Pre-Review - Early Chapter Books

It's a pre-review, not a preview, because these are some books that aren't on our list to for the Early Chapter Book materials review next Friday - so we reviewed them early.

Check out the pre-review books below and then join us on October 2nd at 9:30 am for an Early Chapter Books materials review with reviews, updates on popular series, refreshments, giveaways, and a bit of the author's perspective from panelist Doug Wilhelm (Treasure Town, Choose Your Own Adventure). Event details are here. These are always a fun event, lots of time for conversation and to check out new and upcoming books. We hope you can join us upstairs in the Children's room next Friday!

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Humphrey’s Really Wheely Racing Day by Betty G. Birney

published by Puffin, paperback series, $4.99

Friday is always an exciting day for Humphrey, the class hamster. That's when he finds out where he will spend the weekend away from his usual home at Longfellow School. This time it will be Mandy's house, and her own hamster, Winky, has his very own hamster-size car. Humphrey falls in love with driving the first time he's behind the wheel --with a familiar nod to some of our favorite literary characters-- and wishes he had his own car to race Winky. Lucky for him, the teacher in Room 26 is able to make his dream a reality. Humphrey is a sweet protagonist who makes amusing observations about the students. This title has the same characters, humorous action, and gentle tone of the original Humphrey books for older kids, but the large print, short chapters, and numerous cartoon-style illustrations make this series perfect for readers brand new to chapter books.

Leroy Ninker Saddles Up by Kate DiCamillo

published by Candlewick, paperback series, $5.99

DiCamillo has incorporated characters from her popular Mercy Watson series into this slightly lengthier spin-off. Leroy Ninker is a concession stand worker at the local drive-in movie theater with dreams of being a real-life cowboy. (“Yippee-i-oh, that is the life for me! A cowboy is who I was meant to be.”) One day he discovers a horse for sale-- Maybelline, a horse who responds to generous and poetic praise. Part cowboy story and part pet love story, this multi-layered tale beautifully balances comically exaggerated details and true spirit. DiCamillo is a master of creating fully developed characters and plotline while retaining accessibility for emerging readers. Yee-haw!-- we give it a definite thumbs up.

The Princess In Black by Shannon Hale

published by Candlewick, paperback series, $6.99

The authors of "Rapunzel’s Revenge" and "Calamity Jack," writing here for a slightly younger audience, successfully turn the typical princess genre on its ear, offering beginning readers a clever, adventurous, and self-reliant heroine who is equally at home in black or pink. Princess Magnolia’s superhero identity is top secret; Duchess Wigtower must not find out. The Duchess snoops around her castle, always looking for evidence of the princesses' imperfections. Short sentences, a simple vocabulary with the occasional challenge, a manageable length, and a near picture-book level of illustrations give this chapter book immense accessibility-- for boys and girls both.

Space Taxi-- Archie Takes Flight by Wendy Mass & Michael Brawer

published by Little Brown, paperback series $5.99

This sci-fi adventure introduces an engaging character, Archie Morningstar, who can’t yet appreciate his last name, even though ‘Morning Star’ is the nickname for the planet Venus. When the action begins, it is Take Your Kid To Work Day and Archie doesn’t know about his father’s secret identity as an intergalactic voyager who pilots a space taxi. Soon Archie himself is being tested as a navigator who can expertly spot wormholes, with the help of a furry deputy named Pockets. A zippy plot propels the reader through a galactic adventure that never overdoes it-- the surprises are gentle, and the humor is always on target for a young demographic.

Fall 2015 Author-Educator Events Schedule!

All of the following events are free and open to the public. They take place in our upstairs Children's Room and light refreshments are included. We provide certificates of attendance for teachers who can use these workshops for continuing education credits. To receive event announcements, and related resources, consider subscribing to our Educators Newsletter here.

