Not a Holiday Gift Guide: Books to give in 2014

For a full explanation of this post, read this!

Alysa, give me a book recommendation for _________!

A "six-year-old boy who reads at probably a sixth-grade level but like short, simple books like Magic Tree House." Submitted by Amy.

First, I want to say that regardless of reading level and comprehension abilities, there is something very appealing about the Magic Tree House books. And it is 100% great for a kid to prefer books written for kids his age, even if his reading abilities are above average. Reading is about so much more than your reading level. (I should know. I'm a college grad who reads children's literature, always.)

Second, I want to say "You are in luck, Amy!" My son Benjamin is a strong reader and a six-year-old at this very moment! Let the recommendations begin!

I love Alvin Ho by Lenore Look, and so does anybody I've ever heard back from after I've recommended these books to them. (There are six in the series now.) In book one, Alvin is a first grader who can't utter a word at school, thanks to his performance anxiety disorder. He is hilarious and mischevious. The books are perfectly illustrated by LeUyen Pham, and probably just a touch longer than your average Magic Tree House. As Benjamin says, "Alvin is allergic to everything except explosions and superheroes." (My reviews here and here)

Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke came to mind and I asked Benjamin what he liked about the books. "I like that sometimes [the characters] are helpful, sometimes they're fighting, sometimes they are nice." I hadn't really thought about it before but the Zita series really does have particularly deep characters. Emotional complexity. And now I'm proud of my six-year-old for recognizing that and appreciating it in literature. The books follow Zita on her adventures in alien worlds and the grand adventure of trying to get home. There are three books in this series.

"Which is better, Zita or Sidekicks?" I asked Benjamin. 

"Hmm, I don't know . . . "

Benjamin recommends Sidekicks by Dan Santat because it has a good mix of "peaceful times and fighting times." The book follows a superhero in search of a new sidekick and his pets, who want the job.

I was wondering this morning if The Phantom Tollbooth would be a good one to try. . . I haven't given it to Benjamin yet. He read the brand new graphic novel Muddy Max yesterday and said it was good. (Max gets superpowers when covered in mud. How cool is that?) I admit I haven't read it yet, so I can't personally vouch for it. If you wanted a book to read and discuss together, I'll jump at the chance to recommend the picture book The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman (my review here).

Good luck on your search, Amy! Hopefully there is something here that your six-year-old can sink his teeth into!

Alysa, give me a book recommendation for . . .

"My mom, who loves to read and seems to prefer Christian Fiction." Submitted by Amy.

Ok Amy. I will admit that this is not my strong suit. Your mother may have read both of these already, but if she hasn't, they're ones I can recommend wholeheartedly knowing that all the grown-up ladies who love Christian Fiction of my acquaintance loved these:

I still think about Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas with surprising regularity, considering it's been years since my book club read it.

If your mom hasn't read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society yet, I will be shocked. Shocked! But it's great. So, just in case, I will stick it in here. 

Alysa, give me a book recommendation for . . .

A "series appropriate for 8 year olds that read at about 7th or 8th grade levels that have appropriate content (and that we haven't read)." Submitted by Debra:

After hearing that her son rips through books like crazy (and has already read Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Kane Chronicles, Gregor and the Overlander, and Alatraz books) I thought, "Either we've got to get this kid a really long book, or a book that he can go back to over and over again.
Because you just can't keep up with that.

On that note I thought of The Skull in the Rock which I mentioned over here, and Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World which I reviewed in this post. Skull has lots of awesome science to wrap your brain around, and photos that you can study and dive into. Shipwreck has more adventure packed into it than many a fantasy novel (and it's all true).

Since he likes fantasy, you might look into the Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi, if he hasn't already found those.

I also thought that it would be great to pull in some of the series my siblings and I read when we were kids, so that all the books would be available for immediate consumption. The Hobbit (and Lord of the Rings) came to mind. Also I think my brother was about 8 when he first read Ender's Game (though subsequent readings added more depth to his understanding.

