Please welcome my guest author today, Pip Jones. She is the author of Izzy Gizmo. We are giving away one copy of her book. To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom.
Izzy Gizmo by Pip Jones, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie
This delightful rhyming picture book features a girl with a penchant for creating marvelous inventions and working through them to fix the glitches that are part of the process. When she rescues a crow with a broken wing, she comes up with her biggest challenge yet. It’s not easy to create a flying machine but Izzy is not the kind of girl who gives up easily!
I love these STEM books that demonstrate to girls that pushing through is the hardest part of the inventing process. Use this picture book to get your kids thinking about engineering as creativity + problems = marvelous inventions! [picture book, ages 4 and up]
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I’m white, and I grew up reading books full of white kids – but I truly believe that all children, whatever their gender or ethnicity, deserve to see themselves all over books, to be given relatable characters, as well as relatable themes. Here are five books that I love.
Growth Mindset Diversity Book List
Cloud Busting by Malorie Blackman
Featuring Sam, this is a story about bullying, true friendship, and being brave enough to not follow the crowd. It’s a simple tale and a short read, but it’s truly touching and thought-provoking and things don’t get tied up neatly – a lesson is learned the hard way. What I love most of all is that Cloud Busting is written in various styles of poetry – an engaging way to introduce children to blank verse, haiku, and even limericks. It’s just beautiful. [novel in verse, ages 9 and up]
Goggle Eyed Goats by Stephen Davies, illustrated by Christopher Corr
An incredibly vibrant and fun picture book, set in Timbuktu, Mali. A man with three wives, seven children, one donkey, three camels, two cows, and four lambs decides he’s simply going to have to get rid of his five very naughty (and very hungry and munchy) goggle-eyed goats – but that’s going to prove rather difficult! This UK-published picture book was inspired by Davies’ own experience of living in the Sahel region and, for that, it captures the essence of the culture so brilliantly. [picture book, ages 3 and up]
Leon and Bob by Simon James
A very sweet story about a little boy called Leon who’s moved to a new town with his Mum and is missing his Dad, who’s away in the army. Leon’s best friend is an imaginary boy called Bob, and they do everything together. That is until Leon decides to ask a real boy next door to go and play at the park, which seems to make Bob disappear. With first-hand experience of imaginary friends (my daughter had an imaginary cat when she was a toddler, it inspired my first book), this one touched me! [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens
This is such a great series. Set in a quintessentially British boarding school, it’s the brilliant and smart super sleuth Hong Kong-born Hazel Wong who narrates the superbly laid out tales of intrigue. The books themselves are real page-turners for readers aged 9+, and I do particularly like Hazel’s unique perspective on British quirks. [chapter book, ages 9 and up]
Ballerina Dreams by Michaela DePrince, illustrated by Ella Okstad
The inspiring autobiographical tale of an orphaned girl from Sierra Leone. Michaela was inspired to dance when she found a magazine blowing down a dusty road, showing a ballerina on the cover. Michaela was adopted and taken to the USA where, even as a tiny girl, she determined to make her dreams come true and become an international ballet star. Such tales of determination are always great for kids, but the non-fiction, autobiographical nature of this book makes it even more magical. [early chapter book, ages 7 and up]
Izzy Gizmo Giveaway
We are giving away one copy of Izzy Gizmo. To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom.
Pip Jones is a London-based children’s author, who is most often found either writing, staring at the contents of the fridge, or herding her two children. Pip’s rhyming series about Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat! was inspired by her daughter, who discovered her own imaginary kitten as a toddler.
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My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award longlist
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
“What are your favorite picture books about growth mindset?” “The Dinosaurs Are Having a Party.”
That sounds great! I’ll have to find it! Thanks John!
I want this book for my little cousin named Izzy!
That would be so perfect for her!!!!
I love After the Fall By Dan Santat. It is such a fun story.
I love that book too Jen! Especially the ending!
Thank you so much for the Izzy Gizmo book!!!! I am so excited to read this to my kindergarten students as we learn how to be scientist and an engineer!!!!! This book is wonderful to show students that they should never give up as well as a female in science!! 🙂
Thanks so much for entering Michelle! I’m so glad that your students will be able to enjoy it!