Daddy Mojo, Author at Daddy Mojo

A Kid’s Guide to the Night Sky is (somewhat) easy astronomy

Even before this generation became addicted to Youtube Shorts they were becoming a less intelligent demographic than the one that preceded them. If our students or children were watching possibly anything other than the lowest common denominator nonsense I see them on I’d think otherwise. Don’t get me wrong my generation rotted their brains with I Love New York, Rock of Love and Cheaters, but at least that was long-form stupid entertainment. It’s possible that the de-evolution of mankind started when the average person could no longer navigate by the stars or point out the constellations. I never truly understood the constellations. I can see the great shapes that they purport to be (once they’re pointed out..), but they also look like a Rorschach Test of random dots. A Kid’s Guide to the Night Sky is by John A. Read, who lives in the smart side of YouTube. His channel, Learn to Stargaze, is smart, presented from a common sense perspective and gives off the vibe that anyone is able to stargaze regardless of their age or equipment level.

A Kid’s Guide to the Night Sky: Simple Ways to Explore the Universe makes the cosmos approachable for elementary school ages.

Don’t be intimidated, it’s just a bunch of space rocks

Giant Steps, a lyrical, easy-going anytime book on perspectives

Perspective and the relatively simple art of looking at something from a different angle take practice. It’s the paradigm shift in the same camp as illustrations that are obviously one thing, until your friend points out that they see the other side of the same thing. Giant Steps is an illustrated book that takes its motivation from the first category. For example, I’m at the pool now, watching our 13 year-old practice the delicate art of making friends. A scary-looking spider was just climbing up my leg, and I panicked and squished it with Giant Steps. The scale of the pool would be drastically different if we were to envision a whale in it. The spider’s last vision in one of its eight eyes was a massive flat board, with illustrations of other insects on it.

Spiders on my leg scare me

Dying to Ask: 38 Questions From Kids About Death delivers the dead goods

Death happens. It’s a scary, unknown thing that is an absolute final, unless you see a ghost, then that’s scarier. Kids have many questions about death and that can be frustrating because nobody really has the answers. Adults try to avoid the topic. Kids can become frustrated because they’ve had contact with it through a family member. Dying to Ask: 38 Questions From Kids About Death is exactly what its name entails and is so much more than you think it is. It accomplishes this through a combination of the questions, the illustrations that accompany each question, and the tone in which they’re answered.

Dying to Ask: 38 Questions About Death From Kids manages to be respectful, funny, insightful and heartfelt on this sometimes taboo subject that touches everyone.

Let’s talk about death, no really

The Snow Man uses folk art and creative text to tell a fascinating story

The Snow Man is an illustrated book unlike any one that we’ve read before. It’s a non-fiction story that is completely fascinating in its by-the-numbers, almost poetry text and outsider art illustrations-and that is just in how The Snow Man looks. The story is just as interesting, and considering the subject matter it is perfectly paired with the text and art.

The Snow Man: A True Story is about a guy who lived in the mountains for almost 50 years, documenting things because he wanted a simpler life.

potentially confusing title, but a cracking non-fiction illustrated book

Vanya and the Wild Hunt plays it safe for the mglit crowd

Vanya and the Wild Hunt is a tale of two books and follows a trail of breadcrumbs that mglit audiences except and appreciate. A young girl has mysterious parents. Something happens to her, or her parents, which reveals her proclivity towards magic and a quest ensues. There are elements of these patterns or tropes that have existed in literature for the past 100 years. Vanya and the Wild Hunt know their audience. The core audience for this book is fifth-grade through eighth-grade girls. There will always be outliers, but if 100 copies of this book were in various people’s hands, the vast majority would fit in that demographic.

Vanya and the Wild Hunt is mglit that uses the same playbook with minimal changes, but will preach to girls aged 8-12.

Deja vu

It’s About Time!: A Fun Dive into Concepts of Time

Time is a tricky concept because it’s abstract, can be a noun or a verb, and is countable or uncountable. It’s About Time!: Big Ideas That Changed the World is the sixth in this graphic novel series and is almost as audacious as that Egyptian who suggested dividing a day into 12 parts. The ancient Egyptians counted on their three mid-fingers, as well as, their pinky, plus two of the knuckles on their pinky. But time and people needing to record it for one reason or another didn’t start with them. It’s About Time takes the 500-pound confusing gorilla and tackles it head-on. The graphic novel makes an esoteric topic like ‘time’ interesting, makes young readers think and doesn’t pretend to know all of the answers.

It’s About Time!: Big Ideas That Changed the World is the sixth in this fabulous non-fiction graphic novel series that threads the needle between fun and education.

IT’s a graphic novel that’s smarter than you and it’s OK.

Pirate & Penguin: A Hilarious Adventure for Young Readers

The sofa cushions. It was between, under or even down in that crevice on the sides of the sofa where the cushion meets the 2 x 4. It’s the area where you realize that a sofa is just a piece of furniture combining lumber, fabric and springs, but also sucks in things that you didn’t know you didn’t want to misplace. Pirate & Penguin was in our metaphorical sofa cushion, except in our case, it’s a real, physical object in the form of a bookshelf. It’s worth mentioning now, even though it’s been stuck in the sofa cushions for a year and a half, because this is the book my six or seven-year-old self would’ve gone mental over.

Pirate & Penguin is an illustrated book that satisfies all of the needs that pre-k through second grade boys didn’t know that they need.

This is the beginning of a late, but beautiful friendship

Don’t Cause Trouble is graphic novel effortless fun for elementary boys

Elementary school-aged boys don’t want to not read. I realize that’s a horrible sentence, but stay with me. Reluctant readers (mainly boys) in third through fifth grade know that they need to read, but don’t because they’re shy, distracted by technology, unable to, or simply read slower than other students. In school that second one doesn’t carry any weight because those ages aren’t going to school with a phone or an ironically named smart watch. The reluctant reader in elementary school has many great options for things that they can read on their schedule. These are the books that they need to bring with them for reading time and is something that they should want to read. Don’t Cause Trouble is a graphic novel like this.

Don’t Cause Trouble is a graphic novel that speaks to grades four through seven in a direct, funny and realistic way that those ages can smell.

This speaks to boys aged 8-12