Packing for our trip

We're leaving tomorrow for a week's vacation, and I just thought I'd make a short post about what we're bringing to read!

Audiobooks:

- Hattie Big Sky, by Kirby Larson - my 10 year old daughter is in the middle of listening to this. It's about a sixteen year old girl in Iowa whose an orphan and one day she receives a letter saying she has inherited a homestead in rural Montana. She decides to take the train and try to make a home in this new place. I asked my daughter what she thought helped Hattie get through the really hard times, and my daughter said that it was her friends.

- Flush, by Carl Hiaasen - downloaded for free from Overdrive Media through the San Francisco Public Library -

- Bonjour Butterfly (a Fancy Nancy book), by Jane O'Connor - for my 5 year old - also through Overdrive Media

- Under the Jolly Roger, by L.A. Meyer - from Audible.com - my 10 year old has devoured the first two in the Bloody Jack series - and so this is a treat for her.

My books to read:

- Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, by Margarita Engle - I really enjoyed Engle's 2009 Newbery Honor book The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Independence. This new book is also a novel in verse, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

- Sisters of the Sword, by Maya Snow. There's a new exhibit at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum about Samurai. This sounds like an interesting historical fiction, about two girls who dream of being samurai in 13th century Japan. Booklist calls it the first in a "rousing new series."

- The Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior, by Chris Bradford. Another book that I'm checking out for the Samurai connection, this seems to be a very action-packed story about a young English boy who is the sole survivor on a merchant ship that is attacked by Ninja warriors.

My 8 year old has recently gotten hooked by the Harry Potter series. She's just finished book 1, and is excited about the second book. It was so cute - she waited to finish the last chapter so that her dad could read it aloud with her tonight.

My 5 year old daughter has been enjoying the Mercy Watson series, so we'll pack a few of those, along with several picture books like 10 Minutes Til Bedtime.

I'll try to check in a few times when we're away - let us know what you're enjoying for your summer reading!

Funny stories of growing up: Knucklehead, by Jon Scieszka

When I read a few chapters aloud to my students, they were literally in hysterics. There were shouts of, “I’ve done that!” and “My mom would flip out if she knew I did this stuff, too!”. It especially seemed to connect with boys but I had quite a few girls ask to get on the waiting list, too." (see The Reading Zone for her full review).

Here's a preview video to whet your appetite (courtesy of Penguin's new Screening Room):

This chapter had me laughing aloud - it brought back memories of kids throwing up in the car, cat throw up, long car trips, and of course kids piled into a station wagon:

Chapter 33: Car Trip

Of all the Scieszka brother memories, I believe it was a family car trip that gave us our finest moment of brotherhood. We were driving cross-country from Michigan to Florida, all of us, including the family cat (a guy cat, naturally), in the family station wagon. Somewhere mid-trip we stopped at one of those Stuckey's rest-stop restaurants to eat and load up on Stuckey's candy.

We ate lunch, ran around like maniacs in the warm sun, then packed back into the station wagon—Mom and Dad up front, Jim, Jon, Tom, Gregg, Brian, Jeff, and the cat in back. Somebody dropped his Stuckey's Pecan Log Roll on the floor. The cat found it and must have scarfed every bit of it, because two minutes later we heard that awful ack ack ack sound of a cat getting ready to barf.

The cat puked up the pecan nut log. Jeff, the youngest and smallest (and closest to the floor) was the first to go. He got one look and whiff of the pecan-nut cat yack and blew his own sticky lunch all over the cat. The puke-covered cat jumped on Brian. Brian barfed on Gregg. Gregg upchucked on Tom. Tom burped a bit of Stuckey lunch back on Gregg. Jim and I rolled down the windows and hung out as far as we could, yelling in group-puke horror.

All in all, Knucklehead has everything that you'd want in summer reading for kids who might be a bit reluctant to pick something up: lots of laughs, body humor (just ask them about "crossing swords"), funny pictures and short chapters.

If you'd like to read more, check out these links:
Fuse #8's review
NPR Weekend Edition story
The Reading Zone - a teacher's review

Find it at your local public library, an independent bookstore near you, or Amazon.

Horrid Henry Giveaway Extended

It's summer and everyone's busy. So I've extended the Horrid Henry giveaway until Sunday, June 28th. For more details see here.

This is a great chapter book for kids moving up to chapter books - perfect for kids who are comfortable reading a short chapter, but want a picture with each chapter. Better than that, it's perfect for kids who want silly antics and goofy situations.

Courtesy of the publisher, I have four of the Horrid Henry books to giveaway. Winners will be drawn by random number generator. Tell your friends!

Beginning to read? try "Now I'm Reading!" by Nora Gaydos

Our five year old is starting to show interest in reading. But regular picture books have too many different types of words for her to tackle, so they end up frustrating her. What should you look for in a book for beginning readers? It should have words that are simple to sound out, but they should also be funny so kids want to keep reading. Here's a series that we love: Now I'm Reading! Playful Pals, Level 1. It's fun but also easy for beginning readers to read successfully.

