books4yourkids

Paper Towns is  John Green's third book and the first I have read.  I am an instant admirer. As of this writing, Green has only three titles to his name -  Looking for Alaska , his debut novel and winner of the Michael L Printz Award - the teen literature version of the Newbery Award ,   An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns .  His most recent book,   Will Grayson, Will Grayson  was cowritten with the amazing editor and author David Leavithan , who is also the coauthor with Rachel Cohn of one of my all-time favorite teen books, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist .  And, Green is part of the super-teen-triad, along with Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle, that created  Let it Snow , a collection of three intertwined stories.  Despit e the fact that he has only a handful of published works under his belt, Green has made a huge impression on the world of teen literature that will last for years to come.  His reputation is big enough that I found myself a bit skeptical wh

The Cool Crazy Crickets Club and The Cool Crazy Crickets to the Rescue are (hopefully) a new series of beginning reader chapter books from author David Elliott and illustrator Paul Meisel . Besides his many other chapter and picture books, you may recognize David Elliott from last year's superb picture book, Finn Throws a Fit , illustrated by the magnificent Timothy Basil Ering , illustrator of the Newbery winning Tale of Desperaux by Kate diCamillo. Finn Throws a Fit perfectly chronicles the the impossible to anticipate moods of a toddler that, in the best cases, are weathered with patience and love by mystified parents. The Cool Crazy Crickets series, along with Jennifer Richard Jacobson's Andy Shane series, both of which are published by the always excellent Candlewick Press , really deserve a Reading Level label of their own, which I have now bestowed upon them! Reading Level 1.5! Thes

This August, my book review blog will be two years old, but I think I've been feeling that 7 year itch about 5 years early. My eyes have been wandering and my attentions straying - to teen books. Before I committed my attentions to reading kid's books for the purpose of reviewing them, I would read the occasional teen book, especially as my daughter approached that age and content level. Because I shelve in that section, as well as kid's, I have been a "blurb reader" for many many years and noticed the quality and selection of books improving immensely. JK Rowling's  Harry Potter  raised the bar and bumped adults' interest level for kid's books, and there are so many excellent fantasy novels that have come out for kids in the last ten years, perhaps because of this. Something similar, but not equal, has been happening in the teen section. I think that teen books, on their own, were gradually, steadily improving their content and quality of writ

Daisy Dawson and the Secret Pond is book two in a series written by Steve Voake and illustrated by  Jessica Messerve .  If you remember my review of  lat year Daisy Dawson is on Her Way , the first book in the series, you know how enchanted I am by this fabulous series of books for emerging readers.   Animal lover and dawdler, Daisy is always late for school.  This is especially so after she encounters a magical yellow butterfly that gives her the gift of talking with the animals.  When Daisy is given a camera for her birthday (and some smelly Strawberry Surprise perfume) and a school assignment to study animals in their habitats, she sets of into the wilds behind her home.  Trixie McDixie, the barn car, tells Daisy that she thinks two otters have moved into the pond upstream and maybe they should go investigate.  The squirrels, Uncle Cyril and his water loving niece and nephew Hazel and Conker, join in the expedition. The group makes it across the dangerous Darkwater Sum

The Mercy Watson Series by Newbery Award Winner Kate Di Camillo with brilliantly crisp and colorful illustrations by Chris Van Dusen is a gem, a real treasure.  I'll be honest, up to this point, I had only read one book by Kate DiCamillo, beloved to many adults and children, and had not enjoyed the experience.  Because of this, and the fact that they were only published in hardcover, I avoided Mercy Watson for the last five years.  Now that the first three books in this six book series are in paperback, I am willing to admit the error of my ways! The six books in the series are as follows: Mercy Watson to the Rescue  Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride Mercy Watson Fights Crime Mercy Watson:  Princess in Disguise Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig  Mercy Watson:  Something Wonky This Way Comes Although these books test out at a mid-second grade reading level, I think tha

You don't always have to read a fantasy novel to visit another world.  Sometimes other worlds exist right here on Earth, next to us, in front of us, behind us.  And sometimes I think it is harder to create a real world like the one Andrea Beaty conjurs up in  The Secrets of the Cicada Summer than it is to bring to life a realm filled with wizards and wands.  While in high school I developed a penchant for  Southern writers and books set in the South and I have had a soft spot for them ever since.  Born and raised in Southern California, the geography, culture and people of the South are almost as alien to me as Saturn or Hogwarts.  I realize that Illinois is not exactly the Deep South, but the setting for the novel,  Olena, IL,  population 117 sure does seem that way. With The Secrets of the Cicada Summer , Beaty has written a book that reminds me of the kind I read when I was a kid, befor

I know that there are hundreds of fabulous picture books out there that educate and entertain and I have no idea why I have not grouped them in this context before now, but these two marvelous titles just happened into my life at he same time and that spark was struck!  Then, I stumbled upon this wonderful blog,   Open Wide, Look Inside , which is dedicated to sharing ways to integrate children's across the curriculum, with an emphasis in math, science and social studies.  The mind behind the blog is Tricia Sthor-Hunt, a professor at the University of Richmond where, as she says, she has "the distinct honor and pleasure of preparing future teachers."  She also runs the blog with the BEST NAME EVER, The Miss Rumphius Effect   where she writes about "children's literature, poetry, and issues related to teaching children and their future teachers."  Both of these blogs are great resources for ways to use literature to teach. if the ideas don't pop into your

The Once Upon a Time Map Book   by BG Hennessy with illustrations by Peter Joyce Purchased from Barnes & Noble The Once Upon a Time Map Book by  BG Hennessy with illustrations by Peter Joyce caught my attention right away. It has two of my favorite things - maps and fairy tales! Readers are invited to visit six different Once Upon a Time Lands. Each map has all the attributes of a traditional map, from a compass rose to routes and points of interest. Fittingly, Hennessy and Joyce have hidden treasures for all readers to find in each magical locale. The Once Upon a Time Map Book  teaches children how to read a map by giving coordinates for key sites on the maps. In Neverland you can moor your boat in Mermaid Cove (E1) the take the path to Pirate River (E3). If you head two Pirate miles west, you will find a waterfall (D3). There is a key that shows you what length two Pirate miles is, delineating the various paths on the island.  There are also seven hidden Lost Boys and a trea