almost 8 year old is reading the Aru Shah series (part of Rick Riordan presents) and re-reading wild Robot. 13 year old is reading yet more dystopias by Neal Shusterman at home and Trevor Noah's Born a Crime at school, which he seems to be enjoying which is nice because he only reads fantasy on his own (all for letting them read whatever they want but would love a touch of genre diversity!) I'm reading Sarah Shulman's the fantasy and necessity of solidarity, and book of poems by Linda Pastan, one of my favorite poets
6 yo- reading Who Would Win 5 in 1 books, Mac Barnett is coming to speak locally so he also read several of his books this week, I bought him more Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol books with my preorders- we are up to book 17 in the series.
8 yo- he and I both read his great grandma’s recipe book she gave to the grandkids that has a lot of family stories, he’s very excited about the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I reread Then Again Maybe I Won’t and I’m still not sure if I’m ready to share that one with him yet- but we’ve been having a puberty discussion and I’m looking for fiction
I finished Sandwich by Catherine Newman last weekend. I’ve been raving about Adib Khorram for a few weeks since seeing him speak at Bookmarks festival, I read his most recent book It Had to Be Him, and then read his YA Darius the Great is Not Ok and Darius the Great Deserves Better.
There’s not much representation of Iranian-American families in the book world and all these books strongly resonated with my experience. We realized he also wrote Seven Special Somethings that we read every year at Nowruz (Persian New Year) but my MIL is the one who owns the book and I didn’t make the connection until yesterday!
I am currently reading Reel by Kennedy Ryan, I got it at Bookmarks festival at the end of September too.
My kids love Who Would Win books! They went to a friend’s birthday party where the party favor was one of those books and it was such a nice departure from the usual plastic knickknacks.
Not Iranian American but had to share in case it is of interest: the Teacher of Nomad Land is a new historical middle grade novel set in Iran during World War Two, a setup I don’t think I’ve ever encountered in fiction before and it was excellent!
I have twin boys who just turned 8. On their own, one is reading Cat Kid Comic Club and the other is reading Elephant and Piggie books. Together, they’ve been super into the I Survived series (graphic novels, novels, and true stories) and we’re currently reading Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. I just read After Happily Ever by Jennifer Safrey and am in the middle of The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I’m also reading the TOG series with a friend who’s doing a reread.
6 year old is off and running reading independently, and the big faves lately are The Bad Guys and the 13-Story Treehouse series, both graphic novels. Together at bedtime we’ve been making our way through James and the Giant Peach!
6 year old is loving graphic novels and illustrated chapter books right now, she's reading through the Ghoulia series and dabbling in Dog Man (and I'm having to work through feelings about the fact that she's reading the Dog Man books out of order haha). I just finished Maus I and Maus II in honor of banned books month, and then I needed something a little lighter so I'm reading Eat Joy. Together we just finished Growing Home as a read aloud, and it was our longest read aloud so far but it was so good it kept her interested for the weeks it took us to finish.
My 5th grader has been on a reading streak lately--he's been enjoying chapter books about baseball and he just finished Olivetti by Allie Millington (not about baseball but he enjoyed it) and my third grader has been working through The One and Only Ivan. My kindergartener is in love with the Mrs. Bindergarten picture books. And my youngest is all over the place, but enjoying our Halloween collection the most.
My 8 year old is being read the His Dark Materials series (currently in book two, The Subtle Knife). These were formative books for me in childhood so I love getting to share them with her. Rereading them as an adult gives me a new appreciation for Pullman’s world building. Adventure with sides of quantum physics and theology!
My 2.5 year old has been loving a library picture book, This Baby. That Baby. by Cari Best. The illustrations by Rashin Kheiriyeh are wonderful. We also recently borrowed Make a Pretty Sound: The Story of Ella Jenkins by Traci Todd and Eleanor Davis. Ella Jenkins’ music is a staple in our household and this biography of her is such a treasure. Todd writes beautifully in kid friendly poem prose and Davis’ illustrations are stunning.
With my 5 (almost 6) year old son, we’ve been reading the No. 1 Car Detective series by Atinuke. I can’t remember if it was on your newsletter that I read about them? Anyway it a) launched an obsession with spotting cars and naming the makes and models, which has made many long car drives more tolerable for him, and b) as it is set in Nigeria, it helped to prepare him for our trip to Benin - where we are right now - which borders Nigeria. He says “there’s an iroko tree, like in No. 1!” etc. I really like the themes of creativity and ingenuity in a low resourced community. My 7-almost-8yo daughter always listens in, too.
