Dog Man is a publishing behemoth. Not only do the books sell millions of copies, they’re read, re-read, shared, dog-eared, suffer broken spines and can usually only be spotted in elementary school libraries by the empty space that houses it for the five minutes in-between check outs. This is Greek to you unless you have a student in elementary school. We were like that with Captain Underpants. Sure the title is catchy, but we didn’t have a kid who could read yet and oh my gosh have you seen how ridiculously entertaining this book is?! Yeah, that was our reaction when our children first started reading it too.
Dog Man is cut from the same (underwear) cloth. While Dog Man For Whom The Ball Rolls has similar elements to the first six books that made it a go-to for elementary school readers; there are elements that make this book the most mature in the series yet.
Hear me roar. For some reason when I say I Am Hermes!, hear me roar just follows naturally. In actuality the official title is I Am Hermes! Mischief-Making Messenger of the Gods. I say mischief, you say Gods, I may think Loki, but nay, this is the OG, original gods, son of Zeus and daughter of Maia. It’s not a stretch to say that the Gods, their powers, relationships and history are Greek to me. Our two children know more about the Greek Gods than I do and that’s due entirely to through what they’ve learned from their friends.
Our Greek friends know that Hermes is the one that invented astronomy, the alphabet, gymnastics, music and more. I Am Hermes!, by Mordecai Gerstein paints the legacy of the original king of mischief in a way that those who don’t know Greek about him will be able to enjoy it in many ways.
Presenting educational text in an actual entertaining format
is challenging. I know, the Greek gods didn’t really exist, it’s the sort of
mythological beings that allow people to dream. It’s not ‘technically’
education in a non-fiction sense, but it’s fun reading and done in a graphic novel
format that ages 8 and up will enjoy.
This is a hardback graphic novel that’s the size of a book.
Its format is different and is complimented by the Gerstein’s art. Its painted
art with watercolors allows some of the color within the panels to blend into
each other or outside the lines. The effect is lighthearted and makes the book
read very quickly.
I Am Hermes! is broken up into a couple of chapters, with each one telling a specific angle of his life. Again, at times I have to remind myself that Hermes wasn’t a real person. If it’s someone that you’ve heard of for ages then they must be real, right? Hermes was apparently quite the challenging child for his parents. He was often playing jokes on his parents, all the while trying to figure out his place in the world. So, the story of Hermes is unlike any real person and any similarities to erstwhile siblings who might joke around too much is entirely coincidental.
Think of I Am Hermes! as a starter story for a Greek God whose title, Messenger of the Gods is perhaps better known than he is. The vocabulary is such that those in upper elementary school will be able to easily read it and have the life experiences required to appreciate-and learn the lessons that these myths can teach us.
What’s remarkable about The Story Web is how quickly this original book hooks you. By the end of the first chapter, a scant ten pages in, you’ll be hooked. You will know the main character, get a glimpse into what drives them and will flip through the pages without any effort. Approximately one/fourth of the way through the book you’ll feel like it’s a climax and wonder where the book can go from here. And then, as if accepting a dare, the book takes that climax and runs with it. This extension creates an ultimate finale that matches the buildup, tying up all of its loose ends. The Story Web is upper elementary through middle school gold.
Her dad used to call it the Story Web. It’s a place deep in the forest where different strands of stories are physically woven together. Alice is now older, her dad isn’t around anymore and she’s searching for a purpose. Suddenly all of the animals in town start acting strangely. Moreover, they seem to be communicating with Alice. It’s a rabid animal or I have bacon in my pocket is what I’d think. Alice though, thinks that there might be something to the animals that have found their way into her life.
The Story Web is a coming-of-age, animal love letter to libraries and telling stories. It’s unlike any book we’ve read and will captivate readers who are in fourth grade and up. This was a book that played like a movie in my head and I love books like that. Part of the reason for its seamless transition to my head is that the longest chapter is about eight pages. The chapters are long enough to push the story forward, yet short enough for young readers to complete in one reading. Just like potato chips and kittens, they won’t stop at one and soon enough they’ll be asking for another book in this series.
Towards the end of the book you’ll see that this is a love
letter to telling stories and libraries. Part of that is certainly due to
author Megan Frazer Blakemore and her job as a school librarian. She’s had
other published books that have received numerous awards, including Kirkus
Reviewers Best Book of the Year and more.
Elementary aged readers in third grade and up will love this book. It’s got enough mystery to bring in the action readers and enough friendship to bring in the relationship crowd. The Story Web is awesome and will hook readers that step into its world.
Look them in the eyes please. Our kids do not like it when we say that to them, but they need to hear it. It’s what they should do when they speak to someone or when they say thank you. Aside from being an outstanding Oingo Boingo song, gratitude is something that can be difficult to express, either because we’re not used to saying it or think that the occasion may not really merit it. Thank You For My Dreams is by HSH Prince Alexi Lubomirski and the book began as a simple way for his young boys to say, surprise, thank you.
