Things to Read - Book Reviews from a 4th Grader

For F's birthday (yes, WAY back in October) she saved up a ton of gift cards for a Barnes & Noble shopping spree.

For the last five months, I've asked her to review the books she read, but sometimes it takes awhile to get a post together. So we've been gradually working on this over the winter. Luckily, finally, I have some great book recommendations from my fabulous 10 year old! Just in time for spring!

F's book reviews:

1. The Mysterious Benedict Society - Like many books full of wonderful adventures and incredible tales, this book started off a little boring. But after the first chapter, I could not put it down. It is a story of several kids, all orphans, who have just joined a mysterious society, and they must go undercover in order to stop the evil villain who is terrorizing the world without the victims even knowing it. With many twists and turns and ups and downs, this book will want to make you laugh, cry, and maybe even do a little sneaking around yourself. Four and one half stars, kids 8-13.

2. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Unfortunately, this tale has not yet been explored. Come again for a review!

3. Bud Not Buddy - This award-winning book gets straight to the point, no patience required. (Which is good, if you are like me.) Bud, Not Buddy tells the wonderful, realistic story of a boy named Bud who has lost his mother and has no idea where his dad is. Taking place during the civil rights movement of the 1960's, Bud is looking for his Dad with some clues his mom has left behind, which takes him to all sorts of exciting and new places. If you liked this, there is also a book about one of the friends Bud meets on the way home: Malone. The follow-up is called "The Mighty Miss Malone", and although I have not read it myself, I want to soon. With a wonderful tale and many adventures, the only thing I would change is the ending, which I thought could have been a bit more satisfying, but does not make a dent in this book's awesomeness. Four stars, kids 9-15.

4. Big Nate in the Zone - Okay, all you adults, I know Big Nate does not qualify as "real literature", but this book just can NOT be beat. Big Nate, the eternal sixth-grader, is my all-time FAVORITE comic. All the books are so funny, and they make me laugh a little every time. This book is no different. With a single lucky action-figure plastic foot, he turns his life around. But how long will it last? For kids of all ages, this five-star book is "in the zone"!

5. Counting by 7s - This book follows the adventures of Willow, who is an only adopted child and loves plants. But when her parents both die and she has no other family members to go to, she ends up living with someone she just met. With the help of the friendly girl Willow has recently come across, that friend's mother, a lazy school counselor, and a taxi cab driver who is turning his life around, Willow finds home in places she never thought she would. It is an incredible story, four and one half stars out of five. This book will make you feel sorry for Willow, thankful for her Mother, and annoyed at the World's Worst Counselor. For kids 8-13.

6. When You Reach Me - This book reminded me of A Wrinkle in Time. They are both Newbery Medal winning books, and they both have time travel as a big part of the story. The main character lives with her mom in a low-class apartment building in New York City. She is currently having troubles with her best friend, and she is worrying he does not like her anymore. Meanwhile, her mom has just been selected for a TV show where she could either win big and take home 20,000 dollars or come back with nothing. The main character is struggling to fit in without her best friend beside her, and the mysterious laughing man who lives under the mailbox on the corner just gets weirder every day. Four stars, kids 10-15.

7. Goodbye Stranger - Goodbye Stranger is an incredible book. It explores the excitement of growing up, and how bullying comes in different forms, and for different reasons. With shifting points of view, it all comes together. As wonderful as this book is, I would not recommend it for children under the age of nine. I don't remember all of it, but I do remember the feminist, the girl who almost died, and Emily, the soccer player who is going through puberty. There is also an unnamed high-school girl who struggles with a betrayal, who the author finally reveals at the end of the story. For ages 9-19, this book will take you an an eye-opening, tear jerking, and very entertaining roller-coaster ride. 5 out of 5 stars!!!!!

8. Kitchen Science Lab for Kids - I have not explored this book yet.

9. Omnivore's Dilemma: Young Reader's Edition - Also has not been read. [Note from Darcy - I bought this for F and offered her a $10 bribe to read it, but it's still on the bookshelf. Maybe one day?]

10. I Am Your Songwriting Journal - It is a journal that helps you write songs. Need I say more?

Things to Read - Paul Meets Bernadette

We've read some awful children's books this winter, I'm not sure if it's bad luck, or bad moods, or bad publishing - but there's some truly horrid stuff out there. Then we somehow discovered Paul Meets Bernadette, a true "light in the fog."

It's beautiful, it's short, it's funny. T laughs out loud every time (literally every time) Bernadette describes a tea kettle as an elephant and the tea cups as baby elephants. Honestly, it's sort of the perfect book, especially during winter, when much like the fish, you're stuck inside and need some imagination to pull you through.

Things to Read - Line 135

Every once in awhile we come across a simple, gorgeous book that we just can't stop reading (over and over again), lately that book has been Line 135. I love every part of Line 135 - from the simple story about dreaming impossible things to the wonderful, fantastical illustrations that follow the train from the big city into the countryside. Perfect.

Things to Read - Beach Books for Kids

I brought a variety of children's non-fiction beach books to the ocean, hoping that the books would help the kids find things to explore and look for along the water, which worked out really well. Especially learning about mermaid's purses, as we spent the rest of the trip finding LOTS of them.

I tried to stick with picture books, figuring all the kids (age 3-8) could read these together. (Note - For more children's beach book recommendations, check out this past post).



T (age 3) - I liked the pictures [in other words, a lot of this went over his head]

P (age 6) - It was so funny, I like the jokes. I learned that the coral reef is made of dead stuff.

F (age 7) - I liked it. I learned that the ocean has 3 layers and different parts - mountains, slopes, and the floor



P (age 6) - I liked learning about all the stuff, especially crabs

F (age 7) - I liked learning all about the ocean, shark teeth, and jellyfish, though jellyfish are a little creepy.

