Welcome to the new iteration of What We’re Reading — where, instead of just sharing what I am reading with my own kiddos every week, every few months I’ll open up the conversation to everyone, and hopefully we’ll all end up exploding our library holds lists or bookstore shopping bags/carts.
I’LL GO FIRST 😉
Here are some of the books we’ve been reading and enjoying lately:
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George (My 9yo refused to speak to anyone in the house until she’d listened to this one in its entirety on Playaway)
All the titles in the DK Watch Me Grow series, e.g., Elephant, Turtle, Panda(I love this series myself and reviewed Rabbit awhile ago)
A sleeper hit:
Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms by Marvin Terban (We’ve been reading one entry a day at breakfast, and who knew it would be so fun?)
And a recent poetry book at bedtime that prompted a large amount of begging for one more page every night:
(Yes, I’m super late to reading Ivan, which I picked up because both my children loved it on audio and like, I know it won the Newbery, okay? I’m just glad I finally did. I ended up reading it, along with the next two books in the series — The One and Only Bob and The One and Only Ruby — in less than a week. Any adult who overlooks middle-grade books — including verse novels — is missing out on some incredible literature.)
Oh! And I'm reading the new Tana French, as well as a book of essays, All Things Are Too Small, by a philosopher and a Washington Post book critic, Becca Rothfeld--very heady but super interesting and sometimes saucy writing on decluttering, film, sex, and a bunch of other topics!
We just finished the Pooh books (AA Milne) as our bedtime read and it was one of those magic ones where the 6 year old was enchanted and 10 year old (who officially refuses bedtime reading) always found her way to listen too. Looking for another read with similar magic! We started Last Of The Great Whangdoodles but it moved too slowly (for 6yo and for me, ha!). Maybe Tuesday At The Castle?
On our own, 10yo is back on a Warriors kick, 6yo is obsessed with the Max Meow series, and I’m still thinking about Splinters by Leslie Jamison — beautiful.
Pooh somehow seems to hit that sweet spot for that age group (so it always makes me a bit sad when people try it with their toddlers and wonder why it doesn't work -- it's really not for the littlest kids, but bigger kids *are* enchanted by it!)
I assume you're aware there's a sequel, House at Pooh Corner, but am mentioning it just in case you don't. Also recommend Charlotte's Web, if you two/all somehow haven't read it; Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire; and the Toys Go Out series by Emily Jenkins.
Yes, I had definitely made that mistake with my toddlers so it was magical to realize, THIS is who it's for! I do have very special memories of reading both books out loud to my older daughter when she was in the hospital at age 2 -- but that was not a typical toddler experience.
We did read both Winnie The Pooh and House at Pooh Corner, and are bereft he didn't write more. Charlotte's Web was last year's obsession but this is reminding me to maybe try Stuart Little...and I don't know these other two, will check them out!
Oh will also plug AA Milne poetry -- Now We Are Six and When We Were Very Young. I grew up on those poems and they work well for younger kids (when you can just read a few pages at bedtime) as well as older!
Stuart Little is lovely, but I feel like it's best if you don't expect it to be the same/have the same impact as Charlotte's Web. It's a lot more introspective and the action doesn't move as quickly (and is harder to understand -- White got a little bogged down in thought, imo). Then again, your kids are sophisticated readers/listeners, so who knows, maybe it will be a hit.
OK good intel. I think B actually did it as an audiobook but it didn't go on constant repeat the way Charlotte did (I mean Meryl Streep/full cast, a lot to love there!).
My 8yo still loves Pooh and so do I. Here is the order of his EB White Preferences: 1. The Trumpet of the Swan, 2. Charlottes Webb and 3. Stuart Little. EB White reading the first two are his audio book comfort reads when he can't sleep.
This is so interesting and such a good point about how we can't ever let age suggestions limit us -- and we have to know our individual children. My 3yo is quite literally obsessed with the original Pooh stories (and has loved listening since he was two). That's the magic and complexity of children.
Agreed... and I also think that people who don't know very much about children's books (we all start somewhere) or understand intimately what their kids enjoy think that Pooh will appeal to very little children because the *cartoon* does. Pooh on a screen is, indeed, for little littles. Pooh on the page takes more skill. And for kids who aren't read to regularly, exposed to advanced language, or growing up in a household with a culture of reading, it's a huge -- and often insurmountable -- leap, and then parents think they're doing something wrong, which of course they aren't at all, the listening skills just aren't there yet.
My 6 and 8 year old squad loved James Herriot’s collection for children. The illustrations are gorgeous and the English animal tales were just right for a bedtime story. They would prefer a read them facts about animals every night and the Who Would Win books (Tiger vs Lion) are going to be the death of me. Sweet veterinarian stories and some of Sarah’s animal poetry books have saved me.
And for the 8yo, she can’t read Heidi Heckelbeck fast enough. Picked up books 5-8 at the library today. Never know what she will read on her own!
