Tag: MacKids

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

Rhinos In Nebraska, fab non-fiction storytelling for mid-elementary and up

Rhinos In Nebraska is an absurd title for a book. Nebraska is known for its picturesque plains and farmland. A book claiming to have Rhinos In Nebraska is as fanciful as flying cars or low-calorie food that tastes as good as the full-calorie version, isn’t it?  However, back up the calendar a hundred million years to the end of the Mesozoic period, reframe the title and the fiction that you thought it was, is now plausible. This is the story of the Ashfall Fossil Beds, a place that’s now on my bucket list. Beyond that, Rhinos In Nebraska is a book that will leave elementary and middle school readers hanging on every well-written word.

Rhinos In Nebraska is an impossibly true story about a skull a kid finds, followed by decades of research and herds of dinosaurs.
Non-fiction for kids is boring…..hold my juice box

Fart Quest: The Barf of the Bedazzler, a #2 that’s as great as the first

It’s over already? That’s an odd thing to say when you’re reading a physical book because your fingers gauge how thick the unread side of it is. Despite that, when I was finished reading Fart Quest: The Barf of the Bedazzler I was surprised that it was finished. I even thumbed back in the book a couple of pages, just to ensure that I didn’t skip a chapter or something like that. It was the equivalent of a dog licking the bottom of their bowl because they really liked dinner, and I was the golden retriever, paws deep in Fart Quest.

Fart Quest: The Barf of the Bedazzler, it’s the #2 book in this series that kids want to read and is incredibly entertaining
The #2 book in this series rises to the occassion
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