year.  We had read it to see an example of a winner and I noticed an awkward paragraph.  Since the book, SOLDIER BEAR, had originally been written in Dutch (which is my second language, not normally a useful second language since all Dutch and Flemish speakers speak English WAY better than I speak Flemish) I was able to check it out in its original language and discovered the paragraph had been translated incorrectly.  The publishers changed the translation in the paperback edition. 

I'm wondering why I wrote the above paragraph and realized that 1) trying to establish my creds and 2) I wanted to brag (well, at least I'm honest about it)  :-)

You may also be asking "Why is everything in italics now?"  Well, I'll tell you, it's a very deep, thoughtful reason..... I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO TURN OFF THE FRIGGING ITALICS!!

So, signing off for now.  The next blog will be italics free (I hope).

Those are Fighting Words...... how Language Matters

I had a lovely, lovely dinner last night with a bunch o' book people and two FANTABULOUS authors, Julie Berry (her book, All the Truth That's in Me, was the cause of wrestling matches between me and Elise because we both were in the middle of it and didn't want to share) and Holly Goldberg Sloan, whom I love not only for her amazing book I'll Be There and her new stunner, Counting by 7's, but also for Angels in the Outfield, one of my favorite movies (she wrote the remake).

I wish I could say that I just wanted to write to gush about these books, but really, I'm writing because I got really angry last night.

Why?  Well, Julie was talking about the number of publishers who rejected All the Truth... (bet they're kicking themselves now, because anyone who loves good YA is raving about this book) and one of the other attendees started railing about publishers and talking about how everyone should self -publish.

I said, "Are you kidding?!?!?!  99% of self-publishing is crap.  There's a reason for editors, etc."  (okay, my percentage may be a 'bit' high but I can't think of one self-published book that has blown me away, or even struck me as truly good, although I'm sure someone will post a comment with titles).

She said that the publishers were censoring because they had rejected Julie's book.  Okay, for me that's absolutely ridiculous, not liking something is NOT censoring. 

I said, no, self-published books are often terrible (I am not using quote marks anymore, because I don't remember exactly what I said) and I can tell a self-published picture book the second I see it (the art is normally horrific, especially if there are human faces involved.  I don't know why, I can't draw at all, so I'm not sure what it is about faces, but apparently they're very difficult to get right.)

She then said that I was censoring, I said, "No, I'm reviewing."  and she said, "No, you're censoring."  Luckily, someone, I don't know who, managed to switch the topic a bit, but I was just fuming.  Censoring is an extremely loaded word and makes the accused (and I was definitely being accused) look closed minded and conservative (ironically, this same woman said she didn't like the 'f' word in YA lit, I'm just sayin' ) *I* on the other hand belong to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund http://cbldf.org/, the ACLU https://www.aclu.org/ and the Electronic Frontier Foundation https://www.eff.org/  (yes, I'm doing a throw down with my liberal credentials).

So, is this blog just about venting?  Well, not entirely.  We also talked about how language matters (although not about this word in particular, it was just too touchy).  Julie and I bonded over the misuse of 'disinterested'.  It is almost always used, incorrectly, to mean 'uninterested' meaning, you know, not having an interest (duh).  Disinterested means unbiased, impartial.

The latest barrage on language, as far as I'm concerned is that Merriam-Webster has decided that 'literally' can now mean 'figuratively'  pretty much THE EXACT OPPOSITE of what 'literally' means. http://www.salon.com/2013/08/22/according_to_the_dictionary_literally_now_also_means_figuratively_newscred/

Now, I know that people say, "Oh, language is fluid, it evolves."  Sorry, but caving in to the misuse of a word is DEVOLUTION not evolution.  Fluid is 'impact' as a verb which still drives me crazy as does 'incentivize' (really?  REALLY?) but those words still give a correct, okay, correct-ish, form of the meaning of the word.  Literally, means literal, real, actual, not figuratively.

So, choose your words carefully and be careful who you call a censor, because that is figuratively a fighting word.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_anthony__080222_the_abuse_of_the_wor.htm

Quick note: commenting on the blog, issues

Hi!  I've heard from some of you that you have tried to comment and it's not working.  Please feel free to e-mail me directly sharonlevin   at symbol  mindspring  dot com.  I will send this on to my Blog Goddess, Renee and she will put her techie magic to work.  Thanks!

One of those personal posts - Remembering Uncle Ronnie

Those of you who know me in the 'real world' know that I mock those who overshare, on Facebook (look at the soup I'm having for lunch), tweeting and yes, blogging.  I realize that MAYBE three people reading this blog would have actually known my Uncle Ronnie, and yet, I feel the need to write this for a (somewhat) larger audience.

