Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
I don’t often read Graphic Novels, but I do enjoy the ones I pick up! Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller by Joseph Lambert (Disney Hyperion, 2012) is a finalist for the Cybils 2012 awards in the graphic novels category. I love Helen Keller’s story, so I was interested to pick this one
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (David Fickling Books, 2006) is not a “fun” or amusing book, but it is just as highly improbable, and I think that is something every reader of it should realize: this is not a historically accurate book. The subtitle is “A Fable,” altho ugh more accurately
The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brockett by John Boyne (January 2013) is a highly improbable book about a child who is born with the amazing quirk of floating. Barnaby Brockett cannot help it: it is just the way he is. He and his family find solutions (a heavy bag of rocks to keep
Shakespeare on Toast by Ben Crystal (Icon Books, September 2012) purports to be a book for young adults, providing a look at Shakespeare as “as easy to handle as beans on toast”. That must be a British thing because beans on toast sounds pretty gross to me. (I don’t like beans.) At any rate, Shakespeare
Just a few weeks before my second child, a daughter, was born, I stopped at a bookstore with my son and we bought her a book. It was Pride and Prejudice: A Babylit Counting Primer by Jennifer Adams and Alison Oliver. In just 10 pages, we visited the story of Pride and Prejudice by learning
Ten Tiny Toes by Todd Tarpley and illustrated by Marc Brown (Little, Brown 2012) begins with the ten tiny toes coming in to the world “a hundred times sweeter than one could suppose.” The text is sweetly rhyming: not annoying at all and full of baby-friendly metaphors and rhythm that makes it a delight to read aloud. The
Another Brother by Matthew Cordell (Feiwel and Friends, 2012) is about a young sheep who enjoys the attention of his parents, until he starts getting brothers. With lots of brothers copying his every move, he gets rather annoyed. One day, the brothers stop imitating him, and he finds he misses it. The ridiculous number of brother
Lola Reads to Leo by Anna McQuinn and illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw (Charlesbridge, 2012) is a big sister book, starting when Lola is reading with her mom before the baby is born. When baby Leo arrives, Lola gives him a book, the “perfect present.” When he is crying or hungry or messy, Lola knows just which
One Special Day by Lola Schaefer and illustrated by Jessica Meserve (Disney Hyperion, 2012) is full of metaphors to show just what Spencer is: strong as a bear, tall as a giraffe, loud as an elephant. The animals are not named but illustrated in bright and colorful paintings as Spencer plays outside and enjoys his freedom.
I really enjoyed reading the first Hereville graphic novel, so when I saw the next one on netgalley, I was eager to revisit Mirka’s somewhat bizarre world. Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite by Barry Deutsch (published November 2012) is another look at the spunky young Jewish girl who has fantastic adventures in her small
Sequels are always tricky. This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen (Candlewick, 2012) is a follow-up to Klassen’s highly successful I Want My Hat Back, which was about a bear searching for his hat among his forest friends … and ended with a spot of rabbit fur. I Want My Hat Back provided a
My son is a part of a small co-op group that occasionally reads a book and does activities related to it. Our most recent read was The Perfect Hamburger and Other Stories by Alexander McCall-Smith. Alexander McCall-Smith has always been a favorite author of mine. This particular collection of middle-grade stories are all related to
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