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If sunlight and warmth have hit the almost-polar regions of the Pacific Northwest, then it must be summer everywhere in this hemisphere–time for lemonade, picnics, beaches, long days spent outdoors, and lots and lots of books!

Summer reading is its own special category of literature–it’s the time of year when we remember that books are instruments of delight and amusement. It’s also the time of year when so many other things compete for our time and attention that reading sometimes is put aside until autumn and the required reading lists roll around.

When The Papertigers blog first began, Corinne had a wonderful post that discussed summer reading programs presented by libraries (which, Marjorie told us, also takes place in England under the wonderful name of “reading schemes.” Wouldn’t you rather scheme than take part in a program?) and said that she and her children celebrated the end of school by going to their library, signing up for the reading program, and going home laden with books. What a splendid way to mark the beginning of summer!

Of course not everyone lives near a library that offers such a program–I certainly didn’t when I was a child–or perhaps a crowded schedule of sports, summer camp, and family vacations prevent participation in a library program. For these people, we invite you to make The Tiger’s Choice your summer reading program. It fits into any schedule since you can comment when you are ready, on your computer, at any time of the day or night. It welcomes readers of all ages who love children’s literature, so you can discuss books with your friends, your parents, or even your teacher! It’s also a great way for youth group leaders to supplement their own summer activities with discussions about books, or for educators to stay in touch with their students.

If the monthly selections don’t appeal to you, tell us what you are reading on your own and why you like it–you may help someone else to find a new favorite author. (This is what happened to kids who responded to our Asking the Kids questionnaire–Geronimo Stilton and Young James Bond now have new readers.)

We’ll keep track of your suggestions and comments–when the end of August comes around we hope all of us will have found new books to love and new ways at looking at old favorites. Please join us!

And please add your comments to our discussion of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which will end as June draws to a close.

We’re delighted to hear from two British boys who responded to our plea for information about books that children love. Alistair, who is nine and a half, says that books he has recently read for fun are books in the Young Bond series by Charlie Higson, Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon, and The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. His favorite authors are Michael Morpurgo, Charlie Higson, and Francesca Simon, with Hurricane Gold (in the Young Bond series) and Tiger of the Snows by Robert Burleigh among the books that he has discussed with his friends. Morpurgo’s The Wreck of the Zanzibar is one of the books he has read for school that he enjoys and among his favorite books in a series are The Chronicles of Narnia, the many adventures of Harry Potter, and Young Bond. Books he has read more than once are volumes of Tintin, Asterix, Harry Potter, and The Making of Monkey King and Monkey King Wreaks Havoc in Heaven, both by Debby Chen. A book that he found in the library that he longed to keep is one about BMW motorcycles–and, he assures us, although he’s a boy, he does enjoy reading books in which girls are central characters!

Ben, who is seven and a half, loves to read pop-up books, encyclopedias, stories with pictures, and Adam Frost’s Ralph the Magic Rabbit. Books that he has read more than once are Tintin books, Steve Parker’s Larger than Life, which he says is amazing and has recommended to his friends, Surprising Sharks by Nicola Davies, and If I Didn’t Have Elbows by Sandi Toksvig. His favorite writers are J.K. Rowling, Julia Donaldson, Herge, Francesca Simon, and Dick King-Smith. When it comes to books that he has borrowed from the library and wishes he could keep, he simply admits there are “loads.” He too enjoys books about girls, but not ones about sports!

Thanks to Alistair, Ben, and Evan for responding to our questions, which can be found at The Tiger’s Bookshelf: Asking the Kids

We would love to hear from more readers–perhaps a girl or two?

The month of May was such a busy month here in the entwood that actual reading time has been minimal but BookMoot has been listening to some excellent audiobooks.

We may not be taking driving vacations this year but there are rooms to toss, and closets to clean out and corners to excavate and (sob!) bookcases to weed. I find I stay at these unpleasant tasks longer when I have a great book to listen to.

Ahhh... summer.





Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo by Greg Leitich Smith, Recorded Books, 2004

Three friends, a private middle school and a science fair.

As the school science fair approaches, seventh grader, Elias, lives in the shadow of his older brother's legendary science fair success. Eli is also dealing with his developing romantic feelings for his good friend Honoria. Honoria is determined to train piranhas to become vegetarians for her science project and she is attracted to Shohei who is totally unaware that he is the focus of her attentions. He is frustrated by his adoptive parents' intense focus on his Japanese heritage and their overreaching attempts to make sure he remains "in touch" with his cultural background. His own interest in the science fair is minimal, so, looking for an easy way out, he teams-up with Eli. His lack of effort spells disaster for their project which in turn, has terrible consequences for Elias.

The story is told in the first person by three main characters. Elias, Honoria and Shohei are wonderfully voiced by the actors in this audio version. My one regret is that Recorded Books, who produced the book, did credit the performers who so perfectly caught the tone and point of view of the three characters.

The story is full of humor. Greg translates that strange time that is middle school / junior high with sympathy and affection.

Great fun.





Lionboy by Zizou Corder, read by Simon Jones, Highbridge Audio, 2003

I know you've heard audiobook narrators who work so hard at different characters' voices that they seem to be about to strangle themselves with the microphone chord sometimes.
Audiobook performance is difficult, which makes Jim Dale's (Harry Potter) achievement even more extraordinary. In this production, Simon Jones's narration never gets in the way of the story. His expertise in this genre shines here.

