These are books that kids will want to read-or should read, but will enjoy doing so. Board book, picture books, kid lit, elementary school books, middle school books, high school books, all age comic books and more will be talked about here.
I find languages fascinating. The fact that there are 7.5 billion people on Earth and the only two languages that are truly universal are math and music is mind boggling. I dabble in Japanese, French and Spanish, but it’s only at the tourist level. The languages that Tad Haska frequented in were the near fluent, able to save your life level of languages. He was a true polyglot whose abilities allowed him to escape, run and life past the horrors of WW II.
Americana (And The Art of Getting Over It) is a graphic novel by cartoonist Luke Healy. He’s Irish and had numerous periods living in the United States, all of which ended with him reluctantly having to leave the country. Americana is his story about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, a path that stretches from the southernmost tip of California all the way through Canada’s much colder climate in the mountains. It’s a 2,600 mile trek that took Healy 147 days.
Which came first, the art or the poetry? You might find yourself asking that question after you look at You Are Home by Evan Turk. An Ode to the National Parks You Are Home is an over sized, illustrated book that will immerse ages four through nine into just under half of the national parks in the United States. For those keeping score at home, there are 58 national parks in the United States and his book shows you a glimpse into 27 of them.
The magic of Anna Staniszewski’s book, The Wonder of Wildflowers is how it blends the familiar with the unknown areas that our imaginations are left to play in. It’s a novel that’s set in the present, with people who are in the same situations as you and I, yet there are elements happening in the book that make it as if it’s set in the future. Is ‘soft science-fiction’ a thing or has Staniszewski touched a niche that’s just begging for a USA Network genre series? Whatever it’s called, The Wonder of Wildflowers has enough dramatic elements in its science-fiction or science-fiction in its drama to hook most readers in grades 3-7 with ease.
Let’s assume that you don’t know who Mister Rogers is. Now that you’re in this cold, desolate, alien world, let’s look at Fred’s Big Feelings. From the moment you look at this book you’ll realize that something is different about it. It’s as tall as other illustrated books, yet it’s narrower. The cover of Fred’s Big Feelings is also irrepressibly happy. It features Rogers in his trademark red sweater and blue shirt with umpteen hearts coming from his hands and his pockets.
The Midwinter Witch is the third and final graphic novel in this series by Molly Knox Ostertag takes the Vanissen family and their ancillary witches to a family reunion. The Midwinter Festival is when Aster’s family get together, talk about what’s new and bond as a family. They’re just like your family reunion, except they have competitions in witchery and shape shifting. If you read the first two books in the series then the personalities, quirks and powers of everyone involved will come back to you quickly.
The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle was filled with mystery, adventure and the sort of book that fills the imagination of middle school students and older. The Lost Tide Warriors is the second book in the series and does what very few books have done in that it gets better in our memory. While I was reading The Lost Tide Warriors I remember thinking that the first book was so much better. This book had its moments, the second half of it is effortless and very fun to read and middle school ages will still enjoy reading it.
The title to the post, With A Little Help From My Friends-the book, might seem odd; but it’s necessary to put it that way because the song has been turned into a children’s illustrated book. This is a children’s book that’s written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, or rather, it has the song’s lyrics as the written narrative for a story. I’m not going to go all ‘back in my day’ or ‘kids these days’ because half of the genius of The Beatles was the lyrics to the melodies that they created. It’s also undeniable that With A Little Help From My Friends is an amazingly catchy song. The illustrated book is slightly more forgettable and that’s ironically due to the song.
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