Children's book reviews, all age comic books, Kidlit, mglit, movies, entertainment and parenting
These are books that kids will want to read-or should read, but will enjoy doing so. Board book, picture books, kid lit, elementary school books, middle school books, high school books, all age comic books and more will be talked about here.
There are books that kids want to read, books that parents/educators want them to read, and those books that sometimes straddle both camps. Saving Stella is one of those books that will keep a foot in each of those categories to some extent, due to its true story, soft visuals, and the always appealing element of a lovable dog.
I just read an illustrated book to a first-grade class. It was a pleasant enough book. They enjoyed it because they knew the story so well that they memorized the words and it represented a time when they don’t have to work. The book was also far too easy for them. Some of the kids were so bored that they simply put their heads on their desks and listened to an all too enthusiastic substitute teacher read it to them. In my experience teaching children, it’s not that they don’t want to read, it’s that they want to read books that are entertaining. The Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly, The Coldfire Curse by Jordan Quinn is a graphic novel that classes like that would devour during their free reading time.
When I was a kid I had fringe pets. These were animals that didn’t qualify under the domesticated category that most people associate pets with. For example, I had a rabbit, granted lots of people have rabbits as pets but these rabbits were outside, never came inside, and rarely graced the touch of a human hand. We also had a crow, who ironically had the same home the rabbit did, albeit a couple of years later. Saucy is a book that’s aimed at upper elementary through Middle School readers and is all about those fringe pets. The cover has a pig who is running with glee, possibly running away from or towards something as the back jacket as a small family who is chasing him for some reason. That illustration gives you a great feeling for how the book reads.
A Year Full of Celebrations and Festivals is the kind of book I would’ve loved as a child. Growing up in the United States I knew about all of our festivals and holidays, but what really intrigued me were the international ones that my classmates or neighbors celebrated. I wanted to try the foods that they ate on those days and had umpteen questions about why they did or believed certain things. When I got older those questions only got more involved as I worked at EPCOT and actually became friends with people from all over the world. A Year Full of Celebrations and Festivals by Christopher Corr and Claire Grace is a reference book for grades three and up that takes a look at over 90 celebrations from around the world. It is a reference book, so it’s encyclopedic in nature. However, it’s also loaded with illustrations and brightly colored pages that entice young readers to keep turning the pages.
Our family has lots of non-fiction books on animals, nature, and science in the house. A reference book is a great thing to have around because you never know when school-age children will need something in it. Granted there is that whole internet thing, but a book allows for that random sense of discovery that online searching simply doesn’t satisfy. However, odds are that all of, or almost all of your non-fiction animal reference books are encyclopedic, or listing in the presentation. That certainly leads to discover and learn about new creatures, but might not motivate kids to read it page to page. What Breathes Through Its Butt? is a non-fiction book on animals, but it’s unlike any critter book you or your kids have seen.
Our youngest has always loved Bad Kitty. As a book series though, Nick Bruel’s lovable, paranoid, manic, and odd kitty has been much like the titular character. They felt like a graphic novel in its story and fun approach to it, yet its delivery had more in common with manga. That is most likely due to the fact that most non-Asian readers are used to having stories in color unless it’s in the funny pages. If that’s the case, then you’d probably categorize those who still use ‘funny pages’ in conversation as old and outdated. I’m looking at me. All of this rambling aside, Bad Kitty Goes on Vacation seeks to solve that quandary by being in full color.
Getting an elementary-aged or early middle-grade child to want to read can be tricky. We all know that they need to read. We also know that later elementary ages and up, are most likely at a point where they’re reading to learn, instead of learning to read. If those students are in the former category but should be in the latter, then their schooling will be much harder than it needs to be. Our youngest child could be in that category, so we’re full-on trying to find books that speak to mid/upper-elementary readers. For some kids, Revver, The Speedway Squirrel is that fast racing vehicle that combines chapter book sensibilities, with the fun, goofy, surreal laughs that some kids want to read.
“This is not a baby book”, I told our nine-year-old. “Are you sure, it looks like a baby book”, he said with an unsure look. I understand why he questioned us. Little People, Big Dreams Charles Darwin looks like a book that demos young, and it can be. It does so in a way that the content is presented younger and certainly speaks to audiences that aren’t of his mature student behavior or the third-grade vintage. To us, it’s a book that takes a very smart subject and brings it down to a level that he can easily understand. This series is fun, engaging, makes young readers think about real people, and does so in a way that second graders can understand.
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