I originally reviewed Newbery Medal winner, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin early in 2009, a few months after I started this blog. It is a childhood favorite of mine and one of the rare books I have read more than once as an adult and, after a recent rereading, I decided to rewrite my original review and hopefully inspire more readers to give it a try. I couldn't help reminiscing about this
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Books you should read with your child and talk about after, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 9 of 9
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: aauthor: Raskin, Award Winner, Mystery, Reading Level 5, Real Life Girl Stories, Books you should read with your child and talk about after, Add a tag
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Level 4, Books you should read with your child and talk about after, aauthor: Lai, Historical Fiction, Verse Novel, Add a tag
<!-- START INTERCHANGE - INSIDE OUT BACK AGAIN -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Thanhha Lai's semi-autobiographical verse novel, Inside Out & Back Again won the National Book Award and the Newbery Honor in 2011. I feel like I say
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Animal Rights, aauthor: Rorby, Reading Level 5, Real Life Girl Stories, Books you should read with your child and talk about after, Reading Level MIDDLE GRADE, Add a tag
** January 23, 2013: A report from a National Institute of Health council unanimously recommended that almost ALL of the 451 chimpanzees currently housed at their facilities for the purposes of research and testing be retired, as reported by James Gorman in the New York Times yesterday. Sadly, the N.I.H does not have the funds to retire some 400 of the chimps OR enact the changes to the
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Books you should read with your child and talk about after, Reading Level 1.5, Books About Feelings, Sibling Stories, aauthor: Hartnett, Add a tag
While Betsy Bird calls Sonya Hartnett and Ann James' Sadie and Ratz weird and like nothing else on the shelf, she also says that "it happens to be pretty much the best book for kids published in America in the year 2012." This children's librarian and book reviewer reads (and has read) lots of kids books and she said this about Sadie and Ratz a mere four months into the year. While this is
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Level 4, Books you should read with your child and talk about after, Historical Fiction: Russia, aauthor: Yelchin, Add a tag
Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin was one of two books that won the Newbery Honor Medal this year. I had never heard of it but the title was immediately intriguing and upon reading the book proved to be chilling, suspenseful and utterly unforgettable. Because of the title, I thought the story might begin with a young communist's realization that his great leader was not so great and track
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Science Fiction, Environmental Theme, Reading Level 5, Books you should read with your child and talk about after, aalphabetical: r, aauthor: clayton, Dystopian Setting, Add a tag
The Roar by British author Emma Clayton is so many amazing things at once and has stirred up such visceral feelings in me that I hope I can do it justice here. For a very concise review by that hits all the right spots, check out Pink Me, which is a book review site written by a children's librarian with great taste and insight when it comes to YA books. For my longer, slightly more rambling
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy, aalphabetical: m, Reading Level 5, aauthor: Lowry, short books - BIG IDEAS, Books you should read with your child and talk about after, Add a tag
With The Messenger, Lois Lowry completes her trilogy that tells the stories of three different communities and the individuals who make (and remake) them. Matt, the young explorer and rule-breaker from Gathering Blue is now Matty. In the village that he and Kira were born in, age was marked not by years and numbers, but with syllables added to one's name. A person who has lived to earn a four
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: aalphabetical: g, Reading Level 4, aauthor: Lowry, short books - BIG IDEAS, Books you should read with your child and talk about after, Series, Add a tag
While The Giver, Gathering Blue and The Messenger are considered a trilogy, all three can be read as stand-alone titles. The Giver and Gathering Blue are linked more by Lois Lowry's thematic explorations of the idea of the individual and the community than they are by characters. In fact, there is only one fleeting reference to Jonas near the end of this book as the boy with eyes that are an "
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Award Winner, aalphabetical: g, Reading Level 5, aauthor: Lowry, short books - BIG IDEAS, Books you should read with your child and talk about after, Add a tag
Winner of the Newbery in 1994, The Giver by Lois Lowry is one of those amazing books that tells a complete, compelling story and makes a provocative point all in less than 200 pages. The plot centers on a planned community in which personal freedoms have been traded for efficiency, security and contentment. The Community has been in existence for so long that the members of it are neither
This was a kindle kids deal of the day a couple of months ago. I am so glad Amazon introduced me to this! Bought for my daughter but devoured myself. In fact, my daughter will have to be a little bit older to understand the heft of emotion that this swift gem imparts. I never knew how effective (and efficient) a verse-novel could be!
This book blew my mind, and I cried like a baby more than once.
T: You have perfectly and succinctly described the beauty of this genre! And,as a working parent, I really love a book I can read in a sitting or two. Agreed, though - this is the kind of book you want to make sure your child reads at the right time, or reads a second time. So many subtleties. If you can, read KARMA by Otslere. It's for teens but another example of a stunning verse novel.
Jeremy - Agreed! Check out Karen Hesse's ALEUTIAN SPARROW. I reviewed it a couple of years ago. An aspect of US history I never knew about. It's interesting to me how (painful, difficult) historical events seems to lend themselves to the verse novel format.