Best Friend Thief opens with Nathalie and her best friend Reagan making plans for the beginning of 5th grade. They have great plans for the International Costume Contest that the school holds every year—a plan that is sure to win! But when school starts, Blair Bennett, one of the popular girls, latches on to Reagan. […]
Warriors: Into the Wild
April 5, 2012 by 4 Comments
Warriors: Into the Wild is the first in Erin Hunter’s extensive and expanding series. My nine year old son loves these books about clans of feral cats—he read the first six in quick succession, although he got bogged down in the super edition, Firestar’s Quest. Many of his friends have read and loved these books, […]
Why You Should Read Aloud to Your Independent Reader
March 22, 2012 by 4 Comments
There are so many good reasons to read aloud to little kids. I’m not even going to bother going into them here. If you’re even looking at this site, chances are you read to your kids before bedtime for years and you know what a great experience it is for both parents and kids. But […]
My Life as a Book
March 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
My Life as a Book, about the summer of a 12 year old self-described “reluctant reader,” is written in a way obviously intended to appeal to reluctant readers. The Comic Sans font resembles hand printing and the book has large margins—this prevents the “wall of text” effect and also leaves ample room for the stick […]
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
March 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment
I was surprised by how much I liked The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. The premise is that Tommy, a 6th grade boy, is collecting stories to determine whether Origami Yoda (a folded paper finger puppet designed by Dwight) actually has the power to see into the future and impart wisdom. Visually, the book stands […]
Time Warp Trio
March 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Overview of the series Coming in at well under 100 pages, the Time Warp Trio books seem like they’re squarely aimed at the younger set. And they are great for newly independent readers who want some humor and attitude. However, they’re also great for reluctant readers or as a brain break for 9 to 12 […]
A List of Series for Younger or Reluctant Readers
March 10, 2012 by 4 Comments
The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale – basically princess as superhero, also featuring goat boy as superhero. Full of cute and colorful illustrations, it’s a great chapter book series for new or reluctant readers. The first book is reviewed in more detail on this site. The Adventurers Guild by Zack Loran […]
The Birthday Ball
February 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Birthday Ball is a cute farce of a fairy tale, with sketches by Jules Feiffer (you may recognize his distinctive style from The Phantom Tollbooth) throughout. It’s patently ridiculous, with exaggerated characters—there’s no attempt at realism. Although in most ways it’s a fairly standard princess-story setting, there are throw away lines about spandex and […]
