MacKids | Daddy Mojo

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

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

Investigators: Heist and Seek, a pun-laden, mandatory graphic novel for 8 and up

It’s great to see things mature and evolve as new books come out in a series. Investigators is not that book series. Instead, Investigators came into the all-age graphic novel space as a plucky, genuinely very funny elementary school book that older readers will also want to jump into. When the first Investigators graphic novel came out we said something along the lines that it was the next must-read book series for elementary school readers and that there was a new captain (underpants) in town. Now, five books after their debut, Investigators: Heist and Seek is still providing dependable, smart laughs, all the while making young readers enjoy something that they need to do.

Investigators: Heist and Seek is the sixth book in this mandatory graphic novel series for ages 8 and up. It’s smart, funny, positive and one that kids will seek out and share.

#6 and still rolling in the wit

My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! will be on your forever bookshelf

The cover of this book is annoying, and that is the point. My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! Is an illustrated book that channels the impatience, imagination, panicked exaggeration, and manic mood swings that kids can have like few books before it. When you read it you’ll remember when you were a kid and your parents would not stop talking. The family was out for a walk, they’d see somehow they know and talk for what seemed like hours. My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! is from the viewpoint of a possibly impatient child as that exact thing happens.

My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! is the perfect intersection of art and story in a picture book about patience, perception, and creativity.

Embrace the choas and go down the rabbit hole

Crocs, a Sharks Inc. book that effortlessly hooks readers 9 and up

Upper elementary school readers and older want to be respected, and-to an extent, challenged when they read for fun. There comes a point when elementary and middle school readers become aware of the fact that the books that they read are a direct reflection of who they are. They’ve got the staples that most of them are reading in fourth and fifth, with a few brave souls venturing out to discover something unique. That funnel opens up much more in middle school. Crocs is our first encounter with a book in the Sharks Inc. book series by New York Times-Bestselling author Randy Wayne White. It checks off so many columns in what ages nine through 15 are looking for in a great fiction book that it resembles a dog’s shopping list at the meat market.

Crocs is realistic fiction that’s loaded with action and smarts that very few in this genre can match. It’s also jammed with STEM and real-world Florida vibes.

If you love to read, you’ll love this book

14 questions from elementary students to Bad Kitty creator, Nick Bruel

It’s great to be teaching in elementary schools. I get to see what they’re learning and hopefully add to that in a manner that makes some kids get it, or further their knowledge. I also get to see what they’re reading and in every ELA classroom, there’s at least one Bad Kitty book. Author and illustrator Nick Bruel’s latest installment is Bad Kitty Gets a Phone and he was kind enough to answer 14 questions from some of my ELA students.

Rodrigo – Why is Bad Kitty the only bad cat in the book?

Find out the answer to this and other kitty-inspring qustions after the jump

Oddbird, an illustrated book on accepting folks and diversity

There is a lot for some people to like about Oddbird. It’s a charming story about fitting in and being yourself that utilizes concentrated areas of colors to drive home its point. This is an illustrated book that will really connect with some readers, all the while giving more readers the feeling that they’ve seen this story before. And they have, but every book speaks to readers in a different manner, doesn’t it? Oddbird’s grace is that it’s a very simple story that will have a direct line to pre-k through early second-grade students who want a happy, bird-centric look at being different.

Oddbird, an illustrated book for pre-k through early elementary with vivid colors about being yourself, even if you don’t do things the same or look like others.

It’ll hit some audiences in the right spot, but be redundant for others

Beach Toys vs. School Supplies is classroom love for the elementary set

The concept of everyday objects coming to life is timeless. Sometimes the execution of the said project isn’t as great as it could be, or as entertaining as you want it to be. Small Soldiers, the 1998 film that sounded great on paper, but whose end result was very disappointing, is an example of this.* Beach Toys vs. School Supplies is the illustrated book version of somewhere in this camp. The idea of beach toys and school supplies having a conflict is fun to think about. After all, it’s the inanimate premise of Toy Story, isn’t it? But is Beach Toys vs. School Supplies an illustrated book that will capture and hold the attention of early elementary audiences?

2 late summer entities enter, can both leave? “Auntie Entity