First, I really hope you keep finding a reason to continue this newsletter! It’s one of my favorite substacks and is my go-to reference any time I’m looking for books for my kids, or nephews, or my friends’ kids (or for myself—I have loved the resources you provide to adults to help make kids into readers). I even found myself searching your archives at my library’s book sale this week, remembering you’d written about children’s authors whose books you always pick up whenever you see them…I couldn’t find the reference haha, but I feel more ready to dive in library sales like that after reading your newsletter religiously.
My 3-year-old and I enjoyed Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie’s We Go Slow—dreamy illustrations match the text and do really make you want to slow down. She is also asking for W. Nikola-Lisa’s Shake Dem Halloween Bones, which references different fairy tale characters, and prompted me to bring out a book of fairy tales, which then further prompted me to write a reminder to myself to look for more modern, feminist fairy tales that I don’t have to side-eye myself for reading to my daughter.
I am diving into Alison Espach’s The Wedding People, which pulled me in right away. Needed a lighter read amidst all the darkness.
My 8-year-old and I were doing a series of classic short stories, but some of them got a little too spooky. So we switched gears and are reading The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney. It's about a classroom hamster. We also read as a family before bed and are currently on book 10 of Judy Moody.
Two that my 2.5-year-old is obsessed with lately: The Hallo-Wiener by Dav Pilkey, and Madame Martine, by Sarah Brennan. We went to Paris this summer and he remains in love with the "Eiffel Towder," so I picked it up when I saw it at the library, and it's such a sweet story that we all love reading it. We've renewed it twice, and I think we'll need our own copy!
We've read The Hallo-Wiener at least four times this week - it's a favorite in our house that the kids always remember and ask to check out from the library in October.
Two short chapter books this month were both great throwbacks - Bunnicula and How to Eat Fried Worms. Picture book favorites lately are The Hallo-Wiener, Big Mama Makes the World, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs which I somehow forgot to introduce to my two younger kids until just now.
We recently picked up To Catch A Ghost from the library, and my toddler loves it! Perfect recommendation for this season. She has a few dozen words at this point, and ghost is one of them. Priorities 😂
8 year old is plowing through Amulet graphic novels as fast as we can get them from the library. I don't know what he'll do when they are done?
We've just started the new Cressida Cowell Which Way to the Future and it is gorgeous.
And I finished Endings by Maria Reva, and despite not loving meta fiction generally, I LOVED this.
almost 8 year old is reading the Aru Shah series (part of Rick Riordan presents) and re-reading wild Robot. 13 year old is reading yet more dystopias by Neal Shusterman at home and Trevor Noah's Born a Crime at school, which he seems to be enjoying which is nice because he only reads fantasy on his own (all for letting them read whatever they want but would love a touch of genre diversity!) I'm reading Sarah Shulman's the fantasy and necessity of solidarity, and book of poems by Linda Pastan, one of my favorite poets
6 yo- reading Who Would Win 5 in 1 books, Mac Barnett is coming to speak locally so he also read several of his books this week, I bought him more Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol books with my preorders- we are up to book 17 in the series.
8 yo- he and I both read his great grandma’s recipe book she gave to the grandkids that has a lot of family stories, he’s very excited about the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I reread Then Again Maybe I Won’t and I’m still not sure if I’m ready to share that one with him yet- but we’ve been having a puberty discussion and I’m looking for fiction
I finished Sandwich by Catherine Newman last weekend. I’ve been raving about Adib Khorram for a few weeks since seeing him speak at Bookmarks festival, I read his most recent book It Had to Be Him, and then read his YA Darius the Great is Not Ok and Darius the Great Deserves Better.
There’s not much representation of Iranian-American families in the book world and all these books strongly resonated with my experience. We realized he also wrote Seven Special Somethings that we read every year at Nowruz (Persian New Year) but my MIL is the one who owns the book and I didn’t make the connection until yesterday!
I am currently reading Reel by Kennedy Ryan, I got it at Bookmarks festival at the end of September too.
From another Persian-American family looking for representation, thank you for this!
My kids love Who Would Win books! They went to a friend’s birthday party where the party favor was one of those books and it was such a nice departure from the usual plastic knickknacks.
That is an AMAZING idea!
I have ALSO done this as a party favor for my 1st grade twins last year!!!
Not Iranian American but had to share in case it is of interest: the Teacher of Nomad Land is a new historical middle grade novel set in Iran during World War Two, a setup I don’t think I’ve ever encountered in fiction before and it was excellent!
Amazing, thank you!
I have twin boys who just turned 8. On their own, one is reading Cat Kid Comic Club and the other is reading Elephant and Piggie books. Together, they’ve been super into the I Survived series (graphic novels, novels, and true stories) and we’re currently reading Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. I just read After Happily Ever by Jennifer Safrey and am in the middle of The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I’m also reading the TOG series with a friend who’s doing a reread.