And for my school Chat and Chew, Front Desk has been easily most popular book of any grade.
As I type, my son is rereading an Alex Neptune book and my daughter is rereading Katherine Rundell’s The Explorer. She got to page 99 of Hatchet and decided the pilot was just too scary, so has taken a break - so I read it myself and WOW! I know everyone else has read it, but if by any chance someone reading this hasn’t… do! Together we have been enjoying The Atlas of Lost Kingdoms - just read this morning about the sunken ancient Chinese city hidden beneath a reservoir, and Timelines of Nature, where we recently read about strawberry development, mould, and the seasonal cycle of a forest.
For myself, I have just read The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Speckled Band, and A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes binge), and, for something completely different, Moneyball. No idea about baseball so 50% of the book made absolutely zero sense to me, but thoroughly enjoyable regardless.
I read Hatchet in a two-person book club with my niece when she was a struggling middle-school reader and had the same reaction as you: WOW. How had I never read this book?
You always introduce me to titles that aren't on my radar, Catherine, which I appreciate more than I can say!
We're re-reading the first Unicorn Rescue Society, which we first read on a fever-dream family holiday (sick kiddo, remote bothy, Scottish summer so it never got properly dark). And my mom ordered the rest. Realised it's perfect to have kiddo read alternating chapters, fairly complex vocabulary but the line spacing is more generous, and the chapters are short.
MG mysteries of my new friends Taryn Souders, Kate Jackson, and Elizabeth C Bunce, all Agatha nominations to be chosen at Malice Domestic in two weeks. Just finishing THE GIRL IN WHITE by Lindsay Currie
Since you loved IVAN, you should read Dan Gemeinhart's THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY OF COYOTE SUNSHINE. Coyote loves IVAN and makes many title suggestions. A sequel was just released! BTW, it's sad and uplifting.
Oh yes. Definitely favorite middle grade read of past five years. WARNING: I SOBBED. And have had adult friends have similar reactions and thank me for sharing this book with them!
We've been reading and re-reading the whole Dory Fantasmagory series-- thank you again for introducing me to them!
For myself, I've just finished Talking at Night which I LOVED. I've heard it's similar to Normal People but less millennial angst. The story was magnetic-- I finished it in 2 days!
Have you heard the interview with Abby Hanlon on The Yarn podcast (Colby Sharp and Travis Jonkers)? I love this podcast, interviews with children's book authors and illustrators, and I love Dory-interesting to read how Hanlon came back to the series after a long hiatus. My grandbaby (age 2 as of Monday) is currently mesmerized by Marla Frazee's All the Life (gorgeous illustrations, this book makes me cry) and I just read the first book in Legends of Lotus Island by Christina Soontornvat, I love A Wish in the Dark and The Last Mapmaker, and this chapter book series gives us a great new world.
we have read through Dory no fewer than 10 times now and am desperately looking for something else. I love them but I could use a break from reading them every night!
Our family (8yo + 3yo) LOVES Dory so much (may have gotten the rec here?). Word to the wise: the audiobooks are excellent. The way the little kid in the library says "Gobblegracker" in Dory Fantasmagory: Tiny Tough makes my 3yo laugh so hard that she requested just listening to that chapter to feel better when she was sick recently. A delight.
DORY is the best! Have you ever looked at the reader reviews of Dory on Amazon or Goodreads? My oldest read the negative ones for a good laugh! It's a great reminder that no book is for everyone and that people come to stories with a lot of assumptions and biases!
7 yo: graphic novels of I Survived series- American Revolution, Chicago Fire, Titanic and Katrina have all been favorites in the last few months, also still big on Dog Man- Grime and Punishment and Mothering Heights were his choices for our spring break trip
4.5 yo- Ricky Ricotta series, There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Worm by Lucille Colandro
Both- Pele King of Soccer El rey del Futbol by Monica Brown- I loved this book and illustrations as my 7 yo started spring season of soccer, my husband is also coaching high school girls
For myself, last week I finished Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez and got to read the ARC for Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto
Reading Anne of Green Gables to my 6 and 9 year old girls! We’re clasping our hands just like Anne with an e does, and enjoying it thoroughly. Great for both ages and the book itself just holds up so well, so many years later.
We started it as an audiobook on a road trip and I’m finishing it as a hard copy. It’s been hard to compete with Rachel McAdams wonderful narration!!
That was such a relief to me all these years later as an adult, how well Anne has held up. Of course there’s some remnants of that era but it was so wonderful to see just how fresh and relevant she is after all these years!
Also just finishing the ONCE UPON A TIM series with my 3yo, but we are also loving HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, PRETTY UGLY (Sedaris), THE MOUSE WHO CARRIED HIS HOUSE ON HIS BACK (Stutzman), ROAR LIKE A DANDELION (Krauss), and NEVER, NOT EVER! (Alemagna).