M (age 8) - I liked learning about crabs, shells, coconuts, and jellyfish



P (age 6) - I learned how shells protect animals

F (age 7) - The book has a lot of information, it is good for the beach

M (age 8) - I liked learning how shells used to be animals' houses



P (age 6) - I liked learning about water and how kids can help save the ocean

F (age 7) - I liked that the captain reminded me of a pirate

M (age 8) - I like how the kids helped the ocean stay clean and clean the air



[note - This is a work of fiction, with absolutely beautiful illustrations. I'm a little enamored with it.]

K (age 5) - I liked the whale and I thought it was silly. My favorite part was the whale.

P (age 6) - I liked it and I liked that they finally saw a big whale, though it made me sad that they couldn't look at anything else

Things to Read - Kids' Books IV

(Of course in the above photo, NONE of my children are reading the following recommended books. In the photo, F tries to read about Banksy because Dan finds his antics/art so funny (despite the effort obvious in her expression I don't think she quite understands "street art" humor) as P thumbs through a Barbie coloring book. Only T peruses an actual children's book. So go our days.)

I haven't posted on kids' books in a while. Now that F goes to school all day, we no longer spend our afternoons reading books on the couch. And at night we've been reading Harry Potter as a family (until now neither Dan nor I have ever read any of the books in the series). All that being said, in the last few months we've found a few children's books that we all really enjoy. Here goes (clicking on the book's icon takes you to Amazon):




I really like this book, the prose is simple and short, with details that bring to life the author's memories, such as "[w]hen I was young in the mountains Grandfather came home in the evening covered with the black dust of a coal mine. Only his lips were clean, and he used them to kiss the top of my head." A great bedtime read and a great conversation-starter about your own childhood.



P's sort of obsessed with Madeline lately (and a little TOO excited about the possibility of appendix removal). Anyways, it's nice to have six of the different stories in one volume. Plus the book includes "Madeline's Christmas", which is seasonal (despite a magician and magic carpets instead of Santa).



We recently discovered children's author Allen Say and I really like his writing style, very crisp with the perfect amount of detail. This book tells the story of a boy and his workaholic father taking a backpacking trip through the mountains. The illustrations are gorgeous, so hopefully, if we read the story enough, my own children will soon want to go backpacking with me. Hopefully.



This is probably the Dr. Seuss book that I remember the most from my own childhood, especially the terrifyingly big house with "your bedroom up here and your bathroom up THERE" (perhaps this alone explains why I've always been okay with living in a small house). Though as a former attorney, I now sympathize the most with Mr. Potter the "T-crosser, I-dotter" because he "has to cross t's and he has to dot i's in an I-and-T factory out in Van Nuys!" Anyways, it's a great book to read pre-holiday shopping, as sometimes we all need to remember exactly how lucky we are.



This story about a pet snake makes my kids laugh out loud. I don't totally get why it's so funny, but I don't get a lot of their humor lately. And at least it's short.



This is a great take on an oft-told tale. A group of monks comes to a poor depressed town and make "stone soup" in the market square, using only rocks and water. As the townspeople see the monks' efforts, one by one they each bring out ingredients they have been hoarding, and ultimately the huge feast bonds the whole town.

Things to Read - Kids' Books II

Winter = lots of snow days and sick days = lots of book reading. It has been a few months since I wrote just a general post on the books we've been reading (click here to see the last post), so scroll down to see the books that we can't get enough of:

For Toddlers:

A friend bought this for T when he was a baby and he still loves it. It's a book, it's a puppet, it's a song . . . For T it's the best of everything.

For Kids Ages 2.5-6:

We love Knuffle Bunny so much that I figured we'd try more of Mo Willems' books. Though very different from Knuffle Bunny, this short, simple, gorgeously illustrated story of a dog/frog friendship is a favorite of all three kids. Plus, the ambiguous ending (what happens to the frog?) leaves openings for parents to talk about death with their kids (if you choose to do so).


The perfect going-to-bed book. Gorgeously illustrated, full of simple statements documenting different types of quiet - Hide-and-seek quiet, Lollipop quiet, Top of the roller coaster quiet, and, of course, Sound asleep quiet.


Another beautifully illustrated, simple, short book (I find that now that F is learning to read, she really likes these simple books as they help her practice sounding out words). The plot centers on the friendship of a little boy and a penguin. It's so beautiful that we bought the sequel Up and Down, which is also quite good.

For slightly older kids (ages 4-8):

First of all, the book and the movie have little in common. Rather, the book tells the story of an imaginary place (the town of Chewandswallow) where meals fall from the sky. Everyone is happy until unforseen weather catastrophes force the townspeople to abandon their land. I'm convinced the whole thing is really a metephor for global warming. But even if you're not an environmentalist, you'll love the well-told story and beautiful illustrations.


A close friend bought this book for the girls when they were little because it was her favorite story as a child. The plot centers on the exclusion of non-star-bellied sneetches by sneetches with "stars on thars." It's a great story, but the girls didn't seem to quite understand the moral until this year. Now we've been reading it a lot and F likes to talk about the how ridiculous people (or sneetches) can be.


I remember reading this book as a kindergartner and loving the "funny poems." So I bought it for the girls and they can't get enough of it, every night we keep hearing "read one more. PLEASE!"


F's been reading a lot of Bob books lately. They really are perfect for beginning readers, as they give them just the right amount of confidence to keep trying new books and reading more. We've moved onto this set - Bob Books Set 2-Advancing Beginners and hopefully we'll keep moving forward to more difficult sets in the series.