Books to Inspire, Thrill and Engage Children
Fairy tales teach us consequences, moral character, or how to deal with change. The Paper Crane by Molly Bang, is a modern fairy tale that focuses on dealing with change. A man's restaurant is busy, and he is happy - until a new highway is built which drives traffic away from his business. His sorrow... Continue Reading →
Boys have always been attached to their dogs. And Great-Grandfather was attached to Three Names, so called because everyone in the family had a different name for him. Three Names by Patricia MacLachlan isn't so much about the relationship between Great-Grandfather and Three Names, as it is about Three Names being a part of Great-Grandfather's... Continue Reading →
I almost squealed with delight when I discovered Hattie Ever After, the sequel to Kirby Larson's Hattie Big Sky. Of course, I immediately came home and devoured it, I was so anxious to find out what happens to Hattie after she leaves Montana. I appreciated Larson's treatment of Hattie - even though she loves a... Continue Reading →
Solveig, her older sister and younger brother, the crown prince, are trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between a narrow fjord and towering mountains. Their father sent them there, along with a band of fierce and restless warriors, to protect them during battle with his sworn enemy. But mysterious things are happening - food missing,... Continue Reading →
Chris Van Allsburg, a talented artist and author, brings his unique eye to the younger crowd in his alphabet book The Z was Zapped. Each letter takes the stage, and something happens to it. The E slowly evaporates. The M begins to melt. The O is overgrown. And you can guess what happens to the... Continue Reading →
Author Arthur Geisert succeeded in writing an engaging picture book using just one word, and that one word is really a sound: oink. Oink is about a mama pig, her litter of piglets and their life on the farm. Geisert's near-black-&-white illustrations are beautifully delicate and detailed in telling the pigs' story. I can imagine... Continue Reading →
Imagine growing up in the wilderness, with no adults to care for you, feed you or clothe you. Imagine sleeping outside all the time - winter and summer - not knowing any other human being or knowing how to talk. In 1797 in southern France, mountain villagers returned home with what sounded like a crazy... Continue Reading →
One of the great things about books is that they take readers to another time and place, and help us to see the world from a different perspective, whether historical, geographical, or ... I have read some great books which focus on children living with a disability - Follow My Leader, The Cay, The Door in... Continue Reading →
Children ready for short chapter books will enjoy the I Survived... books by Lauren Tarshis (the author of Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree). These action-packed adventures tell the story of a child, usually a boy, who has survived a catastrophe - like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, etc. The stories... Continue Reading →
When we first started reading A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, my children and I were rather confused. Throughout the book, Park weaves together the stories of two children who grew up in Sudan. One story starts in 2008, the other starts in 1985. In 2008, Nya walks to the pond twice... Continue Reading →
Cultivating Readers 