reading with kids

Book Review: The Wingsnatchers

~ Beth Mitchell ~ Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2017-10-04 at 10.38.37 AMLarrabee’s latest read-aloud choice was The Wingsnatchers by Sarah Jean Horwitz.

It’s a fantasy adventure about Carmer, a magician’s apprentice, and Grit, a flightless faerie princess, who team up to stop a threat to the world of the fae.

Unlike some of his friends, Larrabee does not consider himself an expert on faeries. He’s obsessed with both magic tricks and machines, though, so he chose this book based on the promise of amazing stage magic and terrifying mechanical cats. On those points, the book did not disappoint. And the faeries turned out to be pretty cool too.

We enjoyed the fast-moving plot and the intriguing setting, and we look forward to the sequel.

 

Book Review: The Westing Game

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 2 Comments

Screen Shot 2017-08-29 at 1.35.57 PMI just finished reading Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game with Larrabee. This book won the Newbery Medal in 1979, and I remember liking it as a child (although I found that I’d largely forgotten the plot). Now, apparently, it’s a “modern classic.”

Sixteen residents of Sunset Towers are summoned to a nearby mansion for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. The will turns out to be a puzzle. The heirs are placed on teams of two and given clues. The ones who figure out who killed Mr. Westing will inherit his $200 million fortune.

This book was an challenging read aloud choice for us with its large cast of (mostly adult) characters and twisty mystery plot. We enjoyed it, though. I doubt if Larrabee would have liked reading this one on his own, but together we were able to keep the heirs straight, and we had fun trying (and mostly failing) to guess the answer to the will’s puzzle.

Book Review: Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

~ Beth Mitchell ~ Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2017-07-18 at 9.48.12 AMI recently finished reading Jonathan Auxier‘s Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes aloud to Larrabee. It’s a long fantasy adventure–just right for lazy summer evenings.

When the story begins, ten-year-old Peter Nimble is a blind orphan forced into a life of thievery by his cruel master. One day he steals a box from a mysterious haberdasher. The box contains three pairs of magical eyes: gold, onyx, and emerald.

The gold eyes transport him to the Troublesome Lake of Professor Cake. There, he learns that he’s been chosen for a quest. Sir Tode, a knight trapped in the body of a cat and a horse, is to be his companion. His only clue is a message in a bottle–a call for help that may come from the Vanished Kingdom.

So, the two sail away into a marvelous adventure. Larrabee enjoyed trying to predict the plot’s many twists and turns. He also appreciated the battle scenes.

Thank you to Anne-Marie for the recommendation!

Book Review: Timmy Failure

~ Beth Mitchell ~ Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2017-06-27 at 1.52.38 PMMistakes Were Made is the first in a six-book series about Timmy Failure by cartoonist Stephan Pastis. Larrabee and I like books that make us laugh and this one definitely did.

Timmy is a middle schooler and the CEO of his own detective agency, Total Failure, Inc. His business partner is a polar bear who loves chicken nuggets. And his nemesis is rival detective Corrina Corrina, also known as something that rhymes with Weevil Bun.

The first few lines of the prologue will give you a sense of the witty tone of the book: “It’s harder to drive a polar bear into someone’s living room than you’d think. You need a living-room window that’s big enough to fit a car. You need a car that’s big enough to fit a polar bear. And you need a polar bear that’s big enough to not point out your errors.”

Larrabee and I took turns reading this book aloud to each other, sitting side by side on the couch so that we could both see the illustrations. I’m glad we read it together for several reasons:

  1. Timmy is an imaginative and unreliable narrator, and Larrabee’s not used to having to question a narrator’s version of events. For example, Timmy says that he eats alone at lunch recess so that he can do global strategic planning for his detective agency without the other kids committing an act of industrial sabotage.
  2. The book has some big words–mendacity, subterfuge, surveillance, hypocritical, citadel. For a kid who doesn’t always excel in school, Timmy has an extensive vocabulary and knows how to use it.
  3. Timmy doesn’t always make good choices. Although Larrabee and I read mostly for fun, if we find the occasional life lesson, so much the better.

 

Book Review: Beetle Boy

~ Beth Mitchell ~ Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2017-06-14 at 1.44.37 PMWhether or not your young reader is fascinated with beetles, he or she will like Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard. Set in London, it’s the story of 12-year-old Darkus Cuttle, who rescues his father from the clutches of the no-good Lucretia Cutter with the help of his good friends, his archeologist uncle, and some very special beetles.

