Sourcebooks | Daddy Mojo

Fearless Firsts: Athletes Who Changed the Game, a one-note song for fans

Fearless Firsts: Athletes Who Changed the Game is a book with a very narrow scope and interest level. The subject matter is mainly on par with those upper-elementary school students. These are those students in fifth grade who will have to do their first essays on inspirational people, careers or interesting animals. It’s quite the juxtaposition because it’s comparing athletes from somewhat different time periods, in different sports, yet their ‘firsts’ have a frustratingly high amount in common. Not surprisingly, the solution to their ‘firsts’ and the athletes’ reactions to them are the same too.

First!

Don’t Draw in This Book! is finger-tracing laughs for ages 1-6

Last year, I was teaching a high school English class, and one of the students went rogue. They started drawing phallic shapes with various curse words directed at me. I know, normally one would expect that from elementary school students, but this student was special. Thankfully, their handwriting was poor and identical to the handwritten essays I asked them to do, thus, it was quite simple to confirm who the culprit was. Don’t Draw in This Book! is the toddler, pre-k and kindergarten entry point that kids need for a couple of reasons.

Don’t Draw in This Book! is an impossible to resist board book that engages kids one through six to touch, trace, laugh and learn.

The press the button series is a go-to for toddlers

Let’s Power Up!, early elementary real-world look at currents

The time for rubbing our hands to our body before we touch the door knob or open the freezer section at the grocery store is nigh. As an adult, I know that it’s the build-up of something and when I touch the metal thing it gives me a shock. Also, as an adult, I just learned why this only happens in cooler weather. Enter Chris Ferrie, an author who has a sweet spot for writing science-themed books geared at younger readers. He’s written about Quantum Physics for Babies, My First 100 Space Words, plus many more, as well as, Let’s Power Up!. Let’s Power Up!, Charging into the Science of Electric Currents with Electrical Engineering is a very smart illustrated book, but will kids want to read it?

Let’s Power Up! is an engaging illustrated book that early elementary students can understand about electricity and currents.

STEM-minded illustrated book for early elementary

No Reading Allowed, a fun look at homonyms for ages 7 and up

Homonyms and homophones are evil, foul words that use the English language as their playing field. I watch as some of my ESL students twist and turn their minds in order to grapple with the fact that know or no and new and knew can exist in the same language universe. Having words that sound the same, but are spelled differently, yet pronounced the same, and have different meanings is a trick that’s exclusive to the English language. I thought that too, but homonyms are in fact, evil foul words that exist in every language. No Reading Allowed, The Worst Read-Aloud Book.

Bee not afraid of these fowl words

My First 100 Space Words allows young kids to be smart

Chris Ferrie is smarter than us and that’s ok. It’s his books that we like and if you have a newborn through twelve years old they are books that need to be on their radar. Quantum Physics for Babies is light reading. It’s a board book that presents concepts that many adults, including myself, would have zero chance of understanding if Ferrie were to take the material and explain it to me as an adult. My First 100 Space Words takes the same faith that babies are able to learn things the more that they’re around it and apply it to space.

A smart board book for crawlers through elementary

The Ramones rocks as an illustrated book for various ages

When is an illustrated book not an illustrated book? When it turns into a store, the old adage from bubble gum wrappers would tell us. Except, in this case, a book can’t walk and The Ramones, The Unauthorized Biography by Soledad Romero Marino with illustrations by Joe Padilla is an all-age look at a rock band that defined a generation. I know that calling them ‘rock’ and not ‘punk’ will raise the ire of some purists. Chill out my punk rock friends. This is a book that will satisfy longtime fans of The Ramones, kidlit lovers, mglit people who want to discover something new, and those parents who want to introduce their early readers to the group.

Hey Ho, let’s go read non-fiction kidlit that rocks