Books | Page 61 of 86

Lola Benko Treasure Hunter, grounded action for middle school

Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter will feel familiar, but it’s a character and story that is new to you. On the cover, we see a teen-aged-girl who is exploring a giant cavern-esque area with two friends. She’s carrying a headlight with a massive head, like the one that only construction engineers or professional spelunkers would use. The cover’s font could easily be mistaken for entry into the National Treasure film franchise. In addition to that, there are several things within the story that older readers will recognize as influences for the story. However, Lola Benko Treasure Hunter is aimed at readers aged nine through middle school and they might not know or even catch those references.

Lola Benko Treasure Hunter is a middle grade action book that has more of a relationship backbone than its readers might care for.

Middle grade readers will enjoy it, but it might feel familiar too

Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge, DC graphic magic for girls 8-12

Certain books know their core audience and dedicate itself to entertaining them. Granted some siblings or those readers who might be older or younger could stumble on the book, but they’ll be the outliers. Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge is one of those books. If you’re a girl reader who is between eight and twelve then this is your jam. Its compact size, pop culture sensibilities, fast-paced story and age appropriate art make this a go-to book for girls who want in on the graphic novel action.

Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge, an original graphic novel aimed squarely at girls 8-12 with more friendship than power, but speaks to its readers.

Sign-Elementary girls looking for a graphic novel-sign

If You Go With Your Goat to Vote, a happy 411 on voting for kids

Some Christmas music is great in July. Those are the great songs that succeed as being well crafted, played and seasonally timeless without relying on smaltz or stations that have airtime to fill after Thanksgiving. Children’s books that revolve around a certain theme or time of year are like that also. If You Go with Your Goat to Vote shares that in common in that it’s a great book that emerging readers can enjoy any time; even during those periods when people aren’t frothing at the social media mouth about candidate A or B. In other words, it doesn’t have to be an election year for your reader to enjoy this book.

If You Go with Your Goat is a happy, great good-night book about animals, their babies and voting in elections.

Get out the goat-and the vote. This is full non-partisan greatness for ages 3-7

Cat Ninja has the prrrower to be your child’s favorite graphic novel

Someplace between Captain Underpants, Dog Man, Phineas & Ferb and Teen Titans GO! is Cat Ninja. It has the must-read & elementary school watercooler vibe of the first, the heart of the second, and the madcap humor and action of the third. Granted, it could be said that any of those initial titles have a degree of all of those characteristics. We’re merely putting them in the rank that our children have unofficially ranked them. It’s all of those characteristics and more. Cat Ninja is more, because it manages to be familiar, all the while being something that’s entirely original, relevant, and has fabulous colors, but more on that in a moment.

Cat Ninja sits alongside Dog Man, Investigators and Captain Underpants

Fox & Rabbit: Make Believe is elementary confidence and fun

Brothers and sisters don’t just exist in living beings. There are some books that have their perfect pair. It’s those books that are similar, but not identical, and have the right things in common that fans of either book want to see. If your elementary school reader is not hip to Mr. Wolf’s Class they are missing out. It’s an original graphic novel series on Graphix that is entertaining, builds the reader’s confidence, is on a level that they can easily understand, and doesn’t talk down to them. Fox & Rabbit: Make Believe is the second book in this series by Beth Ferry with illustrations by Gergely Dudas and will strike the same chord of interest in those first through third-grade readers.

If your elementary-aged reader is looking for a great read try this

Jonas Hanway’s Umbrella, makes non-fiction fun for early elementary

Without Jonas Hanway, The Umbrella Academy might not exist and Britons would’ve possibly continued letting the rain soak them since 1750. Jonas Hanway’s Scurrilous, Scandalous, Shockingly Sensational Umbrella is the sort of stranger than life, non-fiction illustrated book that young readers will love if they give it a chance. The last part of that phrase is key because the book ticks off all of the blocks needed for it to be ridiculously engaging and entertaining for ages six through ten.

A story of public shaming and the dry man who was right

This Thing Called Life, an intelligent illustrated book on any level

A children’s illustrated book can be a simple thing. They can also attempt to convey complex matters. It’s really rare to have an illustrated book tackle life. It was done a couple of years ago with One Day A Dot, a book that distills the universe in a STEM-happy way for young children to understand. This Thing Called Life by Christian Borstlap addresses the same grand scale of life, but does it in a simpler way, via timeless graphics, simple-yet realistic text, a sense of humor, and a side vibe of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

This Thing Called Life is as great and classic as an illustrated book can get. It’s also to the point, intelligent and with great art.

Stop. Find this book and get it if you have kids who are aged 2 through 8

Generation Brave, comfort food for the middle school activist’s soul

Generation Brave wants to be loved. In this case, it’s also a book that wants to be loved. If it’s a loose happy, compilation of young people who are out to change the world then Generation Brave, The Gen Z Kids Who Are Changing the World may not be your scene. To the book’s credit, it doesn’t hide its activism. It clearly states upfront, just in case any middle school or older reader is unfamiliar with the people being highlighted, that these people are opinionated and not afraid to stand up to authority. Cue that song by John Mellencamp in 3, 2, 1. If you’re an activist young person on the left side of the aisle then this book is preaching to you. It’s loaded with mainly liberal young voices or organizations who are very passionate about what they believe. Because of that, the book will be a guidebook for those who speak truth to power and a book full of tripe talking points to the other half.

Generation Brave, meet the new boss, the same as the old boss