Childrens Books

Today I will be sending out the new issue of the Growing Bookworms email newsletter. (If you would like to subscribe, you can find a sign-up form here.) The Growing Bookworms newsletter contains content from my blog focused on children's and young adult books and raising readers. There are 1685 subscribers. Generally, I send out the newsletter once every two weeks. This time, however, it's been three weeks, because I was on vacation last week (my daughter's first trip to Disney World). Newsletter Update: In this issue I have nine book reviews (three picture books, three middle grade novels, and three young adult novels). I also have two posts with children's literacy and reading-related links that I shared on Twitter and one with the WordGirl word of the month for June. Terry Doherty, Carol Rasco, and I are taking a bit of a break from the children's literacy and reading roundups for the summer (though I think Carol will squeeze in one more this week), but we'll continue to share reading links on Twitter. Look for the #litRdUp hashtag for items of particular interest.  Reading Update: In the past 3 weeks, I finished 2 novels for middle grade readers and 3 novels for young adults. I read:  Claire Legrand: The Year of Shadows. Simon & Schuster. Middle Grade. Completed June 5, 2013. Phoebe Rivers: Saranormal #6: Giving Up the Ghost. Simon Spotlight. Middle Grade. Completed June 6, 2013. Anne Applegate: The Last Academy. Point. Young Adult. Completed May 30, 2013. My review. Bethany Griffin: Masque of the Red Death. Greenwillow Books. Young Adult. Completed June 12, 2013, on Kindle from library. Sarah Jamila Stevenson: Underneath. Flux Books. Young Adult. Completed June 17, 2013, on Kindle. Several of these were vacation reads, for my personal enjoyment - reviews may or not be to come, depending on how the week goes.  I'm currently reading Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen by Donna Gephart on my Kindle, and Dust Girl (Book 1 of the American Fairy trilogy) by Sarah Zettel in paperback. I'm listening to Clockwork Princess (Book 3 of the Infernal Devices trilogy) by Cassandra Clare on MP3. I recently introduced Baby Bookworm to The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. I don't think she completely gets it, but she's enjoying it anyway. She's also enjoying 1, 2, 3 ... By the Sea: A Counting Book by Dianne Moritz & Hazel Mitchell. We took lots of Fancy Nancy, Berenstain Bears, and Little Critter books with us on vacation, because these are relatively text-dense paperbacks, and make excellent travel books. The Fancy Nancy books are particularly good for vocabulary-building.  How about you? What have you and your kids been reading and enjoying? Thanks for reading the newsletter, and for growing bookworms. Wishing you lots of summer reading! © 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.  You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Parents, students, and teachers alike love the summer. It is a time to relax, recharge, and spend extra time with friends and family. However, it is not a time to forget about learning, especially through reading. I express during my spring conferences how important it is for students to read daily over the summer. As a teacher I know that reading every single day, is one of the most important parts of a child’s education. I also know as a parent that it is sometimes difficult to fit it in on some days. Whether your child’s school calls it “summer slide” or “summer slump,” it’s well known that children can lose some of their reading abilities and comprehension skills over the summer. Some students, and even parents, still don’t believe me when I tell them that not reading for two months can affect their overall reading ability come September. Here are some simple suggestions to keep reading a priority every day this summer no matter where you may travel. 1. Always have your child pack a book, or several books, when you prepare for a trip. Even if it is just a weekend trip, add books to your packing list. Chapter book readers may only need 1 or 2 books for short trips, but younger children may need more. My daughter always picks 5–6 books to pack even if we just visit family for a weekend. Now that we have Storia, we just pack the iPad and she has tons of books at her fingertips. 2. Make books a special souvenir! Whether you are visiting the zoo, an aquarium, or even Disney World, every gift shop I have been to sells books. Your child will be so excited from their exhilarating adventure, I am certain they would love to choose a book about it, and want to begin reading it that very day. If you find the gift shop to be too pricey, search Storia for books related to your adventure. 3. Grab brochures, fliers, magazines, and pamphlets in your hotel. Reading doesn’t always have to be just books. Many times these items are free in hotels, and can give your child information about all the exciting sights and events in the area. Your child can even help plan your vacation itinerary with you! 4. To make a reading and writing connection, have your child keep an adventure journal. They can use it to take notes or draw pictures about what they are learning when they visit different places. When they get home, they can use their notes and drawings to make their own nonfiction picture book to share with friends and family and talk about their trip. No matter what you have planned this summer, I highly encourage you make reading and a part of your everyday adventures. This will help your child maintain their reading ability, and they will be ready to share their amazing books and adventures with their new class in September. Happy eReading! Author Bio: Laura Murray is a fourth grade teacher in Paramus, New Jersey. This is her second year using Storia in her classroom and at home with her daughter, and she loves it!

