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?

The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

Princesses don't run. Princesses don't wear black. Princesses definitely don't fight monsters. Or do they? As the mother of girls who love princesses and superheroes, I loved reading this book with my girls. There has been a little bit of effort in recent years to include female superheroes (though they're still by far the minority), but I appreciated that in this book, you don't have to choose. You can be a princess and a superhero.

This book was written by wife/husband team Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. Shannon Hale is one of my favorite YA authors. And it's illustrated by LeUyen Pham. I rarely recognize an illustrator's work, but I'm beginning to recognize her and have another favorite picture book that she illustrated that I'll highlight soon.

This book is told in short chapters with large type so it would make a good first chapter book. With my early reader, I read some pages and she read some pages. She's reading pretty good, but she gets overwhelmed quickly, so I take the pages with lots of type and give her the ones with more pictures and fewer words. It's a fun, quick read. Give it a try with your girls. Or with your boys--there may be a goat boy who takes inspiration from the Princess in Black that they can cheer for if they shy away from princess stuff.

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The Princess in Black
By Shannon Hale and Dean Hale
Illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Year: 2014
Info: color illustrations
Ages: Picture Books, Early Readers, First Chapter Books
Themes: princesses, superheroes, monsters
Source: our public library

Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne

We just finished reading our first Magic Tree House book out loud together. In these books siblings Jack and Annie go on adventures and get to travel to different times and places. I've heard about them for a while and I wanted to start with #1, Dinosaurs Before Dark.

A quick perusal of the Magic Tree House website shows that the series was originally written by Mary Pope Osborne and she was joined by her husband Will Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce in writing later books and spinoffs. The first 28 books are short and have large type, so they're the best ones for early readers to start with. Later books are written at a higher reading level so young readers can advance along with the book.

It was perfect for reading out loud together. The chapters were short enough to keep even my three-year-old's attention. The chapter endings made my kids gasp and ask what was going to happen next.
The writing was simple and perfect for early readers. My first grader read a few pages with me and I think this series will be perfect as first chapter books for her to read on her own. If you're looking for good books to read aloud or for your early reader to start chapter books on, check out the Magic Tree House series.

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Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark
By Mary Pope Osborne
Illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2014
Info: B&W Illustrations
Ages: Early Readers, First Chapter Books
Themes: adventure, time travel, siblings
Source: our public library