Shaemus's Birthday Books

Shaemus is not my best reader. He is the least interested in reading in every way, but as we began opening presents yesterday, I witnessed something that made me very, very happy. 

The first thing he did when he was through opening his new ipod shuffle (holy cow, those things are teeny) and his cordless drill and miter saw (he loves to build things), was grab ahold of his new books and run away where no one could steal them or bother him as he read them. 

And he proceeded to pour over all four. 

Okay, he didn't exactly read them. He skimmed them. Quickly. Like a voracious animal who is afraid if he doesn't eat quickly enough, all the meat will be gone. 

But still, it was the books he ended up being the most excited about. Which for Shaemus is AWESOME!

So here's what he got, all chosen by him a few weeks earlier (which may have something to do with his enthusiasm):

Legends of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale

Captain Awesome and the Ultimate Spelling Bee by Stan Kirby

Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked by Jarrett Krosoczka

Danger Zone

Kenny Loggins is awesome.

But aside from that, I want to ask a question.

Is there a series of nonfiction books about history that kids actually want to read? Is there a series so engaging, they can't wait to read the newest one? Is there a series so captivating elbowing fights will occur, feelings will be hurts, threats will be made, shouts will be heard all over the newest installment?

Yes!

I've told you about it before, but I'm going to tell you about it again, because my mom recently sent us a few we didn't have and it reminded me of the amazing power of these seemingly goofy books.

Every single kid in our family loves these books. They read them very differently, but they all love them, and yes, they fight over them.

Is it bad that this fighting makes me happy? Probably. Is it bad that this fighting makes me lose my temper, even when it makes me happy? Probably. But that's another story for another day.

This series is sometimes called Danger Zone and it is sometimes called You Wouldn't Want to be a...




Get a few from the library or invest in just a few. Leave them around the house. I am 99% sure you will find your kids sitting, reading, learning, and not even realizing they are doing it. Stealthy parenthood in action!

Tintin

Our cello teacher owns every Tintin comic book. Every one. And yesterday, I had to take my four youngest to Calvin and Lucy's cello lessons due to unfortunate logistics. Flannery and Shaemus are older now, but I still hate taking everyone to lessons. I find it stressful to try to keep younger children quiet and under control in other peoples' houses.

But this isn't a problem when Tintin is available. Cello lessons are two hours long, and Flannery and Shaemus were a dream the entire time. Flannery looked at the pictures and Shaemus read the words (laughing or gasping every few seconds), and I was even able to get some writing done. 

TinTin is exciting. Well-written (seriously, there are some tough vocabulary words in these). Worth owning. I think they are some of the best comics available for kids. And they will get your kids reading. 

 

Trick 'em

Sometimes you have to trick six to nine-year-olds. You have to make them forget they are reading. You have to do things to draw them away from the number of pages in a book (not too fat!) or the number of words on a page (whoa, way too many!). 

Interestingly enough, while my kids were always worried about too many pages and too many words, I never noticed them measuring the length of the words themselves. 

So how do you trick kids this age into reading hard stuff that expands their vocabularies and their minds and seriously develops their reading skills? 

You give them books with a TON of pictures. You make the words seem incidental. You let them pour over the pictures, then read the words aloud with them until they want to grab the book from you and read the words themselves. 

Here are a few books that are great for that:

Desk Stories by Kevin O'Malley 

Basically a series of hilarious short stories. Lots of great text. But lots of pictures and lots of humor. If your kids like this, try Backpack Stories too!

Sidekicks by Dan Santant

So fun. So very fun.

Bake Sale by Sara Varon

The main characters are a cupcake and an eggplant, and yet, it is a bit dreamy, this book.

Giants Beware by Jorge Aguirre

Watch out, all you fairytale, Disney stereotypes!

Changing things up—and fairytales make you smarter

This may be because my face and neck and hands are one puffy, itchy mess and I woke up this morning unable to fully open both eyes. This may be because poison oak is flowing through my bloodstream and it is making me reckless. This may be because I like to change my mind on a regular basis about everything. But I am going to change my weekly schedule (if you knew I even had one).

In the interest of trying to appeal to kids of both genders about all sorts of books, I am no longer going to divide up my recommendations by gender.

Monday's post will be on a writing or reading topic that will help you with your kids (at least that's the goal).

Tuesday's post will be about picture books (still).

Wednesday's post will be about books for that tough age—six to nine or so—where kids are in such different places, some willing to read book seven of Harry Potter, some wanting nothing more than Henry and Mudge.

Thursday's post will be middle grade recommendations (for kids eight to twelvish).

Friday's post will be on two things: a YA or adult pick and a nonfiction pick for the whole family to devour and discuss. There are such great nonfiction books out there about such interesting things, I can't ignore it any longer, or just stick it in the picture book recommendations.

Today I am going to toss out there a few graphic novels for kids ages six to nine. And okay, they are graphic novels with a theme and a subtle purpose. To make our kids smarter.

Really, these graphic novels are pretty advanced in terms of text. Definitely for fourth grade and up. But these are exactly the sorts of books that will get younger kids interested in reading more difficult words. They can pour over the pictures and as they pour over the pictures, they will notice the words. They will. They will find them interesting (they will!) and before you know it, your second grader will be reading text most would label as too difficult. But so many people ignore these sorts of books because there are too many pictures. Oh, the irony.

Pictures are not a bad thing!!! So here you go. These are books to pick up at the library and just leave around and see what happens. (Put a golden ticket inside and really see what happens!)


Wonderland by Tommy Kovac (Alice in Wonderland like you've never seen it!)


The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Eric Shanower
(there are more Oz books in this format if your child likes them!)

And the following fairytale graphic novels are all done by Graphic Spin:




And Shannon Hale has two rip-roaring adventures for Rapunzel. Again, these are not easy reads, but Shaemus, my boy who doesn't like animals, likes mysteries and spookiness but really doesn't, will read these again and again. We even broke the library's copy of Calamity Jack.



If you are asking yourself, Why fairytales? here is the answer. It comes from Albert Einstein:

"If you want your children to be intelligent read them fairytales and if you want them to be more intelligent read them more fairytales."

Girls of every sort

I do hate breaking these posts up for different genders, but I wanted to let people looking for books for their boys know they could check the blog on Wednesdays, and those looking for books for girls could check the blog on Thursdays.

But stereotypes stink (really, Lindsay? Yes, really). So we are breaking away from Emily of New Moon today (as wonderful as it is), and I'm going to tell you about a spooky book of short stories told in Graphic Novel form and a series of hysterical books from long ago, that are so, so, so funny. Boy-humor funny, but funny for everybody.

Explorer: the Mystery Boxes by Kazu Kibuishi

Seven stories with the same mystery at heart: What's in the box? One of my favorite graphic novel artists, Raina Telgemeier, who wrote Smile and Drama, has a story in here. A great, quick read.

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The funny series is called Soup by Robert Newton Peck. I'm not even going to put the covers on here. They are TERRIBLE. And old. And boring and you might as well rip off the cover before you give them to your daughter (or son, of course), but they are hysterical. Start with Soup in Love and they will be hooked.

Speaking of funny, give your daughter, Exiles in Love and she will be hooked on funny and Hilary McKay forever. (Again the old, American covers are sooooo bad. Here's a newer, UK cover. These books have stayed in print for a very long time because they are soooooooooo good. Note the amount of o's I used for emphasis...)