THE TEMPLETON TWINS HAVE AN IDEA by Ellis Weiner, illustrated by Jeremy Holmes (Chronicle, 2012) The ReaderKidZ have been talking all month about “Families in Change” and there have been many terrific recommendations. Books about a child living in foster care, the difficulties of divorce, the loss of a family member to cancer, the reality… Read more »
Book Room
Halloween Treats: Pigmares and Animal Epitaphs
PIGMARES: PORCINE POEMS ON THE SILVER SCREEN by Doug Cushman No Halloween will be complete without author/illustrator Doug Cushman’s hilarious hog tribute to some of the best beasts ever to star on the silver screen. Whether young readers imagine they’re like Dr. Hogg mixing potions that taste like dirty underwear or a werehog oinking at… Read more »
Monster Stew by Stephanie Greene
Stephanie Greene has done it again. In Monster Stew, through the actions of her charming protagonist, Posey, the precarious space between excitement and fear is dramatized – a space that is very real to every tender child during the Halloween season. In the spirit of this scary season, beloved Miss Lee, the first grade teacher, has… Read more »
Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis
PARVANA’S JOURNEY by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books 2003) (Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award – Canada). After 11-year-old Parvana and her father are separated from their family during war in Afghanistan, her father dies, leaving her an orphan. Disguised as a boy so as not to incur the wrath of the Taliban, Parvana sets… Read more »
And Still They Bloom by Amy Rovere
And Still They Bloom: A Family’s Journey of Loss and Healing by Amy Rovere Cancer is a powerful word. Depending on your personal experience, it can be the word that changed everything. The word that turned your own world and the world of those closest to you, upside-down. For those grieving the loss of a… Read more »
No Limits!
For Younger Readers HOOWAY FOR WODNEY WAT by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger (Houghton Mifflin 1999) Rodney Rat has a problem. He can’t pronounce his “r’s.” What’s worse? He’s a rodent. A wodent. Not surprisingly, Rodney is teased by his classmates with questions like “… how does a train travel?” (Wodney’s reply? “A twain… Read more »
The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau
THE FANTASTIC JUNGLES OF HENRI ROUSSEAU by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Amanda Hall. “Henri Rousseau wants to be an artist. Not a single person has ever told him he is talented … But he buys some canvas, paint, and brushes, and starts painting anyway.” Can you imagine? A toll collector, with no formal training, Rousseau… Read more »
