LP Readers Recommend...

More summer reading reviews are coming in from LP's busy summer readers!  This week we have recommendations from an incoming second grader and two incoming fourth graders.  Thank you Jack, Daniel, and Anna for sharing your recommendations with the LP summer reading community.  

If you are wondering what to read next, be sure to check out these three books -- and also be sure to send your book reviews or book trailers to dustie @ spiffychicks . com to earn an extra chance to win the Kindle at the end of summer!

Jack M. (second grade) recommends:

He says, "I read The Dark by Lemony Snicket, a legendary author.  I thought this book was amazing! This book was amazing because it has great details.  The main character is a little boy named Lazlo.  In the story Lazlo tells you where the dark can hide.  My favorite part was when the dark visited Lazlo’s room.  This book helped me not be afraid of the dark.  If you are afraid of the dark try this book!"

Anna M. (fourth grade) recommends: 

She says, "I read Nurse, Soldier, Spy by Marissa Moss and John Hendrix.  This book is a true story about a girl named Sarah Edmonds who is running away from a marriage arranged by her parents.  She disguises herself as a boy and names herself Frank Thompson, then runs away to the United States. My favorite part of this book was when the chaplain asked Frank if she wanted to be a spy and Frank did not hesitate and she said “I’M YOUR MAN!!!”  I also liked when she spilled water on the spy for the South.  I recommended this book to all ages under 6th grade.  Boys and girls will like this book because it has a lot of action in it." 

Daniel B. (fourth grade) recommends:

Daniel says, "If you like sports and suspense, you will love this book. What happens in this book can really happen in real life. It teaches you lessons that are great to learn in life, like don’t get ahead of yourself and don’t get too proud and full of yourself. The character, Drew (True) Robinson, is a basketball star who is getting too much respect and attention. So then he gets way too full of himself. He meets someone who learned the hard way that getting too full of himself has its consequences. What happens? Read the book! I think you will like True Legend and always remember the advice this book gives you!"

First Summer Guest Blogger: Upper Grade Recommendation

Looking for an adventure book with suspense and an underlying theme about the importance of teamwork?  Well our first guest blogger for the summer (and first LP reader with not one, but TWO chances to win the LP Reads Summer Reading Kindle), says you should look no further than Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis.

Here's some of what he had to say to LP Reads about this first book in the Seven Wonders series:

"I read a lot of series books with action in them.  So far, this series ranks in my top three.  I like action and suspense, so I would give this book a four out of five stars.  Percy Jackson is still my favorite series because it has so much action in it, but I like this book because the characters are descendants of Atlantis and it takes place in Greece.  The characters are really likable - athletic, innovative, good at computer programming and making things (like an alarm clock that launches a bird across a room to wake people up), and smart.  If you like fantasy and suspense, you will like Colossus Rises."

Librarian and Bookworm Love

The only problem I see with reading is that there is NEVER enough time to do as much as I'd like.  So thank goodness for the community of readers out there who work and volunteer in libraries -- and who share all of their recommendations online!  When I'm not green with envy that they've knocked down handfuls of books each week AND written about them, I find myself super thankful that I can open up a browser for an insider's view on what is new or up and coming in the world of children's literature.

Three of my go to experts are John Schu, Jen Robinson, and MaryAnn Scheuer.  Mr. Schu is a passionate K-5 librarian in Illinois, Jen Robinson is a San Jose gal who harkens from an interesting background in Industrial Engineering, and MaryAnn Scheuer is a K-5 librarian just through the tunnel in Berkeley.

 If you're looking for a little reading inspiration for your readers this summer, stop by Mr. Schu's blog, sign up for Robinson's newsletter or pop in to Scheuer's Great Kid Books Site.  Mr. Schu's site is a great place to visit with your children.  They can even watch book trailers in preparation for creating their own trailers to submit to the LP Reads blog -- hint, hint!  (Don't forget, kids earn extra entries in to the Kindle drawing for every book review/trailer etc. they submit to dustie @ spiffychicks.com). Scheuer has just finished a nice series of book recommendations by grade level and has posted recommended reading lists for each grade level as well.  If you have tiny tots in your house, Robinson's adventures include her Kindergarten through Young Adult recommendations as well as her running list of books she is reading with her Baby Bookworm. Perfect for the tiny tots in your house - because it is never too early to get the reading bug!

There's a Book for That

As with just about any topic you can think of, there's a book for that!  Women's History Month is certainly no different.  This month, The Horn Book has a few suggestions worth checking out to round out your "her-story" reading with your children, including "Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children" by Jan Pinborough and "Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell" by Tanya Lee Stone.

Soon to Be Classics

Isn't it fantastic that book reviews can come from so many places? Publishers, avid readers, friends, father-in-laws, librarian bloggers, and a few months back Real Simple Family magazine even threw their hat in the ring.  In a piece called, "Soon to Be Classic Kids' Books," Christopher Healy called out a handful of new books that he thinks "are destined to be read out loud, or under the covers with a flashlight, for years to come."  Given LP Reads' familiarity with a few of the titles, we'd have to agree that he has compiled a list worth checking out.  Top of our list, is Art and Max by David Weisner.

When books include a dash of meta-anything, the result is so often thought provoking, and in this case, just plain fun.  This simple book will leave you pondering the creation of art while your children will be lost in the playful and fantastically rendered pictures.  Healy summarizes,

When Art the iguana asks Max the lizard to paint him, Max takes the request literally, covering his friend in artistic styles from Seurat-like pointillism to the line drawing.  It's fast-paced slapstick but also a celebration of art itself.

Another book Healy recommends is The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood (and we'd add in the sequel The Loud Book).

One family we know who read the book months back is still entertaining themselves thinking of their own kinds of quiet.