Robot, Go Bot! by Dana Meachen Rau, illustrated by Wook Jin Jung In this most simple of graphic novels, a little girl builds a robot and when she presses the big red button, it comes to life.  The robot happily plays with bubbles with her, plays ball and floats in a boat.  But then, the little girl gets more demanding and has the robot sewing, being a horsie, planting a garden, and mowing the yard.  Finally, the robot has had enough and leaves.  While the girl searches for him, she realizes that she has to be a good friend in order to have a good friend.  Rau has written a very simple book here with only minimal words that often rhyme for even simpler reading.  It is the pictures that really tell this story completely.  Done in comic style, they have rounded panels.  Yet they also have the feel of picture book illustrations with their bright colors and playful feel.  The softness of the illustrations also invite very young children to read.  I appreciated the choice to have the main character a girl, since so many robot books have male characters. Simple and playful, this most beginning of graphic novels is inviting to little children and has the appeal of robots as well.  Appropriate for ages 4-6. Reviewed from digital galley received from Random House. Filed under: Book Reviews, Easy Readers, Graphic Novels Tagged: friendship, robots

This book is really funny, but I never did really capture that in the booktalk. But hey, I introduced the series to bunches of kids, so there's that. The Warrior Sheep Go West by Christine and Christopher Russell Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2011 From the ancient Songs of the Fleece, the verses of prophecy: “A terrible monster will come from the West; And a brave flock of warriors will be put to the test. /For this monster has woken from centuries of sleep, /And its stomach will hunger for sheep. Then more sheep. /Hundreds of thousands will die every hour /All the sheep in the world it will seek to devour. /Like a gigantic dog from the West it will come /and the name of this monster, be warned, is: Red Tongue.” These words, along with an unfortunately timed pop-up ad, start a crazy adventure as The Warrior Sheep Go West. This group of highly intelligent sheep and their owners travel to the American west under the false promises of a sleazy scientist. But as the evildoers have search for the sheep that they have lost, the little herd is trying to save fleecekind from the terrifying Red Tongue in this silly, mixed-up story. Links to material on Amazon.com contained within this post may be affiliate links for the Amazon Associates program, for which this site may receive a referral fee.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey The author of the Monstrumologist series returns with this riveting story of alien invasion.  The planet knew that the aliens had arrived, but the silence for days left them feeling hopeful.  Then the 1st wave took away electricity and cars.  The 2nd wave took out the coasts.  The 3rd wave brought the Red Death.  The 4th wave took away trust.  Cassie is one of the survivors of all four waves and just may be the only remaining human on earth.  She has seen her family die, her mother from the Red Death and her father killed right in front of her, but her little brother may still be alive, since he was taken to safety on a school bus.  But Cassie also knows that it is death to trust anyone at all, so she is not sure whether where Sammy was taken is safe or not.  Now she is alone, just her and her M16, trying to reach him.  Then Evan Walker enters her life, saving her from a gunshot wound.  Cassie knows to trust no one.  So how does she deal with a situation where she was to trust to heal and maybe even to save her brother. This is one incredible novel.  The pacing is what I have to talk about first.  There are moments where I could not turn the pages fast enough, then others where I had to walk away for a bit to deal with the latest heart-shattering reveal.  This book is a dance of hope and terror, trust and knowing better.  Yancey proves quickly that he is not afraid to shock, to kill, to maim.  This book is filled with death, filled with despair, yet it is also about strength, hope and humanity.  Yancey writes this perfectly, keeping readers on a razorblade of tension throughout.  A large piece of the success of this book are the characters and the book tells their individual stories.  Cassie is one strong heroine, who is willing to go through hell to get her little brother back.  She is not fearless but is always courageous and willing to do what has to be done.  Readers find out before Cassie herself does what happened to her little brother.  This adds to that tension, especially since one doesn’t trust Yancey not to do horrific things even to the littlest of children.  There is Zombie, a boy that Cassie went to school with, who has been trained to be a child soldier since the aliens came.  And finally, there is Evan, the farmboy heartthrob who is dangerous but delicious too. Expect this to be one of the big books this summer.  It would be a pleasure to booktalk, since the alien invasion in waves basically sells this.  Perhaps most telling of all is that this is now the only way that I see an alien invasion happening.  It is clever, chilling and deadly.  Appropriate for ages 15-17. Reviewed from copy received from Putnam. Filed under: Book Reviews, Teen Tagged: aliens, dystopian, science fiction