I just found out yesterday that my uncle, Ronald Cohn, passed away on July 9th at the age of 83.  It saddens me to think of his passing without sharing what he meant to me, and since I will not be able to attend services (if there are any) this is my eulogy for him.

Uncle Ronnie was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, which meant that anytime I called him I'd hear "Hello Darlin'" in a warm, southern accent.  I always called him on his birthday and Christmas and tried to catch him in between with calls or an occasional picture of my daughters.

I also remember that when my mother would call home or visit Florida, he would give her the hardest time for talking like a "Damn Yankee"  

When I'd call on his birthday he'd say, "How do you always remember the date?"  I'd laugh and say, "Well, you ARE my mother's twin brother after all."  My mother passed away in 1975, so having her much adored twin in my life meant a lot to me.

I remember going to Florida in college to visit my grandmother and I went on a trip with Uncle Ronnie and his third wife, Mary (a warm, buxom woman who, with much love helped me feel more comfortable with my own zaftig build).  We went to a mall and there was an ear piercing booth in the middle of the mall.  They asked me if I'd like to get my ears pierced as my holiday gift.  I wasn't sure because, while I wanted pierced ears, I was also not all that comfortable with a needle being 'shot' through my ear.

They very patiently walked the mall with me while I decided.  My favorite part of this memory is that while I went and sat on the chair and Mary stood beside me, Uncle Ronnie stood about 20 feet away, pacing, more nervous about the whole procedure than I was.  I almost yelled "Ow" really loudly just to freak him out, but just couldn't do it to the dear, worried man. :-)

Uncle Ronnie was very happy that we named our first daughter, Elise, after my mother, Elsie (and he understood why we wouldn't want to saddle a child born in 1994 with the name Elsie) and he loved hearing what the girls were up to. 

When I was talking to Sasha yesterday about Uncle Ronnie she asked "Does Uncle Mike (my bro) look like him?" and I pointed to a photo of my father and said, "No, Uncle Mike looks almost exactly like Grandpa Herman."  (yes, real winners in the name department, my parents)  :-)  She said, "Do you look like him, because you look a lot like Grandma Elsie."  and I realized that, yes, I must look a bit like Uncle Ronnie then too, it's a comforting thought for me.

Elise had a period for a while when she talked about how little impact people make and how little they are remembered (teen angst at its best).  I remember telling her that as long as memories and stories are shared, that people live on forever.

Perhaps that's my reason for writing this.  Wanting Uncle Ronnie to be remembered in a loving and smile inducing way and knowing that I can help the stories go on.

As I said at the beginning of this, I always called Uncle Ronnie on his birthday.  However, this year we were getting ready for a two week family vacation and leaving at 4 a.m. the day after his birthday.  I got caught up in the packing and stress and thought, I'll bring his number with me and I'll call him from the trip.  But I forgot to write it down, so I thought I'd call after we got back.  This will end up being a forever regret.  I did not talk to Uncle Ronnie, I did not get to say goodbye and I did not get to say "I love you." and hear it in return in that deep Southern voice that I loved so well.

Katherine Paterson confirms why I HATE Standardized Testing

A few years ago I was at one of my favorite conferences, Children's Literature New England (it was like camp for children's literature aficionados) in Essex, Vermont.  One of the keynote speakers was Katherine  Paterson (http://www.terabithia.com/about.html).  She told a lovely and aggravating (given the state of schools and testing today) story about a friend of hers.  Because I am the Queen of Procrastination, I asked Mrs. Paterson for permission to put this story on my blog TWO YEARS AGO, which she generously gave me on the spot (so the delay is entirely my fault).  So, here is her story, but sadly in my words, about her friend (any errors are entirely mine and my sieve-like memory):

Many years ago there was a single mother with three highly energetic sons.  She was doing her best to raise them by herself in the city, so she was thrilled when the opportunity came to send them to the countryside for the summer where they could work on a farm and enjoy the wide open spaces.

One of the young men (let's call him Steve) was in high school and he was often getting into trouble and always doing poorly in his classes.  He was no more cooperative when he was sent to the farm.  By the second day, the farmer had decided he'd had enough of this young man and locked him in the attic as punishment.

First Steve railed at the unfairness of it all.  The farmer was not a nice person and he treated all the boys unkindly, but he had the least patience with Steve.  Steve stormed around the attic until he was too tired to continue.  He then looked around his surroundings.

