Question of the week

Sometimes its easy to forget, in the pursuit of encouraging better reading, that kids books are   replete with illustrations, sometimes really good ones, that are worth discussing in their own right.  You can call it art appreciation, or an exercise in descriptive language, or just letting a kid be a kid.

Question of the week:  Which picture/illustration did you like best, and why?

The Magic Schoolbus Chapter Book #10: Expedition Down Under

Author: Joanna Cole
Lexile measure: 630
Language:  Acceptable, no swear words, no potty language.  There are some puns, which some kids may "get" and some may not.  Liberal use of Aussie dialect, but with definitions readily at hand.
Violence:  reference to predatorial/scavenging behavior of the Tasmanian devil, the children get chased by dingoes (may be scary for children who are afraid of dogs, but otherwise this scene really doesn't seem very scary--no growling or teeth baring or even barking).
Big Kid Mature Topics:   endangered animal species, oblique references to evolution/speciation (the reason why there are so many unique species is because Australia separated from Asia millions of years ago), transcontinental immigration's effect on the ecology of Australia.
Illustrations:  Black and white drawings every several pages.
Plot:  mildly complex

This is a fun one to read aloud if you like to do accents.  Its mostly about the animals of Australia, not so much about the social or cultural aspects of the country, which is great for younger kids who usually develop a sense of "history" after a sense of diversity in nature.  DD still really loves these books, even though I personally find them formulaic and only middling in terms of writing (not bad, just not very good).  I think the science concepts presented are not very simple, but it would still be an interesting book for younger kids.

Question of the Week

So, what do you think of that?

Really.  What do you think about what that character did?  What do you think about what happened just now?

This is a way of soliciting an opinion.  But you probably want to have a child who is fairly verbally expressive.  Mine just said, "That's silly!"  Some questions are better than others!

Roxie and the Hooligans

Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Lexile measure: 960 (but I think this is more of a middle reader for 2nd grade level and up, not for middle school)
Language:  mild name calling specifically relating to big ears
Violence:  playground bullying, two thieves with knives who threaten to use them on people if they catch them (no actual knife usage on people)
Big Kid Mature Topics:  bullying, stealing food and water when thirsty/hungry vs. stealing money from a bank.
Illustrations:very cute black and white shaded paintings, every several pages
Plot: moderately complex


This was a fun book.  The heroine is remarkably resourceful and courageous, and she likes to read, which would be a lot like your kid(s) and mine.  I think my daughter will like this one, except I'm not sure about the thieves with knives part.  That might be too scary.  This would be a great one for Kindergarten and up, especially if your kid is ok with things like pirates.  But it wouldn't be ok for a 3 year old sensitive early reader.  If your child is too young for this book, "My Father's Dragon" would be a great alternative in the survivalist genre.
Update:  My daughter loved it and did not find it scary at all.  She wanted me to read it again until I showed her the Magic Schoolbus book I had checked out...

Alvin Ho: Allergic to School, Girls, and other Scary Things

Author: Lenore Look
Lexile measure: 600
Language:  "Shakespearean cursing" , and "stupid" used but noted as not ok.
Violence:  the main character joins a "gang" which is probably more like a clique of boys than a real gang
Big Kid Mature Topics:  main character gets left outside stranded in a tree by his siblings, also he can't make friends at school and has selective mutism for which he sees a therapist.
Illustrations: comic book like black and white line drawings every several pages--really effective for the boy set.
Plot: moderately complex

I liked this book.  It has an appealing main character and the parents are portrayed sympathetically (unlike so many books these days that mock parents).  These parents are really awesome.  I wished they were mine!  That being said, I'm not sure how appealing this would be to the younger set, especially since a lot of the action takes place at school.   I'm especially not sure how well it would work with girls.  But I'm looking forward to introducing it to my boy and seeing how he likes it (once he learns to read).

Neversink

Author: Barry Wolverton
Lexile measure: 870
Language:  No major issues.  There are references to characters using language "not appropriate for polite society", but they don't actually spell out what the character says.  Characters also poke fun at each other with jokes.  Some of the jokes are "fat" jokes or "stupid" jokes.
Violence:  this book has a despotic paranoid ruler who uses violence to achieve his ends.  There are several graphic death scenes (animals, but some are characters in the book), including one of a murder/poisoning and several including animals being torn up to threaten other animals.
Big Kid Mature Topics:  power hungry despots and standing up for oneself and ones' people when oppressed, hunger/starvation, violence as above, appeasement of an Inuit goddess
Illustrations: shaded drawings every several pages including one of an unclothed Inuit goddess with certain body parts covered with long head hair.
Plot: moderately complex


Our library had this out on the shelf as a "recommended read" but the librarian couldn't tell me if it would be appropriate for younger readers.  While this is well written and has a fairly original plot, with some very interesting and complex themes, the graphic violence in my mind makes it inappropriate for small children and may even push this one out to the "teen" realm.  This would be a great one for a teen to read in tandem with studying the American (or any other) Revolution.

Question of the week

Which character do you think you are most like?  And why?

My daughter thought for a few seconds and said "Tigger" ( we're re-reading Winnie the Pooh with little brother).  She didn't need to tell me why.  She just counted up to 100 by herself today and jumped probably 2 times for each number she counted and then was so proud she did it again.  No joke.  My sedentary self would probably pass out if I jumped that many times continuously.