Our favorite books this August are sure to capture imaginations with beautiful illustrations, unconventional characters, and fascinating true stories. Read on to see the titles that hooked our book experts this month!
For Pre-K –K (Ages 3-6):
Who’s That?: Arctic Animals (Board Book) by Tad Carpenter
We love all the vibrant and entertaining titles in the Who’s That? board book series – this one especially. Kids will love opening the sturdy flaps to meet creatures like a walrus and a polar bear. A cool read for a hot day!
For 1st and 2nd Grade (Ages 6-8):
School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex
It’s the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary and everyone’s just a little bit nervous, especially the school! What will the children do once they come? Will they like the school? Will they be nice to him? Find out what happens to the school on its first day! With charming illustrations, this delightful read-aloud picture book will have young readers reaching for it every day of the year!
For 3rd & 4th grade (Ages 8-10):
Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas by Gwendolyn Hooks
During the mid-twentieth century, Vivien Thomas overcame racism from his colleagues and developed a procedure that was used for the first successful open-heart surgery on a child. This is a fascinating biography of how one innovative doctor ushered in a new era of medicine.
For 5th & 6th grade (Ages 10-12):
Raymie Nightengale by Kate DiCamillo
Raymie Clarke is convinced that winning the 1975 Little Miss Central Florida Tire contest would inspire her father to come home. To win, not only does Raymie have to do good deeds and learn how to twirl a baton; she also has to contend with the wispy, frequently fainting Louisiana Elefante, who has a show-business background, and the fiery, stubborn Beverly Tapinski, who’s determined to sabotage the contest. We couldn’t put down this coming-of-age novel as it beautifully explored the subjects of loneliness, loss, and friendship.
Grades 7 & up (Ages 13+):
Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling by Lucy Frank
This novel-in-verse follows the unfolding friendship between two very different teenage girls who share a hospital room and an illness.
Chess, the narrator, is sick, but with what exactly, she isn’t sure. And to make matters worse, she must share a hospital room with Shannon, her polar opposite. How these teenagers become friends, helping each other come to terms with their illness, makes for a dramatic and deeply moving read.
The post Monthly Book List: Our Five Favorite Books for August appeared first on First Book Blog.
In the Ford household, we've celebrated three birthdays, one First Communion, and Mother's Day (happy, happy!) all within the last month. Heaven forbid we should rest on our laurels, so let's keep the party going with
Children's Book Week!
In our next series of posts, the Teaching Authors are planning to share titles of beloved childhood books that have sadly been lost to the ages (loaned, tossed, or otherwise lost). This is a timely topic for me, as my newly minted eight-year-old asked me last week for new reading suggestions. We trekked together to the attic, where my childhood books are stored. As an Army brat with at least 25 moves under my belt, I possess very few relics of my childhood -- toys, treasures, clothes, memorabilia. But books, I was smart enough to schlep and save.
I've got
Charlie Brown's Super Book of Questions and Answers and the complete Bobbsey Twins (which, alas, I do not feel I can share with my daughter today, what with Dinah and Sam and Flossie, her father's "little fat fairy" (goodness!)). However,I pulled together a pile of about 12 books, old and new, that I think she will love. I also did a quick and painful assessment of what I thought I had that I do not:
The Moffatts series by Eleanor Estes
Figgs and Phantoms and
The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues by Ellen Raskin
Most of the All-of-A-Kind family series
Anything by E.B. White (!)
And, for when my daughter is older:
Waiting for Johnny Miracle by Alice Bach
A House Like a Lotus by Madeleine L'Engle
I am thankful that old and/or out-of-print books are now typically available on the Internet, though I suspect some of these will be hard to find. I plan to get these books into my daughter's hands or die trying.
Happy Children's Book Week (and month and year) to all! And if you haven't already done so, it's not too late to enter our
Blogiversary Contest to win one of four gift certificates to Anderson's Bookstore. Happy Book Buying to All! --Jeanne Marie
When I finish reading a book that's really special, certain things happen to me that I don't really think about until I'm in the middle of doing them or feeling them.
I close the book and grip it with both hands as if to feel its solidity. Then I gently run my hand across the cover with the palm of one hand, as if dusting it off, though it's hardly dusty.
For a moment or two I dote over it a little, maybe adjust the jacket just so, like a child fussing over the hair or dress of a favorite doll that's already quite perfect. Then I take in a deep, deep breath.
With my lungs filled, I feel like I could float away to a blissful place and for a few moments more, I muse over the wonderful parts I read as I exale.
Sometimes I even feel a tinge of envy for the feeling I had when I didn't know how the story would end.
Then I find a special place on the bookshelf that's at eye level when I'm standing, so that when I walk by the book days, weeks or months from now, my eye will meet the title on the spine, and I'll be reminded of where I've been.
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Wow, JM, I've never heard of most of these titles. Thanks for getting this topic off to a great start!