European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 24, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Of schools replace Dick and Jane with real literature Mary Esch associated press. Elementary Reading books have come a Long Way since Dick and Jane saw spot run. A a a a a Quot a. A a a a  a gone arc the Days when Anonymous authors provided children with a lean literary diet of plots entered on Home and family and such stilted prose As a run spot run. Run run  today Basic readers arc filled with fiction poetry plays and non fiction. They feature award winning children s authors such As Frank Asch Ezra Jack Keats and Lilian Moore As Well As selections from such diverse writers As Isaac Asimov Alex Haley and Martin Luther King or. A a a it a like any other marketplace in a free icon omy Quot said Richard Allington an education professor at the state University of new York at Albany and an editor for Scott Forssman co. Which published the Dick and Jane series in the 1950s, a publishers produce what people will buy the markets changing so materials arc  today the a whole language Quot movement among elementary teachers is having a major influence on publishers. Proponents of the whole language philosophy have rejected Basic readers and the teachers manuals phonics workbooks charts and other paraphernalia packaged in commercial teaching programs. Instead they prefer to use real Chil Drin a a literature a Trade books As opposed to textbooks a selected by teachers and students according to their needs and interests. Libraries also arc seeing the influence of the trend toward literature based instruction in schools said Barbara Ellsman of the american Library association in Chicago. Circulation of children a books is increase my. And teachers Are calling on librarians to help select books for class second Grade teacher Susan Chura of Albany n.y., reads an illustrated classic to her class room use she said. A the Ala has started a new Magazine Book 1 links designed for teachers using literature based instruction. Elleman who edits the Magazine said a recent Issue suggested books for teachers who want to connect their work in Reading science and social studies to the events in the Middle  titles included a an arabs family a the Story of a Date Farmer in Oman whose life was affected by Oil exploration a Iraq in pictures Quot a non fiction Book a hidden life of the desert a a natural history Book and various folktales from the arabian nights stories. Lois Bridges Bird a former first Grade teacher who now works As a. Whole language consultant in Palo Alto calif., said the fair Oaks elementary school in nearby Redwood City is a Good example of the effect of a literature based curriculum. The school which has a High percentage of poor students and hispanic and asian immigrants had test scores far below the state average Bird said. After the school switched from basal readers to a literature based curriculum 10 years ago Reading scores went up dramatically. A students read during recess they read in the cafeteria they walk around school with their noses in books a Bird said. Hundreds of books were stolen from the new Reading room she said but teachers took it As a Good sign. Quot no one Ever wanted to steal a Basic Reader Quot she said. Re views the old contemptible by Martha Grimes Little Brown 332 pp., $19.45 this is the 11th in Martha Grimes pub named mysteries featuring Richard jury of the Scotland Yard although jury is Little More than a background figure in this one. He emerges Only to tidy things up at the end while other characters steal the books focus. Grimes has a marvelous Way w Ith foxy elders and nicely idiosyncratic children and that particular skill is obvious Here. Jury rejected by his longtime lad love has been courting another woman who turns up dead amid the usual murder suicide ambiguity. He is stuck in London As a witness and a possible suspect a so he sends pal Melville Plant off to the Lake District to infiltrate the bizarre Rich family of which the dead woman was evidently a disowned subsidiary. The family is led by an eccentric Grandfather and includes a Devilish son and a feisty teen age Cook All of whom Are very likable creations. Truths emerge from the tangled family in one of the Best in the jury series a a Story both funny and Sombur a t mos Pharic and fun ii of character and unusually affecting. Charles Champlin los Angeles times the last Unicorn by Peter s. Beagle illustrated by Mel Grant Roc $3.95 in paperback. This popular fantasy stands out As an example of the simple minded drivel that cheered readers during the late �?T60s and Early �?T70s, when _ a Jonathan Livingston Seagull a was considered profound and a listen to the warm passed for poetry. Peter Beagle attempts to flesh out his straightforward redeemer myth the last Unicorn must free her imprisoned people with subplots Side characters poetry and prophecies. But the subplots go nowhere the minor characters do Little More than introduce self conscious anachronisms the poetry does no to scan and the prophecies remain unfulfilled. The climactic confrontation. Between Good and evil Peters out when the monstrous red Bull that has terrorized everyone and everything for decades swims out to sea rather than face the Bland title character whom he bested in an earlier encounter. Like the Reader. The Bull probably decided to quit the Story out of boredom. Charles Solomon los Angeles times the rockets red Glare a when America goes to War. The presidents and the people by Richard Barnet Simon amp schuster $24.95 a a senior fellow at the Institute for policy studies in Washington argues that . Presidents have continually usurped congresses Power to wage War. The Book now also available in paperback is a Lucid and challenging account of How americans fought on battlefields outside the United states during the last 150 years without constitutional Sanction. George Johnson n new York times ail oops Are or a i be at stars Ard stripes  8 a sunday february 24,199