When I was 8 I loved The Babysitter's Club by Ann M. Martin and all of Madeline L'Engle's books. When I was in 7th or 8th Grade, I loved reading Holes by Louis Sachar.

Good luck on your search, Debra! I've heard good things about Fablehaven, but I wanted to give you some more to look at. Let me know if I can be of more help and/or what you think of these suggestions.

This post is still open! Fill in the blank!

Alysa, give me a book recommendation for _________!

Why I'm not making a Holiday Gift Guide

'Tis the season for Holiday Gift Guides! And maybe you would think I would make up a nice little book guide for you, and then you could shop from it (using my affiliate links, of course!) and it would be a win-win, right?

But here's the thing. I don't believe in Holiday Gift Guides.

Don't get me wrong, I celebrate Christmas with the best of 'em! But what ends up under my tree doesn't come from Holiday Gift Guides. Once, (once!) I bought something that I saw in the toy guide that Family Fun magazine put out right before the holidays -- but I bought it long after the season had passed.

I bought this game years ago and still love it.
I highly recommend it!
Perfect for preschoolers.
(A little younger or a little older is OK too.)

Tangent: It was the Richard Scarry's Busy Busy Airport Game, by the way. We like it so much that despite taking good care of it, the pieces have begun dying. When we played it last week, the little guys couldn't be put into the planes very well (two years of wear will do that to cardboard) and it was really getting in the way of the game. So, I emailed the manufacturer to ask if I could purchase replacement parts. Good news! They're complimentary, and they arrived today. I am one happy customer. :)


Anyway, if I'm going to go to the trouble of suggesting things for you to purchase this holiday season, I want it to actually be useful to you. So. I am not going to create a Holiday Gift Guide. I'm going to create a list of personalized book recommendations!

I did this on Facebook, quick and dirty, a while back, and it was great fun:

We'll do it like this, but with pictures of those beautiful book covers.

So, fill in the blank and I will recommend you a book, personally! And if you shop through links that I post, I get a small commission. (Even if you don't end up purchasing the item I post about, I can still benefit from those items you do purchase, if you get to the site through my links. Pretty cool, huh?)

I'm thinking I'll do this in a separate post, so that it doesn't have to have all of this explanation on top of it. I'll call it, Not a Holiday Gift Guide: Books to give in 2014.

You can leave your queries on this post or on the Not a Holiday Gift Guide post, I'll see them either place. I'll start adding recommendations Monday 11/17/14 call it quits on 12/18/14, or thereabouts, because after that shipping gets dicey.

So, who do YOU want to buy a book for? One person? A whole family? The same book for several people who will all like it? I'm up for a challenge.

Alysa, give me a book recommendation for __________!

p.s. If you want to include your budget or where online you like to shop, that's fine with me!

Pass the Ketchup! The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth

1. What is it about? All the animals in the Stratford Zoo like to have a little fun when the zoo guests are away. Tonight they're putting on an adaptation of Macbeth!
2. Who would like it? My former English teacher Mrs. Holland, fans of Macbeth, those of us who need a little refresher on the story. 
3. What is your favorite line from the book? I've returned it to the library now, but goodness sakes it was fun that Lady Macbeth was played by a leopard. :D 
4. Who is your favorite character? Hmm, tough call! I liked MacDuff, and I liked the kids in the audience. 

The final word: This version has way more ketchup and a lot less blood than the real deal. I don't think you could pass your English test on Macbeth if you tried to read this version instead of the original.  So, don't even try it! Just read this version for fun -- because it's very very fun. Full color throughout. Can't wait for the next one! Romeo and Juliet debuts in Sept 2015.

Shop through my affiliate links and I will earn a small commission.

Did you read Macbeth in high school? Ever seen it live? I haven't but the Shakespeare that I have seen performed I've really loved!

Wordless Picture books: Suggestions for a 4-year-old?

Can I just say that I am loving the awesome discussion going on in the comments of the post about Diversifying Your Child's Bookshelf? Such fun! So many good ideas! Let's keep it going. :)

In fact, I liked the thread over there about wordless picture books so much that I want to bring it up here on the main page. I need more suggestions!

