Books | Page 79 of 82

How To Win The Science Fair When You’re Dead, bonkers fun for 8 and up

How To Win The Science Fair When You’re Dead is the absolute best kind of click bait. I don’t care what the star of JAG is doing now or what happens next in the photo that might have had impeccable timing. I am a little curious, but not enough to unleash the torrent of spam or viruses that’ll be opened up to my computer. This book has that kind of title. Its predecessors, How to Sell Your Family to the Aliens and How to Properly Dispose of Planet Earth were like that also. For us this series has gone from enjoyable to great and now indispensable.

This series of books is go-to upper elementary leisure reading

Little big Nate Draws A Blank, board book Big Nate for 0-4

What do Nate Wright and Archie Andrews have in common? Both of them have the ability to cross generations in an entertaining manner with consistent characters who are totally different. Archie Andrews is Archie, that redheaded kid from Riverdale who has appeared in comic books for decades and a steaming hot television show for the past couple of years. The way that Archie has been reshaped to meet different demographics is remarkable. There’s a property that will engage Riverdale fans between the ages of 6 and 75*.

Nate Wright is Big Nate. Big Nate has been one of the most consistently entertaining and laugh out loud comic strips since it debuted in 1991. However, Big Nate has always been in the same middle-school packaging, until now. Little big Nate, Draws A Blank by Lincoln Peirce is board-book Big Nate, but it takes a look at the character as a pre-k kid. The result is a rhyming book that people will enjoy reading to those crawlers or mother’s morning out ages that want to baby step it into the world of Big Nate.

Big Nate goes board book for crawlers to chew on & laugh along to

Awesome Achievers in Science, non-fiction that will hook kids

For a person who is not in elementary school I hang out a lot in an elementary school library. We volunteer at the school most weeks and usually end up where the books are. I like to talk to the librarians, see what the kids are reading and see what the librarians need. Lately, most of the chatter has been that they want more non-fiction books that will engage kids. Awesome Achievers in Science is the second book in this series and does exactly that. The book profiles 12 people in science who make a difference our everyday life. The kicker is that each profile is short, entertaining and fun to read for third graders and up.

Awesome Achievers in Science is non-fiction fun that ages 8 and up will enjoy (yes-enjoy) reading.

Get upper elementary age kids to read non-fiction will you? This book takes that dare and wins

Monsters Come Out Tonight! Halloween ha’s for ages 3-8

Something odd happens in the beginning of October. Small children start to scare themselves on purpose. The older ones pretend to be scary clowns from movies that older kids say are scary, but are really quite horrible. While those middle school kids and upper elementary school ones are doing that, their younger siblings are curious about the classic monsters. Monsters Come Out Tonight! by Frederick Glasser, with illustrations by Edward Miller, is a Halloween lift-the-flap book that will provide the ‘fun’ scares pre-k kids want and need.

It’s a lift-the-flap book that goes slightly past its intended age rage due to the Halloween and fun that lay within

Ghoulia and the Mysterious Visitor, undead fun for primary school

Ghoulia, Making New Friends Can Be Scary was a lovely surprise when we read it. The characters had that slightly familiar, spooky family vibe about them. There were traces of The Addams Family, a little Hotel Transylvania and aspects of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Yet, at the same time, Ghoulia was a creation unto its own. And the Mysterious Visitor has more of her-and her family’s story to tell and it’s even more delightful than the first one for the same reasons and more.

Ghoulia and the Mysterious Visitor goes all Empire Strikes Back and exceeds its predecessor in this lovingly drawn, charming and spooky story.

Ghoulia pulls an Empire Strikes Back and is even better than the first book in the series

Skulls!, not just for Halloween or Day of the Dead

We love to read non-fiction books to schools, our students and our children. When I’m the guest reader at our child’s elementary school, it’s some sort of non-fiction that I’ve got with me. Skulls! by Blair Thronburgh with illustrations by Scott Campbell is the sort of entertaining, illustrated book that kids will enjoy. Sure, our 7 year-old goofed around with the cover and said it was scary. After all, the book is called Skulls! and that’s not something that you see every day.

Skulls! is the kind of book that kids might be scared of, but they shouldn’t. It’s great fun, education and is one that they’ll laugh out loud at.

SKulls! this is a great children’s illustrated book, kidlit medical cranium 101 or vice versa

The Red Zone, An Earthquake Story for ages 8 and up

In 2016 a series of earthquakes hit central Italy. Author Silva Vecchini was not in the affected area, but did assist many of the survivors. Along with artist Sualzo, they’ve created an original graphic novel about the aftermath of a major earthquake, moving on and it impacts children. That’s a tall order. But it pulls it off as The Red Zone was awarded the 2018 Attilio Micheluzzi Awards for Best Comics For Kids.

The Red Zone An earthquake Story is real-life, approachable and for ages 8 and up

Outback, A Photicular Book, jumps and educates in this moving series

Sometimes, I make noises when I open the mail. It’s the rare surprise or the latest in a series of books or author, that’s so superior that I just can’t wait to share it with my class, read it myself or have my children discover it. The Photicular Book series from Dan Kainen is one of these. The boys were on the other side of the room when I opened Outback and they dashed over to see what the hubbub was.

this series of books from Dan Kainen is superb and Outback is nothing short of exceptional