Newbery Books Worth Reading: Holes by Louis Sachar

I graduated high school the year Holes by Louis Sachar won the Newbery Award--and I was one of its biggest fans. I was first in line to see the movie with my brother. And I think it's one of the rare instances when the movie is almost as good as the book and you really should experience both.

Holes is a good book for anyone to read, but it's a great book for boys. And there are some interactive features to the book on Louis Sachar's website. That's where I saw this awesome new cover:

I'm usually pretty loyal to the original cover art, but I think this new one is pretty cool too.

Have you ever read Holes? Have you seen the movie? If not, this summer is a perfect time to fix that.
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Holes
By Louis Sachar
Publisher: Francis Foster
Year: 1998
Ages/Themes: Middle Grade, Newbery Books, Books for Boys, Movies

A Stick is an Excellent Things: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play by Marilyn Singer

I love poetry, and I think if you expose children to it early, it won't seem so intimidating when they're adults. In first grade, my daughter learned about a new poem each month and she thought they were really cool.

A Stick is an Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play by Marilyn Singer is the perfect book of poems for children during the summer months. The poems are great for reading out loud together, and as the subtitle says, they celebrate playing outside. I rarely follow illustrators, but I'm beginning to recognize LeUyen Pham's work and I love her illustrations.

Do you have a favorite book of poems for children?

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A Stick is an Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play
By Marilyn Singer
Illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Publisher: Clarion Books
Year: 2012
Ages/Themes: Picture Books, Early Readers, Poetry

Ninja Baby by David Zeltser

I think this book is okay, but my kids think it's hilarious. There's something about babies doing things that babies can't normally do that is just too funny. In this book the Ninja Baby rules her house until she's joined by a Kung Fu Master (aka baby brother).

If your kids need a fun and silly picture book, try Ninja Baby by David Zeltser.

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Ninja Baby
By David Zeltser
Illustrated by Diane Goode
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Year: 2015
Ages/Themes: Picture Books

Favorite Picture Books With Dads

With Father's Day coming up in a couple of days, I wanted to highlight a few of our favorite picture books with dads in them.

At the top of the list is Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems. It's the story of a dad, his daughter, and a missing  It's been a favorite in our house for a long time.

My two-year-old's very favorite book right now is We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. Everyone in the house has it memorized. I'll read it to him occasionally, but besides featuring a dad, this is the favorite book for dad to read out loud in our house.

I recently featured Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie. It features a great father/son relationship.

Daddy Hugs by Karen Katz is a cute board book for your littlest readers and their daddies.

What are some of your favorite picture books featuring dads?

Guest Review: A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

Guest reviewer Katie is a fantasy writer, avid reader, violinist, and high school student who is happy to be on summer break so she has more time to read. Here she reviews A Tale of Two Castles by Newbery-winning author Gail Carson Levine.
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A Tale of Two Castles is written by Newbery Winning author Gail Carson Levine, who wrote Ella Enchanted. I’ve read many of her books and have loved them all. This one in particular is a favorite. The second time I read it I had forgotten the entire middle of the book so it was a familiar brand new story to me.

A young girl named Elodie decides to set out from home and go to the capital city where she hopes she can aspire to be a mansioner or an actress. Through a series of events instead of a mansioner, she becomes a dragon’s apprentice. Sent to spy for her Mastress, Elodie must figure out who is plotting against a shape-shifting ogre. Is it the greedy king, the giddy princess, the handsome cat trainer, or is it the dragon?

I loved how unique the tale is and the different personalities of each character. I think that this book would be great for girls in middle school and older.

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A Tale of Two Castles

By Gail Carson Levine

Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher

Year: 2011

Ages: Middle Grade Books, Young Adult Books, Fantasy, Fairy Tales

Newbery Books Worth Reading: The Graveyard Books

One of my favorite Newbery winning books is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. If you know anything about Neil Gaiman, you know that his books are often strange and a little bit dark. But if you like that kind of thing, Neil Gaiman is the very best. And this is the very best of Neil Gaiman.

It's about a boy who's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised and taught by its ghostly residents, the boy eventually has to face one of the terrors of the real world. It's surprising and magical and enchantingly different than most middle grade books out there.

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The Graveyard Book
By Neil Gaiman
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2008
Ages/Themes: Middle Grade Books, Newbery Winners, Newbery Books Worth Reading

More Parts by Tedd Arnold

We discovered children's author Tedd Arnold through Beastie Toys, the YouTube channel with readings of kids' books that my kids are currently obsessed with. She reads Fly Guy books on the channel, so when we went to the library, we looked for Fly Guy. Apparently they're popular books because they were all checked out, but we did find another Tedd Arnold book called More Parts.

As may be apparent by the title, More Parts is the second book in a collection, but it works fine on its own. In the book a kid stresses out when his dad asks for him to "give him a hand" and runs away when a joke is guaranteed to "crack him up." It reminded me a little bit of the Amelia Bedelia books where she takes everything literally. But this book steps it up about 10 notches and had my kids rolling with laughter (yes, literally) and grossing out at (and loving) the illustrations.

If you want to get your kids laughing, look for More Parts. Or Parts. And I think there's one called Even More Parts. Just look for Tedd Arnold books the next time you go to the library, my kids love them and yours probably will too.
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More Parts
By Tedd Arnold
Publisher: Picture Puffin Books
Year: 2003
Ages/Themes: Young Children, Picture Books, Tedd Arnold

Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie

Thunder Boy Jr. is named after his dad. His dad's nickname is Big Thunder, which sounds like something awesome. But Thunder Boy Jr.'s nickname is Little Thunder, which sounds like a burp or a fart. Thunder Boy Jr. is a book about the meaning of names, about fitting in with your family and finding your own identity.

Sherman Alexie is an important American author. I think everyone should read his works. So I was excited to find he had written a children's picture book. My girls loved this book too. They enjoyed the play with words and names. You can read this book for fun, or you can use it to open up a conversation about family names and identity.
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Thunder Boy Jr.
By Sherman Alexie
Illustrated by Yuyi Morales
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Year: 2016
Ages/Themes: Young Children, Picture Books, Diverse Books, Family