I’m working through a stack of middle grade novels but my adult read is POOR DEER (oshetsky) -- unsettling and weird, like I love.
Would love to hear what's standing out, or what you're enjoying, from your middle grade stack. A friend of mine and I are about to start a middle grade book club, so I am collecting titles...
Oooh, I love that! For grownups, kids, or a combo? Send me a message or email (hello@readingandwritingmatters.com) with the deets and I'll send you some recs!!
Haha, I just have lots of thoughts! For grownups, I think discussing Kelly Yang's new release, FINALLY HEARD, would generate lots of discussion. Bc it won the Newberry, THE EYES AND THE IMPOSSIBLE (Eggers) is probably on your list, but I did love it. But THE LOST YEAR (Marsh) has been my fave recently. Currently reading some dystopias (just finished THE MIDDLER and am on THE LIST) for something I'm working on, too, and these two would be fun to compare to THE GIVER. Would love to hear what y'all read!
I loved Stella this year from our middle grade book award list. I have teared up telling people about it and the sweet dog with PTSD. From the 6-8 list, I lived Alone by Megan E. Freeman.
I just read Knight Owl yesterday and ADORED it! I read it while sitting in a field waiting for the eclipse, and my chuckling got my mom and then my brother to read it, so I'M STILL SPREADING THE ADULTS READING PICTURE BOOK LOVE, SARAH!!!
8YO is reading book 3 of the Best Wishes series and re-reading the graphic novel the Tryout. Together we read the new Princess in Black Prince in Pink by Shannon Hale.
I just finished a Lucy Foley mystery the Hunting Party and debating starting another or finishing a nonfic, Lady Justice.
Yay for Ivan!!! So so good. And that idioms book looks absolutely delightful.
I've been on a rare adult book kick lately. Usually I'm deep in middle grade and chapter books, but one of my favorite reads lately was the second in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. They are just so much fun. And then recently I just finished Britt-Marie was Here by Frederik Backman. His books just make me happy to be alive.
I have tried (and tried and tried) with the Osman books and just can never get more than 15 pages in... I know so many people who love the voice, and it just doesn't work for me, which is sad, because I don't often feel like I'm missing out, but *I feel like I'm missing out!*
The idioms book is so fun (and I -- *I* -- have learned a lot).
Hey, totally understandable! I definitely have books like that that everyone seems to love and I just...don't get it. That might be an interesting list to put together actually...
My daughter and I also just read Tuesdays at the Castle-- it was so good! We just started the next book in the series- Wednesdays in the Tower. Connor and I are reading 'The Magician' by Michael Scott, which is the second book in The Alchemyst series. He loves it--I think most middle schoolers would! I just finished What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski, and it was fantastic. A super important read that I'm actually going to post about soon. Now I'm reading Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers. I never read sci-fi, but I'm into it!
OH! And I just had to read a bunch of wordless picture books for a freelance assignment, and I loved loved LOVED Bunny & Tree. My 12 year old and 9 year old did too, and I even made my husband read it. Beautiful handpainted art on each page.
I listened to What Happened to Rachel Riley? on audio last month and I did not expect it to be as good as it was, nor to hit as hard. (Interestingly, I knew it was set in Madison and I was looking forward to that but ended up finding it super distracting -- not because Swinarski was wrong about anything, but maybe because instead of imagining in my own mind the images that come when you're reading -- world-building, in a sense -- all these real places and actual mental pictures kept intruding.)
I didn't expect it to be as good as it was, either! I don't know much about Madison, but because I grew up in Chicago I felt like I understood how she missed her Polish community. Its an interesting thing to think about-- should fiction writers leave out real places and focus on the fictional world they are building? I understand what you mean about it being distracting--I have felt the same way when I read fictional books set in Denver.
7yo is OBSESSED with Harriet Muncaster's Isadora Moon series. (Actual quote from school drop-off this morning: "You can keep reading, but I need you to get out of the car now.") Also flying through Sophie Mouse and Pet Rescue series. I need longer-lasting books that are still at this early-chapter-book reading level, publishers. She's also got Cricket in Times Square as her current audiobook. This one took a while for her to want to pick up, but she's onto the second disk and hooked.
4yo is testing my "I don't judge my children's book selections" value, with endless licensed-character books, half of which are for shows she doesn't even watch. Thanks, preschool peers!
I just inhaled Ink Blood Sister Scribe, and have been re-reading Bujold's Vorkosigan books as part of a year-long readalong. Aside from those, next in my queue is Sword Catcher, which comes highly recommended.
Holly Webb has another animal-focused series, Winter Journeys, that might appeal to your 7yo. Also recommend, for lovers of Sophie Mouse, the Our Friend Hedgehog series by Lauren Castillo (there are only two right now, but they're both wonderful) and the Mouse and Mole series by Wong Herbert Yee, which is delightful. And, though you probably already know them, the Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo, including the Tales From Deckawoo Drive series, which feature many of the same characters but are less well-known because Mercy isn't the star.
