Penguin Random House

Dark Fairy Tales, an entertaining collection of the evil in our global myths

Let’s be clear, Dark Fairy Tales is not in any way appropriate for children. This is not reverse psychology or some trick by educators to make you read something. Dark Fairy Tales is a collection of fairy tales from around the world that are set in areas where things go bump in the night. Do not confuse any of these stories with something that a child would read and be entertained by. Instead, think of something by Lovecraft, Clive Barker or Stephen King, condense it into a short narrative like a fairy tale, and you’re close to what’s in this book.

Dark Fairy Tales lives in the dark spaces of a worldwide collection of jinns and demons, closer to Evil Dead, than Disney.

This book is not for children, for reals

The Most Perfect Persimmon: A Young Reader’s Delight

I have never eaten a persimmon. It sounds more like an adjective than a fruit to me. The students felt quite persimmon when they realized the difficulty of the test. The Most Perfect Persimmon is an illustrated book that’s a love letter to family, patience, creature comforts and the fleeting search for perfection. That last bit might be too esoteric, but the nature of the young girl in the book and the brief period that a persimmon is perfect brings about comparisons to avocados.

You don’t need to know what it is to enjoy The Most Perfect Persimmon. It’s a happy illustrated book that easily leads conversations for the story time crowd.

You don’t need to know it to enjoy it

Middle School Bites: Night of the Vam-Wolf-Zom,P A+ highly recommended

Reluctant reader boys need a skeleton key. It’s that mythical thing that could unlock anything, but in this case, we just need to get them to enjoy reading. Thus, it’s a bit ironic that Middle School is the closest thing that we’ve seen in recent memory for those elementary-aged reluctant readers. Night of the Vam-Wolf-Zom is the fourth book in the Middle School Bites series and it has every element that grades four through six require in their reading.

Middle School Bites is an mglit series that kids want to read. Night of the Vam-Worl-Zom is a breathless, reflection-less romp that will delight ages eight and up.

Stop, collaborate and read this book

My Dog, Hen is a very clever and timeless illustrated book

Illustrated books can be fun, moreover, they should be fun, because the actual point of the book is for children to enjoy them. All too often we’ll run across books that didn’t get the memo on that point. They do have a point, but their message is too in your face and simply forgets that kids won’t read it if it’s not fun. My Dog, Hen got the memo on that. There’s no message, no ulterior motive and it ends so quickly that you’ll double-check to see if the final two pages are glued together. As a result, its stark graphics will pull you in and the story of a boy, his family, and their dog is just the sort of feel-good read that kids will always enjoy.

My Dog, Hen is an illustrated book whose illustrations and clever text combine to make it smart and refreshing for those early elementary ages who want to read about dogs.

Keeping it simple, slightly weird and very fun

This is a School will be a staple in elementary school libraries

This is a School is a picture book that seemingly every school librarian and teacher was talking about during the start of the school year. Starting the process of going to school can be quite scary for those young students. Going to school can also be a very exciting time. Sometimes, when the emotions of ‘scared’ and ‘excited’ combine it creates a troublesome experience for educators and parents called chaos. This is a School is a gentle, go-to picture book that introduces elementary school for those ages who are young enough to envision it as a mysterious place of wonder.

This is a School is a picture book that introduces pre-k kids and those slightly older to the wonders, fun and routines that makeup the school day.

This is the pre-k, intro to school book that you’re looking for

The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess, timeless excellence

Have you ever experienced something so awesome that you wish that you hadn’t seen it so that you could enjoy it for the first time again? Creepy Carrots was the last illustrated book to do this to us. On television, it was Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, however, those shows are most certainly for adults or some teens. As much as I enjoyed that, it’s the all-age entries that are more impressive. The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess is an illustrated book that roars up alongside its contemporaries and happily rises to the cream of the crop. Even a casual glance at the cover, seeing the wood graphics on the spine and the dozens of hidden details that are lovingly drawn in give readers the impression that they’re in for something special.

The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess is an illustrated fairy tale that makes you want to believe. It’s smart, great for ages three and up and a timeless book for the ages.

A new classic. Your grandchildren will be reading this in a decade or two

Middle School Bites: Out For Blood is fun, mglit want-to-read-it, incarnate

Our 12YO read Middle School Bites: Out For Blood so quickly that I thought he was trying to distract me from something else. It’s not I thought he was lying, but he got the book on Friday and had read it by Tuesday. Combine that timeframe with middle school, LEGO, Scouts video games, and something didn’t add up. He told me the plot of Out For Blood, I then read it for myself and had a similar experience, except I read it two days quicker. Apparently, I need to play more video games, buy more LEGO sets, or otherwise engage my time, or maybe not.

A howling good delight for ages 9 and up…… way up

The King’s Golden Beard is a new children’s picture book classic

We haven’t read a children’s illustrated book like The King’s Golden Beard in a long time. It’s a timeless illustrated book that feels as old as the hills, yet as current as whatever is trending on social media now. It’s a book that’s short on words, but long on story, instead of letting the illustrations and the white spaces within the pages fill in the blanks for young audiences. The King’s Golden Beard is also very smart and treats those young readers, or anyone else who jumps into the book, like the intelligent readers they are, even if they suspect they know where the story is going.

This book is awesome, read on to see why