by Carolyn | Girls, Graphic Novel, Juvenile Fiction, Middle-grade, Newbery, Older Elementary
There I was, at the public library, perusing the juvenile biographies. I was Looking for the 26 Fairmont Avenue books by Tommie de Paula when something else caught my eye. El Deafo. It wasn’t just the bright blue cover or the interesting title. I knew El Deafo...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Character Training, Cultural Diversity, Girls, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Middle School, Middle-grade, Newbery, Older Elementary, Read Alouds
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin features a young girl, Minli, who lives in a poor village with her parents. Her father tells her stories each night, but her discontented mother says the stories are a waste. In an effort to make her family happy, Minli...
by Carolyn | Book Lists, Early Readers, Juvenile Fiction, Middle-grade
I was thrilled to be invited to appear on a local show, SA Live, to give children’s book recommendations for various ages! You can watch the recording by clicking the image below (my segment begins at 17:30), or you can read more about the books I chose below....
by Carolyn | Adventure, Boys, Character Training, Classics, Cultural Diversity, Historical Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Newbery, Read Alouds
How would you feel if you were 13, left alone in a cabin in the wilderness, responsible to take care of it until your family arrived? That’s the situation Matt finds himself in at the beginning of The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. Through...
by Carolyn | Biography, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Movies, Older Elementary, Read Alouds
Several years ago, when my older kids were four and six, I decided to read The Invention of Hugo Cabret to them. My husband and I had just seen the movie, so I was pretty excited about the book. I put it on hold at the library and waited patiently. I was expecting a...
by Carolyn | Adventure, For fun, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Middle School, Older Elementary, Steampunk
Is All the Wrong Questions by Lemony Snicket a good series? Yes. But that’s the wrong question. What you should be asking is, “Does my child like mysterious books that don’t take themselves too seriously?” I’ve read the first two books in...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Dystopian Future, Juvenile Fiction, Middle School, Older Elementary, Read Alouds, Sci-fi
Dystopian future novels have been very popular the last several years with the Hunger Games and Divergent among the front runners (read my review of Divergent). These types of novels hold an immense appeal. They feel more realistic than straight out fantasy. They also...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Boys, Juvenile Fiction, Older Elementary
A friend of mine asked me what I knew about the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. Her kids had heard about the books from their cousins, and she wanted to know if they would be appropriate. I was curious too having seen them in my library with the paperbacks geared...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Book Lists, Highschool, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Middle School, Older Elementary, Picture Books, Reading, Recommendations, Wordless Books, Young Adult
Ok, let’s be honest, almost any book can (and should) inspire the imagination. But some are just better at it than others. In my opinion, there are three basic kinds of books that inspire imagination: 1) Books in which the main character(s) are playing...