And: your 4yo will get over those books soon enough. I know it's hard -- hang in there!
Oooh, I hadn't seen Winter Journeys or Mouse and Mole. I should see if 7yo likes the rest of the Mercy Watsons - I don't love them, but (all hail literacy) I don't have to read them!
Here to second Our Friend Hedgehog (a rec I probably got from here). My action-focused then-7yo liked these - the coziest/most character-driven books he's allowed/enjoyed (and allowed ME to get a break from Dragon Masters).
With my 8yo: El Deafo (Bell), Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Grabenstein), The Terrible Two (Barnett).
With my 3yo: Big (Harrison), Dogger (Hughes), Don't Want To Go! (Also Hughes, I'm discovering in this moment!), Panda & Polar Bear (Baek)
With my own self: She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs (Smarsh), Anita de Monte Laughs Last (Gonzalez), The Great Transition (Googins), The Connellys of County Down (Lange).
My eldest -- 9yo, total poetry lover, sometimes literally begs to read poetry -- tells me on the regular that she hates poetry.
Sometimes I think the secret of parenting (learned from my mother) is being unbelievably nonchalant, like you just *could not possibly care less* about whatever they're proclaiming or doing or whatever, and then going on with your plan anyway. Which is to say: don't give up hope -- he may surprise you.
Hubby and I are traveling and have been listening to Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson while in the car. I’ve already read it and couldn’t wait to share it with him! We also just finished reading Very Rich by Polly Horvath. Love her stuff! It’s always funny and quirky and full of heart.
My husband got the first seven Baby Sitters Club graphic novels for me as a birthday present this year to read with our kids, and my 3.5 year old son is OBSESSED. Some of the plot points are obviously over his head right now (Stacy's diabetes, Kristy's mom remarrying, etc), but he is devouring them and then reading them to his little brother as well. As an elder millennial who grew up on these books, it is honestly so much fun to share this with him!
A Chair For My Mother by Vera B. Williams, a forever classic
Milo's Hat Trick, a sweet story about a magician and a friendly bear
Goldilocks and the 3 Bears by Jan Brett (the illustrations in this edition are 😍.There's a lot of repitition so it's not my favorite to read, but their joy absolutely makes up for it.)
I've heard so, so many good things about this book, but when my kiddos and I tried it a couple of years ago, it just didn't land for any of us. We'll try again someday!
I liked it from the beginning but my older son wanted nothing to do with it. It sat in my e-reader for over a year before it finally got some attention again. At the time he wanted to read the Milly Molly Mandy stories by Julie Andrews Edwards. I was trying so hard to get him on anything else after my 40th reading of the same short story. Toddlers being toddlers, I lost that argument and I now I can recite far too many stories about a little girl and her family.
Highly recommend the Julie Abe books ( EVA EVERGREEN, ALIANA GIRL OF DRAGONS, TESSA MIYATA IS NO HERO) and then also Christina Soontornvant’s middle grade books (THE LAST MAPMAKER, A WISH IN THE DARK, LEGENDS OF LOTUS ISLAND SERIES).
I read them with my 9 year old girl who read all the Harry Potter books herself and wanted more magic/ heroism/ fantastical lands/ legends - and most of these are with a girl as the main character.
She also loved the TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE SERIES and MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE MYSTERIES ( two girls solve murders in England).
THE IMPOSSIBLE DESTINY OF CUTIE GRACKLE was beautifully written.
Oh! And I'm reading the new Tana French, as well as a book of essays, All Things Are Too Small, by a philosopher and a Washington Post book critic, Becca Rothfeld--very heady but super interesting and sometimes saucy writing on decluttering, film, sex, and a bunch of other topics!
We just finished the Pooh books (AA Milne) as our bedtime read and it was one of those magic ones where the 6 year old was enchanted and 10 year old (who officially refuses bedtime reading) always found her way to listen too. Looking for another read with similar magic! We started Last Of The Great Whangdoodles but it moved too slowly (for 6yo and for me, ha!). Maybe Tuesday At The Castle?
On our own, 10yo is back on a Warriors kick, 6yo is obsessed with the Max Meow series, and I’m still thinking about Splinters by Leslie Jamison — beautiful.
FINDING WINNIE (Mattick and Blackall) is a fun nonfiction picture book about the bear that inspired POOH.
Also, a different kind of magic (bc nothing is quite like Pooh!), I think, but magic nonetheless: TELEPHONE TALES (Rodari)
I second these recommendations -- they're both great!
I actually used FINDING WINNIE as a gateway drug to original Pooh! We love it. Will definitely look up TELEPHONE TALES.
Pooh somehow seems to hit that sweet spot for that age group (so it always makes me a bit sad when people try it with their toddlers and wonder why it doesn't work -- it's really not for the littlest kids, but bigger kids *are* enchanted by it!)
