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My 5 yo got Diagrams, Diagrams, Diagrams! by Kelly Boswell from the school library last week and he loves it! His favorite page is about Venn Diagrams. We have read it 10 times.

We got some Halloween books from the library we liked last year- The Crayons Trick or Treat by Drew Dewalt and A Tiger Called Tomas by Charlotte Zolotow- it’s a beautiful book about a new kid who goes trick or treating and finds out how much everyone likes him and knows him already even in his tiger costume- it’s also in Spanish and English and my 7 yo loves to practice his Spanish, he’s very into his Duolingo streak of 500+ days.

I’m pleased to report we have 40 second graders who have reached their quarterly Accelerated Reader goal and get to go to the party- my kid is super excited for me to come to school midday and be there with them all.

I am reading Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher- it’s honestly a bit triggering this close to the election but I appreciate the stories of immigrants and the way it captures the story of a teenager who is trying her best to protect her younger brother after they get separated from their mom. And the moment of recognition I had with her brother using hair gel just like my 7 yo made me cry.

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Oct 17Liked by Sarah Miller

Me and my daughter (7) are reading and rereading the 6th Dory Fantasmagory! And I just looked on Abby Hanlon's site & there's going to be a 7th book next fall-- eee!!

My son (just turned 4) has been loving Who Made This Cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa-- very fitting since it was just his birthday and he's loved looking at all the details of the illustrations.

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Janae Marks' newest MG is a 10: A SPIT SECOND and I love the pacing and character development in K.B. Jackson's book 2 of the Sasquatch Hunters series:THE SASQUATCH OF HARRIMAM LAKE. MG mysteries are my fav. Inviting authors of this genre to join me and Kate Jackson and others at MaliceDomestic.net

Great time to visit DC and meet mystery authors and fans! Thanks fir asking what I'm reading!

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SPLIT SECOND. SORRY for the typo!

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Oct 17Liked by Sarah Miller

Really enjoyed this book too!

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I can’t believe the connections in our current reading list - my second grader and I are doing Bunnicula together, and I recently read Applebets with 1st graders at school. We will definitely check out Escape from Baxter’s Barn!

As a family, we just Rump by Liesl Shurtliff — strong start, we’ll see how it goes :)

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I want an audiobook from Matt! ❤️

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Would HIGHLY recommend Aaron Becker's wordless "Journey" trilogy - my 2.5-year-old has loved making up the story with us, and the illustrations are gorgeous.

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Oct 17Liked by Sarah Miller

LOVE the Journey trilogy! We started them when our son was about 2.5 too and he still (5 years later!) picks them up and has even read them together with his 4.5 yo sister (who also loves them herself).

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Oct 18Liked by Sarah Miller

If you like wordless books, have you

checked out David Wiesner? His work is phenomenal. Flotsam and Mr. Wuffles are probably our favorites.

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Thanks for the rec!!

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Oct 17Liked by Sarah Miller

My son is so into the books by Marianne Dubuc—a random library find but I love them too! her illustrations are so packed with fun things to notice. Our favorites are the Mr. Postmouse ones!

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I am also a fan of her work!

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Oct 17Liked by Sarah Miller

We just finished the first PIPPI LONGSTOCKING and, while my kids (7.5 and almost 5) liked it, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped. We’ve been really enjoying the ANIMAL STORIES collection that I believe Sarah recommended and it has been a big hit. We’re also reading TOY DANCE PARTY which is the 2nd in the TOYS GO OUT series. Our car audiobook right now is the RAMONA series which is just wonderful and all 4 of us love.

Some recent fun picture books include: FINDING WINNIE: THE TRUE STORY OF THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS BEAR, IMAGINARY FRED, ROBO-SAUCE and I LOST MY TOOTH IN AFRICA.

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Oct 17Liked by Sarah Miller

Both of my kids (1 and 3) love King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub (Don and Audrey Wood), which I didn’t expect the baby to enjoy so much! They’re also both very into a cheap, silly little Fisher Price bath book, in Brazilian Portuguese, that I let my daughter grab at random one day. (We’re from the US but live in Brazil.) You never know what the little ones are going to fall in love with 🤷🏼‍♀️

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Oct 17Liked by Sarah Miller

I should add, I also love King Bidgood! It’s a very fun one to read aloud and the illustrations are gorgeous. Not only do I enjoy reading it over and over again, but sometimes I even ask if they want it instead of a book that I *don’t* really want to read (looking at you, Noisy Trucks 😵‍💫😂)

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The illustrations in that book could be hung up and framed! And it’s a fun story to boot.

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Oct 18Liked by Sarah Miller

King Bidgood is so great. There are a couple of Don and Audrey Wood books that are really different from each other but that my kids also loved. Mostly Napping House and Heckedy Peg in addition to Kjng Bidgood. Heckedy Peg is for a little bit older kids than 1 and 3 but napping house would be great if you don’t know it.

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I actually just ordered Napping House! My daughter saw the cover on the back of King Bidgood and was immediately intrigued!

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Totally agree!!

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Oct 17Liked by Sarah Miller

My 8 yo and I have been loving Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker on audiobook during out morning drives this October.