 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2nd at 9:30am

Early Chapter Book Materials Review Session
With Bear Pond Staff & Author Doug Wilhelm 

 

Learn about new books and series that will engage readers launching into chapter books that will appeal to a range of ages and appetites. Doug Wilhem (Treasure Town, Choose Your Own Adventure) will give a short talk from the author’s perspective on creating engaging early chapter books. This two hour presentation includes light refreshments, displays of new and upcoming books, and giveaways. These are becoming our most popular events of the year. You can see notes from previous sessions: Nonfiction Grades PreK-8 (Fall, 2014); Middle Grade & YA Novels (Spring, 2015).  

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18th at 11:30am

Reading Forts and Creative Microshelters with Deek Diedricksen

 

Deek Diedricksen is an expert on small homes and microshelters. His new book of photographs and designs, Microshelters, covers everything from garden structures to backyard toolsheds-turned-offices to play forts. In this short presentation he will focus on structures for kids, and particularly on reading forts and spaces to inspire creativity for children. A book signing will follow. A good event for librarians, teachers, and parents.       

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24th at 11:00am

Problem Solving in Stories with Nicole Griffin

Smashie McPerter is a problem solving third grader and star of Nicole Griffin’s new series from Candlewick Press, which debuted this year with Smashie McPerter & The Mystery of Room 11. In this workshop author, teacher and math consultant, Nicole Griffin talks about Smashie and using stories to teach problem solving skills. This workshop will focus on middle grade classrooms.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7th at 11:00am

(Re)Vision with Linda Urban and Melissa Guerrette

Local writer Linda Urban uses her newly published middle grade novel Milo Speck, Accidental Agent as a starting point for a workshop on classroom revision. Maine-based educator Melissa Guerrette joins Linda in this presentation and adds the perspective of a teacher working with authors in the classroom. This presentation is based on a workshop developed for the International Literacy Conference.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14th at 11:00am

Creating Heroes with Kekla Magoon & Will Alexander

How do you create a hero? And how do these fictional heroes affect the perspective of young readers? Vermont College of Fine Arts faculty members and award winning authors Kekla Magoon (most recently the revivor of Robin Hood through the new Robyn Hoodlum series) and Will Alexander (a 2012 National Book Award winner for Goblin Secrets) present a workshop on creating heroes and how that can inform and inspire the young reader and writer. This workshop is targeted to educators working with middle grade and high school age students.

We're currently finalizing our winter & spring 2016 schedule - look for those event dates coming soon!

Yet Another Summer Blog Post

It's almost like we're not on vacation. We are working on setting up a great series of events for the 2015-2016 school year. Related to that work, we have our annual, very brief, educators survey posted - the responses to these surveys really help us continue to improve our offerings, so please take a minute to fill it out:

Summer 2015 Educators Survey

Meanwhile, let's carry on with our semi-regular check ins on what's new with past speakers in our series. Here are some updates:

Laurel Neme - Creating Global Connections (January, 2015)

Laurel Neme came to speak at Bear Pond soon after the publication of her first children's book, a picture book called Orangutan Houdini. Laurel has spent most of her writing career in journalism and wrote the adult book Animal Investigators about investigating crimes against wildlife. It is no surprise, then, that Vermont Edition chose her as the state's resident expert to discuss big game hunting and the illegal killing of Cecil the lion in this July 30th episode. 

Gary Miller - Short & Sweet: Crafting Classroom Writing Prompts (February, 2015)

Do you remember the subzero Valentine's Day morning when some of us ventured outdoors to get to Gary & Deb's workshop on classroom writing prompts and maybe contracted frostbite on the way? At least half a dozen of us do. And the article written about the workshop is one of our most popular blog posts. The latest news is that Gary is a finalist for the inaugural Vermont Book Award, with his short story collection Museum of the Americas! This award is presented by the Vermont College of Fine Arts and the grand prize winner will be announced at the end of September. You can read about the award and finalists here. Gary is also now co-host of the "Write the Book" radio show and podcast, found here.

