Simon Spotlight | Daddy Mojo

Snoopy’s Beagle Scout Tales, effortless charm in any season

When I was a child Peanuts was my go-to reading jam. It was the gateway cartoon strip that made me learn to love reading, built up from that, but never left the rearview mirror, and has always been somewhere in my pop culture Venn diagram. Wherever I’ve travelled it’s been like that too. Snoopy, Woodstock, and to an extent, all of the characters from Peanuts have a warm place in society’s heart. The Peanuts brand is still producing great, new stories that will entertain existing fans and will bring the magic of a happy yellow bird to new audiences. Peanuts Graphic Novels has a collection of summer camp-themed stories called Snoopy’s Beagle Scout Tales that will do just that.

Snoopy’s Beagle Scout Tales: Peanuts Graphic Novels is the summer-themed collection of new and old stories and strips that can be read in any season.

Timeless, yet new, with some classic bits too

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown timeless board book excellence

To borrow from another classic, seasonal story, you’d really have to be a Grinch not to like Peanuts, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Yeah, there are umpteen Peanuts books out there for children and if they figured out a way to harvest the hair off of Charlie Brown’s bald head then people would probably still buy it. Just a quick glance at the other Halloween books available from Linus and the gang reveals, The Great Pumpkin Returns, Countdown to Halloween, and Happy Halloween, Charlie Brown!. So, with all of those books in the Peanut-sphere, what could possibly make It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown worth getting?

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is now released in a hardcover, oversized keepsake book and it’s as great as you hope it is.

The force is strong with this one

You Should Meet John Lewis, a big kid book with a format to entice all

Recently I wrote about how an illustrated book, in some cases, can be for older audiences. They can provide talking points for people or events in history or pop culture in a way that’s more direct, effective interesting, and softer. Early and emerging readers are certainly familiar with the Ready-To-Read book series. There’s a book in that series for any student in pre-k through middle elementary. Those readers who like a challenge, or for those aged seven and up need to check out books in the most advanced series, Level Three-Superstar Reader. These books have the same format but have a more complex story, lots of three-syllable words, challenging vocabulary, and a story that requires those readers to pay attention. You Should Meet John Lewis is the first book that we’ve seen in this series and it really fills a gap that many elementary school readers have.

Ready-To-Read Level Three, You Should Meet John Lewis is a smart book that introduces longer chapters to readers in third grade and up.

Non-fiction chapter book that’ll hook second grade and up

CoComelon The Wheels on the Bus, manna from heaven for pre-k

When you have children that are older than kindergarten you miss out on certain cultural touchstones that might be unique to that generation. Every age and generation has their own thing that they respond to like a Pavlovian dog hearing a bell and knowing what that means. For pre-K and kindergarten ages one of the biggest things now is CoComelon. It was Greek to me until I was flailing about whilst substituting to a group of first graders. The lesson plan I was provided with ran short and I looked in my computer bag that doubles as a book bag, to see what I had. “You have CoComelon”, said one of the kids in a tone that bordered on inquisitive, a little surprised, and just a hint of ‘please don’t tell my friends that I still like them’. Yes, I had CoComelon, The Wheels on the Bus, and the first-grade class was promptly saved, or at least granted a five-minute lifeline until specials started.

CoComelon The Wheels on the Bus is a novelty board book, complete with wheels, that will have ages 3-6 in stitches.

Cocomelon the wheels on the bus is just what the pre-k doctor asked for