Submitted by sadie, Age 12 from Rhode Island Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars This book is about a girl named Ali going away for the summer with her aunt. When shes there she meets a girl named sissy. Sissy is not the nicest person. Wierd things , bad things have been happening around the summer home . But Ali discovers something about Sissy , something scary, something so shocking it will want to make you read more….. even though this book gets a little confusing it will all play out in the end, i love this shocking realistic fiction , mystery book. This book is a good book for mystery lovers.

Submitted by Celia, Age 11 from Rhode Island Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars Billie Jo lives with her mom and dad in a town where it barley rains, dust storms destroy lots of iteams, and crops are dying. Billie Jo loves playing piano and she is very talented on piano. but after the accident everything changes. her life goes downhill and lets just say shes not the same. will her life get better? what accident changed her life? your just gonna have to find out in this amazing realistic fiction book!

Submitted by Allison, Age 12 from Rhode Island Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IS AMAZING! IT IS A REALISTIC FICTION BOOK THAT REALLY TELLS THE DRAMA OF MIDDLE SCHOOL. I HAVE READ ALL OF THEM AND THEY ARE FANTASTIC. I REALLY LIKE HOW RACHEL RIGHTS HER REALISTIC FICTION BECAUSE IT IS CLEAR WHAT IT IS RELATEING TO. I SERIOUSLY RECOMMEND READING THIS BOOK.

The winners of the 2013 CILIP Carnegie Medal and Kate Greenaway Medal have been announced: The Carnegie winner is: Sally Gardner for Maggot Moon   The Kate Greenaway winner is: Levi Pinfold for Black Dog Filed under: Awards

You’ve heard the saying, “It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.” Well, in Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass, the two main characters are on a search for four keys in the city of New York — which seems like it would be at least as difficult as the needle-haystack scenario, if not harder! Why the quest? Jeremy is about to turn 13, and he learns that before his father died, he left Jeremy a locked box to open on his 13th birthday. The only problem? No keys. And wouldn’t you know it — the box was specifically designed to only accept four specific keys in four specific locks. And it can’t be forced open either! So Jeremy and his best friend, Lizzy, set off on an adventure that takes them all over the city and introduces them to all sorts of interesting people — from a man who questions the value of money, to an old woman who never got over betraying her best friend from childhood, to a scientist at the American Museum of Natural History, to a fortune teller on the boardwalk of Coney Island. Can any of these people help Jeremy and Lizzy find the keys to the box? Or if not, can they at least help Jeremy discover the meaning of life? Because according to the label on the box, that’s what Jeremy’s dad left inside of it… I loved this book. Loved loved loved it! And you will too, if you enjoy heartwarming stories about friendship and family with a little mystery thrown in. Also, if you’re already a Wendy Mass fan, this book is definitely for you! Already read the book — or seen the movie adaptation? Leave a comment with your thoughts! I’d especially like to know if I should see the movie! — Karen Karen has participated in scavenger hunts in San Francisco, but never in New York. Who wants to organize one for her? Anyone? More about Karen »