Masterpiece is a sweet book that explores the unlikely friendship between 11-year-old James Pompaday and a talented beetle named Marvin that lives beneath the kitchen sink. When Marvin creates a detailed miniature drawing using the ink from a pen-and-ink set James received for his birthday, it’s assumed James did the work and he’s asked to do more. The friends wind up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, stuck in a predicament that could lead to them solving a high-profile case of stolen art. My third grader loved the story, as well as the delightful illustrations!
Another Roald Dahl gem, Matilda is the story of a brilliant little girl whose potential and spirit are constantly beaten down by her cruel, inattentive parents. Her parents’ lies make her a target of her school’s headmaster, but her devoted classroom teacher, Miss Honey, recognizes Matilda’s extraordinary abilities and sees the child for the amazing human she is. Matilda’s parents and the headmistress often made me cringe, but the book is also full of humor and love and has a charming ending.
I’ve read this book twice now, a few years ago with my oldest and recently with my third grader. It is my favorite Roald Dahl book, and was just as touching the second time around.
My third grader recently told a classmate his favorite author is Barbara O’Connor. It didn’t surprise me! After thoroughly enjoying her book, Wish, we read How to Steal a Dog per the recommendation of my sister, a youth librarian in Colorado. It was another fantastic, heartfelt read.
How to Steal a Dog is a touching story about a homeless family, living in their car, trying to gather just enough money to put down a deposit for a rental. Georgina Hayes believes she has the perfect way to help her mom collect the money – steal a dog that she can ultimately return to the rightful owner for a hefty reward.
As Georgina and her little brother, Toby, pursue her plan, they encounter some unexpected challenges and experience that pit-in-your-stomach kind of feeling that goes along with discovering you have a conscience.
We could not wait to dive back into this book each night and have now moved onto another one of O’Connor’s books, The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis.
Wish, by Barbara O’Connor has become one of my all-time favorite read-alouds. I just finished reading it with my third-grade son and we found it really hard to put down at bedtime.
Fifth grader Charlie Reese has a daddy who is in jail for fighting and a mama who “needs to get her feet on the ground.” Without proper care at home, Charlie has to temporarily live with her aunt and uncle in the small town of Colby, North Carolina.
Living in an unfamiliar “hillbilly” town with an aunt and uncle she doesn’t remember leaves Charlie feeling pretty lonely. She has a whole list of things that qualify as something you can wish upon, and she makes the same wish every day. Her Aunt Bertha and Uncle Gus envelope her in love and acceptance, and a tenderhearted boy named Howard Odem, who has his own vulnerabilities, befriends her. Over time, she starts to feel like Colby might be home.
This is such a heartwarming story that I recommended it to several friends before I had a chance to write this post. O’Connor has written several other books, so we definitely will be checking those out as well.
My mom introduced me to The Boxcar Children in the early 1980s, and I loved it so much I was inspired to grab my friends, build forts, and pretend we were roughing it on our own. Just as the book captivated me as a kid, I loved reading it with my now sixth grader a few years back, and I pulled it out again recently to enjoy with my second grader.
Originally published in 1924, The Boxcar Children follows the adventures of four sibling orphans surviving on their own. After their parents die, the children run away to avoid living with a grandfather they believe will be mean to them. The two boys and two girls amazingly work together to set up and run a love-filled household in an abandoned boxcar. They take on adult responsibilities including finding work, cooking, cleaning and caring for younger siblings. Their resourcefulness, dedication to their family and strong work ethic are admirable, and my kids were fascinated by their exciting independent conquests.
Fans of The Boxcar Children can keep busy reading the series, which includes more than 150 titles. Gertrude Chandler Warner wrote the first 19 books, and other authors penned the remainder.
When my youngest was little, a “boundain” was a BAND-AID®, a “duppy” was a pacifier, and a “nooney” was an angel. As parents, we translate the words our little ones create, they catch on, and before we know it we are using them daily within our families.
As my kids have grown, they’ve sometimes asked how words are assigned – like who decided “cat” means a mammal with four legs that meows? In Frindle, Nick Allen wonders the same thing.
Nick Allen is a fifth grader with a lot of spunk. He likes to cause a stir at school, and has a knack for asking questions that derail his teachers from the task at hand. When he asks dictionary-loving Mrs. Granger where words come from, she cleverly assigns him to research the topic and prepare an oral presentation for the class.
Nick’s curiosity and sense of adventure inspire him to invent a new word for pen – a “frindle.” The word quickly catches on with his friends and peers and takes on a life of its own.
