Do You Know Dewey?

August 1, 2012

K-Gr 2-In this brief overview, Cleary's descriptions of each section of the Dewey decimal system are reasonably accurate. A minor quibble would be a book on Harry Houdini appearing in the 100's. Books on the occult belong there, and Houdini devoted a great deal of time and energy to debunking the Spiritualism movement of his time with its fraudulent mediums and seances. A more serious problem with the book is the text's strained verse. The rhyming couplets are rarely actual couplets as the first part of a second set is usually a continuation of the previous couplet's second sentence. "For instance, if you're searching for a book all by yourself/about the Internet, you wouldn't look on every shelf." The frequency of this practice makes for a choppy flow. Still, Lew-Vriethoff's watercolor illustrations picture vital, energetic libraries where children and adults are obviously happily engrossed in books and reading. A serviceable introduction to Dewey, but an additional purchase.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2012
The Great Library Code is deciphered simplistically and, more problematically, in labored rhyme. After opening with an introduction to young Melvil Dewey, who "would grow up to make a system / to organize those stacks of books and classify and list 'em," Cleary conducts a tour from 000 to the 900s. With occasional oversimplifications--"Peek in the 800s, and you'll have all kinds of sightings / of works in many languages and many types of writings"--he highlights general subjects and a few scansion-fitting specific topics (700s: "Motown, Mozart, Ellington, the Beatles, and the blues, / along with most activities that you might ever choose"). He breaks down call-number structure in a more detailed (prose) closing section and also notes that most (public and school) libraries use different classification schemes for fiction, picture books and biographies. He also at least drops in a mention of online catalogs, if not librarians, as helpful resources. Though the loosely shelved books visible in Lew-Vriethoff's cartoon illustrations are all fat, generic tomes unrealistically free of titles, jackets and even (despite suggestive streaks of lighter color) spine labels, at least her library scenes bustle with happy patrons of diverse ages and skin tones. Not likely to be much help in an actual library, but the concept that there's a system may be reassuring. (basic chart) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

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January 1, 2013
"The Dewey decimal system keeps nonfiction in its place. / Books are grouped by subject, such as art or outer space." The system's organization is elucidated in jaunty if occasionally faltering rhyme. Chaotic illustrations show hyper kids exploring an Egyptian tomb in the 400s, running from a dinosaur in the 500s, etc. An appended note gives more details about this "secret code."

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)