Abrams books | Page 9 of 10

Disney Block continues the Peskimo charm, this time with pixie dust

Alphablock and Countablock, released in 2013 and 2014, have taught tens of thousands of children their alphabet or how to count. Our family is certainly in that group, as both boys learned their basics from them. Those books are part of the Abrams Block Book series and since then, they’ve expanded to fun, entertainment topics, as well as, the educational building blocks of the English language. Disney Block, Magical Moments For Fans of Every Age is an Abrams Block Book that takes the format of these books and captures 25 moments from classic Walt Disney films.

This is a board book that will last for multiple children

Ghoulia and the Ghost with No Name continues the undead love

Ghoulia is back in her third entry from Barbara Cantini. You Tim Burton-inspired, middle-school, well-crafted, graphic novel loving people know what I’m talking about. Ghoulia and the Ghost With No Name may sound like a person who’s got the lyrics to that song by America wrong. We do things like that all the time when we’re in the car by ourselves. This series is the incredibly detailed world of Ghoulia, a spooky little girls whose family is even spookier. Think a more gothic Addams Family, but with much more charm and drawn to minute observations put into every page.

Artistic, well thought out burton-esque dark fun awaits you

Steven Universe End of an Era, fun, loving and educational

From a story about gems to a fabled opus on friendship, growing up, to its being a beacon in the LGBTQ world, imagination, creativity and so much more. When I first started watching Steven Universe it was all about the gems, earnest characters, and, to an extent the songs. After reading Steven Universe: End of an Era, I now know that it had much more in common with How I Met Your Mother than I ever knew.

Steven Universe: End of an Era is an approachable love letter to the Cartoon Network show that doubles as a ‘making-of’ from its creator.

Great for fans of the show or animation fans who want to peek behind the curtain

Alien Superstar #2 Lights, Camera, Danger has alien action and mild drama

Alien Superstar was one of the best middle-school books of 2019. It crackled with humor, action, and a carefree vibe that ages 9 and up want to experience. Buddy Burger is the titular alien in the book. He’s escaped his home planet because there was an uprising happening that wasn’t bringing the best of the planet to the forefront. His grandmother put him in a ship and sent him to Earth where he crashed onto the backlot of a theme park that also does television production. From here his actual alien form allowed him to be the perfect ‘costumed’ performer on a hit show. It also helped that his costume, Zane Tracy, which is his human form, is a very cute teenage boy. In Alien Superstar Lights, Camera, Danger! Buddy is back and elements from his past are here too. Are they on his side or have they been an evil squadron?

Lights, Camera, danger! meets the high bar set from the first book

Ghosts Unveiled!, pitch-perfect, non-fiction scares for ages 9 and up

One of our favorite books from 2019 was Creepy and True Mummies Exposed! Certainly, a major part of my initial curiosity in that book was the fact that I’ve loved mummies, the science of them, cultures that perfected them, and the ghoulish specter that exists inside my imagination of seeing them. The layout and presentation that book was perfect because it blended science, travel, adventure, and imagination into one package that was great for middle school readers and up. Author Kerrie Logan Hollihan dives into the series again with Creepy and True Ghosts Unveiled! It has the same presentation that I loved in the first book but looks at a topic that is difficult to actually prove.

Spooks, ghosts and the content/presentation to engage middle school

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

Big Foot and Little Foot: The Bog Beast, early chapter book fun

A nice, simple book that’s perfect for emerging readers is a tough thing to find. The chapters could be too short, or too long. The characters could be too juvenile, or just a bit too old for elementary readers. In short, it’s a very narrow line that books need to traverse if they’re targeting grades two through four. Our eight-year-old is right in this struggle. He can read sentences and is building vocabulary, but hasn’t made the jump to chapter books yet. Big Foot and Little Foot is a book series that’s tailor-made for this dapper young man.

An early elementary chapter book that checks all the blocks

The Derby Daredevils, Shelly Struggles to Shine levels up

I love it when the second book in a series surpasses the first one. It doesn’t even have to go all “Empire Strikes Back” and be leagues better than its predecessor. For us, just the fact that it’s better means that the series has lots of gas left in the tank. The Derby Daredevils: Kenzie Kickstarts a Team set up the story about a group of girls teaming up to create a roller derby team. That was a middle-grade book that mainly girls will enjoy that had a variety of positive, diverse themes. The Derby Daredevils: Shelly Struggles to Shine takes that storyline and delivers a J-block to the other teams lead jammer.

Middle-grade comfort food with a side of roller derby for girls 9 and up