Both my boys love all iterations of I Survived but we haven’t read any this month. Born a Crime is one of my favorite books!
6 year old is off and running reading independently, and the big faves lately are The Bad Guys and the 13-Story Treehouse series, both graphic novels. Together at bedtime we’ve been making our way through James and the Giant Peach!
6 year old is loving graphic novels and illustrated chapter books right now, she's reading through the Ghoulia series and dabbling in Dog Man (and I'm having to work through feelings about the fact that she's reading the Dog Man books out of order haha). I just finished Maus I and Maus II in honor of banned books month, and then I needed something a little lighter so I'm reading Eat Joy. Together we just finished Growing Home as a read aloud, and it was our longest read aloud so far but it was so good it kept her interested for the weeks it took us to finish.
My 5th grader has been on a reading streak lately--he's been enjoying chapter books about baseball and he just finished Olivetti by Allie Millington (not about baseball but he enjoyed it) and my third grader has been working through The One and Only Ivan. My kindergartener is in love with the Mrs. Bindergarten picture books. And my youngest is all over the place, but enjoying our Halloween collection the most.
Here to say I'm also newly in the intense work life boat, and it's wonderful even but I also wish I had MUCH more of the dreaming time!
My 8 year old is being read the His Dark Materials series (currently in book two, The Subtle Knife). These were formative books for me in childhood so I love getting to share them with her. Rereading them as an adult gives me a new appreciation for Pullman’s world building. Adventure with sides of quantum physics and theology!
My 2.5 year old has been loving a library picture book, This Baby. That Baby. by Cari Best. The illustrations by Rashin Kheiriyeh are wonderful. We also recently borrowed Make a Pretty Sound: The Story of Ella Jenkins by Traci Todd and Eleanor Davis. Ella Jenkins’ music is a staple in our household and this biography of her is such a treasure. Todd writes beautifully in kid friendly poem prose and Davis’ illustrations are stunning.
With my 5 (almost 6) year old son, we’ve been reading the No. 1 Car Detective series by Atinuke. I can’t remember if it was on your newsletter that I read about them? Anyway it a) launched an obsession with spotting cars and naming the makes and models, which has made many long car drives more tolerable for him, and b) as it is set in Nigeria, it helped to prepare him for our trip to Benin - where we are right now - which borders Nigeria. He says “there’s an iroko tree, like in No. 1!” etc. I really like the themes of creativity and ingenuity in a low resourced community. My 7-almost-8yo daughter always listens in, too.
(My kids are half Beninese, hence the trip)
First, I really hope you keep finding a reason to continue this newsletter! It’s one of my favorite substacks and is my go-to reference any time I’m looking for books for my kids, or nephews, or my friends’ kids (or for myself—I have loved the resources you provide to adults to help make kids into readers). I even found myself searching your archives at my library’s book sale this week, remembering you’d written about children’s authors whose books you always pick up whenever you see them…I couldn’t find the reference haha, but I feel more ready to dive in library sales like that after reading your newsletter religiously.
My 3-year-old and I enjoyed Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie’s We Go Slow—dreamy illustrations match the text and do really make you want to slow down. She is also asking for W. Nikola-Lisa’s Shake Dem Halloween Bones, which references different fairy tale characters, and prompted me to bring out a book of fairy tales, which then further prompted me to write a reminder to myself to look for more modern, feminist fairy tales that I don’t have to side-eye myself for reading to my daughter.
I am diving into Alison Espach’s The Wedding People, which pulled me in right away. Needed a lighter read amidst all the darkness.
Thanks for all that you do!
My 8-year-old and I were doing a series of classic short stories, but some of them got a little too spooky. So we switched gears and are reading The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney. It's about a classroom hamster. We also read as a family before bed and are currently on book 10 of Judy Moody.
Two that my 2.5-year-old is obsessed with lately: The Hallo-Wiener by Dav Pilkey, and Madame Martine, by Sarah Brennan. We went to Paris this summer and he remains in love with the "Eiffel Towder," so I picked it up when I saw it at the library, and it's such a sweet story that we all love reading it. We've renewed it twice, and I think we'll need our own copy!
We've read The Hallo-Wiener at least four times this week - it's a favorite in our house that the kids always remember and ask to check out from the library in October.
“We share this neighborhood” by Dan Saks has been one of my favorite board books to read with my eight month old lately!
Two short chapter books this month were both great throwbacks - Bunnicula and How to Eat Fried Worms. Picture book favorites lately are The Hallo-Wiener, Big Mama Makes the World, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs which I somehow forgot to introduce to my two younger kids until just now.
Bunnicula forever!
We recently picked up To Catch A Ghost from the library, and my toddler loves it! Perfect recommendation for this season. She has a few dozen words at this point, and ghost is one of them. Priorities 😂