All around him were bookcases, filled with all kinds of books, especially classics.  Steve figured, "Well, as long as I'm stuck in here, let's see what's in these books."  and he settled down to read.  He curled up on the floor and read for the rest of the afternoon, in that hot, stuffy attic.

The next day, he acted up again and the farmer immediately sent him to the attic.  Steve continued his 'misbehavior' in order to be locked up, but instead of being locked up, he was actually escaping.

After a summer of this, Steve and his brothers returned to the city where Steve began his senior year of high school.  In his fall semester, he was required to take the boards for college.  He aced them.  His principal, his teachers, they all believed that he had cheated.  There was no way that this lazy troublemaker could have done it any other way.

They made him take the test again, this time closely observed by two adults who stayed in the room with him.

And, yes, he aced it.

He went on to go to college, to grad school, to have a very successful career and family life - all because he read voraciously over one summer in his youth (and, of course, continued as a voracious reader ever after).

As Mrs. Paterson says when she tells this story, "What do you think would have happened if he'd been locked in an attic full of test prep materials?  Do you believe we'd have the same happy ending?"

I certainly don't.  Do you?

LEXILES ARE B.S.!!!

 Yes, I am jumping on my soap box (this will happen relatively often).  I have been never been a fan of students identifying themselves through a number (hi, I'm a 760, can you find me a book?).  But something happened recently at the school where I volunteer, and it inspired me to write this at this time.

Okay, first I guess I should explain what Lexiles are. They are a way of 'leveling' a book (yes, that's verbizing a word and I hate that, but I'm hoping my disdain comes through when I use that term) to let children and teen readers know what books they should be reading.  Lexiles are based ENTIRELY on vocabulary.  The more often an unknown or uncommon word shows up, the higher the Lexile score, the higher the score the more difficult the book is (according to the Lexile people, at least).

Back in the day when I worked for Addison-Wesley Publishing, we called these Readabilities.  One of my jobs as a freelancer was to run readabilities on books. Let me tell you what that entailed.

I would choose random pages within the book (I don't remember how many) and type a paragraph into the computer.  Back would pop up the unfamiliar or uncommon words with a score (a reading level).  Content and context were not taken into consideration.  Now, these WERE textbooks, so plot was not really an issue.

While I don't remember most of the books I ran readabilities on, I do remember one book that stood out as an example of how stupid these levels were.  The book was a computer textbook.  Given that this was 1984 (yes, I'm old) the readability program considered the word 'computer' to be an uncommon word,  so every time the word 'computer' showed up in this COMPUTER textbook, it would bump up the reading level.  Do we see a problem here?

Fast forward to now, when I am a professional booktalker, reviewer and evangelist for children's books (in a non-religious way).

When I give booktalks I always, ALWAYS insist on talking about Lexiles as part of my talk.  The number of teachers and librarians who come up afterward to tell me they appreciate what I'm saying and that it supports their own feelings and knowledge as educators is overwhelming (and quite validating).

 A couple of years ago I gave a number of booktalks at our local high school in preparation for summer reading. It was great fun and quite a few students came up to me and told me how much they enjoyed it (as did their teachers).  I even heard from teachers this year that they had students who had been touched by those past booktalks.

So, this year I was getting ready to prep booktalks for the high school again and I checked in with the department chair to see which teachers would like me to come to their classrooms. Because of the objections of one teacher, I made sure that I was upfront with the chair about my insistence on including Lexile information in my talk (and that I would leave my opinions at the door).

(As a parenthetical comment, the objecting teacher agreed that Lexiles weren't great, but they gave teachers a starting point.  My response was that that's the equivalent of a Geography teacher starting with a 3-D model of a flat Earth.  If your tools are wrong, how are they useful?)

When I heard back from the department chair, I was told they could not use me if I made any disparaging statements about Lexiles because the district uses SRI and Read 180 programs, which rely on Lexiles to tell students what books they should be reading.

What is this dangerous information I want to share?  Why are teachers and administrators afraid to have students know a fact about the program by which they are judged?  I do not know.  Keep in mind that I was not going to give my opinion, I was not going to use the term B.S.  I was merely going to give information.

Are you ready for what they don't want me to tell their students?  Here it is:

The Wee Little Woman is a board book by Byron Barton and has a Lexile of 1300

Moby Dick (yes, THAT Moby Dick) by Herman Melville has a Lexile of 1200. (in theory, the higher the Lexile the harder the book).


Oh, and the stunning, STUNNING book The Arrival by Shaun Tan has no Lexile because it is wordless (which does not mean that this book is not complex and thought provoking, sigh).


 Shhh, don't tell the students.