Books | Page 22 of 82

Witch For Hire, pointy-hat good times that smells like teen spirit

Aspects of middle and high school represent the worst parts of agar. Agar is the gunk that’s collected in a petri dish. The school equivalent of agar gone bad are typically the entitled, popular, pretty without a conscious folk, jocks, bullies or those kids that have a chip on their shoulder for no meaningful reason. They’re the great heels in popular movies and will resonate with all readers in Witch For Hire. Witch For Hire is a graphic novel by Ted Naifeh that is 100% current, with real-world peer pressure and social strife that teens will encounter. It also adds a fabulous sense of dread, witches, and monsters that are just as real as the weight that popularity and social media add to today’s teens.

Witch For Hire is a graphic novel with great heels, a timely teen plot and an unlikely hero you can really hang your witch hat on.

Teen reading fun with enough witch magic to make it sizzle

The Fairy Atlas, a global look at things unseen large and small

I want to believe. We all have that Fox Mulder strain inside us for some issues; and for me, it’s a yearning to experience proof of ghosts, aliens, or mythical beings. The mythical beings are those folk legends that blur the line between the barely believable and those things that probably should exist. Fairies fall into that category and The Fairy Atlas, Fairy Folk of the World by Anna Claybourne with illustrations by Miren Asiain Lora is the illustrated guide to those creatures that just might be near you wherever you are.

The Fairy Atlas is an illustrated book that charms even the fairy reluctant with its detailed art and ‘factual’ text.

There be fairies here

Once Upon Another Time: Tall Tales, fast paced, quick mglit turns

What if The Princess Bride and Back to the Future Part II had a baby? Hear me out. The former has familiar fairy tale characters but is completely its own entity. The latter is in a trilogy of films that build upon its created world and ends on a cliffhanger. Once Upon Another Time: Tall Tales is the second in this series of mglit books by New York Times bestselling author James Riley. It’s a book that combines elements of those two things in middle-grade fiction that zip and zags with speed, humor, and aplomb.

Once Upon Another Time: Tall Tales takes Lena and Jin further down the rabbit hole as the Golden King plots Earth-ending revenge.

Upending fairy tales and making them cool for MGLit readers

Alcatoe and the Turnip Child, retro/modern charming graphic novel magic

Fables get a bad rap with upper elementary and middle school students. I taught a class to ESL students that were comprised mostly of fables, you know, those stories that teach lessons. And if there’s one thing that some kids that age don’t want, it’s a lesson. Alcatoe and the Turnip Child is not a fable. It’s also not a fairy tale and not entirely a folktale either. To some readers, Alcatoe could have elements of all of those things, but for us it’s a beautifully paced book about kids, a grumpy witch, the quaint town they live in, and magic.

Alcatoe and the Turnip Child is a graphic novel with a timeless vibe, a slightly evil undercurrent and an irrepressibly quirky demeanor.

Don’t call it a folk story, unless you want to

Creepy Crayon! continues the instant classic illustrated magic

A magic pencil is the real-life sibling of Creepy Crayon! However, in reality, Creepy Crayon! is the third book in the Jasper Rabbit-led series by Aaron Reynolds with art by Peter Brown. Creepy Carrots! and Creepy Pair of Underwear! were the first two and have since become ubiquitous in elementary school libraries and classrooms. Moreover, these books are everywhere and kids actually want to read them. Let’s take that a step further and say that these books, in addition to the newest entry, Creepy Crayon!; straddle the line between illustrated book noir, funny and spooky like no other books those ages will read. If Rod Serling made an illustrated book it would be in league with these books.

Creepy Crayon! is the kind of illustrated book that you wished you read when you were a kid, it’s funny, smart and timeless.

The third book is this series is just as charming and timeless

Dead Flip, retro teen scary vibes with a friendship backbeat

The 80s were chaotic, riddled with bad fashion that people thought was cool, produced some fabulous music, and is entertaining legions of teens nowadays. For the record ‘nowadays’ is possibly the oldest sounding word in the English language and is usually followed up with ‘back in my day’. Dead Flip is mglit that is all but served up with a heaping serving of Raisin Bran, featuring the iconic dancing raisins from 1989. It’s a fun book that today’s tweens and lower teens will enjoy because of the accurate 80s and 90’s shoutouts, as well as, the age-appropriate scares and drama.

Dead Flip is tween-aimed, mglit about a haunted pinball machine that has enough creeps mixed in with the retro teen ways of the 80s and 90s.

10 years and up who want spooky vibes will dig this

Extraordinary Animals, a durable, interactive, smart book for ages five and up

If six-year-olds were in charge of bathroom books then Extraordinary Animals would be on top of every tank. The basis behind a great toilet book is that it’s fun to read and can be consumed in nuggets. Granted, in some cases, those books graduate from the water closet to mingle with the books in the general library or for leisure reading. Ultimate Spotlight Extraordinary Animals is a book that falls in that category. It also combines interactive elements from two of our favorite series of books.

Ultimate Spotlight Extraordinary Animals melds the best parts of an interactive book, board book and STEM curio into one.

Interactive, stem-oriented books for the very young you seek?

Footprints Across the Planet is a soft picture book on life and impact

Did you hear about the dinosaur footprints in Texas that were exposed during a drought? I love that story because A. I love all things dinosaur and B. It reminds us that there are extraordinary things that might be just beyond our eyesight. Maybe it’s something that takes a little effort or it could be the everyday things that we simply may not appreciate as much as it deserves. Footprints Across the Planet is a picture book by Jennifer Swanson. Swanson is an author who writes non-fiction books for children, with this one being on the picture end of the teeter-totter.

Footprints Across the Planet is a picture book about the impact things make, softly demonstrated by animals and metaphors.

Jump on in, the pictures are great