I assume you're aware there's a sequel, House at Pooh Corner, but am mentioning it just in case you don't. Also recommend Charlotte's Web, if you two/all somehow haven't read it; Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire; and the Toys Go Out series by Emily Jenkins.
Yes, I had definitely made that mistake with my toddlers so it was magical to realize, THIS is who it's for! I do have very special memories of reading both books out loud to my older daughter when she was in the hospital at age 2 -- but that was not a typical toddler experience.
We did read both Winnie The Pooh and House at Pooh Corner, and are bereft he didn't write more. Charlotte's Web was last year's obsession but this is reminding me to maybe try Stuart Little...and I don't know these other two, will check them out!
Oh will also plug AA Milne poetry -- Now We Are Six and When We Were Very Young. I grew up on those poems and they work well for younger kids (when you can just read a few pages at bedtime) as well as older!
Yessssssssss
Stuart Little is lovely, but I feel like it's best if you don't expect it to be the same/have the same impact as Charlotte's Web. It's a lot more introspective and the action doesn't move as quickly (and is harder to understand -- White got a little bogged down in thought, imo). Then again, your kids are sophisticated readers/listeners, so who knows, maybe it will be a hit.
P.S. Like, I have gone so far in my mind as to think Stuart is actually a book for adults, not children.
OK good intel. I think B actually did it as an audiobook but it didn't go on constant repeat the way Charlotte did (I mean Meryl Streep/full cast, a lot to love there!).
Oooh, maybe Stuart on audio is a different experience...
My 8yo still loves Pooh and so do I. Here is the order of his EB White Preferences: 1. The Trumpet of the Swan, 2. Charlottes Webb and 3. Stuart Little. EB White reading the first two are his audio book comfort reads when he can't sleep.
Love that.
This is so interesting and such a good point about how we can't ever let age suggestions limit us -- and we have to know our individual children. My 3yo is quite literally obsessed with the original Pooh stories (and has loved listening since he was two). That's the magic and complexity of children.
Agreed... and I also think that people who don't know very much about children's books (we all start somewhere) or understand intimately what their kids enjoy think that Pooh will appeal to very little children because the *cartoon* does. Pooh on a screen is, indeed, for little littles. Pooh on the page takes more skill. And for kids who aren't read to regularly, exposed to advanced language, or growing up in a household with a culture of reading, it's a huge -- and often insurmountable -- leap, and then parents think they're doing something wrong, which of course they aren't at all, the listening skills just aren't there yet.
Oh yes, 100%.
My 6 and 8 year old squad loved James Herriot’s collection for children. The illustrations are gorgeous and the English animal tales were just right for a bedtime story. They would prefer a read them facts about animals every night and the Who Would Win books (Tiger vs Lion) are going to be the death of me. Sweet veterinarian stories and some of Sarah’s animal poetry books have saved me.
And for the 8yo, she can’t read Heidi Heckelbeck fast enough. Picked up books 5-8 at the library today. Never know what she will read on her own!
And for my school Chat and Chew, Front Desk has been easily most popular book of any grade.
Yes, James Herriot's collection is so good! (I am DEEP into animal poetry books, if you're looking for more recs...)
As I type, my son is rereading an Alex Neptune book and my daughter is rereading Katherine Rundell’s The Explorer. She got to page 99 of Hatchet and decided the pilot was just too scary, so has taken a break - so I read it myself and WOW! I know everyone else has read it, but if by any chance someone reading this hasn’t… do! Together we have been enjoying The Atlas of Lost Kingdoms - just read this morning about the sunken ancient Chinese city hidden beneath a reservoir, and Timelines of Nature, where we recently read about strawberry development, mould, and the seasonal cycle of a forest.
For myself, I have just read The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Speckled Band, and A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes binge), and, for something completely different, Moneyball. No idea about baseball so 50% of the book made absolutely zero sense to me, but thoroughly enjoyable regardless.
I read Hatchet in a two-person book club with my niece when she was a struggling middle-school reader and had the same reaction as you: WOW. How had I never read this book?
You always introduce me to titles that aren't on my radar, Catherine, which I appreciate more than I can say!
Likewise - we are eagerly awaiting Astrid the Unstoppable which is currently in the post, on your recommendation!
I will be waiting eagerly to hear what you think...
We're re-reading the first Unicorn Rescue Society, which we first read on a fever-dream family holiday (sick kiddo, remote bothy, Scottish summer so it never got properly dark). And my mom ordered the rest. Realised it's perfect to have kiddo read alternating chapters, fairly complex vocabulary but the line spacing is more generous, and the chapters are short.
Nice! (I mean, not the fever dream holiday, unless that's what you needed, haha 😉)
The DK Watch me grow series looks wonderful, have added it to our list.
