School Library Journal's Top 100 Children's Novels

Here's a link to School Library Journal's Top 100 Children's Novels; I found this list via our library's website and thought it was pretty awesome. Whenever I see lists like this, I always have visions about having deep, intellectual book discussions with my Ladies. If only there were time to read them all!

As with anything, take the good and leave the bad, and of course I encourage all parents to carefully screen what their children are reading/watching/hearing/playing, etc. to be sure it's appropriate for them and is in line with your family's values.

http://www.slj.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/SLJ_Fuse8_Top100_Novels.pdf

Happy Reading!

Thursday Book Rec: Princess Peepers

I am a book addict. It's just that simple. I will steal minutes to read "just one more line" and hide out in strange places (like my closet) to get it in before the kids discover I'm missing. The good thing is, I've got them hooked, too, and believe me, there's no greater feeling than suddenly noticing they're suspiciously quiet, only to happen upon them innocently absorbed in a book on the floor (and your favorite Sharpie is still where you left it).

Here's what we're reading this week:

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Princess Peepers has glasses. Glasses for dancing, glasses for playing, glasses for everything! Only thing is, the other princesses don't share her sense of style and begin to tease her in a way that makes her want to ditch her specs in favor of her own two little (albeit fuzzy!) eyes. She ventures out around the castle without the clarity of her beloved eyewear and ends up in some very comical and unexpected situations, all the while asserting that she's just fine without them.

I absolutely loved this book for the tons of giggles the girls and I had over it. It felt so good to laugh this hard with them and just be silly. I loved the message it sent about the trouble you can run into by trying to please others too much, while still acknowledging how hard it is to be "different". Princess Peepers works out her own dilemma in the end by gaining the courage to stay true to herself- something which brings the naysayers right on over to her side.

Thursday Book Rec: Wet Pet

I am a book addict. It's just that simple. I will steal minutes to read "just one more line" and hide out in strange places like my closet to get it in before the kids discover I'm missing. The good thing is, I've got them hooked, too, and believe me, there's no greater feeling than suddenly noticing they're suspiciously quiet, only to happen upon them innocently absorbed in a book on the floor (and your favorite Sharpie is still where you left it).

Here's what we're reading this week:

Google Images

As I mentioned before, I'm teaching the four-year-old to read and she's doing quite well. We're almost all done her sight word flashcards, (although I have a feeling I'll need to make a few more) and we're at the stage where she's can recognize some words in the "Easy Reader" books (those are air quotes, by the way) so she's reading them to me. Mostly,

So about the "air quotes", Pfft!!! Shyeah! They famously claim they're meant for beginners but have so many words and so many new words in them, it's impossible for kids to read much without a lot of help, which I find is discouraging to them and frustrating for me. Which is why I love this week's book. 

It's called "Flip-A-Word: Wet Pet" by Harriet Ziefert and hats off to Yukiko Kido for being an awesome illustrator. The bright, vivid colors and contrasts in the book are what drew my eyes to it in the first place- don't believe the hype, definitely judge a book by it's cover cuz it's insides are probably pretty great. Speaking of which and saving the best for last, there are die-cut pages that add to the appeal (yes, that was me squealing) and actually make your little one want to flip through. This book is the best kind of visual overload there is.

My daughter read this to me today and I could tell she was happy to figure the words out on her own. I'm sure it had everything to do with the fact that the author keeps it amazingly simple and introduces sounds as word families, "et", "ed", and "am" in this book, creating an easy-to-follow-and-learn pattern. Lucky for me, there's a whole series I can't wait to get my hands on. Off to clean out the stacks...

Thursday Book Rec: Lots of Ladybugs

I am an admitted book worm, constantly on the lookout for new ones, both for the kids and myself. There's no better love you can inspire in children than the desire to read, but again, I am thousand-percent biased. A book can take you anywhere and let you be anyone you want to be- how does it get any better than that??

This is one in a series of posts spotlighting books we picked up and  absolutely loved! Most of these can be appreciated by just about any age, and I say this because I love them just as much as the kids do. I hope you do, too!

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Title & Author: 

Lots of Lady bugs by Michael Dahl 

What It's About:

It basically teaches kids to count by fives or gives good practice if they already know the basics of skip-counting. The number-find on each page holds their interest and it is an interactive book that you can read aloud together. 

My Thoughts:
I love the hidden numbers on each page because the kids had a ball trying to find them first each time. The repetition helps kids really learn to count by fives painlessly, and then who doesn't love ladybugs? There's a cool fact sheet at the end of the book where you can learn interesting things about the very special bugs. It gave me the idea to do a ladybug theme sometime in the near future. We will be re-visiting this book when we do.

Thursday Book Rec: The Silver Bowl

I am an admitted book worm, constantly on the lookout for new ones, both for the kids and myself. There's no better love you can inspire in children than the desire to read, but again, I am thousand-percent biased. A book can take you anywhere and let you be anyone you want to be- how does it get any better than that??

This is one in a series of posts spotlighting books we picked up and absolutely loved! Most of these can be appreciated by just about any age, and I say this because I love them just as much as the kids do. I hope you do, too!

Google Images 

Title & Author: 

The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley

What It's About:

It's a story about an unfortunate girl named Molly who lives in the kingdom of Westria and is sent away by her tyrant of a father to work as a scullery maid in the royal family's castle. The only thing worse for Molly than the realization that the terrifying visions she sees always come eerily true and witnessing the apparent curse on the royal family, is the fact that the priceless silver bowl she is charged to care for warms to her touch and commands her to listen and watch as it warns her of danger through the visions it chooses to share with her.