Levi is dying for a book he can read all by himself

 My son Levi is four years old and just on the edge of being able to read on his own. He watches his older brother Benjamin come home from school and read voraciously. But when Levi asks Benjamin to read his books out loud, Benjamin often declines, saying, "I'm reading silently."

It won't surprise you, then, that the other day Levi asked me for some books that HE could read silently. When I suggested some of his favorites from our shelf, books that he knows well, he was distraught. "I can't read those!" See, he knows what reading is and he knows he's not quite there yet. But he wants so badly to be able to do what the rest of us do. What a painful stage!

I took him to the library the day after he asked for books to read silently, and we browsed as usual. Then I asked our librarian to recommend some wordless picture books. She came through with the adorable books about Carl by Alexandra Day. However, he rejected these once they got home, because Follow Carl! started with a few words. *augh*

We've read Journey by Aaron Becker, and its sequel, Quest. I plan to revisit Tuesday and Flotsam by David Weisner.

What else is there? I'd love more suggestions. I put Noah's Ark by Peter Spier on hold at my library. Also Where's Walrus? by Stephen Savage -- we all loved that one, but it has been long enough that Levi probably doesn't remember it.

Of course, if you have great suggestions that aren't wordless picture books, I am totally open to those, too. Please tell me what worked for your child at this tricky age. 

Thanks in advance! See you in the comments ;)

Making a purchase through affiliate links in this post 

will grant me a small commission on the sale, just so ya know! 

My commission comes at no extra cost to you.

Diversify Your Child's Library: 15 Must-Have Books

Maybe your little ones have a bookshelf of their own, or maybe you've just got what I like to call "a home library." Either way, your child is influenced by the books on the shelf at home. What needs to be there?

You need both quality and quantity. I recently read a great Pacific Standard article about this (Thanks Rachel!) In many cases, quantity leads to diversity. We need diverse books. We need them so much that there is a whole internet movement about it going on right now. (More about that here, and if you search the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag.)

I did see a home library once that was large (yay, quantity!) but homogeneous. (Quality? Diversity?) It was strikingly odd, to me. Three or four whole shelves of little boxed sets of books with beloved characters on them, made to teach readers their numbers, shapes and colors. I was like, "Hey, this looks cute!" But when I looked closer I got bored just reading the spines of the books. I opened them up and—yep! They were all alike inside.

Anyway, I wanted to write for you a list of 15 books you must have. But as I explored this idea I couldn't get on board. There aren't 15 specific children's books that your children really have to have, in order to be healthy, functional members of society. But I did come up with 15 types of books that ought to be on the shelf. Because the young learner needs quality, quantity, and diversity. We need diverse books.

15 must-have books for your child's home library

1. A book that is really special to you: I have the very first book that my dad ever read on his own: Dash & Dart. What a gem! And I hunted down my own copy of Chris Van Allsburg's Swan Lake because I have such fond memories of my parents reading it to me.

2. A book you never get tired of reading: Personally, I could read The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry out loud to my kids every day for the rest of my life.


3. A book your child loves, but you hate: Buttercup Petal Pixies—this was a castoff from a friend and I was sorting through the box and totally going to donate this one, but then Benjamin wanted to read it (and read it again and again) and Levi did too, eventually. Maybe it's the glitter. Maybe it's something else? For me, the story limps along. The pictures are uninspiring. But the book is not pernicious in any way. For now, it stays.


4. A book that is fantasy: Don't stress, pretty much all of Dr. Seuss qualifies, here.


5. A book that is realistic fiction: I love Penny and Her Song by Kevin Henkes.


6. A graphic novel:  Nursery Rhyme Comics is like, the best pick ever. A graphic novel-style picture book my boys have been loving lately is Julia's House for Lost Creatures by Ben Hatke.

7. A book about the human body: Go check out the whole section at the library and pick the one you like best. Then buy it. I'd like to buy Who Has What? by Robie Harris which I read for the Cybils last year.

