B O O K REVIEWS Leadbetter, J ane and Peter Leadbetter. Special children: meeting the challenge in the primary school. (Introduc­ tion to Education Series). London : Cassell, 1 993. 1 77p. (includes bibliographical references and i ndex) ISBN-0- 304-32522·8 ($55) ; 0-304-32524-4 (pbk.)($1 8.95) This topical book is not just for the starting teacher - it is a valuable source of information for anyone involved with the education of special children. Children with special needs can be successfully integrated into mainstream primary schools. The authors provide a wealth of practical information on how to do it. They stress the importance of teachers' attitudes, and willingness to seek advice and new ideas on how to adapt curriculum and activities for students with learning difficulties. Chapters 5 and 6, about children with emotional and behavioral difficulties, include a section on the abused child and the teacher's role, as well as a problem-solving approach for dealing with difficult behavior. General information, issues of integration and teaching implica­ tions are discussed for 6 groups of children with special educa- tiona! needs (i .e. the hearing impaired; visually impaired; physi­ cally disabled; mentally handicapped; autistic; and those with speech & language disorders). Chapter 8 provides background information of general inter­ est about early identification and interventions with pre-school children. Chapter 9 deals with recent education legislation in the U. K. Every chapter has its own useful "suggestions for extra reading," an annotated listing. Marika Asimakopulos is a former high school teacher and now a reference librarian at the Physical Sciences & Engineering Library, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Davidson, Judith and David Koppenhaver, editors. Adolescent Literacy: What Works and Why. 2nd editio.n. New York: Garland Pu blishing, Inc., 1 993. 326 p. $55.00 U.S. ISBN 0-81 53-0877-9; $1 8.95 U.S. pb 0-81 53-0920-1 In 1985 the staff at the center for Early Adolescence was concerned by the results of a study by the National Assessment of Educational Progress showing poor reading and writing skills among young adolescents in the middle grades. As a result, the Project on Adolescent Literacy (PAL) was formed to find 1i teracy programs that succeeded in helping young adolescents master reading and writing skills through school, non school and sum­ mer literacy programs as well as after-school and summer pro­ grams. Recommendation forms were mailed to educators, youthworkers and policymakers and members of the Interna­ tional Reading Association and the American Library Associa­ tion. Written questionnaires were sent to recommended pro­ grams and eventually, out of thirty-two site visits, five outstand­ ing programs were selected. Adolescent Literacy: what works and why presented the findings of the PAL project, including a detailed look at the five reading projects: three in-school programs and two summer programs. The book was co-edited by Judith Davidson, the project director and David Koppenhaver, project researcher, assisted by Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 1 a team of education specialists . The content of the second edition is very similar to the original book. The discussion of the PAL project and its five programs remain unchanged. Beyond a few cosmetic alterations, only the chapter: "Translating what works into programs and policies" and a revised annotated resource list are new. However there are helpful recommendations on ways to improve the literacy support and instruction that young people with reading and writing deficiences receive in schools and community agen­ cies and ways to increase their access to quality reading re­ sources. Adolescent Literacy is a highly readable and thought pro­ voking book which is a must for anyone working with young adolescents in a school or public library setting. I would recom­ mend purchase of the second edition but not as an update to the original work. Barbara Hiron, You ng People's Librarian, Beaconsfield Public Library, Beaconsfield , Quebec, Canada 33- Wilcox, John R. and Susan L. Ebbs. The Leadership Compass: Values and Ethics in Higher Education. Washington, D. C. : George Washington Un iversity School of Education and Hu man Development, 1 992. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1 , 1 992. [This series, begun in 1983, includes relatively short monographs examining problems in higher education through extensive analysis of the literature. Over sixty reports have been published, each addressing a different issue. The present example is the first of the 1992 series (there are 8 each year).] Summary Is higher education j ust another institution that reflects the breakdown of ethics and moral values in our society? Or does it have a moral obligation to provide leadership to the society? Wilcox and Ebbs assert that since the power that comes from knowledge gives people the ability to influence decisions of contemporary society, higher education also has a responsibility to impart a sense of moral values that motivates individuals to exercise that power ethically. The moral and ethical superiority of higher education was taken for granted when its purpose was large! y limited to training students for the ministry, but as education has become more universal, the importance of values and ethics has declined. Wilcox and Ebbs are part of a movement toward re-integrating values, ethics, and moral responsibility into higher education. Pointing out the need for self-scrutiny as the beginning of all change, they advocate a "Values Audit" which can