Charlie Ashanti has a happy life. His scientist parents provide him with love and security. When they disappear under mysterious circumstances, Charlie uses the clues they leave behind and his gift for speaking the language of cats to trace their whereabouts.

His search takes him to the river's edge where he joins a circus which travels the rivers of Europe on a huge barge. The calliope music is of the circus is utterly beguiling and puts the listener on board the ship along with Charlie. He is taken on as the lionboy, the assistant to the sinister lion tamer. Keeping his ability to communicate with the lions, a secret is a challenge. He receives updates about his parents from cats at the various cities and towns where the circus performs. Charlie longs to free the circus lions from their captivity and continue the search for his parents but accomplishing an escape is dangerous. Then there is the problem of traveling through a city with a group of lions and not attracting unwanted attention.

Very original story with sequels to listen to.

Oh boy!!





Miracle on 49th Street by Mike Lupica, read by Michele Santopietro, 2006

Why couldn't Santopietro read Twilight? I might have enjoyed it. She gives twelve year old Molly Parker's voice a freshness and optimism that works perfectly with the story.

Molly's mother has recently died from cancer and she has come to live with her mother's sister and family. She is not unhappy, she has a great friendship with Sam, a brilliant guy with whom she can share everything. Her dream is to have a relationship with her father, Josh Cameron who is a star player with the Boston Celtics. Living in England for most of her life, her mother had not told her the truth about her father's identity until she became ill.

YA novels are often about a girl yearning for a relationship with the guy of her dreams. In this story, they guy is her dad. Now Molly is on a quest to meet her father and hopefully enjoy a happy father-daughter relationship with him.

Lupica includes lots of behind-the-scenes details of the pro basketball world which ring true.

Sweet story !
Mike Lupica sure knows how to engage me with characters I really cared about.






I confess I have been somewhat reluctant to take up Charlie Higson's Young Bond books. I have such a fondness for my Alex Rider (by Anthony Horowitz, nicely read by Simon Prebble.)
As Alex is a "sort of" young James Bond-like character, I wondered if Higson's "James" would be distinct or a mere shadow of young Alex. I have not even bothered with the new incarnations of Bond as I prefer the original Fleming novels.

I was thrilled and happy to discover that SilverFin and Blood Fever were compelling and "didn't want to stop" listens for me. Nathaniel Parker (clicked on his website and shouted, "Oh, him! Inspector Lynley!) is an outstanding voice actor who shades each character with a distinct tone and cadence.

I enjoyed Siverfin but I loved Blood Fever. There is much here for the guys. Blood Fever teaches fishing techniques, explains the workings of the internal combustion engine and learning to drive a car.

One nice aspect of the stories, for those who insist that a book has to teach a lesson (not me) is that the loutish bullies who make life miserable for James at Eton, are redeemed and end up as friends with him.

There are sly references to the future career of 007 which fans will "get." I have Higson's third book downloaded and ready for listening.

I guess it is time to go toss the entlings' rooms now. I'm ready.

Here is a terrific interview/article by Ben Macintyre about Young Bond author, Charlie Higson in The Times Online. Higson thinks it is "fantastic" to be part of the Bond family.
Macintyre's article is so entertaining, be sure to read the whole thing.

Higson’s formula is straightforward, but then boys of 10 are not, on the whole, particularly complex organisms: “Deliberately keep the language simple. Stripped-down and hard-boiled. Not 12 pages of internal monologue.” Boys aren’t big on internal monologue. Unless it also involves exploding noises. “We didn’t want to encourage violence, but I have tried to show the consequences of violence,” says Higson. To judge from the response of his sons (and mine), the result feeds directly into the central cortex of boy brain: action, suspense, gadgets, threat, fights, escapes, jungle survival, evil baddies and plenty of guns. My sons devoured each of the novels in the same way that I consume adult thrillers, in great, unreflective, purely enjoyable lumps.

Well folks, it's Double or Die.

At 11am yesterday Charlie Higson ripped open a heavily embargoed box of Young Bond books to reveal the title of the latest instalment. I was somewhere towards the back of a mob of several hundred eager fans and parents at Waterstone's Piccadilly shameless gnawing my fingernails in nervous anticipation of the morning's proceedings. You see, I only got back to work the day before, and so I had to scramble to make sure all was in order and set-up for the massively anticipated launch. Barring a few small kinks — I barely got a TV monitor working in time to display the cool secret cameras that were shown off by our guest partner Spy Shop Ltd and our MC had trouble saying Charlie's name correctly just about every time he had to say it (why I don't know) — the launch went off incredibly well. We are all pleased! Videos of the event can be found at Youngbond.com and Youngbonddossier.com and I threw together some of our digital picks on flickr here.

From what I gather, the books are flying off the shelves. Stores are already selling out of the limited edition wrapped series, so I would recommend you go out and grab one fast. These will be collectors' items down the road certainly. In fact on a December 06 episode of Antiques Road Show, Ian's secretary had a complete set of Ian Fleming James Bond First Editions worth somewhere around £20,000 each. At last glance, a signed copy from the event is already going for £35 on Ebay.

Justin Renard, Puffin Marketing Officer