Ruby Lu, Brave and True

Bottom line:  An Asian American Ramona
Author: Lenore Look
Lexile measure: 640
Language: Mention of "four letter words, bad ones".  Also, there are some words (not bad ones) in transliterated Chinese .
Violence:  None.
Big Kid Mature Topics:  Bullying (verbal name calling making fun of sweaters, not violent or threatening).  The bully gets sick with pneumonia and is hospitalized.  The seven year old protagonist drives a car.  The story talks about immigrant relatives in a negative, stereotypical way--but this is in the context of the protagonist naming the reasons she doesn't want them to come to the US, and it all melts away in the end.  There are also a lot of elements of Cantonese American culture that young kids from other cultures might not be familiar with.
Illustrations:  Black and white shaded drawings, every few pages.
Plot:  moderately complex.

Ruby is one of our favorite protagonists.  Maybe its because we get to use our very limited Cantonese and knowledge of Chinese culture, but I suspect its also because Ruby is so real  and yet so funny.  Even DS (4) thinks so.  She reminds me of Ramona and Judy Moody and Clementine all wrapped into one.

A word of caution:  Very young readers may not understand the gravity of getting into a real car and driving it for real with a pretend driver's license.  DS was very blown away when I told him that he was not allowed under and circumstances to drive our car.

The Boxcar Children

Bottom line:  Easy to read, nonviolent mysteries.
Author:  Gertrude Chandler Warner
Lexile measure: 490
Language: None offensive.
Violence:  None.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   The children are orphans.  They have run away before they can be turned over to a guardian.  They do not go to school.  The cover of the book depicts a thunderstorm.
Illustrations:  Black and white shaded drawings, every few pages.
Plot:  moderately complex
DS took one look at the cover and was convinced this was a scary book.  It really isn't but try telling that to him.  This book was a fun read with an interesting plot twist, but the dialogue, vocabulary, and characterizations are all relatively simple.  DD thought it was great, even though she often reads far above this Lexile.   We are looking forward to the more than 100 sequel books.  Of note, GC Warner only wrote 19 of the sequels.

Early Chapter Books--Mommy's Bad List

Early chapter books (usually 3-5 chapters of 3-10 pages each) are easy to review in the library, but what if you want to buy a book or receive one as a gift?  I wrote an earlier post on our recommended early chapter books.  Now it is time for a post on early chapter books I do NOT recommend.  I hate to be negative, but there are so many really good books out there that it seems a shame to waste your time on books that probably aren't worth your time.

Junie B. Jones series--Well known for rude language and poor grammar (not just incomplete sentences, but also non-words and poor structure).  DD did not find the story interesting either.

Thomas the Tank Engine early readers--Although the character seems like he's innocent enough, and the merchandise is cute, the books are for older children.   The stories often deal with trains in mild peril.  Almost every easy reader we have gotten from the library has been scary enough to give DS nightmares at age 2-4.  If your child is Thomas crazy and not overly sensitive, they probably will be fine, but sensitive kiddies may have problems.  Of note, we do own several Thomas books that are not early readers and they are fine, not scary at all.

Magic Tree House--Some kids really like these but I think there are better ways to get a kid into history than this.  The books are not only full of poor and partial sentences, but they often glorify witchcraft and magic.  Some parents may also find their evolutionary content offensive.    The Magic Schoolbus is much more benign.  For history, there are many picture books which are much more interesting.

Nate the Great and the Missing Key

Author:  Marjorie Sharmat
Lexile measure: 380
Language: Mild name calling, such as "stupid".  One page of text in cursive.
Violence:  None.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   The main character repeatedly mentions his fear of scary dogs.
Illustrations:  Black and white shaded drawings, every few pages.
Plot:  complex.

DS loves Nate the Great, and I think everyone in the family at least listened to me read this book aloud with DS's help.  I remembered this book from my own childhood.  It isn't great literature, but this series is a lot of fun because the mystery makes you think about what you've read.  I think this is one of the better ones in the series.  I posted previously about Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag.

Beauty

Author: Robin McKinley
Lexile measure: 970
Bottom line:  Beauty and the Beast on steroids
Language:  mild medieval name calling, affectionate name calling at horse.
Violence: the Beast is scary at times and does things like crushing a bottle in his hands.
Big Kid Mature Topics: losing a business due to storms at sea, romance and marriage, losing a betrothed at sea.  The heroine obviously chafes at typical female roles.
Illustrations: none.
Plot: moderately complex.

This was one of my favorite books growing up and we pulled it off the library shelf because DD currently has a thing for horses.    DD gave it the thumbs up, but it is a very mature book and scary for sensitive little ones.  However, that being said, I don't think it is a lot more scary than the Disney version.

One caution:  I read several of the author's other books and they are definitely teen material with teen (and adult) level romance and swearing.  This was the only one benign enough for younger children.

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Author: T.S. Eliot
Lexile measure: >1000
Bottom line:  T.S. Eliot for kids
Language: appropriate
Violence: there is mention of "crime", though its cat crimes like "stifling a Peke" ,  stealing things, or messing up property.
Big Kid Mature Topics: as above.
Illustrations:  Black and white etchings every other page.
Plot: Each poem stands by itself so you can skip the violent ones (Macavity, Battle of the Pekes, Mungojerry) if you want.  The main difficulty with this book is its very challenging vocabulary, and its cultural references, especially to neighborhoods in London.  Its children's poetry but its not dumbed down or sentimental.  DD loved it even though she could only understand 90% of it, and DS enjoyed whatever he heard.  It helps that we have a cat and understand that cats misbehave and its not criminal, just cat.

Clementine

Author: Sarah Pennypacker
Lexile measure: 720
Bottom line:  More innocent than Pippi
Language: mild name calling--main character calls her brother names of vegetables instead of by his real name, which my older boy found hilarious.
Violence: none.
Big Kid Mature Topics: cutting your own or a friend's hair, using permanent marker on self or friend, getting sent to the principal's office, being a "difficult" child. The main character also notices that the lunch lady and the janitor are kissing.
Illustrations:  infrequent black and white shaded drawings.
Plot: moderately complex.

Of interest, Clementine is clearly a gifted child.  She often has good intentions but does the wrong thing.  I wondered if she had ADHD, too.  She seems like she has a ton of energy, creativity, and definitely difficulty with attention.   The parents seemed likeable and reasonable, too.

I really liked this book except for the part about the lunch lady and the janitor, which for some reason just seemed gross, even though there wasn't a lot of detail.  I censored this one for later.  You could easily leave the yucky part out if you don't have an independent reader, but I think children who have not attended school yet might not really appreciate this one.