What do you do if you have twelve brothers in one family? You play baseball of course! The nine oldest boys of the Acerra family of New Jersey formed a semi-pro team in 1938. They competed against teams throughout the state and even in New York and Connecticut. While this book is about the Acerra...
These days, a quiet novel is a risk. Cell phones, television shows, video games, and the sort, are constantly competing for everyone’s attention. If even a single page in a novel fails to hold drama, create suspense, and provide surprises, how will that novel merit anyone’s focus? Water Balloon b...
This is a hilarious look at the first day of school jitters from the point of view of a very different student. Vernick covers all the typical fears of students just entering kindergarten in a fun and entertaining way without talking down to the reader or minimizing their fears.I highly recommen...
Vinnie is a silly mutt who wanders off from his owner and ends up at a wild lands shelter where he becomes best buds with a rhino. Vinnie, who is a big air brain to say the least, brings a lovable and funny quality to the book. It may be silly, but it has serious heart as well, which is shown whe...
Fun story about encouraging kids (or buffalos!) to pursue their interests. The syntax and structure of a second-person narrative isn't easily understood by all kids, so maybe save this one for older ones. Lots of winks to parents, and seeing a buffalo doing kid-things is definitely silly enough t...
Chris Sykes said when I walked into the room after school on Monday. In the same tone of voice he might have used if he had noticed a moth flying out of my ear. “Good to see you,” I said in a weird and confident-sounding voice. Just selling it with a no-doubt-about-it tone, the key to being a goo...