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

Sharing the Bread by Pat Zietlow Miller & Jill McElmurry

I feel a bit like Charlie Brown: "We have another holiday to worry about. It seems Thanksgiving Day is upon us!" I actually love Thanksgiving, but it snuck up on me this year. Christmas is at the top of my list, but Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season for me. We don't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but I do listen to Christmas music well beforehand. If there were more good Thanksgiving songs, I'd listen to those.

There are also a lot more Christmas books than Thanksgiving books. I was looking at the library for a Thanksgiving themed books to read with my kids. The first one I got was written in the 1950s and I wasn't comfortable with the way it portrayed Native Americans. Recently I found this book, Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving by Pat Zietlow Miller & Jill McElmurry.

There's only one brief reference to the first Thanksgiving when the young boy makes Pilgrim hats. But it focused on what I love about Thanksgiving: family, food, and gratitude. I appreciated how this old-fashioned Thanksgiving dinner had the whole family working together to make the meal. It's how I remember Thanksgiving as a child. My grandmother may have most of the side dishes, but Grandpa was always in charge of making his famous potato rolls. And on the other side of my family, Grandpa made the pies. Everyone shared in the work as well as enjoying the meal together.

Do you have any favorite Thanksgiving books?

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Sharing the Bread: An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving
By Pat Zietlow Miller & Jill McElmurry
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Year: 2015
Ages: Picture Books, Young Children
Themes: Thanksgiving, holidays, food, family, stories in rhyme
Info: Full color illustrations

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

I grabbed Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate off the library shelf because I had read and loved her Newbery winning book, The One and Only Ivan. I ended up loving Crenshaw just as much.

Crenshaw is young Jackson's imaginary friend who happens to be a large cat. Jackson hadn't seen Crenshaw in years, but when his family starts struggling with money again, his fears of having to live out of their van again resurface and so does Crenshaw.

My heart broke for Jackson and for his parents. Katherine Applegate is a great storyteller and this is an important story. Besides entertaining, this book would tell children who struggle with poverty that they are not alone. And it would help children who've never had to go hungry or want for anything learn empathy for others. I highly recommend it for you or for your middle grade readers.

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Crenshaw
by Katherine Applegate
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Year: 2015
Ages: Middle Grade Books
Themes: imaginary friends, poverty, homelessness
Source: our public library

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” – Madeleine L’Engle

A Wrinkle in Time is one of my favorite books ever. I've put it on every list of books I think everyone should read and I've read it at least once a year since I was about ten years old. I miss it if I don't read it. Thought it is geared toward younger readers, I think every adult should read it too.

I've had a hard time explaining why I love this book so much. It undeniably has some strange elements to it. It's written in very simple language. It begins with a cliche--"It was a dark and stormy night." But I could relate to Meg--awkward, emotional, unpopular, feeling unloved. I think most young girls feel that way. (I'm not sure about the popular pretty girls, because none of them ever talked to me.) Yet in the end, Meg is the hero. She saves her family.

This book is simple enough for children, but has themes complex enough for me to choose it for my adult book club read. If you haven't read it, you should. It needs to be sitting on your bookshelf for your kids to discover and love someday.

What's your favorite book from  your childhood? Do you have a book that you read over and over again?

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A Wrinkle in Time

by Madeleine L'Engle

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Year: 1962

Info: Newbery Award Winner

Ages: Middle Grade, Young Adult

Themes: science fiction, good vs. evil, conformity, family, love

Source: my bookshelf

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (Newbery Winner)

Once upon a time I made a goal to read all the Newbery Medal books. It's a goal that once met, was easy to maintain as it requires I read one new book each year. There are some weird stories that won back in the early days, but there are some beautiful books sprinkled throughout, especially in the last thirty or so years.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse stands out to me as a great book among other great books. The novel is told in verse form by young Billie Jo as she and her family live through the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and as she goes through unimaginably hard challenges. Since it's told in verse, the writing is especially sparse and beautiful--every word has a reason for being there. And the story is engaging, at times heartbreaking, and ultimately inspiring.

This book is great for middle grade and young adult readers alike. It's a good introduction to verse, or poetry, because it tells a story. The story is interesting enough to keep their attention, and it teaches about a part of American History. Many adults will enjoy this book too--it was well received when the women in my book club all read it.

(I will warn that there is death in the book. Not that children and young adults shouldn't read about death. But I've learned to be aware of recommending books with death and loss in them to children who have experienced a recent death in the family. Wait till emotions are less raw.)
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Out of the Dust: A Novel
By Karen Hesse
Publisher: Scholastic
Year: 1997
Info: won Newbery Medal, told in verse
Ages: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Themes: family, Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, historical fiction, loss, coming of age
Source: my bookshelf