8. A book about your family or your child: A journal, a photo album, or something of the like.


9. A book with a protagonist of a different race: No, animals don't count as a different race from you. I love Alvin Ho, who is Chinese-American. He also has an anxiety disorder.

10. A book that makes you laugh: Petite Rouge Riding Hood always does it for me!

11. A book that is especially fun to read out loud: I made a list of 10 good ones, here.

12. A book popular culture loves: Part of reading is making cultural connections and the well-read kid is one who has read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and more. Right now Pete the Cat is really big.

13. A book that's poetry: Poetry just deepens the soul, man. Try My Dog is a Carrot by John Hegley.

14. A book written in another time period: Because the time in which an author lives puts an indelible stamp on the book, and lends a new perspective. How about Betsy-Tacy?

15. A book published in the last two years: You'd only have to buy a new book once every two years to keep up with this requirement! You can handle that. Here are seven great places to buy books.

______________________
Do you know what book I need? A dictionary! I have realized this gap in my library for some years, but—let's be honest—I just look things up on my phone. That works great for me personally, but now I have a reader! And he doesn't have a phone (and at age 6 I'm not going to give him one).  Right now he's dependent on me for definitions of words, and sometimes, we're both dependent on my phone. I think he would love a good children's dictionary. Do you have a recommendation?

What are some of the must-have books in your own library?
What type of book would you put at #16?
What has worked for you with your home library and what do you struggle with?

Let's talk in the comments, below. I'll meet you there.

This post contains affiliate links. 

It also contains regular links, I'm sure you noticed. 

If you purchase something after clicking through my affiliate links, 

I earn a small commission, 

which is totally awesome! 

There's no extra cost to you and it's super easy.

So, why not?

That is all.

Now leave a comment or buy a book or both!

Please make this book into a movie: The Shadow Hero

More books like this, please!

1. What is it about? 
   The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang & Sonny Liew is, first, the story of Hank Chu, living in *almost* the 1930's. Hank likes working at the family grocery store in Chinatown with his dad. But from the day his mom is saved by asuperhero, The Anchor of Justice, she knows exactly what her son should do with his life. This is a book in the great tradition of superhero comics, but it's also very self aware. Reading the end material made the book (which I loved) even cooler. Because it told me that, secondly, this book is an imagining of the origin story of what might have been the first Asian American superhero.
   
2. Who would like it?
   Alexander. All of my former GN book club (Jesse, Lauren, Amanda and others!). ME! Jacob. The general superhero-loving public. According to the NY Times, "any Taiwanese-Chinese-American." This book is just so spot-on in it's tongue-in-cheek awesomeness. I'd give it to 12 up. Plenty of superhero violence, but no gore, no language, no sexual content. (The author did dedicate it, "For my kids.")
   
3. What is your favorite line from the book?
   "I'm going now. When you get home, wake me up, all right? I'll make you something to eat." Or maybe, "Bleh! I'm dead! I'm dead!"
   
4. Who is your favorite character? Definitely the mom, Hua Chu. But I also love the dad, and Red, and the Tortoise, and Uncle Wun Too . . .

The final word: Read it before the movie comes out! You've got a little time because it's not optioned yet, as far as I can tell. :) But seriously. This book rocks.

The story is awesome, and Sonny Liew's art is great at depicting motion and fight scenes that don't confuse. In fact, it's great at everything! Except everybody has duck lips. But you get used to that. Seriously -- framing, coloring, unique and varied panels that improve the story instead of distracting from it. The art flows amazingly well, and adds SO much.    

If, like myself, you would like to purchase this book, you are welcome to use my affiliate links, below.

Barnes and Noble

 




By the way, I simply had to ask author Gene Luen Yang where he came up with one of the villains' names. This particular gangster is named Mock Beak. Where does a guy get a name like that? Here's what the author had to say:

The Shadow Hero's Mock Beak is inspired by (1) Mock Duck, this really intense Chinatown gangster, and (2) the 1 tile of the "sticks" suit in mahjong. All the gangster characters are named after mahjong tiles. -- Gene Luen Yang, (@geneluenyang), here and here 10/29/14.

