Goosebumps lure (elem)

[Joan Kimball <wjkim@LLWCNY.LL.PBS.ORG>]

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Hello, everyone!
     In my 380 student, K-5 library I stock Goosebumps by Stine,
2-3 copies per title.  They're the best lure to fiction!
Goosebumps books are out most of the time with reserves on
them.  while waiting, kids go to the "LIFE BEFORE AND AFTER
GOOSEBUMPS" display, where I stock similar books and a list by
categories: mystery, fantasy, ghost stories, adventure,
wierd and nasty characters, kidnapping, survival.  Here I
have books by Coville, Sachar, Dahl, Howe, Hahn, Nixon,
Aiken, Cohen, Schwartz, etc.
     Nonreaders start reading, they get up speed with the
series and turn to the better books in the display.  Goosebumps
books themselves I leave in fiction.  Kids making reserves have
to use the card catalog to see what we have.
     I believe kids who get hooked on a series increase their
reading speed, become better readers, and eventually critics
when they see how the author is conning them.
     So far, I've read about 12 in the series.  I wouldn't
have Stine's Fear Street series at elementary, but I don''t
see anything to object to in the Goosebumps.  Has anyone
out there had negative reactions?
     Joan Kimball, Hart's Hill School, Whitesboro, NY 13492
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Joan Kimball, LMS        Hart's Hill School
Whitesboro NY 13492      (315) 768-9854