Books | Page 22 of 81

My Dog, Hen is a very clever and timeless illustrated book

Illustrated books can be fun, moreover, they should be fun, because the actual point of the book is for children to enjoy them. All too often we’ll run across books that didn’t get the memo on that point. They do have a point, but their message is too in your face and simply forgets that kids won’t read it if it’s not fun. My Dog, Hen got the memo on that. There’s no message, no ulterior motive and it ends so quickly that you’ll double-check to see if the final two pages are glued together. As a result, its stark graphics will pull you in and the story of a boy, his family, and their dog is just the sort of feel-good read that kids will always enjoy.

My Dog, Hen is an illustrated book whose illustrations and clever text combine to make it smart and refreshing for those early elementary ages who want to read about dogs.

Keeping it simple, slightly weird and very fun

The Man Who Leapt Through Film, an illustrated look at Mamoru Hosoda and his films.

You don’t need to enjoy anime to appreciate its art or entertainment value. For example, I’ve only seen a dozen or so anime films, but have enjoyed each one of them for different reasons. Those film fans who don’t know anime at all still enjoy the work of Mamoru Hosoda. The Man Who Leapt Through Film is a coffee table-style book for movie fans, anime people, Japanohpiles, as well as animation fans who are curious about the creative process. It’s also a clever head nod to one of Hosoda’s most popular films, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

The Man Who Leapt Through Film: The Art of Mamoru Hosoda, a very thorough look at one of anime’s top directors, the art and how they’re made. — This is the love letter to anime and film production that you’re looking for

Ride, Roll, Run Time For Fun!, big, geometric kids playing in the city

We recently got back from a weekend trip to the city. It felt odd simply calling it, ‘the city’ because there are thousands of cities and to give it such a distinctive article makes it seem like it’s special simply by its size. These are some of the random things that puddle through my mind. Ride, Roll, Run-Time for Fun! is a picture book that features bold, geometric shapes and a group of kids playing in a big city. This is rhyming picture book fun that’s going to hammer down enjoyment to pre-k kids through kindergarten.

Ride, Roll, Run Time For Fun!, a picture book for pre-k kids on action and movement, with a potentially mixed message.

Body positivity on kids movement with happy rhyming text

The Ultimate Biography of Earth is smarter than most who won’t read it

That’s a bold claim, isn’t it? Actually, any book that has ‘ultimate’ in its title is aiming high or asking for trouble. The Ultimate Biography of Earth is a graphic novel that meets that metric, as long as you’re willing to walk down a certain STEM path. And that path is 100% STEM, The Ultimate Biography of Earth is by Nick Lund with illustrations by Jason Ford and is solidly aimed at those middle elementary through middle-middle school students who want to make the history of Earth fun.

The Ultimate Biography of Earth is a STEM graphic novel that’s very smart and will satiate those ages 9 and up that want entertainment with their education.

It’s not a dare…unless you think that it is…..

This is a School will be a staple in elementary school libraries

This is a School is a picture book that seemingly every school librarian and teacher was talking about during the start of the school year. Starting the process of going to school can be quite scary for those young students. Going to school can also be a very exciting time. Sometimes, when the emotions of ‘scared’ and ‘excited’ combine it creates a troublesome experience for educators and parents called chaos. This is a School is a gentle, go-to picture book that introduces elementary school for those ages who are young enough to envision it as a mysterious place of wonder.

This is a School is a picture book that introduces pre-k kids and those slightly older to the wonders, fun and routines that makeup the school day.

This is the pre-k, intro to school book that you’re looking for

Coming Up Short is catch-all realistic fiction for the mglit set

One reason why mglit realistic fiction is challenging for some middle school readers is that life is not always 100% happy. There are sad, chaotic, confusing, and disappointing moments that everyone lives through. On the surface, those feelings don’t exactly roll out the reading red carpet to those 12-year-olds who are juggling their own personal issues, locker combinations, family issues, school work or sports. However, dig just a bit past the surface and those readers will discover that their issues, despite how unique and utterly end-of-world they might seem, actually have commonalities with realistic fiction characters. Coming Up Short easily falls into that category. It’s mglit that seems unique, end-of-world, and happens in a place where it could never really happen, but again, dig just a bit past the surface.

Coming Up Short is mglit that middle school readers will reach for, combining sports, family, competition, stress and poor decisions.

Mglit realistic fiction that stretches past the usual suspects

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun is Potter Wakanda-tastic

A book series doesn’t exist unless the first book is any good and merits a sequel. Gone are the days when that was the modus operandi for books, not to mention those manuscripts that were lucky enough to become film. Now umpteen streaming services need content and that content must come from somewhere. Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun is the first in a series of books by Tola Okogwu that was optioned for Netflix before the book was even released. Its story is perfectly summarized by the publisher’s blurb ‘Black Panther meets X-Men’, as a book that is 100% and this is mglit that knows its target.

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun is a book series that’s tailor-made for Black girls in upper elementary, Potterheads and superhero people.

Fans of Potter, Wakanda and MGlit will dig this

Molly and the Machine, mglit that works well for ages 8 and (way) up

Mglit does not have to be based in the 80s to be entertaining. I say that because it seems that a couple of the books that we’ve read recently have had ties to that fabulous decade. Certainly, a major reason for that is the absence of screens. There’s no device that kids have to occupy them, solve their problems, do their research or look at pictures of giant robot footprints. That’s what Molly from Molly and the Machine might’ve done when she first started her adventures. It’s an mglit book that takes off its shoes and wades knee-deep in the river of fun reading. This is also an example of mglit that skews younger, allowing ages eight and up the chance to enjoy the adventure.

Molly and the Machine is a true mglit book that those mid-elementary readers are able to read, yet hold interest for middle school students also.

A book that’s friends with Spy SChool