Published: 2005 Theme: Courage, Immigrants Best for: 12 and up (PG) "How much he missed Rachel. Would he be able to hold out long enough for the revolution? Would he survive? Would he ever devote endless hours to practicing a Brahms concerto? Would he ever play games with his sister again?" Here is a painfully beautiful and difficult children's book that I must recommend particularly because I want my son and grandson to read it...
Published: 2001 Theme: Caring for the Planet Best for: 8 and up "She went on to explain that the worm was a person who liked to think about important things like 'Where has yesterday gone?' or 'Why hasn't God made sardines without bones?' The trouble is he's so long that his thoughts don't easily get to the other end, and that upsets him." As a confirmed fan of Eva Ibbotson, I was so happy to find another quirky children's book by her on the library shelves, this one with both fun and seriousness....
Published: 2003 Theme: Mystery Best for: 8-10 "See, brownies are these helpful guys. But then if you make them mad, They go crazy.They start doing all these bad things, and you can't stop them. Then they become boggarts." This is a an easy read, and is sort of like a fantasy children's book for younger children. I think older readers would gravitate toward more complex stories...
Published: 2013 Theme: Imagination Best for: up to age 8 This is a children's book without a single word. Is it great children's literature? Absolutely, because the literature comes from the children themselves.
Published: 2012 Theme: Bullying, Coming of Age Best for: 10 to 12 "It was where I belonged. And--here was the best part--so did everybody else belong. Everybody who is and ever was. I wasn't alone after all. I was connected to it all. That star...it's my neighbor." This is a thoughtful and important book, just like the other books that Spinelli has written.. this one about growing up, and also about bullying.
Published: 2013 Theme: Perseverance Best for: 9 - 12 "Cat laughed again. In case you hadn't noticed, she laughs a lot. That's one of the things I like about her. ...And she doesn't judge people all the time. Cat figures that if someone is always cranky like Grandma Melvyn, it's just who they are. It doesn't mean they are a bad person." Drum roll. Lights. Ta-Da! Applause, as Robbie himself would say in this immensely likeable, creative, and somewhat wacky children's book. I love it...
Published: 1943 Theme: Self-Reliance Best for: 9 to 12 "Dick was there, of course, but, with his mind on the new boat, or on birds, or on cutting up wood in a scientific way, he did not seem to realize that they were going to sleep in a hut in the wood with nobody in it but themselves, a hut with holes in its roof and no glass in its window." Each of Ransome's books carry the excitement of: children out on their own, creating wild adventures in nature, having close calls that are always resolved, and learning absolute self-sufficiency and resilience...
This has got to be the best way to make the experience of reading special: kids reading books to cats in shelters! The article and accompanying photos say it all. As one of the boys said in the article, the cats aren't judging how well he reads. Perhaps we can all learn to do that…
Published: 2003 Theme: Simplicity of Heart Best for: 11 and up "More animals appeared, and then from behind Dinadan came a gentle piping sound, like the wind whistling through chinks in a wall, but the piping kept time with Dinadan's song. Then, to Dinadan's wonder, it began to play in counterpoint to his own melody." Each children's book in the Squire's Tales series is a re-telling of an Arthurian tale. This one retells Tristam and Isolde, adapted for children...
Published: 1930 Theme: Magic of the Ordinary Best for: 9 and up "Night putting her arms around the sea. No helping wizard. Just the earth going to bed the same as it had done for a million years.. .Were no more wonders worked since sprites and fairies left the haunts of Man? Yet it was magic too, this...the sun sinking in the sea at dusk and rising on the land at dawn." This children's book is about belief in the unseen worlds, and learning to see the magic that is also possible in daily life. The characters in the book are fascinating, and unlike those we might meet in other books...
Litkidz 