We travel this week to Japan and go back in time with some stories of my family to the Daimyo Shogunate in Japan. I have chosen some kidlit to reflect the duality of Japan versus United States, and have featured artists who are reflected in the books including ukiyo-e masters Hiroshige and Hokusai and the father of Manga, Osamu Tezuka.
Dragons and aliens and dinosaurs, oh my! And for girls, there are interesting slightly mischieveous girls to meet as well as cousins who are really sweet. Short chapter book series can often have repetitive plot lines about nothing or language that is neither rich nor interesting. There is something special about each of these book series for the child AND the adult reading along.
This is what I was thinking when I came up with this kooky list:
-Summer read, preferably on the beach or on vacation
-Has to be a good read but not too strenuous
-The book is about the summer and/or beach and/or beachy vacation vibe
-A great lead GIRL character
-Counts towards summer homework book assignment but was thoroughly enjoyable
For incoming grades 4-6
While not all these books are from when I was young, they all have an old fashioned innocent feel. In fact, my number one pick, Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin reminds me so much of my favorite Little Bear series in that it has a tight story line that is both silly and sweet. Easy readers are a rite of passage for both kids and parents. I remember searching for easy readers that were not mind numbingly boring as both parent and child are attached at the hip during this period of literacy.
Capability:Mom gave me her summer camp newsletter because there is a boy there who all the kids go to when they need a good book recommendation. The kids think he is a kind of genius boy wonder that knows pretty much everything on the planet. I believe he is in middle school. He was kind enough to write up his book recommendations for the newsletter and I have retyped it for you. I love peer to peer book recommendations. Who better to know what you will like than your friend?!
In 1999, the National Education Association created this list of 100 books selected by teachers for children and teens. It’s a great list for summer reading!
The Children’s Choice Book Awards is the only national children’s book awards program where winning titles are selected by young readers of all ages. The good news here is that there is a very high probability that your child will like these books too! The children (and teens) have spoken! These are their favorite books for 2011!