help institu­ tions identify the ethical and moral values driving their decisions and actions. They describe certain values they believe to be imperative for higher education: respect for the dignity of people as individ u­ als and as members of diverse groups; academic freedom; con­ sideration of the moral/ethical dimensions of all decisions; a love of learning and of learners; respect for the autonomy of individu­ als to make their own decisions; doing no harm; benefitting others; being j ust; and being faithful . Wilcox and Ebbs acknowledge that people within the higher education milieu face serious moral problems: racism, sexism, homophobia, substance abuse, freedom of expression, and aca­ demic dishonesty. The authors believe a strongly shared vision of institutional mission can lead to the establishment of a "learn­ ing community," where a concern for moral and ethical values permeates the culture. They believe this ideal culture could overcome current tendencies toward individual alienation and intellectual fragmentation. They differentiate between an aca­ demic community, which emphasizes loyalty within one's disci­ pline, and a learning community, which enables faculty members within an institution to reach outside their own subject fields to work together with those in other disciplines on issues facing their institution, their students, and the community outside. They also believe faculty and administrators, led by this shared vision and mission, can work together despite the intrinsic differences in their points of view. The ethos ofthe culture thus created offers a pattern of norms, values, practices, beliefs and assumptions that guide the behavior of individuals and groups, giving them a frame of reference within which to interpret the meaning of eyents and actions on and off campus. - 34 Studies have shown that the most successful institutions in developing this kind of community ethos are smaller, liberal arts colleges, many with religious ties. These, say Wilcox and Ebbs, should serve as a model for the higher education community. While the diversity, size, and complexity of large universities, public and private, may make the task of creating the learning community more difficult, higher education must not only face these issues from a moral perspective, but also try to help the society as a whole to deal with them. Subcultures within the larger institution - departments or disciplines - may be the place where the transformation starts. It is there that faculty, but especially students, experience a sense of belonging; where the greatest opportunity exists for beginning to create the learning community, say Wilcox and Ebbs. Recog­ nizing that the quality of human relationships determines the moral dimension of human life, and that cognition and affection go hand in hand, those who build the learning community must acknowledge the profound influence of peers and colleagues and encourage caring attitudes on the part of the faculty. The authors discuss at some length the importance of admin­ istrative leadership, especially that of the president, in reaching this ideal. They stress the need for collegiality, mutual respect and trust between administrators and faculty, whose different views and goals must be mutually understood and integrated if a successful learning community is to grow. Although librarians are not explicitly mentioned, it is clear that the authors intend the learning community to include everyone involved with the university. A learning community could be extremely well served by a strong library, which could provide supplementary materials not necessarily directly related to the curriculum and model collegial relationships as one of the subcultures men­ tioned. The ideas expressed in this work are compelling and stimu­ lating and it is imperative that leaders in higher education pay attention to them. However, for those hampered by linear thinking, like this reviewer, the organization of the material makes the work, though short, difficult to navigate. That is unfortunate and I hopei t does not deter readers from acting on the content of the work. JoAn S. Segal, Consu ltant, Vintage Ventures, Boulder, Colorado. Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 1 Lima, Carolyn W. A to Zoo: Subject Access to Children 's Picture Books by Carolyn W. Lima and John A. Lima. 4th ed. , New York, Bowker, 1 993. Price: US$49.95. ISBN 0-8352-3201 -8 This fourth edition of A to Zoo: Subject Access to Children 's Picture Books, the only comprehensive guide of its kind, contains more than 14,000 titles catalogued under nearly 800 subjects. It is an update of the 3rd edition, which was published in 1989. The author, Carolyn W. Lima compiled the three previous editions of A to Zoo and has twenty-five years experience as a librarian and teacher as well as a storyteller. She holds a degree in Elementary Education and in Library and Information Science and works as librarian at the Pacific Beach Branch of the San Diego Public Library. John Lim, co-author is also the holder of a Library and Information Science Degree and works at the San Diego Library too, as social sciences librarian. He also co­ authored the 3rd edition. The purpose of the book is to provide picture books under easily identifiable categories, allowing librarians, teachers, par­ ents and interested researchers to select recommended materials for particular occasions and events. Thus this volume is a time­ saving reference tool for researchers because of its authoritative nature of this publication. The tome covers three main areas: first there is a list of the subject headings