Category: Elementary school

You can tell the children’s authors or illustrators that can inhabit the soul of their books. It’s those books or characters that ooze effortless charm. They can jump into the psyche of their young audience and create a book they, themselves, would want to read if they could travel back in time. They are the books that all but read themselves to young audiences. Sergio Ruzzier creates children’s illustrated books that saddle up to emerging readers in the most charming of ways. Initially, his illustrations might seem like a rip-off because you’ll feel as if you’ve seen them before. However, such is the nature of a timeless creation that’s so utterly comfortable with its audience. The Real Story is one of those examples in that its characters; even from looking at them on the book’s cover feel like they’re having a conversation that a three through eight-year-old might be having.  

The rub about a children’s non-fiction illustrated book that’s “inspired by” a real-life happening is that it helps to have some bearing on how much of the story is true. That’s because the audience that you’re reading it to is more than likely to have questions about the characters or a tangential story that they want to share. I was unaware of the true story behind Merry and Hark: A Christmas Story, yet when I finished reading it my first thought was that this seems like it could be a true story. However, thinking like any good attorney does, I’m not prepared to ask a question unless I already know the answer.

I know Spy School. That is the go-to mglit book series written by author Stuart Gibbs that makes kids want to read. I knew of the Once Upon A Tim book series that’s also written by him. In the liner notes for all of those books, it lists all the author’s other books, which I had also read, except for that series. The Quest of Danger is book number four in the Once Upon A Tim series and I understand the hype now.

Emerging readers want a sense of mystery. They want dark tales that are just enough to make them imagine what goes bump in the night, before squinting at them just enough to let them know that everything is fine. It’s the aura of a book that has age-appropriate dread or genuine curiosity. This allows their young imagination to fill in the blanks, which can be infinitely scarier than the text that they’re reading. The Skull is a perfect example of the feeling that kids want, and in many cases need. Aside from the title which inspires creepy questions in its own right, the book’s cover has a little girl hiding behind a big tree that’s been dusted with snow as she’s holding a skull. The background light is a soft pink that’s happening just around the sunset golden hour and it’s a place that you want to be.