Larrabee and I read this book aloud together and found it entertaining. The characters are engaging (especially the beetles!), and there is plenty of action. We also learned quite a bit about different types of beetles and their elytra (hard protective sheath wings).

In fact, it’s the kind of book that makes you want to befriend a beetle. We’re looking forward to the next two books in the trilogy.

Book Review: The Wild Robot

~ Beth Mitchell ~ Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2017-04-12 at 1.48.19 PMThe Wild Robot is a charming tale of a robot who washes ashore on an island inhabited only by animals. Larrabee and I took turns reading it aloud to each other.

It’s an easy read with short chapters. It took us a little while to get into it, and Larrabee first pronounced it “a little weird.” But he chuckled when Roz the robot addressed the opossum politely as “Madam marsupial,” and he laughed out loud when she invited all the animals to leave their droppings in her garden. Brightbill the gosling and Chitchat the squirrel won him over. And by the time the RECOs arrived to retrieve Roz, he was riveted.

The Wild Robot is author and illustrator Peter Brown‘s first novel. It contains charming illustrations (like the one on the cover) throughout. Larrabee and I are fans of Brown’s picture books, especially My Teacher Is a Monster!

I recently wrote a craft review of this book for the Middle Grade Lunch Break blog. I hope you’ll check it out.

Book Review: The Girl Who Drank the Moon

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 1 Comment

screen-shot-2017-02-06-at-8-54-49-pmThis year’s Newbery award winner is Kelly Barnhill’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Larrabee and I just finished reading it aloud.

The Newbery Medal is awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. Recent winners include other favorites of mine, such as The Crossover and The One and Only Ivan.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon is an unusual book with a lyrical, fairytale quality. Larrabee and I loved the characters, especially Fyrian, the Perfectly Tiny Dragon who thinks he’s Simply Enormous, and Xan, the fearsome Witch in the forest who’s actually kind. We were also intrigued by the magic.

I recommend reading this book aloud. It’s a long, complex story with several threads that all come together at the end, and its mysteries are revealed slowly. I think Larrabee might have had trouble following the story if he’d tried reading it to himself. It would make a better independent read for grades 5 and up.

Book Review: The Crimson Skew

~ Beth Mitchell ~ Leave a comment

screen-shot-2017-01-12-at-1-45-06-pmBlaine and I finally finished The Crimson Skew, the last book in S.E. Grove’s Mapmakers Trilogy. The novels are lengthy, and our read aloud time is limited, so we’ve been on this fantastical journey for a long time. Coming to the conclusion was bittersweet.

As I mentioned my review of the first book, The Glass Sentence, the premise of this trilogy is that the Great Disruption of 1799 flung the world’s continents into different historical periods. In the first book, we meet 13-year-old Sophia, a Boston resident and niece of a famous cartologist, and Theo, a refugee from the Baldlands with a mysterious past.

In the second book, The Golden Specific, Sophia and Theo are accidentally separated. Sophia travels to the Papal States (medieval Europe) in search of her missing parents. There she meets new allies, learns more about the Ages, and finds a new map. Meanwhile, Theo stays in 1892 Boston and attempts to discover who murdered the Prime Minister.

In The Crimson Skew, while Sophia continues her search for her parents, she and her friends must journey to the Eerie Sea to obtain a special memory map that may prevent a war between New Occident and the Indian Territories.

When we finished the book, Blaine commented: “It’s a good thing that memory maps aren’t real because you’d be obsessed with them. And you already take enough pictures of our vacations.” That’s quite true, but, all the same, I wish memory maps were real.

The publisher recommends this trilogy for fans of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, and I agree. That reminds me. I should find my copy of The Golden Compass for Blaine…

Book Review: The One and Only Ivan

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 3 Comments

screen-shot-2016-12-13-at-1-40-09-pmIf you’re looking for a book that will tug at your heartstrings, pick up a copy of The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.

Ivan, the book’s narrator and main character, is a gorilla, a silverback. He’s also an artist and a loyal friend to the other animals at the Big Top Mall. And he has a way with words. His musings have the ring of poetry.

I tried to read this book aloud to Larrabee. But each time we sat down to read, I would barely get through two chapters before I was reaching for the box of tissues. Finally, Larrabee insisted on taking over the reading duties.

This book is inspired by the life of a real gorilla. It’s a complex story simply told. Despite the tears along the way, it left me with a smile.