2023 Gift Guide: Illustrated Chapter Books for Ages 5-10
November 17, 2023 § 2 Comments
Today’s installment of the Gift Guide is a small but mighty selection of books perfect for reading aloud or building the momentum of emerging or newly confident readers. This is the first time my Gift Guide has included a collection like this, simply because these types of books don’t typically look or feel particularly gifty. But this year offered some gems, including re-released, souped-up classics, as well as new series written or illustrated by some of the finest and funniest creators today.
There’s an array of ages and levels represented, with some titles considered early chapter books and others designed for strong readers overwhelmed by the longer, more serious titles of traditional middle-grade. The headlines will give you age range suggestions, while the interior photos will help you gauge language and words per page.
Everything below is either a stand-alone story or the first in a series. So, before we go any further, you need to know that three of the very best chapter series for emerging readers (also for reading aloud) got new installments this year, so if you haven’t gotten your hands on Dory Fantasmagory: Can’t Live Without You, Cornbread & Poppy at the Museum, and Anne Dares, add these to your gift list. And if you don’t know these series, remedy that immediately, I implore you.
As always, titles are in stock at Old Town Books, though I encourage you to support an indie near you.
Let’s begin! And remember, those with more mature readers may want to scroll past the first two titles here and get straight to the meatier stuff.
« Read the rest of this entry »2023 Summer Reading Guide: Elementary Readers (Ages 8-12)
May 25, 2023 § 1 Comment
Today’s installment of the Summer Reading Guide features favorite new releases for 8-12 years, mostly traditional novels but concluding with three graphic novels. If you have Emerging Readers, check out last week’s recs here. And if you have Middle School Readers, stay tuned for next week’s recs for 10-15. Some of you may have kiddos that straddle two lists—the more the merrier!—and keep in mind that many of these would make terrific read alouds or audio books as well!
Wait! Before you scroll down, hear me out. Earlier this year, I did a Spring Break Reading Round-Up here and here with other incredible new books. If you missed it, make sure you check out that list in conjunction with the one below. A few of them, like Lasagna Means I Love You, It’s Boba Time for Pearl Li, and Link & Hud are actually set during the summer! You might also want to reference last year’s Summer Reading Guide for this age group (here and here), as many of those picks (ahem, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief) have sequels just out, and others are now in paperback.
If you’ve got a fantasy lover, they’re in for a treat because I’ve got a whopping SIX recommendations below. If you’ve got a kid off to sleepaway camp, I’ve got a book with ALL THE FEELS (be sure to also check out Camp Famous, just out in paperback, which my daughter read and loved at the end of last summer, too late for the 2022 Guide). If you’ve got a reader easily intimidated by long books, the first three recs are for you. If you’ve got a kid only hooked by zany plots, like survival stories or reality TV, I’ve got you covered. Animal lovers? Check. STEM interests? Check.
Alas, there are books I haven’t yet read that may well have made the cut. (Deadlands: Hunted, a new series billed as Wings of Fire meets Jurassic Park, got rave reviews from my co-workers, with the sequel out as soon as this fall!) As I tackle more, I’ll post reviews on Instagram of anything I love, so follow me there for more recommendations.
Finally, if you’re planning to purchase any of these, especially if you’re local, please consider supporting Old Town Books, where I do the kids’ buying. My links will take you there. (We also ship!) And for those who want to meet with me directly, I’ll be holding Office Hours on Sunday, June 4 and Sunday, June 25 from 10am-4pm, so bring your kids, your questions, your slumps, and we’ll have a great time.
Onwards! Maycember is almost over, and I can almost taste all the reading in store for us all!
« Read the rest of this entry »Spring Break Beckons: Middle-Grade Round Up for Ages 7-14
March 25, 2021 § 3 Comments
I spent the winter reading. A lot. And that’s good news for your readers, especially those eager to squirrel away with a new story (or three) over Spring Break. All of the recommendations below are books published this year (with the exception of a late 2020 release). Some of them I’ve already talked about on Instagram, but there are surprises, too. Some skew younger and some older, so be sure to consult the age ranges for each. There are graphic novels, novels in verse, mysteries, fantasy, historical fiction, memoirs, and realistic fiction.
As always, report back and tell me what your kids thought!
« Read the rest of this entry »Summer Reading Beckons (Middle-Grade Round Up)
May 24, 2019 Comments Off on Summer Reading Beckons (Middle-Grade Round Up)
As I’m limping over the finish line that is May, I’m dreaming of summer. Of days at the pool, nights in the backyard, and lots of opportunities for lazing around with our noses in a book. Should you (or your children) be itching for a distraction from making lunches or dressing for another concert, let me help you plot a summer reading list, beginning with my favorite middle-grade reads of late. (Link to my last round up is here; or go back and check out this and this.) First up is a book which should go straight to the top of your list: it’s fresh, funny, and eerily timely.
« Read the rest of this entry »Middle-Grade Round Up (Or What I’ve Been Doing on Instagram)
April 4, 2019 § 3 Comments
I’ve been feeling a teensy bit guilty that those of you not on Instagram are missing out on all the mini reviews I’ve been doing over there, particularly of middle-grade books. These books are too good to miss! So, I’ve decided to do occasional “round-up” posts to catch you up. Several of these titles are brand-spanking new; the rest are new within the past year.
« Read the rest of this entry »10 Reasons to Keep Reading to Children Long After They’re Reading Themselves
October 12, 2017 § 2 Comments
Taking inspiration from the great A.A. Milne, what I really wanted to title this post was: In which I catch you up on everything I read to my kids this past summer, while attempting to demonstrate why we should never abandon reading aloud to our children, even when they are happily reading on their own.
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Sibling Play
April 11, 2014 § 1 Comment
I’ll never forget the first time it happened. JP was four, Emily was a little over one, and I realized that 45 minutes had passed and there were still only happy voices in the other room. I called a friend: “The kids are playing together! ON THEIR OWN! For like a really long time! I’m just sitting here reading a book!” (Well, technically I was talking on the phone, but the point is that I could have been reading a book.) And that’s when it hit me: this is why some people have more than one kid (or more than one dog, cat, or fish).
Watching siblings play together is one of the most endearing and gratifying experiences for a parent. (Well, until it all goes south—which it inevitably does—usually right at the moment when you have finished the dishes, wiped down the lunch table, dust-bustered the floor, and finally sat down on the sofa to page through a magazine.) But when the stars do align, as they increasingly do with age, it is in these moments that I get the clearest glimpses of my children’s budding personalities, of the people they will someday become. I see tenderness and compromise in my now six and a half year old boy, amidst the bossiness and tendency to escalate play into some form of physical combat. And in my now three and a half year old daughter, I feel her excitement, her sheer pride, in the way she confidently prattles on after her brother agrees, “OK, you can be the mommy bird, and I’ll be the baby bird.” Because, really, is it not the best feeling in the world when that older brother whom you revere in every way decides to drop everything for you?
Imagination is the great equalizer in sibling play. In the world of pretend play, it doesn’t matter how old you are. Enter Lola M. Schaefer and Jessica Meserve’s latest picture book, One Busy Day: A Story for Big Brothers and Sisters (Ages 2-6), in some ways a sequel to their first book, One Special Day, about the moment in which a little boy becomes a big brother. « Read the rest of this entry »