Summer time leads to adventures of road trips, traveling, camps and more time to engage your brain in reading! These books involve characters who are daring, brave and highly entertaining. If you want to be swept away, pick up one of these books and dazzle your brain power.
Younger Readers:
Have You Seen My Dragon? By Steve Light
This is a delightful picture book about a missing dragon in New York City with illustrations that engage the reader and highlight the city-scape of Manhattan. Whether searching in Central Park or the city landmarks, children will enjoy the black and white illustrations and searching for the hidden dragon on every page. The hidden image appears in color contrasting with the scenery and objects to count on every page.
Transitioning Readers:
No Fighting, No Biting! By Else Holmelund Minarik, Illustrated by Maurice Sendak
The classic tale of bickering siblings is a read aloud icon and includes several short stories– “Cousin Joan,” “Lightfoot and Quickfoot,” “On the Way Home,” and “Rosa’s Tooth,” in this illustrated edition. Transitioning readers will enjoy reading aloud to adults and engaging in the hilarious dialogue.
Older Readers:
Michael Morpurgo’s Shadow is a triumphant story about a lost dog, a friendship, and the power of human hope in the face of dire circumstances. (This is NOT a sad, dog book. I repeat it is NOT sad…my students always ask me because the cover has such an adorable spaniel on it.) Shadow is an exciting story about how a dog changes three people’s lives–Aman, a refugee from Afghanistan, his British friend Matt and Matt’s grandfather, a former journalist. Aman is living at a detention center with his mother, awaiting deportation back to Afghanistan, after living in the UK for five years. Matt asks his grandfather to go visit Aman in the detention center and find out what’s happening to his friend. Through interviews, Matt’s grandfather slowly discovers Aman’s story and with Matt, they hope to rescue Aman before he must leave the country.
Megan Poynter Fink is a middle school librarian at Charlotte Country Day School. She began her career working in publishing and for the New York Public Library. She is an active member of YALSA and has served on YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, Teen Read Week and Best Books for Young Adults committees. Megan has written for VOYA and BOOKLINKS magazines. She enjoys cooking, Zumba classes and city adventures in Charlotte, NC.