The young one had a nightmare and Lubomirski was calming him
by reminding him to say ‘thank you’ for the things that he was thankful for.
There’s their dog, cookies, family and many more things. Within a couple of
minutes he was asleep again, but the list of things that the elder Lubomirski
was thankful for kept growing. From that list a book was born so that they-and
everyone else would never be at a loss for a list of things to thankful for.
The book is presented in contrasting two or three colors on each page with it being broken down into morning, day and night. There are some sight words that younger readers will be able to navigate on their own. What each page and its listed ‘thank you’ has in common is that they’re short and easily digestible.
It’s a way of letting younger readers know that it’s OK and
that everyone has these feelings or thoughts. Sure it mentions thanking ‘you’
for warm clothes, music and other physical things. What resonate more with
younger readers are those vague aspects of life, such as laughter, frustration,
dreams and wonder that kids might not realize that they need to navigate.
Our 7YO is like that. He is the only one who gets frustrated
in school. He is convinced of this. Of course, adults know that he’s just one
of hundreds of thousands of kids that get frustrated in school, but to him,
he’s the only one. Thank you for the emotions that allow us to realize when
we’re frustrated.
Thank You For My Dreams is a feel-good book that defies sarcasm or ill will. Sure, you may think of a pop song or two with those words in its chorus or lyrics. However, after skimming through a couple of pages in the book you’ll be charmed by sublime or rarely thanked things that you’ll be thinking of tonight. To make this book even more appealing, all of the proceeds from its sales go to a humanitarian charity called Concern Worldwide.
Like pizza, a cat video or peeking under the wrapping paper, Superbuns is impossible to resist. Superbuns is by author/illustrator Diane Kredensor and if you’ve read Buck’s Tooth you’ll recognize her style. The feel of the book is as at home with the classic vibe of a comic strip. Its size compliments the cuteness and takes a rabbit named Buns across the city with a hot pie of a happy time.
Buns is a rabbit. Actually, she
could be a bunny as the other main character is Superbuns is her know-it-all
sister, Blossom. Blossom means well, but is insistent that being kind is not a
super power. Sure Buns may hold open doors for old people, take out garbage and
pay compliments to lots of people, but being kind is not a super power.
On this particular day the two rabbits are being quite kind. They’re taking a pie that they baked to their grandmother’s house. Halfway through their journey they notice that a stranger is following them. This is the city and stranger danger is a real thing, but it’s also a city populated with impossibly cute anthropomorphic animals. However, things are further complicated by the fact that this stranger is a fox.
A fox who has been following two
rabbits can’t be a good thing, can it? In this case Blossom freaks out when
Buns starts innocently talking to the young fox. Foxes eat rabbits, you silly
rabbit. As this is a children’s illustrated book, Superbuns turns the animal
world on its head and this particular fox is just trying to get home.
Thankfully Blossom knows all about directions and getting lost, all of which
she’s eager to share with their new pointy eared friend.
Superbuns is cute. It’s disarmingly cute and will suck readers in who are 4-8 years old. Those on the upper end of that scale will be unwittingly charmed by the illustrations. The text in the book is such that those ages should be able to read all of it effortlessly. There are some sight words for the emerging readers that are on the younger spectrum of that scale.
Ultimately what makes Superbuns
work is its illustrations and the simple, home-spun nature of the story. It
feels like the book equivalent of a pillow with two cold sides. Kredensor is an
Emmy Award-winning director and producer for lots of animated shows that you
and your kids have seen before. Have you ever seen Pinky and the Brain (!!),
Clifford the Big Red Dog, Curious George or a couple others? Her resume is a
cartoon lover’s watch list and Superbuns rides into your child’s library as
effortless as using Superbuns power.
One great thing about children’s books is that it can educate and entertain readers about the most unlikely topics. For example we have a book about flies that both kids have read and we’ll continue to keep it for their kids in twenty years or so. Moth, An Evolution Story by Isabel Thomas and Daniel Egnues is another such book. Moths are the light beer of the insect world. They’re the annoying creatures that eat sweaters and the enemy of cedar closets everywhere. And now, it’s an absolutely amazing illustrated book that’s not at all what you expect with timeless art that will make it a mandatory entry into your children’s library of ‘keeper’ books.
The guide through the book is the peppered moth. Peppered moths apparently have a large disparity in their black and white allotment, with some looking like spotted zebras and others resembling patchy black panthers, albeit with wings and weighing an ounce just after they eat a huge meal. Here I thought they were simply these flittering creatures that tried to make holes in my clothing, but nay.
Moths have been evolving, thus the title, Moth, An Evolution Story. The Peppered Moth started out one way, which had its own benefits, but then changed. This evolution created a period of chaos for some moths. They were able to be seen by different predators, but more easily obscured by others who used to eat them.
