A toad chanced upon my path and I snapped its picture and noticed how well camouflaged it was. This lead to Frog and Toad science fun including some info, a worksheet, a great iPad app, and my favorite Arnold Lobel series Frog and Toad.
Tag: best books for young adults
Best Books for Middle School Kids from Actual Middle School Students
Favorite Books for Middle School Kids from actual Middle School Students (with a few from their teachers and parents).
Kids’ Sports: Winning versus Having Fun
How to we, as parents, teach our kids the importance of having fun while playing sports versus winning when it’s more fun to win?
Best Middle Grade Books from My 5th Grade Daughter
I am thrilled that she is loving to read and now that she is cranking through book series, I am noticing a pattern: she loves fast paced, fantasy adventure books, particularly those in which the main characters possess special powers. I asked her for her Top 5 Series recommendations and all fit the bill except for The Mysterious Benedict Society. These series also have unisex appeal as I have noticed that she is lending out her books to both male and female classmates. Finally, these books are appropriate for a wider audience beyond 5th grade, I’d say the range is grades 3rd through 8th.
Best Old Fashioned Families in Children’s Books
I do love those old fashioned books; you know, the ones where no one fights at all EVER. Siblings get along beautifully, parents never get divorced, and there’s always a happy ending. In fact, there is so little conflict, there isn’t much plot. It’s more like a series of short vignettes of what life was like back then. Was life that simple and conflict free back then? I doubt it, but I do love reading about it with my kids.
Best YA Books for Boys But Why Aren’t There More?
What do you think is the reason why boys don’t read as much? Do you think YA (Young Adult) books skew overwhelmingly to girls? What YA books would you recommend for boys?
Top 10: Best Timeless Newbery-ish Chapter Books Set in Florida
There’s a glamour to Florida set back back in time that rivals Hollywood in California and maybe that is why these talented children’s book authors firmly set their books here. To be sure, some are from Florida and/or from the South and seem to know every nook and cranny of their small towns. But even more interesting are the characters they create; characters who have lived hard and stoic lives but never really told their stories to anyone, except now, in these books.
There must be something in the waters of Florida that makes almost all these books award winning, from Newbery to National Book Awards. And I feel strongly that the books on this list that don’t have a special sticker on the cover are all deserving of one!!