Our bedtime books this week are:
Room on the broom by Julia Donaldson
Hairy Maclary by Lynsey Dodd (our favourites in this series are Rumpus at the vet; Zachary Quak and Shoo)
The Colour Monster goes to school by Anna Llenas
(and after a hectic weekend we've added Hands are not for hitting by Martine Agassi into the mix too)
Slinky Malinki forever 🙌
Haha yes! They are all such a delight to read aloud
MG mysteries of my new friends Taryn Souders, Kate Jackson, and Elizabeth C Bunce, all Agatha nominations to be chosen at Malice Domestic in two weeks. Just finishing THE GIRL IN WHITE by Lindsay Currie
Since you loved IVAN, you should read Dan Gemeinhart's THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY OF COYOTE SUNSHINE. Coyote loves IVAN and makes many title suggestions. A sequel was just released! BTW, it's sad and uplifting.
Ooooh, thank you!
I second this! I just bought the sequel- Coyote Lost and Found.
Oh yes. Definitely favorite middle grade read of past five years. WARNING: I SOBBED. And have had adult friends have similar reactions and thank me for sharing this book with them!
We've been reading and re-reading the whole Dory Fantasmagory series-- thank you again for introducing me to them!
For myself, I've just finished Talking at Night which I LOVED. I've heard it's similar to Normal People but less millennial angst. The story was magnetic-- I finished it in 2 days!
I mean, sometimes I think all I accomplish here is introducing people to Dory AND THAT'S TOTALLY FINE WITH ME 🤣
Have you heard the interview with Abby Hanlon on The Yarn podcast (Colby Sharp and Travis Jonkers)? I love this podcast, interviews with children's book authors and illustrators, and I love Dory-interesting to read how Hanlon came back to the series after a long hiatus. My grandbaby (age 2 as of Monday) is currently mesmerized by Marla Frazee's All the Life (gorgeous illustrations, this book makes me cry) and I just read the first book in Legends of Lotus Island by Christina Soontornvat, I love A Wish in the Dark and The Last Mapmaker, and this chapter book series gives us a great new world.
I don't have time for podcasts but I appreciate the rec!
I don't know In Every Life but I am 100% here for anything Marla Frazee -- she's one of my favorite illustrators of all time.
I love Marla Frazee, too, and she brings her magic to this book in spades.
Putting it on hold right now.
we have read through Dory no fewer than 10 times now and am desperately looking for something else. I love them but I could use a break from reading them every night!
The audiobook version has saved me from this fate. I think my kids can recite these books by this point. Not mad about it.
Well, you're in luck, because I wrote a whole post (well, half a post) about Dory read-alikes: https://canweread.substack.com/p/first-chapter-books
Our family (8yo + 3yo) LOVES Dory so much (may have gotten the rec here?). Word to the wise: the audiobooks are excellent. The way the little kid in the library says "Gobblegracker" in Dory Fantasmagory: Tiny Tough makes my 3yo laugh so hard that she requested just listening to that chapter to feel better when she was sick recently. A delight.
DORY is the best! Have you ever looked at the reader reviews of Dory on Amazon or Goodreads? My oldest read the negative ones for a good laugh! It's a great reminder that no book is for everyone and that people come to stories with a lot of assumptions and biases!
5 year old: The Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels, Tangled on Yoto Player
2 year old: Blippi Things that Go!
7 yo: graphic novels of I Survived series- American Revolution, Chicago Fire, Titanic and Katrina have all been favorites in the last few months, also still big on Dog Man- Grime and Punishment and Mothering Heights were his choices for our spring break trip
4.5 yo- Ricky Ricotta series, There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Worm by Lucille Colandro
Both- Pele King of Soccer El rey del Futbol by Monica Brown- I loved this book and illustrations as my 7 yo started spring season of soccer, my husband is also coaching high school girls
For myself, last week I finished Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez and got to read the ARC for Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto
Reading Anne of Green Gables to my 6 and 9 year old girls! We’re clasping our hands just like Anne with an e does, and enjoying it thoroughly. Great for both ages and the book itself just holds up so well, so many years later.
We started it as an audiobook on a road trip and I’m finishing it as a hard copy. It’s been hard to compete with Rachel McAdams wonderful narration!!
That was such a relief to me all these years later as an adult, how well Anne has held up. Of course there’s some remnants of that era but it was so wonderful to see just how fresh and relevant she is after all these years!
haha yes I know what you mean - that moment of relief when you revisit it as an adult!! PHEW! :)
We’ve been listening to IVAN on Yoto over here! 💛
Also just finishing the ONCE UPON A TIM series with my 3yo, but we are also loving HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, PRETTY UGLY (Sedaris), THE MOUSE WHO CARRIED HIS HOUSE ON HIS BACK (Stutzman), ROAR LIKE A DANDELION (Krauss), and NEVER, NOT EVER! (Alemagna).
