A beautiful, sparse, partially illustrated and wonderfully wacky story about a girl and a squirrel-turned-superhero. While it touches on over-the-top comic book superhero themes and ideas, it’s more down to earth with family issues and interested in deeper ideas like poetry. Yes, squirrels writin...
Comes close to the magic of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, with the same blending of dreamy fantasy and harsh reality but doesn't quite come together at the end, imho. The story touches on some darker subject matter and does not sugar coat anything: the protagonist's father didn't just ...
Age recommendation: 5+This is a good option for a first novel for children, and is especially something that young girls would love. The format is something between a picture book and a full text jFic novel, but slightly closer to the picture book (as opposed to Wimpy Kid, which is the opposite)....
Continuing my goal to read the "prize-winners" each year, I picked up this 2014 Newbery Medal Winner. Who can't love a book about a superhero squirrel? The incorporation of comic-book style elements mixed in with chapter book made it fun, and the vocabulary was rich for the intended age group w...
Holy unexpected occurrences! I tried reading this a few months ago and just couldn't get into it. So so glad I gave it another chance! It's a fun and charming book (like many things I enjoy, I can see how some might find these characters a bit too quirky and odd). As a teacher I adore how DiCamil...
DiCamillo, K. (2013). Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.Newbery Medal Winner (2014)NewberyThis book is about a girl named Flora that befriends a squirrel that gains superpowers from being sucked up into a vacuum. Both Flora and the squirrel, named Ul...
This is my 2.5 year old daughter's favorite series. This is our second time getting it from the library, and when her father brought her home, she said, "Mommy, the library gave us Bink & Gollie AGAIN!!! And they gave us THREE Bink & Gollie stories!" (Which is to say, mommy reserved all three Bin...
I picked up this series of three books (Bink &Gollie, Bink & Gollie: two for one, Bink & Gollie: best friends forever) after reading Gina's rave review. I was wondering whether they would be something I could read to my 3.5 year old daughter and was pleased to find that, although I suspect some ...
Louise is no ordinary chicken by any stretch of the imagination, and Kate DiCamillo does a fantastic job writing about a chicken with such personality who leaves her cozy hen house and sets out on an adventure that she has longed for and adventures is what she finds. Adventure on the high seas, ...
Kate DiCamillo is a well known name in children's literature, but I just discovered this picture book of hers while browsing around in the library. Prior to this, I had mistakenly believed that she only wrote chapter books. It is a tale about a chicken named Louise who longs for adventure. She en...
Louise is a chicken who longs for adventure. So she goes out seeking it. First on the high seas where she meets a band band of pirates, then on the high wire where she has a close encounter with a hungry lion. And then in a distant country where she is kidnapped by a dark stranger. In the end, Lo...
When the Watsons learn that the local drive-in is serving popcorn with real butter and showing a film called, "When Pigs Fly", they hop in the car and head for the movies. Before Mr. Watson can return from the concession stand, Mercy leaves the car in search of the source of the tantalizing butte...
I love this series of books SO much. They have a little bigger print, they have lots of pictures, but most importantly, they are genuinely funny and somewhat unpredictable. They actually have a funny, simple plot unlike most easy readers. They really motivate my daughter to read! I wish the autho...
Whenever a major personal tragedy occurs, such as the death of a parent or other very close loved one, it can divide one's life into two distinct segments: everything before the tragedy, and then all that follows after it. Even if one releases one's grief as healthily as possible that mental divi...
He felt as if it was choking him. He tugged at it with one paw.“Don’t touch the thread,” barked the second hood.“Yeah,” echoed the first hood, “don’t touch the thread.”They moved quickly. And whenever Despereaux slowed, one of the two hoods poked him in the shoulder and told him to keep moving. T...
SAID THE OLD WOMAN, “GIT away from that rabbit. I ain’t paying you to stand and stare.” “Yes, ma’am,” said Bryce. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and continued to look up at Edward. The boy’s eyes were brown with flecks of gold shining in them. &nbs...
“Is it Halloween?” Otis asked when I handed him the candy. “No,” I said. “Why?” “Well, you’re giving me candy.” “It’s just a gift,” I told him. “For today.” “Oh,” said Otis. He unwrapped the Littmus Lo...
Whatever the reason, the Elefante station wagon went past every stop sign without stopping or even slowing down very much. They were going very, very fast, and the car emitted a lot of noises: screeches (from the piece of loose wood siding), thumps (from the door that would not stay closed), and ...