Totally awesome. And now I want to play mahjong. In the book, the gangs are called "the tong of sticks" and "the tong of stones." I can definitely see the bird influence in the art & actions of Mock Beak. Those talons! *shiver*

I hope you read this book and then tell me how much you love it. Ok? Ok.
___________________
(Notes about the special way I'm reviewing Cybils nominees, here.)
Other books by Gene Luen Yang that I have reviewed, here.
I reviewed Wonderland, with art by Sonny Liew, 5 years ago.

My favorite magazine for kids: Explore! by Kiwi Crate

So I know that *books* are the big thing here on Everead, but today I can't resist doing a review of my current favorite magazine for kids.

I can rarely resist talking about Kiwi Crate, actually. I pretty much talk about it to so many friends so often that I forget who I have gushed to exactly.

Just the other day my friend Abigail was like, "[my daughter] really likes your castle."

"Thanks," I said. "It's from Kiwi Crate. Have I told you about Kiwi Crate?"

"...Yes," she said, in just such a way that I knew I had already told her about Kiwi Crate at length. (Whoops! Oh, well, doesn't hurt to be certain...)

Anyway, one of the reasons I love Kiwi Crate is because of the magazine/booklet that comes in it each month, called Explore!

"It's ok that she colored on it, because I already know ALL about the wild west."
-Levi, forgiving Jubilee because he's already glanced at Explore!

Explore! magazine always starts with a story about Steve the Kiwi, written in graphic novel format. The pictures + words format is just perfect for the intended age range (4-8).  Levi loved one of these stories so much that we read it over and over and over, all month long.

Wait. Let me back up. Kiwi Crate is a monthly subscription box for kids. Inside this special little package that arrives on the doorstep addressed to Levi is everything we need for two awesome, age appropriate themed crafts. Also Explore! magazine, which has more info in the theme, a mini craft, extra craft ideas, book recommendations, nuggets of information, coloring pages, science experiments, recipes, and so forth.

We have been Kiwi Crate subscribers for 11 months now. (I took the plunge after reading many positive reviews, including this one.) I wanted to do something special with Levi since he was not quite ready for preschool , his big brother was headed to kindergarten, and I didn't trust myself to do anything crafty with him without outside encouragement. It has worked out great. Everybody looks forward to Kiwi Crate. We just love it. And after all the exciting crafting is done, Explore! gets read in detail.

The magazine's design is charming -- It is mostly printed in full color, though drawing pages and coloring pages are often two-toned, brown and white. It is a small booklet, measuring 9.5x6.5 inches -- about the size of an easy reader book.

from the "Modern Art" volume

When we got our very first Kiwi Crate I was tossing some of the packing materials and scraps after we crafted. I almost chucked the  Explore! magazine, but I changed my mind and fished it out of the bin. As you can see we now have a little collection, an archive, of fun activities and info (and book recommendations) on a variety of awesome topics.

The bottom line is this: I love Kiwi Crate. I love it so much I paid full price for it, twice (first a 6 Month Subscription, then a 12 Month Subscription). I love it so much I became an affiliate (and this post is peppered with affiliate links, which will get you 30% off your first box). I mean, I'm prrrobably going to end up talking about Kiwi Crate again (right Abigail?), so why not?

Will we make it to the table before we open it?
Not a chance.

If you've got a little one between 4-8, definitely look into a Kiwi Crate Subscription. Also, FYI, they now have Koala Crate for 3-4 year olds (in collaboration with Highlights magazine), and two cool options for the 9-14+ crowd, Tinker Crate and Doodle Crate. (My kids will be that old someday.)

Now, I know I've left out information above. What questions and comments do you have about Kiwi Crate? Or about children's magazines in general? 

Edited to add:  I forgot to say, I love the binding! This little magazine has outlasted The Friend, Highlights Magazine, and Lego Club Jr. consistently, because it is sewn the full length of the center! No more pages 16-18 falling out! Yay!