I’m working through a stack of middle grade novels but my adult read is POOR DEER (oshetsky) -- unsettling and weird, like I love.
Would love to hear what's standing out, or what you're enjoying, from your middle grade stack. A friend of mine and I are about to start a middle grade book club, so I am collecting titles...
Oooh, I love that! For grownups, kids, or a combo? Send me a message or email (hello@readingandwritingmatters.com) with the deets and I'll send you some recs!!
Grownups, and I just meant off the top of your head, here, not like something you have to put actual effort into! 😊
Haha, I just have lots of thoughts! For grownups, I think discussing Kelly Yang's new release, FINALLY HEARD, would generate lots of discussion. Bc it won the Newberry, THE EYES AND THE IMPOSSIBLE (Eggers) is probably on your list, but I did love it. But THE LOST YEAR (Marsh) has been my fave recently. Currently reading some dystopias (just finished THE MIDDLER and am on THE LIST) for something I'm working on, too, and these two would be fun to compare to THE GIVER. Would love to hear what y'all read!
I'm sure this little venture will somehow makes its way into my newsletter... thanks for the recs!
I loved Stella this year from our middle grade book award list. I have teared up telling people about it and the sweet dog with PTSD. From the 6-8 list, I lived Alone by Megan E. Freeman.
Loved! Not lived. I am never alone.
I just read Knight Owl yesterday and ADORED it! I read it while sitting in a field waiting for the eclipse, and my chuckling got my mom and then my brother to read it, so I'M STILL SPREADING THE ADULTS READING PICTURE BOOK LOVE, SARAH!!!
Proud of you! (But then, that's nothing new 😉)
8YO is reading book 3 of the Best Wishes series and re-reading the graphic novel the Tryout. Together we read the new Princess in Black Prince in Pink by Shannon Hale.
I just finished a Lucy Foley mystery the Hunting Party and debating starting another or finishing a nonfic, Lady Justice.
Yay for Ivan!!! So so good. And that idioms book looks absolutely delightful.
I've been on a rare adult book kick lately. Usually I'm deep in middle grade and chapter books, but one of my favorite reads lately was the second in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. They are just so much fun. And then recently I just finished Britt-Marie was Here by Frederik Backman. His books just make me happy to be alive.
I have tried (and tried and tried) with the Osman books and just can never get more than 15 pages in... I know so many people who love the voice, and it just doesn't work for me, which is sad, because I don't often feel like I'm missing out, but *I feel like I'm missing out!*
The idioms book is so fun (and I -- *I* -- have learned a lot).
Hey, totally understandable! I definitely have books like that that everyone seems to love and I just...don't get it. That might be an interesting list to put together actually...
If you are offering to write a guest post for Can we read?, I would love to have you!
Oooooh yesss!!! Hehehe I will be in touch...
My daughter and I also just read Tuesdays at the Castle-- it was so good! We just started the next book in the series- Wednesdays in the Tower. Connor and I are reading 'The Magician' by Michael Scott, which is the second book in The Alchemyst series. He loves it--I think most middle schoolers would! I just finished What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski, and it was fantastic. A super important read that I'm actually going to post about soon. Now I'm reading Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers. I never read sci-fi, but I'm into it!
OH! And I just had to read a bunch of wordless picture books for a freelance assignment, and I loved loved LOVED Bunny & Tree. My 12 year old and 9 year old did too, and I even made my husband read it. Beautiful handpainted art on each page.
I listened to What Happened to Rachel Riley? on audio last month and I did not expect it to be as good as it was, nor to hit as hard. (Interestingly, I knew it was set in Madison and I was looking forward to that but ended up finding it super distracting -- not because Swinarski was wrong about anything, but maybe because instead of imagining in my own mind the images that come when you're reading -- world-building, in a sense -- all these real places and actual mental pictures kept intruding.)
I didn't expect it to be as good as it was, either! I don't know much about Madison, but because I grew up in Chicago I felt like I understood how she missed her Polish community. Its an interesting thing to think about-- should fiction writers leave out real places and focus on the fictional world they are building? I understand what you mean about it being distracting--I have felt the same way when I read fictional books set in Denver.
7yo is OBSESSED with Harriet Muncaster's Isadora Moon series. (Actual quote from school drop-off this morning: "You can keep reading, but I need you to get out of the car now.") Also flying through Sophie Mouse and Pet Rescue series. I need longer-lasting books that are still at this early-chapter-book reading level, publishers. She's also got Cricket in Times Square as her current audiobook. This one took a while for her to want to pick up, but she's onto the second disk and hooked.
4yo is testing my "I don't judge my children's book selections" value, with endless licensed-character books, half of which are for shows she doesn't even watch. Thanks, preschool peers!
I just inhaled Ink Blood Sister Scribe, and have been re-reading Bujold's Vorkosigan books as part of a year-long readalong. Aside from those, next in my queue is Sword Catcher, which comes highly recommended.