The publisher recommends this book for ages 8-12. We read it aloud together when my oldest was in third grade, but with roughly 100 pages in paperback form, it’s very doable as an independent read as well.
A few nights ago when I was reading with my almost sixth grader before bed, he asked me, “Mom, which book are we going to read next?” I started laughing and he asked why – until he remembered the name of my blog and cracked a smile.
With summer getting underway, it’s a great time to have a few books handy for you to read out loud with your kids and for their independent reading. Check out your local library’s amazing summer reading programs. You will find fresh book ideas and your kids can often earn prizes for their hard work. Tell your local librarian what your kids are into and he or she will have wonderful suggestions for you!
It always helps when your kids have a particular interest you can build upon when selecting books. My oldest picked up 42 is Not Just a Number by Doreen Rappaport at our school’s book fair this spring. He is a huge Jackie Robinson fan and really got into it. A couple of years ago we loved reading Honus & Me by Dan Gutman together, per my sister’s recommendation. Gutman has a series of similar books I’m going to suggest as options for my son’s independent reading this summer.
My youngest recently studied the solar system at the end of first grade and it became a new obsession. So he now has a stack of books about planets that we picked up from our local library’s broad collection. And, like his brother, he loves also baseball, so together we are currently reading the Magic Treehouse book, A Big Day for Baseball, in which the main characters travel back in time to the days of Jackie Robinson. His brother no doubt is a good influence!
We are a bit spoiled when it comes to selecting books since my sister is a youth librarian and knows my boys and their interests so well. I also love to poke around library and book store displays, talk with our local librarians and friends, and reference other resources and programs like “Battle of the Books.” I’m grateful for all of these wonderful outlets so I can be ready when my kids ask, “Mom, which book is next?”
As for me? I just finished reading Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris and found it hard to put down. I am just starting Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
If you want a laugh-out-loud book to read with your kids, this is it. It’s hilariously written and perfect to pass around a Thanksgiving table and let each person take a page or two. We introduced it to my in-laws and extended family last December and it left everyone in stitches! For a preview, look for the YouTube video of a grandma barely making it through this book as she reads it to her grandchildren.
One excerpt: “I was walking
down the road and I saw a donkey, Hee Haw! He only had three legs, one eye…and
he liked to listen to country music. Yee Haw! He was a honky-tonky winky wonky
donkey.”
My parents recently gifted this
beautifully written and illustrated book to my boys, and it was such a touching
and important read-aloud that I wanted to feature it as soon as possible.
Dear Boy uses
simple, kid-friendly language in the form of a letter, teaching kids lessons
they can carry with them for a lifetime. As you read the book with your boys,
you are telling them it’s ok to feel cloudy and “let the rain fall,” that they
should always believe in themselves, and “yes means yes” but “anything else
means no.”
The book is a companion to
the bestseller Dear Girl, which in
the same style tells girls they are smart, that they should seek out people who
are both like and unlike them, and
“if (their) instinct is telling (them) to say no, say no.”
The story behind the books is touching as well. Dear Girl was written by the late children’s author Amy Krouse Rosenthal and her daughter, Paris Rosenthal. Amy passed away from ovarian cancer in March 2017, shortly after famously publishing her essay, “You May Want To Marry My Husband,” in the New York Times. Amy’s husband, Jason, and their daughter, Paris, later teamed up to write the recently released Dear Boy.
The books are sweet reads with
kids of any age. Both my fifth grader and first grader enjoyed them – and when
I borrowed Dear Girl from the library
to write this review, I read that to them as well. These books have such important
lifelong messages that I may start including them with graduation gifts.
Ivan is a tenderhearted silverback gorilla that was born in Africa and captured by humans when he was young. We meet Ivan after he’s been living on display for years at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade.
Ivan passes time as an artist, a talent he learned from the mall custodian’s daughter, Julia. He keeps company with several other animals in captivity, including a former circus elephant named Stella, now aging and tired. When Stella’s health begins to fail, Ivan promises to do everything in his power to secure a better life for a new arrival, a young orphaned elephant named Ruby.
Ivan’s resourcefulness and commitment to follow through on his promise create a hopeful, warm read. His personality is endearing and one can’t help but feel empathy for Ivan, his friends and their circumstances.
I read this Newberry Medal winner aloud to my older son when he was in second grade. I also have seen older students enjoy reading it independently and in school book clubs.
Mom, which book is next? 