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Love when you do these posts, Sarah. King Bidgood was a favorite of my kids. Currently my 12 year old and I are reading Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell, and my 10 year old and I are reading Library Girl by Polly Horvath. I just finished Library Girl myself and loved it 😍

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Oct 17Liked by Sarah Miller

Ooh that’s my cue to read LIBRARY GIRL!!

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I'm reading Scare School by Jarret Lerner and really, really enjoying it!

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My little one is obsessed with Judith Kerr's Mog stories at the moment. We read the picture books together and then every night he asks to listen to the audiobook while he falls asleep. They're great fun to read aloud and the illustrations are gorgeous so I love them too.

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Same! Mog and the VET is the current favourite here. The audiobooks are great too. There was a lovely animated version of Mog's Christmas released last year, I think its available on Prime, your little one might enjoy it.

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Mine loves that one too! He likes to shout along when they have to call the dogs with "Heel! Sit! Stay! And come back!" - it's very cute. I will see if I can find the animated Mog's Christmas, I didn't realise it was on Prime! Thank you for that.

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Love these features and hearing what people are reading. At bedtime this evening our 3 choices were The Day the Crayons Quit (Crayons on strike in US) by Drew Daywalt; In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak and a National Geographic kids book about Planets.

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Beti and the Little Round House by Atinuke is everything my Fall heart desires. 🍂

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HOW DO I NOT KNOW OF THIS ATINUKE BOOK?!?!

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It’s new! I think it released in late spring this year.

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I have admittedly had a year full of serious distractions and other preoccupations (which makes me feel slightly better for missing this one).

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(I just went to put it on hold at the library and... I already have it on hold. That's all you need to know 🤦🏻‍♀️)

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My 8yo daughter and I are reading The Cookie Chronicles (just finished #3) and loving them!! The perfect blend of silly and serious.

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Oct 18Liked by Sarah Miller

My 4 year old is obsessed with Mercy Watson books. I love these books so much I’ve been known to read to the end after my daughter goes to sleep to find out how they end 😂

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We absolutely loved Mercy Watson, too. The Tales of Deckawoo Drive are also so great. And just a delight to not have to say goodbye to the characters (in fact to get to go deeper with them!) as your kids get older. 🤩

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I second the love for The Tales of Deckawoo Drive — they’re hilarious.

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I just finished reading The Witches to my kids and they hung on every word. (Well, every word I read aloud — I did some selective editing for my 4-year-old.) It was a fun one, especially because the Grand High Witch has a distinctive way of speaking!

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I love this!

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Oct 18Liked by Sarah Miller

Bunnicula 4ever

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4EVER AND EVER 🙌

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Oct 18Liked by Sarah Miller

We are in the midst of an international move so we don't have access to our books or a library at the moment. But we did just go to a 2nd hard store and bought a copy of Possum Magic by Mem Fox that I doubt anyone outside of Australia knows about, though it is a classic that's been in print here for 40 years -- I think it is the best selling Australian children's book of all time.

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Possum Magic is a lovely book and while it’s not as well know as Fox’s other, more popular titles, it’s certainly around here in the US.

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Oct 18·edited Oct 18Liked by Sarah Miller

I did some library tidying yesterday and came across Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say and I cried leafing through it, enjoying it all over again. The story is gentle and full of complex emotions and the watercolor illustrations are just dynamite!! One of our all time favorites.

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Oct 18Liked by Sarah Miller

We’ve loved Half Magic by Edward Eager and Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfeld. I’m also enjoying introducing my younger child to the Strega Nona stories!

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Oct 21Liked by Sarah Miller

We've just finished two wonderful chapter books that I am reading to both of my girls (6 and 9) at the same time: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Wild Robot. Both were so fantastic (I'd read TLTW&TW before, but not since I was in 3rd grade). Our Halloween books are in the rotation, too, so lots of Stumpkin and Gustavo the Shy Ghost.

Blythe and I are reading A Wrinkle in Time, which I never read as a child (I read 49 of 50 books for Battle of the Books, but refused to read this because (without reading it), I deemed it too "science-fiction-y". Blythe loves this anecdote and we are both loving the book. Just prior to this, we read One for the Murphys, which I couldn't recommend more. It is heart-wrenching in the best possible way.

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Oct 22·edited Oct 22Author

I read TLTW&... to my kids earlier this year -- the first time *I've* ever read it -- and was underwhelmed. Maybe it's because I have heard for basically my entire life what an amazing and important book it is -- or because the religious messaging was just far too unsubtle, and too much for me -- but it did not live up to the hype, and my kids didn't want to continue with the next book.

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Oct 23Liked by Sarah Miller

The religious message did really hit you over the head. I think what I most enjoyed was that my kids were really engrossed in the story although -- like yours -- they haven't asked about the next book in the series.

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Also impossible to deny Lewis was an incredible writer -- some of the sentences in that book are genuinely breathtaking.

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Oct 23Liked by Sarah Miller

My second grader is super into graphic novels. I was pleasantly surprised how funny the Hilo series by Judd Winnick is, and we love anything by Ben Hatke and Chad Sell.

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