Jason Chin - Picture Books that Explore Nature (November, 2014)

When he visited Bear Pond last fall, Jason showed us the work in progress on a new book 'Water Is Water' about the water cycle. That book has since been published and (particularly good news) the Classroom Bookshelf blog has published an article about it. This blog provides lots of information and links for use by educators - check out all their book reviews: http://classroombookshelf.blogspot.com/ 

Jo Knowles - Writing Workshop (March, 2014)

Jo Knowles also shared information from a not-yet-published book in her workshop back in the spring of 2014. And that book is now published. Read Between the Lines, a novel told in multiple viewpoints, came out in March and was on the list of books reviewed in our YA / Middle Grade Fiction materials review.

An interesting companion article on the power of telling stories from multiple points of view is this Kirkus interview with Kekla Magoon about How It Went Down. We had it filed in our notes under "in case Kekla ever comes to Montpelier". Turns out, that wasn't a long wait, and she will be speaking here on the fall schedule.

Linda Urban - Book Party for 'The Center of Everything' (April, 2013)

A third installment in the new book list. Linda Urban's picture book Little Red Henry was published this spring, and received a quite nice review in the New York Times, "A Cure for Hovering". This September, we're looking forward to her middle grade novel Milo Speck, Accidental Agent. The blog Read, Write, Reflect published this essay by Katherine Sokolowski on recommending Milo Speck to a fifth grade class. Linda will be discussing this new book and the revision process as part of the author-educator series in the fall.

And finally, it seems fitting to end this retrospective-plus-update piece with a link to the short essay "The Value of Re-reading Books" by Joanna Lieberman in Horn Book.

Summer Post - Nerdy Book Club

We love the information, ideas, and resources found at the Nerdy Book Club. It's worth the click to their page just to get the list of Nerdy Book Bloggers! And Helen enjoys contributing occasional (admittedly very occasional) posts. There was last year's Top 10 Picture Books for Making Lunch and hot off the digital presses this new post about picture books, illustrators, and resources for learning more about their creative process.

Check out our post and the whole Nerdy Book Club blog!

And continue on with your summer reading. . .

Summer Post #2 - Children's Summer Reading Recommendations

Early Chapter Books

• The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
• Operation Bunny by Sally Gardiner
• Frank Einstein series by Jon Scieszka
• Arnie the Donut-- the Bowling Alley Bandit by Laurie Keller
• Princess in Black by Shannon Hale
• The Adventures of Sophie Mouse series by Poppy Green
• Ranger In Time series by Kate Messner
• The Whodunit Detective Agency series by Martin Widmark
• Lulu and the Hedgehog in the Rain by Hilary McKay

See also our Essential Library of Early Chapter Books on Pinterest.

Middle Grade Books

• The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel
• The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson
• The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein
• A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
• Pip Bartlett’s Guide To Magical Creatures by Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pearce
• Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
• Loki’s Wolves by K.L. Armstrong
• The Spy Catchers of Maple Hill by Megan Frazer Blakemore
• Loot by Jude Watson
• The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern
• Return to Augie Hobble by Lane Smith

Graphic Novels-- middle grade and up

• Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
• Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis
• The Underground Abductor by Nathan Hale
• In Real Life by Cory Doctorow

Young Adult Books

• I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest
• An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
• We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
• Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein
• The Truth Commission by Susan Juby
• We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough
• Vango by Timothee de Fombelle
• Denton Little’s Deathdate by Lance Rubin

Summer Post #1 - Book List for Grown Ups

As with every year, we take a summer posting break when schools get busy with end of year work. But summer break isn't hibernation - here's the first of our occasional summer posts. 

You know the first thing (reportedly) that Grace Greene did when she retired as Youth Services librarian? Read a book written for grown ups. It's true. And Helen's Mom (former Vermont school librarian) has read nothing but books written for grown ups during her own retirement. A pattern is emerging.

