Simon & Schuster | Page 7 of 11

Spy School At Sea effortlessly sails like few middle grade books can

Upper elementary school kids love the Spy School book series from Stuart Gibbs. One could insert ‘middle school’ instead of ‘elementary’ in that sentence. You could also just simply say that readers aged eight and up love the Spy School book series. It’s an example of an author who can create characters and a story that’s thoroughly engaging, as well as, very smart. Moreover, Gibbs is able to do so at a level that’s not going to scare away young readers due to its big vocabulary, nor adult readers due to being too juvenile. Spy School At Sea is the ninth book in this venerable series that deepens the personal relationships, without showing any age in our young protagonists.

Spy School at sea, all aboard for a fabulous read

Long Distance, a great summertime graphic novel for ages 9 and up

Sixth grade is a magical time. It’s when kids are getting old enough to do some of the really cool things in life, are discovering their own social circles, and are just clinging on to that ability to be utterly silly. On the surface, Long Distance by Whitney Gardner, feels like some other early middle school graphic novels that you’ve seen. There are some overlapping themes and it’s easy to compare Long Distance to Lumberjanes as a sister by another mother. But just one moment, do not get lulled into a sense of malaise or that you fully know what to expect with this graphic novel.

Long Distance is a perfect summertime graphic novel that has familiar elements, but abrupty sets them on a 180 course for the better.

Don’t judge a book by its cover, it’s more than a friendship/camp jam

Round, it’s all around us and that’s the point of the book

What is art? It’s a challenging term to define but you know it when you see it. Round is an illustrated book that confused me at first. The irony of a very simple illustrated book making me scratch my head was not lost by my inner critic. From the get-go, Round is beautiful and has gorgeous illustrations of various things found in nature that are well, round. However, much like art doesn’t have just one definition, round can also have several shades of its shape.

Round, yes, yes it is

Dr. Fauci, an illustrated book with background and keeps it straight

Let’s start this out by saying Dr. Fauci, How A Boy From Brooklyn Became America’s Doctor has nuggets that both the left and right will use for their talking points. In actuality, this is an illustrated book that plays it straight down the middle and it’s a shame that some people see absolutely everything through a political prism. Due to COVID, Fauci is of course a household name. Our nine-year-old, who has never seen a nightly newscast, knew who Dr. Fauci is during the height of the pandemic. This is a book that inspires curiosity and wants young readers to ask questions, which is something that everybody should agree on, right?

Dr. Fauci How A Boy From Brooklyn Became America’s Doctor is an illustrated book that shows the life of a young kid who grew up to become the medical face of COVID

Doctor, doctor, gimmie the news

The Wisdom of Picard, bite-sized smarts from Star Trek’s main man

Our 11-year-old son giddily tossed the 2021 Hallmark Christmas Ornament catalog my direction. “Dad, there are lots of Star Trek ornaments in it-I know that you love Star Trek”, he said. Internally I was thinking, it’s not that I like Star Trek more, it’s just that we have more Star Trek Christmas Ornaments than any other franchise*, but I didn’t correct him. That got me thinking about Star Trek: The Wisdom of Picard, a book of quotations from everyone’s wisest and most follicly challenged captain.

The Wisdom of Picard presents bite-sized smart nuggets of conversation or quotes from Star Trek’s main man.

Smart it is, Make it so you will say

Nerdycorn, a fun, smart illustrated book for all, plus unicorns

If the world were a fair and just place there would be 10 copies of Nerdycorn in the book rack at our local big box store. As mentioned earlier, we were there and saw copies of a book that has a similar theme, but wasn’t nearly as great at Nerdycorn. This is an illustrated book that revels in color, has text length that makes it a great good-night book, funny characters, lessons to learn, and intelligence. It also has unicorns, which for some will be the main reason for reading. If that’s the case then that’s cool, come for the unicorns and stay for the STEM.

STEM, pictures and unicorns-What more could you love or want?

Keeping The City Going, fabulous art and poetic look at city shutdown

There’s a surge of illustrated books coming out now about COVID and how it impacted people or the places that we live. Brian Floca is an author and illustrator who works in both aspects with equal ease. In Keeping The City Going he’s the author/illustrator and has captured what New York City looked like during the peak COVID pandemic time. While the book takes a look at that city specifically, the labels or departments could easily be thought of as “Any City USA” and the heartfelt lessons of thanks and sacrifice are just as valid.

Keeping The City Going is an illustrated book that’s an art driven, poetry laden look at a big city that’s been shut down due to the COVID pandemic.

The illustrations take front seat in this book about the heroes of COVID

Cougar Crossing, well-paced animal-taiment on city wildlife

Cougar Crossing is based in southern California. It’s worth noting that Courtney Cox and Jennifer Anniston do not live at that intersection. This is an illustrated book that tells the story of P-22 a mountain lion that lives in the Santa Monica Mountains near Hollywood. Welcome to the land of city wildlife, near Beverly, Hills that is, swimming pools, movies stars and some rogue animals that don’t belong anywhere near them. This is a clear-cut case of the fact that the cougar, P-22 and his ancestors, were on the land first, but those desert hills kept attracting more residents. What’s a natural predator to do?

A City wildlife tale with broad appeal