used. It is not explained how these were derived, only that "they reflect the established terms used commonly in public libraries" It may have been developed by the authors for the purposes of this book, in which case this should be stated. The fact that this is not explained creates a slight problem. The list of subject headings is followed by the second part, a Subject Guide, in which titles are listed under the categories suggested by the Subject Headings list. There are categories and sub-categories and many titles are cited more than once as they are identified under several topics. This allows access to materials from various points of view. The most complete bibliographic information is contained in the third section, the Bibliographic Guide, (pp.425-853) where entries for author, title, illustrator, publisher, publication date and the subject assigned to the item are found. ISBN is included only for entries new to this edition. There is also a Title and Illustrator Index. According to the introduction this reference book includes 3500 new picture book titles, published since 1989, all intended for the 3-7 age group. For those interested in further exploring the topic of p icture books, there is a briefbibliography ofbasic titles suggested by the authors. Because of the choice and variety of items included from the 60s to the present day, this is a useful appendix. Anne M. Galler, Associate Professor, Library Studies Concordia University, Montreal , Quebec, Canada. Caesar, Terry. Conspiring with Forms: Life in Academic Texts. Athens: U niversity of Georgia Press. 1 992. xxix + 1 86 p. ISBN 0-8203-1 421 -8 (hardcover) ; 0-8203-1 494-3 (paperback). $30.00 (hardcover) ; $1 5.00 (paperback). Terry Caesar's Conspiring with Forms: Life in Academic Texts is an unusual book. Although the author is a faculty member in the English department at Clarion University of Pennsylvania who specializes in American literature, the book has little to do with literature. Rather, it is about working conditions in English departments in American colleges and universities, especially such departments at teaching-oriented (as opposed to research-oriented) institutions. Caesar writes about topics that are part of the life of professors of English (and other subjects, too), but are seldom written about. These include writing (and reading) letters of recommenda­ tion; the "acknowledgments" sections of scholarly books; apply­ ing for jobs; teaching English composition; attending the Modern Language Association's annual conference; being a white male in academe today; writing a dissertation; and teaching at a mediocre institution. The "texts" that this book examines, therefore, are for the most part not novels, plays, or poems, but rather such materials as letters of recommendation, acknowledg­ ments sections, and job applications. Caesar gives these ersatz "texts" as close scrutiny as literary critics give to "real" texts. There are few books that resemble this one. Two that come fairly close, though, are Richard Ohmann's English in America: A Radical View of the Profession (1976) and Evan Watkins' Work Education LlbrarleB • Val 1 8, No. 1 Time: English Departments and the Circulation of Cultural Value (1989). Caesar is extraordinarily honest in expressing his feelings about subjects that others seldom discuss in print. He writes at length about how much he detests teaching English composition; about how envious he feels, as an unheralded member of his profession, of certain eminent scholars; about how, as a graduate student, he abandoned his doctoral dissertation, taking it up again and completing it only many years later; and about how he deeply regretted, before this collection of essays was published, that in about twenty years as an English professor, he had never pub­ lished a book. The best essay by far is the last one, "On Teaching at a Second-Rate University," which originally appeared in South Atlantic Quarterly. In it, Caesar discusses at length his angst over having to teach large numbers of classes, taken by students who, for the most part, are neither very bright nor interested in learning, and being surrounded by faculty colleagues who have few scholarly interests or ambitions . This essay, in addition to his frequent comments, throughout the book, that he would like nothing better than to move to a better, more prestigious institu­ tion, is unlikely to make Caesar very popular with either faculty 35 - members or administrators at Clarion. Caesar's prose, for the most part, is very difficult to grasp. Many of his sentences are long and syntactically complex, and they jump unpredictably from one thought to another; they are exactly the kind of sentences English composition instructors teach their students not to write. "On Teaching at a Second-Rate University," however, is written in spare, lucid prose that is nothing like the prose of most of the other essays. This book would have been better if all its essays had been written in such a style. David S. Webster is Associate Professor of Educational Administration and Higher Education at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. Karp, Rashelle S. Library Services tor Disabled Individuals. Boston : G.K Hall & Co. , 1 991 . $24.95 pbk ISBN0-81 61 - 1 928-7. Rashelle S. Karp has compiled a useful reference tool for professionals responsible for the coordination of service to the disabled library user. Library Services for Disabled Individuals has maintained in the foreground an awareness of the rights of disabled individuals in ease of access to school, academic, public and special libraries. Well documented guidelines are organized into chapters covering l ibrary services to four categories of disabled users: 1. Individuals with learning disabilities, written by Rashelle S. Karp. 2. Mentally retarded individuals, contributed by Pamela Gent. 3. Print-handicapped individuals, contributed by Beth Perry. 