For every school librarian who is not content waiting for their chance to read outside the children's genre, who may be planning a radical reading departure this summer, we've got a few suggestions. Some new, some not new, all relatively fun (if you consider a post-Apocalyptic dystopia fun, which the readers of Station Eleven do). Links will take you to their descriptions.

The New Books Your Neighbors Are Most Likely to Have on Their Shelves:

• Vermont Waterfalls by Christy Butler & Russell Dunn
• Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Good Grown Up Books Jane Has Read Recently:

• The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel  
• The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters 
• Leaving Before the Rains Come by Alexandra Fuller 

And because she cannot help herself, the YA graphic novel This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki

Books From Helen's Ongoing (If Quixotic) Quest To Encourage Cookbook Reading:

• Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese
• Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison
• My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz

Books in Mystery Series that Aren't Written By Louise Penny:

• The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde
• One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (don't watch the movie!)
• O' Artful Death by Sarah Stewart Taylor
• The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
• Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson
• Cold Dish by Craig Johnson

And in case you've missed her, Louise Penny has a new book coming out August 25th, The Nature of the Beast

Humor Writing:

• Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
• Them by Jon Ronson (if you want to be more recent, his new book is So You've Been Publicly Shamed)
• Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley  
• How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely

Mavericks or Unusual Stuff that Actual People Actually Did:

• Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder 
• The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
• H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald 
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough  
• Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach

We'll keep you apprised of any new ideas that surface. Next up: Jane's kids & YA summer reading picks. 

 

Short Version of the Fiction Book Review

How would we summarize the books discussed in last Friday's Material's Review in just a sentence or so? Here's how.

Note that these are just the books we talked about, there were some that were mentioned but not reviewed and for everything please refer to the full lists found here.

Also note, at the event Jane identified the Dorothy Canfield Fisher books that skewed towards the younger end of the age range, and would be appropriate for some kids not yet in 4th grade. You can find that list over at an updated Dorothy Canfield Fisher post.

These books are listed in the order in which we discussed them at the event. Thank you to the panelists (left to right) Deb from Candlewick Press, and Jane, Carrie, and Helen from Bear Pond Books

Smashie McPerter & The Myster of Room 11 by N. Griffin: A search for a classroom's missing hamster in highly styled writing with a sophisticated vocabulary - for fans of Kate DiCamillo. Younger middle grade, grades 2-5. 

Cody and the Fountain of Happiness by Tricia Springstubb: A strong writer with a story similar to the Clementine books, following Cody through her summer vacation in the start of a new series. Young middle grade, grades 3-6. 

Ruby Redfort - Catch Your Death by Lauren Child: Book #3 in this kid-detective series, for kids interested in intrigues and codes. Grades 5+

Paper Things by Jennifer Richard Jacobson: The young narrator leaves the home of her guardian to live with her 19 year old brother, who is homeless. One of top books of the season, deals with serious issues of kids and homelessness. Grades 5+

Half A Man by Michael Morpurgo: In this semi-autobiographical book, a grandson, Michael, tells the story of his grandfather who was badly burned in WWII. Illustrated. Grades 5+

Vango by Timothee de Fombelle - A Bear Pond Books pick for the holiday season, good for teens and also adults, a romantic (in the classic sense) espionage escapade that one reviewer calls "steampunk without fantasy." The sequel will be published in August.

The Great War by Jim Kay: Authors were given items from WWI and wrote stories around them, a very useful classroom book. Grades 5+

Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan- Could be an adult book, a ghost story about a displaced family and a possessed twin. It's very scary. Mature teen readers.

Eden West by Pete Hautman- Dystopian fiction about an insular cult (we'll let you know when there's a book about a not-insular cult). If you liked Godless check this out. Mature teen readers.

Read Between the Lines by Jo Knowles: A story from multiple narrators, all involving the middle finger. Jo spoke at Bear Pond about writing this book last spring, see the article here. Grades 7+

Tight Rope Walkers by David Almond - A complicated coming of age story in the shipyards of northern England. For older teens, or even adults. Many starred reviews.

