LIFE IN THE OCEAN: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola (Frances Foster Books, 2012) There’s something magical and infinitely satisfying about swimming through quiet ocean waters. Sylvia Earle recognized that magic and according to her mother, “lost her heart to the water” early on. All her young life, Sylvia spent hours… Read more »
Dianne White
On the Road to Mr. Mineo’s by Barbara O’Connor
ON THE ROAD TO MR. MINEO’S by Barbara O’Connor (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2012) Stella wants a dog and her parents won’t hear of it. So it’s not surprising that when a one-legged pigeon flaps and taps its way to Meadville, South Carolina landing on the tin roof of the shed Stella and her friend, Gerald,… Read more »
Noah Webster and His Words by Jeri Chase Ferris
Noah Webster and His Words by Jeri Chase Ferris, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch (Houghton Mifflin, 2012) Dictionaries. Kids store them in their desks, pull them out for homework, and access them on-line. But how many kids (even adults!) know the story behind our first All-American dictionary? They need look no further than Jeri Chase… Read more »
Finding Home
I don’t think anyone knows for sure how it happens that books sharing a similar theme – published by different houses – seem to come out in the same, or nearly the same, year. But it does happen. Earlier this month, ReaderKidZ featured Joan Bauer’s newest book, ALMOST HOME, about a young girl, Sugar Rae,… Read more »
The Templeton Twins Have an Idea
THE TEMPLETON TWINS HAVE AN IDEA by Ellis Weiner, illustrated by Jeremy Holmes (Chronicle, 2012) The ReaderKidZ have been talking all month about “Families in Change” and there have been many terrific recommendations. Books about a child living in foster care, the difficulties of divorce, the loss of a family member to cancer, the reality… Read more »
And Still They Bloom by Amy Rovere
And Still They Bloom: A Family’s Journey of Loss and Healing by Amy Rovere Cancer is a powerful word. Depending on your personal experience, it can be the word that changed everything. The word that turned your own world and the world of those closest to you, upside-down. For those grieving the loss of a… Read more »
No Limits!
For Younger Readers HOOWAY FOR WODNEY WAT by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger (Houghton Mifflin 1999) Rodney Rat has a problem. He can’t pronounce his “r’s.” What’s worse? He’s a rodent. A wodent. Not surprisingly, Rodney is teased by his classmates with questions like “… how does a train travel?” (Wodney’s reply? “A twain… Read more »