4. Deaf or hearing impaired individuals, contributed by Phyllis I . Dalton. Carefully defined in these four categories of disabled users are the characteristics, demographics and specific needs in ac­ cessing library information. U.S. Federal legislation applicable to the four categories of user is outlined. Resources and informa­ tion available to disabled users complete with addresses are an integral part of each chapter. There is a list of references at the end of every chapter. As a guidebook to anyone not wanting to overlook the components of sensitivity to the disabled library user, the book covers extensive ground with the exception of wheelchair accessibility. Although the first chapter on the needs of individuals with learning disabilities is broadened to include disabilities of motor coordination, the specific needs of disabled users in wheel chairs are not addressed except to acknowledge the need for the elimination of architectural barriers. The appendix is a brief sampling of exercises available from other sources described as sensitizing activities for librarians - 38 working with print-handicapped, deaf or hearing impaired, and mentally retarded library users. The annotated bibliography at the end of the book in separated into the following subject headings : accessibility, agencies, aids and appliances, biblio­ graphic instruction, bibliography, bibliotherapy, blindness/visual impairment, catalogs and directories, deafness and hearing im­ pairment, education of librarians, general, learning disabilities, and mental retardation. The bibliography is selective for prag­ matic application and arranged in these subject headings for easy accessibility. Loaded with well-organized factual · information and cou­ pled with the extensive bibliography this book would be a practical guidebook for teachers, librarians, social workers and paraprofessionals. Margaret Sheremata, Library Technician, Contact person for physically disabled students at Vanier Library, Concordia University, Montreal , Quebec. Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 1 Walter, Virginia A. War & Peace Literature for Children and Young Adults: A Resource Guide to Significant Issues. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1 993. Like it or not, war has become part of the fabric of knowledge for many, if not most, children. In Canada and the United States, relatively safe havens by world standards, children are inundated daily with programmes and photo footage of the violence and injustices of war. In the last few years mounting numbers of refugee families have sought asylum in North America, away from the horror of the Persian Gulf War and the atrocities in Yugoslavia and Somalia. Increasing numbers of parents and educators are deeply concerned about the affect that this con­ tinual war exposure and experience has on youngsters . A valid way to approach this concern is to create dialogue with young­ sters on these topics. War & Peace Literature for Children and Young Adults is a timely bibliography which covers literature written for children about war and peace. It offers them personal access to abstract topics that may be causing anxiety or concern. In addition, there is material for parents, teachers and those who work with children; for the parent who thinks a child is too preoccupied with guns, for the teachers who witness violence as a solution to problems, for the families emigrating from war-torn countries. Chapters 1-3 cover in order: an historical perspective of the literature on war and peace; suggestions on how one might share the literature at home or in the class to initiate dialogue; and an overview of the themes on which war and peace literature focus, e.g., the futility/nobility of war, heroism, survival, etc. An expla­ nation is given to the sociological and cognitive development of different age levels and offers guidelines on how to select material appropriate for these levels. Education Libraries • Vol 1 8, No. 1 The greater part of the book is dedicated to the annotated listing of some 480 titles on war and peace, published through 1991, and arranged alphabetically by author. While most mate­ rial is fiction, non-fiction of unusual quality, as well as some folk tales and poetry are offered. Each entry is accompanied with the recommended level of reading and covers grades from pre­ school up to senior high school . Many books are out-of-print but most are available through libraries. Material covers the sensitive topics of nuclear war and the Holocaust; real conflict (past and current wars) or imaginary (future wars); and how the theme . recurs in classic folklore and poetry. Material is also offered that deals with the theme of peace and conflict resolution, making this a balanced tool. Selections for adults serve to clarify the physical, psychological and sociological impact of war on the develop­ ment of a child. Two appendices offer activity webs for some of the ti ties to illustrate how teachers might incorporate the material into a whole language programme. Four indexes - general, subject, title and author facilitate access to the material. This is a worthy resource tool for the public and school library. Reviewed by Susan Tee, Reference Librarian, Young People's Department , Beaconsfield P ubl ic Library. , Beaconsfield , Quebec, Canada. :n -