X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon - A novel about Malcolm X's youth by his daughter and co-writer Kekla Magoon who lives in Montpelier, what more could you want? Grades 9+

Sign of the Cat by Lynne Jonell - An "old fashioned romp" with secret princes and princesses, evil villains, and a scene where the villain eats cats that upset Carrie, but her kids (ages 9 and 11) thought she was overreacting. Grades 3-7

Moonpenny Island by Tricia Springstubb - An isolated island where first the narrator's closest companions move away and then a mysterious geologist arrives. Strong sense of place, gently addresses topics like abandonment and alcoholism. Grades 4+

Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar - Story of a scientist who creates a replacement for oil that comes with its own ecological disasters. Carrie didn't love it, thought it was a little pat, but suspects that Louis Sachar knows his middle grade audience spot on and they will like it. Good for kids who are ready for the content, but are not necessarily strong readers.

Question of Miracles by Elana Arnold - Iris' best friend dies in a car accident, after which she moves to a new state with her family and befriends Boris - an odd kid who should have died as a baby but "miraculously" recovered. His Aunt is now petitioning for full miracle status. Rebecca Stead-esque. Ages 9-12.

Cartwheeling In Thunderstorms by Katherine Rundell - By the author of Rooftoppers. A true wild child in South Africa is sent to British boarding school and has to make the best of the situation. Boys will like it if they can get past the girl-centric cover. Ages 9+

Like A River: A Civil War Novel by Kathy Canon Wiechman - A story of two young teens enlisted in the civil war - one a boy and one a girl pretending to be a boy. Told first from the boy perspective, then the girl. It's cheesy, but in an enjoyable way. It's not too graphic, so would work for younger kids. Strong author's notes and photos to go with the fiction story. Good to use in the classroom after learning about Civil War. Grade 6+

When My Heart Was Wicked by Tricia Stirling - For readers who like Raven Boys, Alice Hoffman. The narrator had an evil (both in a fairy tale evil sense and also abusive) mother who taught her wicked spells, then she was abandoned and learned good spells, then the mother reclaims her. It does have cutting. Otherwise, not much mature content. Grades 9+

Jackaby by William Ritter - Sold well at Bear Pond over the holidays. A young woman abandons society life in London and lands in colonial Massachusetts. She starts working with Jackaby, an eccentric detective with an interest in the occult. Funny, smart, will appeal to anyone who likes Sherlock. Ages 13+

Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir - Getting a lot of buzz, written by a journalist based on some of her experiences. It's a fantasy, Roman world. The protagonist couldn't save her brother when soldiers came to take him and so she joins the resistance movement. Meanwhile, the son of the woman who leads the martial rulers wants out of his life as a soldier. And you can probably guess they fall in love. It's violent but not graphic. Ages 14+

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton- A sci-fi, fantasy book with a decent dose of realism that follows the intersecting stories of 3 teenagers in Scotland and Hong Kong. There will be a sequel. It's expected to be a top seller. Ages 14+

Return to Augie Hobble by Lane Smith - Illustrator Lane Smith's debut novel, very funny and endearing narrator Augie Hobble is working in an amusement park that's seen better days when weird things start happening. Fast moving. Pictures play an important part. Grades 3+

Unusual Poultry for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones - Narrator writes in letter form about her new life on a farm where she discovers, and cares for, magic chickens. It's not the strongest writing - a lot of set up without follow through (why are the chickens magic, for one thing) and pictures that don't add much, but kids probably won't care. Recommended because it's a more modern look at being a farm kid, not nostalgic, feels like it's 2015 not 1955. Lots of tie-in potential for classroom lessons. Grades 3-6

All the Answers by Kate Messner - Solid book with a straightforward plot, easily read and enjoyed by a wide range of reading levels. The simple set up is that the narrator finds a pencil that answers any question she writes. We had an earlier article with Kate Messner on using this book to teach writing, linked here. Grades 4 - 7

Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai- A Valley Girl-ish 13 year old is sent to Vietnam for the summer with her grandmother, who hasn't returned to her home country since the war. Fresh look at rural Vietnamese life, feels current and interesting. The writing has some glitches, it could have used another edit, kids who aren't strong readers or don't feel comfortable skipping over the dull parts might get hung up on that. Ages 11 - 14 (the publisher says younger, but we're not sure why)

Good Bye, Stranger by Rebecca Stead- Three friends enter Junior High School at different stages of development, particularly in their relations with boys, and navigate staying friends. That sounds cliched, but it doesn't read that way. Rebecca Stead continues to be a great writer with unique, fully fleshed out characters. This book lacks the mystery element of her earlier books and (to be honest) probably won't appeal to boys. Some reviewers have bumped this up to YA, but we're standing strong that it's 6th - 9th grade.

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King - Wish we could recommend this. A.S. King is wonderful, the starting concept is intriguing: the narrator and her best friend drink a powdered bat and can see all the ancestry (moving backward and forward) of other people. King doesn't spend much time on the interesting bits, though, and a lot of the plot isn't plausible (even for those of us happy to go along with the premise). Read other A.S. King books! Read her next book! We feel bad being lukewarm here.

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach - Oh it has the trifecta for teenage angst - teenagers, teenagers with "labels" (as the uninspiring publisher's blurb explains), an asteroid with a 66% chance of destroying all life on earth in 10 days. What makes this book great is the writing - a debut by a super smart, funny author who will undoubtedly have many a great book over the rest of his career. Yay. Ages 14+, probably would need to be a mature 14.

My Near Death Adventures! (99% True) by Alison DeCamp - Stanley's mother brings him to his uncle's logging camp in 1895 where he really wants to learn to "be a man" like he imagines his long lost father is, but he's scared of everything. Scrapbook entries heighten the level of amusement. Strong boy narrator, strong girl character opposite him, highly entertaining. Grades 4+

The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart - Debut book that will probably get a lot of attention. The set up is a boy who has cancer who runs away to climb Mt. Rainier with his dog, while his best friend who stays behind struggles with whether to tell the adults where he's gone. To an adult reader, it's pretty hokey. Kids probably won't mind. Grades 4 - 7

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt - The story of a girl who doesn't realize she has dyslexia, just feels "stupid" and uses her other strengths to hide the fact that she can't read. A new teacher helps figure out what's going on. There aren't a lot of great books about dyslexia, so this should be an excellent addition. Grades 5+

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson - Two (if not more) thumbs up. A solid girl power story about growing apart from a best friend and joining roller derby. Will be compared with Raina Telgemeier. Grades 4-7

Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko - Intriguing historical fiction story about the bubonic plague in San Francisco - includes medical mystery, quarantines, social / economic / ethnic stratification, political cover ups, and vaccines. Ages 9-12

War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley- We love it. A lot. Another solid historical fiction, this time about a girl who has a club foot and has never been allowed out of the apartment by her abusive mother. She runs away when children are being evacuated from London to the countryside. Another book with a resiliency theme, not overwritten and not as bleak as it sounds. Ages 10+

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby- Summarized as "feminist magical realism", sort of a Persephone story set in an Indiana small town. For older readers, wouldn't recommend below 9th grade.

And, this just in. . . 

We didn't have a copy in time for the review, but local author Linda Urban has another chapter book en route to bookstore shelves near you (September 1st): Milo Speck Accidental Agent. There's a magic sock, there's a land of ogres, there's a plot against children everywhere, and giant turkeys. Basically, it's a funny and fun book for the 4th - 7th grade age range. Linda's previously-new book The Center of Everything is a Dorothy Canfield Fisher nominee. And Linda will be at the store doing a book signing on Saturday, May 2nd, at 11:00 am, for her other new book, a picture book: Little Red Henry.