Holly Webb has another animal-focused series, Winter Journeys, that might appeal to your 7yo. Also recommend, for lovers of Sophie Mouse, the Our Friend Hedgehog series by Lauren Castillo (there are only two right now, but they're both wonderful) and the Mouse and Mole series by Wong Herbert Yee, which is delightful. And, though you probably already know them, the Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo, including the Tales From Deckawoo Drive series, which feature many of the same characters but are less well-known because Mercy isn't the star.
And: your 4yo will get over those books soon enough. I know it's hard -- hang in there!
Oooh, I hadn't seen Winter Journeys or Mouse and Mole. I should see if 7yo likes the rest of the Mercy Watsons - I don't love them, but (all hail literacy) I don't have to read them!
My favorite is Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon. Seconded by my 9yo, who is an expert on all things Mercy Watson.
Here to second Our Friend Hedgehog (a rec I probably got from here). My action-focused then-7yo liked these - the coziest/most character-driven books he's allowed/enjoyed (and allowed ME to get a break from Dragon Masters).
With my 8yo: El Deafo (Bell), Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Grabenstein), The Terrible Two (Barnett).
With my 3yo: Big (Harrison), Dogger (Hughes), Don't Want To Go! (Also Hughes, I'm discovering in this moment!), Panda & Polar Bear (Baek)
With my own self: She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs (Smarsh), Anita de Monte Laughs Last (Gonzalez), The Great Transition (Googins), The Connellys of County Down (Lange).
Enjoying all!
We are full on in the Dav Pilkey phase of life! Apparently poetry is "boring" (this pains me but I'm optimistic he will change his mind one day).
My eldest -- 9yo, total poetry lover, sometimes literally begs to read poetry -- tells me on the regular that she hates poetry.
Sometimes I think the secret of parenting (learned from my mother) is being unbelievably nonchalant, like you just *could not possibly care less* about whatever they're proclaiming or doing or whatever, and then going on with your plan anyway. Which is to say: don't give up hope -- he may surprise you.
Hubby and I are traveling and have been listening to Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson while in the car. I’ve already read it and couldn’t wait to share it with him! We also just finished reading Very Rich by Polly Horvath. Love her stuff! It’s always funny and quirky and full of heart.
My husband got the first seven Baby Sitters Club graphic novels for me as a birthday present this year to read with our kids, and my 3.5 year old son is OBSESSED. Some of the plot points are obviously over his head right now (Stacy's diabetes, Kristy's mom remarrying, etc), but he is devouring them and then reading them to his little brother as well. As an elder millennial who grew up on these books, it is honestly so much fun to share this with him!
Our 3yo and 4yo are currently reading on repeat:
A Chair For My Mother by Vera B. Williams, a forever classic
Milo's Hat Trick, a sweet story about a magician and a friendly bear
Goldilocks and the 3 Bears by Jan Brett (the illustrations in this edition are 😍.There's a lot of repitition so it's not my favorite to read, but their joy absolutely makes up for it.)
My two and four year old love The Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-El. It's a great bed time read and I enjoy reading it too!
I've heard so, so many good things about this book, but when my kiddos and I tried it a couple of years ago, it just didn't land for any of us. We'll try again someday!
I liked it from the beginning but my older son wanted nothing to do with it. It sat in my e-reader for over a year before it finally got some attention again. At the time he wanted to read the Milly Molly Mandy stories by Julie Andrews Edwards. I was trying so hard to get him on anything else after my 40th reading of the same short story. Toddlers being toddlers, I lost that argument and I now I can recite far too many stories about a little girl and her family.
Haha! So typical. (I like Milly Molly Mandy and I also sympathize with you completely!
Highly recommend the Julie Abe books ( EVA EVERGREEN, ALIANA GIRL OF DRAGONS, TESSA MIYATA IS NO HERO) and then also Christina Soontornvant’s middle grade books (THE LAST MAPMAKER, A WISH IN THE DARK, LEGENDS OF LOTUS ISLAND SERIES).
I read them with my 9 year old girl who read all the Harry Potter books herself and wanted more magic/ heroism/ fantastical lands/ legends - and most of these are with a girl as the main character.
She also loved the TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE SERIES and MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE MYSTERIES ( two girls solve murders in England).
THE IMPOSSIBLE DESTINY OF CUTIE GRACKLE was beautifully written.
What a great list -- thank you for sharing!
We seem to inadvertently be in our Sesame Street Cycle. We're loving:
Let's Celebrate Diversity: A Book About Us
The Monster at the End of This Book
P is for Potty
Some non-Sesame hits include:
10 Little Ghosts: A Magical Counting Storybook
Drip by Maggie Li
The Little Engine That Could
"Sesame Street Cycle" 😂 I love this.
Our most recent library haul has us reading The Bad Mood and The Stick by Lemony Snicket and Make Meatballs Sing by Matthew Burgess on repeat.