Literacy Tip: Let Your Kids See You Reading

I've had a long week. I had a long to do list on Monday and had the kind of week where I just had to keep adding things. Even though it's Friday, I've barely made a dent in it. So to keep things light here, for both you and me, I want to share a quick literacy tip.

You read it in the title: just let your kids see you reading. Books, ebooks, magazines, articles. Let them see you read and enjoy reading. Show them that reading is important to you. Kids want to do everything their parents are doing, so give them good reading habits to imitate.

Today my four-year-old noticed me reading and we had this conversation:

N: You like to read all the time, Mom.

Me: Yes, I love reading.

N: But you read your books in your head because you don't know all the words.

Me: Actually, I just like to read to myself and I think the words in my head, but I know most the words.

N: Oh. And we would get really annoyed if you read your books out loud all the time.

Yaks Yak: Animal Word Pairs by Linda Sue Park

In this fun book yaks yak and bugs bug bugs. My first grader has loved reading this book together. The fun homograph word play makes her laugh and has opened up discussions about linguistics and where words come from.

This book is great for early readers, but it would be fun for any elementary aged child.
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Yaks Yak: Animal Word Pairs
By Linda Sue Park
Illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt
Publisher: Clarion Books
Year: 2016
Ages: Young Children, Early Readers, Picture Books, Word Play

You can find this book on Amazon (affiliate link), at your local independent bookstore, or at your local library.

Summerlost by Ally Condie

"It is possible to be different and still belong to your family. For them to love you like crazy."

I grew up on books like A Taste of Blackberries and Bridge to Terabithia where a best friend of the protagonist dies near the end. I feel that sometimes books like that end where they should begin because they don't spend much time dealing with how a child copes with loss.

Enter Summerlost by Ally Condie. Condie is the author of the best-selling Matched trilogy. Summerlost is the story of a summer that Cedar spends with her mother and brother in a new home a year after they lost their father and another brother in a car accident. Another important topic that this book talks about is what it is like to have a sibling with special needs. It captures the love and the frustration and the guilt.

Now that I've made it sound like a book to read just to learn a lesson, it also has a really great story with great characters. I recommend it to any middle grade reader.
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Summerlost
By Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
Year: 2016
Ages: Middle Grade Books

You can find this book on Amazon (affiliate link), at an independent bookstore, or at your local library.

Steelheart (The Reckoners) by Brandon Sanderson

Superhero movies and books are abundant these days. There are even superheroes with dark sides. But what if there were people who gained superhero powers, but none of them were good? What if the world was filled with super villains but there were no good guys with super powers to stop them?

I was in the middle of reading two other books when I started reading Steelheart, the first book in The Reckoners series by Brandon Sanderson. I abandoned those and finished this book as quickly as I could. The premise is intriguing, the story was fast-paced and fun, and its full of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I'll probably reread it someday to see if there's foreshadowing that I missed. The good news is it's part of a series, so there's more to read.

I recommend this book for anyone who likes superheroes, adventures, or alternate worlds (I hesitate to call it a dystopia, but the world is certainly a grimmer place with villains controlling everything). This would be a great book for teenage boys.

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Steelheart
By Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Year: 2013
Ages: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Books for Boys

You can buy this book on Amazon (affiliate link) or at your local independent library).

Newbery Books Worth Reading: The Blue Sword

Robin McKinley was one of my favorite authors growing up. She writes retellings of classic fairy tales, including two different versions of Beauty and the Beast. And she writes some original fantasy books. The Blue Sword is one of them and it was a Newbery Honor book in 1983. 

McKinley wrote strong female leads before there was so much emphasis on making sure girls read books with strong female leads. In The Blue Sword a young orphaned girl is destined to wield a legendary sword and become the king's rider. I loved reading it as a young girl and I still love it. It's a great book for girls, but there's plenty of action and adventure for boys to enjoy too. And it's definitely a Newbery book worth reading.

You can buy this book on Amazon (affiliate link) or at your local independent book store.
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The Blue Sword
By Robin McKinley
Publisher: Greenwillow
Year: 1982
Ages: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Themes: Newbery Honor, Fantasy

Board Book: The Babies and Doggies Book

The authors of this board book know what toddlers like. I have a toddler and babies and doggies are two of his favorite things. In that order. He also loves books, so a book he's allowed to play with by himself that has his two favorite things? It's one of his favorite books.

