2024 Summer Reading Guide: Emerging Readers (ages 5-9)
May 30, 2024 Comments Off on 2024 Summer Reading Guide: Emerging Readers (ages 5-9)
The school year is wrapping up, which only means one thing (well, besides parental panic): it’s time for my Summer Reading Guide! This year’s guide, chock full of new releases, will have three installments: Emerging Readers (today!), Elementary Readers, and last but never least, Tweens & Young Teens. Keep your eyes here so you don’t miss all the fun!
If you’re local (or even if you’re not!), you can visit Old Town Books, where the guide is already on display and ready to shop (sneak peek of the entire guide here!). If you want personalized recommendations, I’ll be holding office hours this Saturday, June 1 from 10am-5pm; Friday, June 14 from 12-5pm; and Saturday, June 29 from 10am-3pm. Come shop with me: our shelves overfloweth with summery reads!
Emerging readers, the target of today’s round-up, is a broad classification: it encompasses a spectrum of readers from those who are just beginning to read on their own to those confidently reading but still happiest with slimmer stories and lots of illustrations. I’ve organized this list—a mix of early graphic novels, early chapter books, and young chapter books—from youngest to oldest, easiest to hardest. (I’ve also noted page count and included a picture of the interior so you can gauge level.) All of the books are starts to new series, many with second titles already out or out soon. As always, I’ve read them all and weeded out tons of others to bring you the best of the best!
Let’s get those new(ish) readers in love with reading and then build on that momentum!
« Read the rest of this entry »2020 Gift Guide: Favorite Graphic Novels for Ages 6-15
November 5, 2020 § 7 Comments
Back by popular demand: an installment of my Gift Guide devoted entirely to my favorite graphic novels of the year! Graphic novels make some of the best gifts. Not only are they coveted among emerging readers, tween readers, and teen readers alike, but they invite repeat readings. I’ve watched my kids race through a new graphic novel as soon as they get it, then a few days later start it over again, spending more time on each page. After that, they might set it down for a few weeks or months or years, only to pick it up again with fresh eyes. It’s no wonder many of the graphic novels below took over a year to create; they are packed with visual nuance, literary allusions, and layered meanings. Like treasured friends, graphic novels grow with their readers.
I read dozens and dozens of graphic novels in preparation for this post. Below are the ones that rose to the top in originality, beauty, fun, diversity, or impact. A few of these you’ll remember from a blog post I did earlier this year, but they bear repeating because they’re that good. There are others, like the new graphic adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, which my daughter was horrified wasn’t included here. I simply had to draw the line somewhere.
The list begins with selections for younger kids and concludes with teens. Enjoy and happy gifting!
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What to Read to Your Kids 