Books | Page 12 of 81

Children of the Black Glass is starting point mglit with a fantasy twist

Don’t call it fantasy, because those books have never resonated with me. Children of the Black Glass is probably classed as fantasy, due to its sorcery, castles, dark alleys, and musty-smelling environment. Yeah, it’s fantasy, but it’s a dingy one that’s laden with black dust. It’s not dark, dank fantasy, rather it’s a world that you’d envision is moist, cloudy, and mysterious. If you were to meet a character from Children of the Black Glass in real life they’d most likely be quiet, untrustworthy, wearing an animal pelt, could live for decades in the country without any assistance and probably smell like a billy goat.

Children of the Black Glass is blessed with a great title, but also has the mglit smarts to craft a great story with details galore for ages 10 and up.

Bug Scouts Camp Out!, a graphic novel bridge for young elementary ages

Little kids want to be big kids. They want to until they have to do the big kid work, and then they’ll revert back to being little kids. Getting elementary school-aged kids to read as soon as possible is integral to their success. Being able to read and comprehend text when you’re younger will only make school easier, less frustrating, and more fun. Everybody likes to have fun, don’t they? Bug Scouts Camp Out! is the second book in this series by Mike Lowery. This graphic novel checks off so many boxes in the pre-k and early elementary school book that a housing inspector would be jealous.

Bug Scouts Camp Out! is the second graphic novel in this very funny series that speaks to pre-k through second grade readers.

Pre-k through second grade have an LOL jam

Mission Multiverse: Doppelganger Danger meets the sophomore slump

“Why would I want to see something that doesn’t move the story forward and only sets up a sequel”, my oldest son pondered. That specific takeaway was in relation to a conversation about cinematic entertainment, but our conversation then pivoted to the medium of books. From the perspective of any creator, that is indeed a challenging assignment. You want to add to the overall story, yet produce an entry that stands on its own, all the while getting fans to care more about the characters so that they’re willing to see them again. When phrased like that it’s no wonder why so many middle school students struggle in finding a book series that they can engage in. Mission Multiverse Doppelganger Danger is the second book in this series. We quite enjoyed the first one, but Doppelganger Danger doesn’t connect in the same fun, carefree and adventuresome way as its predecessor.

Know when to say when

Spy Camp The Graphic Novel, resistance is futile, read and enjoy

Recently I was surprised to find out that Enola Holmes was a series of books before it was a Netflix movie and before it was a graphic novel. To some folks, I realize that fact sets my surprise barometer rather low, akin to the water is wet crowd. For upper elementary, through middle school readers the Spy School series of books by Stuart Gibbs is a bulletproof vehicle for fun, fast-paced reading that helps those ages fall in love with literature. When Spy School The Graphic Novel came out I was less than impressed. As the series of mglit books goes, so goes the graphic novels and Spy Camp The Graphic Novel is upon us. And perhaps it took the Enola Holmes graphic novel to brush off our burs, but Spy Camp The Graphic Novel is an entertaining and fun book.

Spy Camp The Graphic Novel finds its graphic groove as a series and jumps into the same entertainment vibe as the books.

That’s great that you loved the novels, this graphic novel is great now too

The Cat, The Owl And The Fresh Fish, a timeless tale, great art, mixed results

Old school is not a pejorative in some cases. The Cat, The Owl And The Fresh Fish is old school is the right kind of way. It feels like a fable and has the repetition that’s associated with fairy tales. There is also a fresh, unknown quality about the book that lends it to feeling as if it’s been passed down from a generation. However, there’s one aspect of it that could divide some readers or their audience.

Great art…..but that cursive tho…….

Ready-To-Read Super Gross, baits the STEM hook for 2^nd and 3^rd graders

Teach a child a foreign language and the first things that they’ll remember is the profanity, slang or pickup lines. In other news: kids who only study one year of Spanish make the world’s worst interpreters. As a testament to that, it’s been more than 25 years and I can still say “you’re very cute” in Norwegian. The gross facts from reference books, those strange blurbs about animals that they’ll never see are always the first ones to get read. How-To-Read Super Gross is a book series that leans into that tendency and gives it a big, yucky hug. What’s In Your Body? is the big font combination of photographs and illustrations and witty dialogue that emerging readers crave.

TAstey STEm for ages 5 and up

The Sublime Ms. Stacks, a divisive drag show drama in a library

The only way that The Sublime Ms. Stacks could be more polarizing is if each book came with a lightning rod. There is no gray area on this illustrated book. It’s a book that can be admired for its forthright thinking but will also leave many wondering how it could be so tone-deaf. The Sublime Ms. Stacks will leave most readers wondering why the book exists, while a couple of them will say that it didn’t come onto the scene soon enough.

The Sublime Ms. Stacks preaches to the choir, whichever one you’re on, and will fire up the other side, which might be the point.

Why ask why, it’ll speak to the choir-both sides of them

I Can’t Draw, an immediate illustrated book classic for elementary school

Max is an elementary school-aged kid. He also says that he can’t draw. I Can’t Draw is a great time of an illustrated book that dances between the first and third person as Max tries to convince readers that he can’t draw. This is the sibling book of The Day the Crayons Quit and Battle Bunny, which represent two fabulous books that are in our forever library. It teaches a mild lesson without being preachy, but has the main goal of being fun to read, which it effortlessly does for kindergarten through third, or maybe even fourth grade.

I Can’t Draw is an illustrated book that is funny from the get-go and only gets better the more times that you read it.

Make room on the forever book shelf for this one