My five-year-old son has been hogging my iPhone and the family iPad all last week while we were on vacation. He loaded tons of “free” games which ended up costing us $10 — (my husband: “Does he know how to read ‘free’?” Me: “Yes, he reads it as ‘fee.’ Hence the charges!) — and we had to yell at him to turn off the screens. Except when we noticed he was playing Math Ninja. True, he’d try to cheat and slyly ask us what 9 + 6 is but we were on to him. It turns out to be a fun game for all my kids including my 10-year-old and 8-year-0ld, both girls. And, I turn out to be bad at it.
Ugly Colors board book — edgy but cute!
I have to hand it to Random House because it’s a brilliant play to take the Uglydolls and convert them into books — isn’t it usually the other way around — with an edgy attitude which I can only describe as slightly gross (to appeal to boys) and slightly sweet (to appeal to girls).
Best Middle Grade Books for with Female Protagonists
I do love a good Top 10 List and this chapter book children’s book list for ages 10-14 (middle-school-girl-ish-give-or-take-a-year-or-two) from ChristinaReads is a really good one with her childhood favorites!
New Erica S. Perl Book: Dotty
Imagine my surprise when I read her new book, Dotty:
There are no chickens involved whatsoever!
The book does not rhyme!
The theme of the book tackles twin issues of growing up and fitting in.
The book celebrates The Teacher Who Makes a Difference!
Best Books for Kids from Australia
These are the winners to the Australian Children’s Book Council for 2010 in the categories of Older Readers, Younger Readers, Early Childhood, Picture Book of the Year, and Eve Pownall Award for Information Book of the Year. For a complete list of winners including the books that won an Honorable Mention, please see TrevorCairney’s blog.
Tips for Hooking Reluctant Readers
I believe that all it takes to create a reader is the right book. Finding that tale is the trick. So how do you pick books that will hook reluctant readers? Each child is different, with very particular tastes. Nevertheless, here are some key elements that engage child readers, along with some suggested titles …
NERDS: A series for Reluctant Readers
This is from FunKidsLive. It looked like a great book series for reluctant boy readers. NERDS (which stands for National Espionage, Rescue and Defense Society) is a new book series by Michael Buckley.