Now, she has an extra secret to keep to avoid being labeled as "mad" and ending up with no job and no roof over her head, or worse- being sent back to her father who has promised no good will come of her return. In order to accomplish what she feels she must do, she must quickly learn who she can trust and who she cannot. If she makes the wrong choice, it could mean her life and the life of the young prince Alaric. The fate of the entire kingdom of Westria also rests on her shoulders; one wrong move and all will be lost.


    

My Thoughts:

I discovered after reading it that it's one in a three-part series and like most books we find, I picked this one up on a whim. It was on the "New" shelf in the library and to be honest, the only thing I love more than books themselves is NEW, never-been-read-before books. The title drew me in and I'm so glad we decided to give it a try. I did have to do a little editing when I was reading due to the cruel nature of some of the characters and of course, I always edit when it comes to the grown-up concept of love and romantic relationships (NOTE: In my opinion, my 4 & 6 year olds should enjoy their childhoods, not be bombarded by ooey-gooey lovey-dovey stories all over the place. They'll have time for that later when they're ready for a healthy, committed marital relationship but right now, there's more to life than smooching and crushes. Enough with the heavy and back to the book...).


The author did a miraculous job of getting us to develop a strong connection with the characters, especially Molly. The suspense throughout the book killed us every second we were not reading. My kids asked for it excitedly every night before bed time and honestly, I couldn't wait to get back to it at the end of every day, either. It's definitely a real page-turner. For now, we're anxiously awaiting the follow-up books.

Thursday Book Rec- Anna Hisbiscus Series

I am an admitted book worm, constantly on the lookout for new ones, both for the kids and myself. There's no better love you can inspire in children than the desire to read, but again, I am thousand-percent biased. A book can take you anywhere and let you be anyone you want to be- how does it get any better than that??

This is one in a series of posts spotlighting books we picked up and absolutely loved! Most of these can be appreciated by just about any age, and I say this because I love them just as much as the kids do. I hope you do, too!

Google Images

Title & Author: 

Have Fun Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke (Part of a series)

What It's About:

A little girl from "Africa. Amazing Africa." goes to Canada to visit her Granny 

for the Holidays and this book catalogs her adventures as she learns to enjoy herself despite her sadness from missing her other family she left behind in Africa, and her apprehension about the new things she sees there- or rather, what she thinks she'll see.

My Thoughts:

Hands-down I love it! Oh yeah, and the kids did too. There were some references to Christmas in this one, which I used in part to broaden my girls' horizons (just because we don't celebrate it, doesn't mean they can't learn about what it is), but some things just had to be reworded for their consumption.


Still, it was so very refreshing to finally find a good, relateable book about someone from Africa, one that anyone can enjoy. Believe me when I say that it's such a rarity to find positive, enjoyable books that give African-American children something they can look up to and really relate to on a deeper level. We found a book series that lets us see some inspiring, non-stereotypical, not hanging-out-as-the-sidekick and definitely not placed in-the-background-as-an-afterthought characters that are actually lovable. Imagine that. 


We've happened upon a book/series about Africans that anyone of any race or background can and would want to enjoy. Not that they are not others out there, they just all haven't found me yet. But, I'm happy and relieved to say the Anna Hisbiscus series has us off to a great start.


Illustrator Lauren Tobia can be found here
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Thursday Book Rec

I am an admitted book worm. If I could swim in books or sleep in them, I truly would. I am constantly on the lookout for new ones, both for the kids and myself. There's no better love you can inspire in children than the desire to read, but again, I am thousand-percent biased. This is one in a series of posts spotlighting books we picked up and absolutely loved! Most of these can be appreciated by just about any age, and I say this because I love them just as much as the kids do. I hope you do, too!

Image Source: Amazon

Title & Author: 

Dear Fred by Susanna Rodell

What It's About:

Grace misses her older half-brother after a change in their family situation causes her to have to move away from Australia to the States. She writes him a letter telling him how much she misses him and all the things they used to do, both good and bad.

My Thoughts:

This one made me cry, cry, cry. I picked this one up when we touched on communication and all the different ways to do it and I expected it to just be a fun book about letter-writing. It has a very touching message and anyone who has a heart will be touched by the story. Reaching for my tissues, now, just the memory is making me misty! Enjoy!

Thursday Book Rec

I am an admitted book worm. If I could swim in books or sleep in them, I truly would. I am constantly on the lookout for new ones, both for the kids and myself. There's no better love you can inspire in children than the desire to read, but again, I am 1000% biased. This is the first in a series of posts spotlighting books we picked up and absolutely loved! Most of these can be appreciated by just about any age, and I say this because I love them just as much as the kids do. I hope you do, too!

Image Source: booko

Title & Author:

Diary of a Baby Wombat by Jackie French. 

What It's About:

A baby wombat uses a week's worth of diary entries to tell about his seemingly mundane adventures in finding a bigger hole for his mother and himself. He makes a friend along the way but also inadvertently causes a bit of trouble, because he is, after all, just a baby.

My Thoughts:

I am known for doing semi-good, semi-horrible accents and when I picked this one up to read to the kiddles, I couldn't help but work on my Australian. Thankfully I'd watched a Planet Green show late the night before and got a fresh dose of Australian just in time for this book. It was so much fun to read that way and the kids loved it so much they asked me to do it again and again- I guess my nighttime "research" paid off. It's a really sweet book.