We found this book at the library, but this would be a great book to own if you have babies and toddlers or a great gift book for babies and toddlers. Basically, babies and toddlers would love this book about babies and doggies. Another great thing about this book is that it is real photographs. When they get older kids often like illustrations and cartoons, but at the earliest stages they respond to pictures of real faces much better.

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The Babies and Doggies Book
By John & Molly
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Year: 2015
Ages: Toddlers, Babies, Board Books

You can buy this book on Amazon (affiliate link) or at your local independent book store.

That Is Not a Good Idea! by Mo Willems

Mo Willems is best known for Pigeon and Elephant & Piggie. But we like all of his stuff. At our latest library excursion we found That Is Not a Good Idea! It's fun because it's set up like an old silent movie.

It's a fun book with a fun ending. After just a couple of readings, my four-year-old can look through it and quote the story herself. I have a feeling we're going to be reading this one a lot for the next few weeks.

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That Is Not a Good Idea
By Mo Willems
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Year: 2013

Happy 100th Birthday to Beverly Cleary

Image from Powells.com, one of my favorite independent bookstores.

I'm a day late, but children's book author Beverly Cleary turned 100 yesterday. I grew up with Ramona. I remember reading her squeezing all the toothpaste out of a tube and pulling all the tissues out of a box and really wanting to do those things too. I was a rule follower and was envious of free-spirited Ramona. Through her, I got to experience things I was too timid and cautious to do myself.

To celebrate Cleary's birthday, three of her books are being released with special new forewords. I have the new edition of Ramona Quimby, Age 8 hiding in my closet waiting for my daughter's 7th birthday next month.

April has also been declared D.E.A.R. month--Drop Everything And Read--to encourage kids to make reading a priority.

Did you read Beverly Cleary books growing up? Which was your favorite?

Newbery Books Worth Reading: Invincible Louisa

In my early twenties I worked in a middle school library. It was one of my favorite jobs because I worked with books all day long. Middle school is the perfect age for reading Newbery books. I had already read a lot of them as a child, so I made the goal to read them all. It took a long time, but a few years ago I met that goal and have kept it up by reading the Newbery winner each year after it's announced.

The John Newbery Award is given to "the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." And I'd love to say that they are all great and you and your kids should read them all! But the award started in 1922 and I have to admit that children's literature used to be just plain weird. From too many horse and dog stories to downright weird and creepy. (I'm looking at you Miss Hickory that ends with a squirrel eating the protagonist doll's nut head. Sorry for the spoiler, but really, you can skip that one.)

So here I begin an ongoing series highlighting the Newbery Award books that are worth reading. Even though some are strange, many of them are on my list of favorite children's books of all time. I haven't read all the Newbery Honor books, but I will include some notable ones that I have read.

First we're going to go all the way back to 1934. (See? Some of the oldies are goodies.)

I read Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs when I was a young girl. It's the story of the author of Little Women. So obviously I recommend it for those who have already read, or at least watched, Little Women. I don't remember a lot of details, but I remember that it held my interest. I think it's a good book for young girls to read because it helps them make the connection between books and authors. Actual people write the books they read, which means that maybe they could too.

I also recommend reading the book Little Women and I even really adore the 1994 movie version of Little Women, and not just because Christian Bale is in it, though that doesn't hurt. Little Women would be a great book for mothers and daughters to read together. And then watch Christian Bale, I mean, the movie. If you haven't read it or seen the movie, just take my advice and keep the tissues handy.

What to Do with a Box by Jane Yolen

Another fun library find, this book is illustrated to look like a cardboard box and imagines the different things you can do with a box. It's a simple, sweet story told in rhyme. But I think it's the illustrations that make my kids choose it night after night. It also sparks their imagination because they've spent time turning cardboard boxes into houses and ships and airplanes.

What do your kids turn boxes into?
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What to Do with a Box
By Jane Yolen
Illustrated Chris Sheban
Publisher: Creative Editions
Year: 2016