Additional titles from the article include Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce; City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems (illustrated by John Muth -- an amazing combination); Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Scott Magoon; Supposing... by Alastair Reid; The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz; and The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger.

We hope that one of these titles will be a resounding hit in at least one Moraga home this holiday season.

Eureka! Trelease's Read Aloud Treasury

Summer has me in the perpetual hunt for book recommendations and I was very excited to learn about Jim Trelease's book, "The Read Aloud Handbook."*  Originally published in 1979 and in its sixth edition as of 2006, "The Read Aloud Handbook" has chapters dedicated to:

• Why reading aloud is important
• When to begin reading aloud
• The stages of reading aloud
• The do's and don'ts of reading aloud
• Sustained silent reading
• Libraries
• Television, and 
• What Oprah, Harry, and the Internet have gotten right

As you might imagine, Trelease is a passionate advocate for reading to your children early, often, and forever!

Following his informational chapters about the importance of reading aloud, he includes a "Read Aloud Treasury," which lists 113 pages of book recommendations (with short reviews) broken down by genre and age group.  This list of more than 1,000 books is complemented by his website, which showcases his more current recommendations for books that have been published since the handbook's 2006 printing.  Eureka!

In addition to his own treasury, Trelease also recommends these resources (among others) for finding out about quality new children's books:

• "Worth a Thousand Words: An Annotated Guide to Picture Books for Older Readers" by Bette D. Ammon
• The American Library Association parent resource pages as well as their book lists for award winning books like the Caldecott, Newbery, and many others
• Children's Choices and Teacher's Choices from the International Reading Association

This book is a tremendous resource and serves as a perfect starting place for anyone trying to find that next great read.

*I read the 5th edition, so there is likely new material in the 6th edition that isn't covered in this post.

CYBILS! The 2010 Winners are Here

If you haven't yet checked out the CYBILS (the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards) website, today is the day you should head on over!  CYBILS describes the award program as the place where books with "literary merit [AND] kid appeal" unite.

On Valentine's Day, while we were all feeling the love for our spouses, families and friends, CYBILS announced the books that the groups' esteemed judges are heralding as the best of 2010.  The results are handily broken down by age (Elementary & Middle Grade as well as Young Adult) and by genre (Fiction Picture Books, Non-fiction, Easy Readers, Short Chapter Books, Poetry, Graphic Novels, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Middle Grade Fiction).

We've listed the Elementary and Middle Grade winners below, but be sure to visit the site for a review of each book to see if it might spark your young readers' interest.   If you are looking for more options, you can also checkout the finalists for 2010 that we reported on in an earlier post.

Congratulations to all of the winners and happy reading LP!

Cleared for Content?

Is Harry Potter too scary for your second grader?  Is Twilight appropriate for your 4th grader?  When questions like this come up, it is sometimes difficult to know the answer unless you plunk yourself down and start reading the book in question yourself.  Add that to the list of to do items you are already trying to plug through in a day, and you might find yourself either prohibiting or approving books based on too little information.

Enter Storysnoops.  One of the Snoops (Eden) started her children's literature blogging adventure because her then 4th grade girl was "reading up" and based on a friend's advice, allowed her daughter to read Twilight because according to her friend, nothing really happens in book one.  Like so many young (and dare I say 30- and 40-year old) Twilight readers, Eden's young daughter was quickly swept away into world of Forks and continued to read her way through all four books in the series.  Unfortunately and much to Eden's dismay, her daughter had finished book four before her friend circled back to say that while the characters didn't even kiss in book one, by book four, Bella was pregnant. Yikes!

As with a lot of media, books are best previewed by parents, but unlike movies and video games, books don't come with ratings.  It remains the case that some books are just not appropriate for kids at certain ages, and as parents and teachers, we need tools for assessing whether or not we are ready for our children to read certain books.  For children's literature, especially literature written for the 8 to 12 year old set, Storysnoops is a fantastic resource.

The site allows you to search for books by title, author, or keyword (like friendship or bullying) and each review provides you with a parent's perspective about the appropriateness of each book's content and subject matter.  Take for example, the Snoops' review of Big Nate Strikes Again by Lincoln Peirce.  In it, the Snoops are careful to point out that

Nate is not always the best role model -- he often goofs off in class, and gets in trouble on a somewhat regular basis. Language is mild and mostly silly (jerk, idiot, butt naked, loser, bonehead) and mild bullying takes place. 

While the issues of Nate's behavior and language pale in comparison to a pregnant Bella, the Snoops' review empowers parents with the information they need to decide if they want to encourage or discourage the reading of that particular book.  On the positive side, the Snoops also note that "Nate learns a valuable lesson about combining the strengths and weaknesses with a partner for the greater good," and thus, again, parents are equipped to decide if the book's good points outweigh the bad and if it should be a go- or no-go-book for their child.  The Snoops' reviews also have the added benefit of pointing out the issues raised by each book, which can serve as a great way for parents to start conversations and connect with their children about books they are reading.  

One of the best features that Storysnoops offers is the ability to search for books by age group (Tweens 9-12 and Teens 13-18), by category (like Books for Boys Who are Reluctant Readers and Tweens Reading Up) and by topic (like self-confidence, sportsmanship, aliens, honesty, slavery, tolerance, and MUCH more).

The functionality of the site and the depth of the Snoops' coverage makes Storysnoops a parents' must-have-tool for guiding young readers.  Whether you use it to find the next good book for your child or to help you navigate the "appropriate content" waters of tween reading (without having to dive in yourself), Storysnoops is a great site to bookmark and blog to follow.

Are you a Story Snoop too?  What books would you recommend for LP readers and which ones would you caution other parents about?  Let us know!