The only constant is change, isn’t it? Children will pick up
on the fact that a Peppered Moth isn’t the most spectacular animal. They’re a
common thing, quite innocuous really, they make noise when they bonk against
the window while being attracted to the light on the other side. However, even
the common fluttering, sweater eating creature outside of the house has
changed-what you’re going through or thinking about is normal and expected.
The change aspect is one way to look at Moth, An Evolution Story. There is also the science aspect that younger science minded kids will look at the book from. There are also those artistic kids who will be drawn in to the book through its illustrations. The illustrations are gorgeous and look three-dimensional. Looking at these illustrations and then other children’s illustrated books is akin to looking at the animation in Toy Story 4 and Toy Story. This is a book where you’ll come for the story, but stay for the art OR, come for the art and stay for the story.
Moth, An Evolution Story is as balanced as it can be between art and story. Either way that you look at the book from, it’s fascinating, educational, beautiful or one that young readers will effortlessly follow you with.
Our 9 year old is a hanger on to The Bad Guys and we are 100% OK with that. He’s going into fourth grade and has been reading The Bad Guys since the end of first grade. In real world time I know that‘s not a long time, but through the eyes of a kid’s library it can be an eternity. Two years ago he wouldn’t have dreamed of reading the stuff that he’s reading now. These books have no pictures, chapters that are more than a dozen pages long and might even mention the subject of boys and girls ‘liking’ each other.
The ninth book in The Bad Guys series of books from Scholastic is called The Bad Guys in The Big Bad Wolf. Each book in this series has our title characters in such elementary school adventures as in…The Furball Strikes Back, in Attack of the Zittens, in Do-You-Think-He-Saurus and other books that your kids aged five and older have already read. When you visit an elementary school library ask where their copies of any books featuring The Bad Guys are. You’ll see a handful of beaten up, dog-eared books with yellowed pages that most likely have some degree of little hand prints all of them. These books have been loved, read, re-read and had their spine tapped several times in order to extend their life span.
Our 9 year-old has been counting the days until The Big Bad Wolf was released. We got to the store and saw a couple of older books by Aaron Blabey on the shelf, but no sight of the new one. At first he was dejected and looked like he might cry. He was certain, absolutely positive that it was hitting stores on this day. I suggested that he ask a person at the store where the book is. This is an important leap of faith for him because he’s not one to ask questions to people that he doesn’t know.
However, as we were
buying some other stuff I suggest that he go to Guest Services and ask them. No
sooner had I looked up then I saw his every growing flip-flop covered feet
blazing a train to see where the book was. Guest Services directed us to the
area where the book should’ve been, but it wasn’t. Again I suggested that he go
ask someone in a red vest about the book. They checked their computer; saw that
it was in the back, still in the box, but that they’d go get a copy for us.
I kid you not, our nine year-old was skipping up and down
the isle with nervous energy. After a couple of minutes he grew tired of this
and started to peek around the corner like he was scouting out a drive-by for a
teenage girl in 10 years. “He’s got it. He’s got it!” I heard.
For adults who need to know what the plot’s about, Mr. Wolf gets blown up to a massive sized monster and The Bad Guys need to find a way to stop him ASAP. Toss in some new friends, lots of humor, a few potty jokes, some more humor, several dashes of action and you’ll see why elementary readers will absolutely love this series. They don’t need to know the series before reading The Big Bad Wolf. Most elementary school kids will know the characters, their role in the story and are already eager to be the first ones to tell the other kids that they’ve read the new book. A bonus for parents is that The Bad Guys,Big Bad Wolf only retails for $5.99, even less if you shop around.
Our children don’t know art per se. They’ve been to the High Museum of Art many times and know what art is, they just don’t know the key players. I don’t even know a majority of the classic artists. I might recognize their style, but their catalog and finer points will fall between my mental sofa cushion. However, I know animals and I know to count. It’s only because of the fact that I’m an adult and have experienced pop culture that I know some of the artist referenced in this children’s board book.
Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, 3, Count Art with Me, is a board book for those crawlers to toddlers (and the adults who are reading to them) who want to shake up the palette of their counting books. Each page has a number with its respective number of animals who are presented in the style of the artist that it’s referencing. We see 4 Matisse Monkeys, 6 Kandinsky Kangaroos, 8 Seurat Sloths and seven other counting lessons that are done whilst channeling classic artists.
I had to mention those three artists because two of them I hadn’t heard of. Even the title of the book, Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, and 3 is referencing an artist and not the author of the book. The actual author of the book is Grace Helmer, a London-based illustrator who has quite the career ahead of her as a forger, should she want to go on the other side of the law.
The colors and patterns in the book are fabulous and will draw in your eyes. Factor in that Kahlo’s Koalas isn’t even intended for adults and you’ve got a book that crawlers through pre-K will gnaw on for ages. This board book was originally published by LOM ART in England last year. However, it’s not off putting or inaccessible at all. This is a counting, board book with great art that just might happen to inspire kids or parents about the masters. Kahlo’s Koalas, 1, 2, 3, Count Art with Me is available in the United States by Andrews McMeel Publishing for $8.99.
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