Books | Page 26 of 82

Charlie Thorne and the Curse of Cleopatra, mglit as great as it gets

Soooooo good. We’ll just cut to the chase on Charlie Thorne and the Curse of Cleopatra and say that this book all but reads itself due to it being so entertaining. It’s one of those middle school books that upper elementary kids can read, and that their parents will borrow from them-and find it just as entertaining. Curse of Cleopatra, much like the first book in the Charlie Thorne series, is so much fun to read that you’ll wish that you hadn’t read it so that you can read it again the first time. So what is this book that had me and our 12 YO raving about?

Charlie Thorne and the Curse of the Cleopatra is the third entry in this consistently enthralling series for grades four and up (way up)

This series.

Hornswoggled!, a super silly book that runs with wacky words

There’s a box social at the ole Smith place. There’s a difference between using outdated slang and using a large vocabulary. When I teach I often use a larger vocabulary because students need to practice their inference skills, of course, if there are any blank stares or questions I’ll re-state what I just said, and then say it in a way that they’ll understand. Horsnwoggled! is an illustrated book that looks at uncommon slang, peppered with a propensity of alliterations, and is set against a forest of anthropomorphic animals trying to solve a farcical whodunit.

Hornswoggled! Is a very fun book about silly sayings that will have early elementary ages alluding to much merriment.

Fun, nothing but fun, and that’s a great thing

Baseball Around the World, a vortex of America’s pastime, wherever you are

When is America’s pastime, not America’s pastime? Baseball Around the World, How the World Plays the Game addresses that question early on in the book. It also touches on the ‘boys of summer’ nickname, but thankfully skips any soft AOR songs that might reference that. Baseball Around the World is an intelligent illustrated book that looks at baseball, and how it’s done in different areas. It’s a great entry point for those who don’t know anything about the game but also provides dozens of instances where diehard fans will learn something too.

Baseball Around the World takes a look at the game through 13 countries, how it got there, famous players and more.

The diamond, boys of summer (but not just for boys), etc

100 Things to Know About Inventions is curiosity rabbit hole 101

Sharing is caring, and kids love to share, bits of knowledge that is. Those trivial bits of fun knowledge that are 100% true, sometimes odd, many times functional, and always fascinating are just the sort of thing that kids will share without prompting. Think like Jonathan Lipnicki from Jerry Maguire, and then share your trivia that’s not just related to the human head. 100 Things to Know About Inventions is loaded with a handful of obscure facts about 100 technological advances that people have created.

100 Things to Know About Inventions has nugget paragraphs of little-known facts on things that you see every day, perfect for all elementary school ages.

Potato chips, cat videos and trying to stop at one page on books like this

The Book of Stolen Time, breezy mglit summer reading anytime

After reading The Book of Stolen Time, which is one of the best titles of a book in recent memory BTW, you’ll see many Easter eggs just by looking at its cover. At first glance, a leopard, a snake eating itself, a male teen with a fairy on his arm, a girl holding a goose, and the two of them walking through a lake that they’re parting its waters is the stuff of a middle Earth-esque fairy tale. The Book of Stolen Time is the second book in the Feylawn Chronicles series. The first entry was the equally awesome titled, The Book of Fatal Errors!, and its sequel continues the world that was established in that book. Not having read that book, but jumping into The Book of Stolen Time is OK.

The Book of Stolen Time is just the engaging, taut, fantasy read that upper elementary and middle schoolers will dig.

Summer time and the reading’s easy

Classic Adventures Treasure Island, the ‘classics’ that ages 7 and up will want to read.

Go read the classics, that’s what you think to yourself as you navigate the literary world of your elementary school student. You think that until you realize the number of distractions that they have, you didn’t. Now, factor in that the classics you wistfully want them to read are at a reading level that’s too advanced and can be a little boring at times for those eight-year-old readers. Classic Adventures’ Treasure Island is by Robert Louis Stevenson, but this version is adapted by Jacqueline Dembar Greene and it’s got illustrations that were done by Carlo Molinari.

Classic Adventures Treasure Island presents the classic book in an intelligent way for ages seven and up to experience on their own.

Classic, and not in a Bill and Ted kind of way

A Dinosaur Named Ruth, old soul, patient story telling with charm

I wanted more. That is not something that you think to yourself after many books. A Dinosaur Named Ruth brings up that thought as soon as you read the last word on the final two pages that show a young girl, and a dinosaur, looking wistfully into the prairie. It’s also not the story that you know. The dinosaur was called Sue, wasn’t it? Well, a dinosaur was called that, however, this story has more numerous subjects, and one that plays out in a more patient manner. It’s also worth noting that Ruth (the dinosaur) was discovered by its more famous T-Rex dinosaur who was found just down the road.

A Dinosaur Named Ruth is the story that you think that you know, but instead is patient tale about knowing what you have.

A dino tale that elementary, illustrated book fans haven’t heard

Germy Science is the cure for the STEM reluctant reader

Some books that cross our desk take a moment or two to peg down exactly who’s the audience for it. Other books hit the nail so squarely on the head that one might question if the book was ghostwritten a member of its intended audience. Gross Science is a series of illustrated reference books from Kids Can Press and Germy Science is the second release within that series. It’s written by Edward Kay and while I’ve never personally met him, his online photo appears to be that of someone who is older than a fifth-grader.

Germy Science is exactly how a fifth-grade student wants to learn about germs and viruses presented with humor and gross facts.

How you, as a 10 YO, would want to learn about germs