Abrams books | Page 11 of 12

Fox & Rabbit: Make Believe is elementary confidence and fun

Brothers and sisters don’t just exist in living beings. There are some books that have their perfect pair. It’s those books that are similar, but not identical, and have the right things in common that fans of either book want to see. If your elementary school reader is not hip to Mr. Wolf’s Class they are missing out. It’s an original graphic novel series on Graphix that is entertaining, builds the reader’s confidence, is on a level that they can easily understand, and doesn’t talk down to them. Fox & Rabbit: Make Believe is the second book in this series by Beth Ferry with illustrations by Gergely Dudas and will strike the same chord of interest in those first through third-grade readers.

If your elementary-aged reader is looking for a great read try this

Big Foot and Little Foot: The Bog Beast, early chapter book fun

A nice, simple book that’s perfect for emerging readers is a tough thing to find. The chapters could be too short, or too long. The characters could be too juvenile, or just a bit too old for elementary readers. In short, it’s a very narrow line that books need to traverse if they’re targeting grades two through four. Our eight-year-old is right in this struggle. He can read sentences and is building vocabulary, but hasn’t made the jump to chapter books yet. Big Foot and Little Foot is a book series that’s tailor-made for this dapper young man.

An early elementary chapter book that checks all the blocks

The Derby Daredevils, Shelly Struggles to Shine levels up

I love it when the second book in a series surpasses the first one. It doesn’t even have to go all “Empire Strikes Back” and be leagues better than its predecessor. For us, just the fact that it’s better means that the series has lots of gas left in the tank. The Derby Daredevils: Kenzie Kickstarts a Team set up the story about a group of girls teaming up to create a roller derby team. That was a middle-grade book that mainly girls will enjoy that had a variety of positive, diverse themes. The Derby Daredevils: Shelly Struggles to Shine takes that storyline and delivers a J-block to the other teams lead jammer.

Middle-grade comfort food with a side of roller derby for girls 9 and up

Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns, creation myth for ages 5-9

Myths are an excellent way to teach. Due to their repetitious nature they’re able to softly teach people of any age. I teach an ESL class and in each lesson on different cultures there’s a mythical story that I read with the students. One of my favorites is Crow Brings the Daylight from Canada, which is worth checking out if you’re unfamiliar with it. Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns is a Mesoamerican myth about the origin of humans and the Gods that are representative of Central and South America. The book by Duncan Tonatiuh reads like an elementary aged adventure story. There are monsters, a magical quest and lessons that the story will infer for readers to pick up on.

This is a creation myth for kids that don’t normally dig creation myths

The Derby Daredevils, delivers for some girls aged 9-13

The Derby Daredevils is an ongoing series of books by Kit Rosewater with illustrations by Sophie Escabasse. There is a lot to like about the first book in the series that focus on Kenzie and Shelly. They’re two best friends who love to skate, have dreams, secret handshakes and all of the things that close friends have. Girls in upper elementary through middle school will find something to relate to and enjoy about this comfort read. The subtitle to the first entry is Kenzie Kickstarts a Team and given that Kenzie is one of our two main characters she’s out to start something bit.

Built for middle school girls in a roller derby and growing up mindset

Village of Scoundrels is a WWII tale that reads real

Village of Scoundrels by Margi Perus reads, at times, like a middle grade WWII book with subtle traces of Hogan’s Heroes. It doesn’t have the same slapstick comedy of that show. It does place its characters in real-life WWII situations while giving them a chilled out, laissez-fiare veneer. That’s due to the age of the people and characters in the story as we catch a glimpse of French teenagers who live in the mountains near Switzerland.

This is a great reading point for middle school WWII learners

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales Major Impossible gives explorers their due

Major Impossible is the ninth book in the bestselling series by Nathan Hale. Each book in this series takes a look at a real historical figure. Some of them you’ve heard of, whereas others aren’t as well known. Major Impossible falls in the lesser known category for us. It’s about John Wesley Powell, an explorer who fought in the Civil War and went on to lead the Colorado River Exploring Expedition in 1869. If you’re familiar with Hale’s storytelling you will love this book. If this is your first Nathan Hale book it’s one that will entertain you, educate you, make you squirm on a couple instances and make you curious about the rest of his subjects.

Nathan Hale’s go-to series for middle school explores The colorado river

Mammal Takeover! is a full immersion educational graphic novel

Graphic novels can be so much more than entertaining and fun to read. They can be educational!! Really, they can be and they’re so much more than what some parents, educators or kids might think that they are. The Earth Before Us series from Amulet Books is a great example of how much and how different a graphic novel can be. Mammal Takeover! is the third book in this entertaining and educational series that is about old school Earth.

Mammal Takeover! is a semi-deep dive graphic novel into the prehistoric story of Earth