Now I'm Reading! Playful Pals, Level 1
Written by Nora Gaydos
Illustrated by BB Sams
innovativeKids, c) 2003
ages 4 - 6

Now I'm Reading! books are little CD sized binders with 10 very short stories each. Each story focuses on a different sound: Rat Naps for the short a, Pig Sits for the short i sound, and Bug on a Rug for the short u sound. They also introduce common sight words like on, is & and. These are the building blocks your child needs to be able to read more varied picture books. After reading one story, your child can put a sticker on that story - a very exciting moment. Emily is so excited that she can read the first story that she almost leaps at any adult walking in the door asking if she can read them a story.

The best thing about these stories is that the illustrations and stories are funny, without being cutesy. They'll appeal to boys and girls, and they'll also appeal to older kids who are working to learn phonics. They have clear story lines (a beginning, middle and end) - so kids read to understand the silly story, not just hear the words.

If you like these stories, check out the others in the series: Animal Antics is another Level 1, Amazing Animals is Level 2, Snack Attack is Level 2, and On the Go is Level 3.

What I really want to get for summer fun: Rhyming War! (Now I'm Reading! Games) It's new last summer and doesn't have any reviews on Amazon yet. But we love playing games, and rhyming skills are so important to early reading.

These are really books to have at home, so you can put your own stickers in them. Find them at your local independent bookstore or Amazon.

Prince of Underwhere - fun summer reading for reluctant readers

Kids love comics. They're full of laughs, and they're easy to dip in and out of. The Calvin and Hobbes books in our library get tattered to shreds, they are so well-loved. I love to use kids' love of comics to pull them into a book. Bruce Hale's new book, The Prince of Underwhere, does exactly this. It's half-comic book, half-chapter book, much like Captain Underpants books.

Prince of Underwhere (Underwhere Series)
by Bruce Hale
illustrated by Shane Hillman.
NY: HarperCollins, c2008.
ages 7 - 10

Zeke, his twin sister Stephanie, and his best friend Hector are walking home one day when they start noticing some weird stuff going on. Their cat drops a mangled lizard at their feet, and seems to be almost talking to them, and a little while later it brings a seriously deformed bird home in its mouth. The cat is definitely trying to tell it something. When they chase the cat into the construction project down the street, they tumble down a dark opening and fall down a big, black hole.

Welcome to Underwhere, land of midgets, dinosaurs and zombies. In this land, the three friends meet the local residents, who declare Zeke to be the prince whose coming was foretold in the Book of Booty. They honor him with a twenty-one bun salute (bowing the wrong way), and tell him that he must save them from the cruel Underlord.This book will draw kids in and make them laugh. I liked the conflicts and twists that developed. I'd say it's a good choice for 3rd graders - the vocabulary is not for kids new to chapter books. It would make a good choice for kids who liked Captain Underpants and are looking for other comic books.

Find it at Amazon, or your local public library.

Great laughs in an early chapter book - Horrid Henry series (and a free giveaway!)

When kids are learning to read chapter books, it's important that there are immediate rewards. They have to understand the story, the characters, the situation. But laughter is the best reward of all. Horrid Henry, by Francesca Simon, is a new series in the US that is sure to find a good following among 1st and 2nd graders who want to move up to chapter books. Would you like a free book? See the contest at the end of this post!

Horrid Henry
written by Francesca Simon
illustrated by Tony Ross
IL: Sourcebook, 2009.
ages 6 - 8

Henry is an ornery little boy - he's always causing trouble, and his parents expect him to. In fact, his brother is nicknamed Perfect Peter. Until one day, Henry decides that he's the one who should be perfect. Peter can't stand this, and starts acting out in all sorts of ways. Eventually, he throws his dinner at Henry (who naturally ducks), and the dinner lands straight on their mother's face! This is the first chapter in Horrid Henry, and it certainly made me laugh.

The Horrid Henry chapter books are broken into four short chapters that pretty much stand alone. Each set of pages has a small illustration that adds to the laughs and keeps the readers connected to the silly situations of the stories. This will definitely appeal to reluctant readers.

While I wasn't immediately taken with this mischievous boy, every child I've shown it to has immediately wanted to read it. That's a pretty good result. This will appeal to kids who like naughty stories, who like mischief, and who want a quick read. If they zoom through this first book, there are more: Horrid Henry's Stinkbomb, Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy, and Horrid Henry and the Mega-Mean Time Machine.

To celebrate summer reading, I have four Horrid Henry books to give away, thanks to the kindness of the publisher Sourcebooks. If you would like a Horrid Henry book for your little mischief maker, leave a comment or send me an email. In your comment, let me know a favorite funny book that your kids enjoy reading. If you are or become a follower, let me know and that counts as an extra entry! Contest ends on Monday, June 22nd. Remember to leave your email address, please!

**UPDATE: GIVEAWAY EXTENDED to Sunday, June 28th! For an extra entry, follow Great Kid Books through email updates, Facebook, or RSS feed. Let me know either through email or the comment page.

To read a chapter, see this excerpt from Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy.
To read other reviews, see:
The Happy Nappy Bookseller
The Reading Tub

Find Horrid Henry at your local independent bookstore, Amazon, or public libraries.