Family Books

So I'm still thinking about boys here. And I'm thinking about this reading gender gap or crevice or crevass depending on how you pronounce it. 

What did boys read long ago? I think they read many of the books I posted about in my last blog, but what about the good old family books? Those books where the main characters were a group of children, a family of children, with girls and boys. 

They say boys won't read books with a girl main character, but these books have multiple main characters. Many people are important, boys and girls. (I have found some serious reluctance from both of my boys to read books with girl main characters, so despite this great post by Shannon Hale here: http://shannonhale.tumblr.com/post/27853826082/why-boys-dont-read-girls-sometimes, and as much as I wish I could totally agree that boys will read girls if parents don't prevent them, I think this stereotype is generally true. Boys are reluctant to read girls—even when they say their favorite color is pink, like Shaemus does.)

I'm thinking of these sorts of books—family books:

All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Half Magic by Edward Eager

The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright

The Moffats by Eleanor Estes

These sorts of books aren't written much these days. Books about families of children. This is sort of not true, of course. Of course, there are books written about families of children, but most of them are very silly or involve espionage or plots to take over the world. Or goblins. 

There is this book:

And its sequels, and my boys do love The Penderwicks despite its four sisters and no brothers whatsoever. 

Hmm.

I have no answers here, I'm just thinking, but I wanted to bring to your attention a series of books, mostly forgotten now, about a delightful, eccentric, wonderful family. These books are sooooo good. Good for boys and good for girls. They're not silly, not really, and they're not about espionage or plots to take over the world. Or goblins.

These are real books, realistic fiction, but they aren't issue books. They're not about cancer or divorce or bullies or autism. Not really. They're about the twists and turns of regular life and the adventures that happen within them.

This is The Not-Just-Anybody Family, the first book in a series of books about the Blossom family by Betsy Byars. I loved this book when I first read it a few years ago. Loved it. I couldn't understand how it had escaped my attention for so long. The characters are wonderful—the grandfather in this story is one of my favorite characters ever. I felt so much empathy for these people. I loved them. The children were wonderful, and it is so fun to read about a time when children can be six and seven and eight and nine and they can run off and play in the woods all day without a play date or adult supervision. 

There are sequels as well, equally delightful and mesmerizing. 

The trouble is the covers. Kids today aren't going to like these covers, especially the 8-10 year old boys who are really the perfect audience for these books. Tell your kids not to judge a book by its cover. Tell them that authors have no say about the cover! Design a new cover with Darth Vadar on the front. Rip off the cover, whatever you need to do! These books would make great read alouds. Great birthday presents. Great rewards for good behavior. 

Go and meet the Blossom family today! You won't regret it. 

That horrible age between six and nine...

...where too much of what's out there is way too easy, but the leap up to novels without pictures is too far for most kids to jump.

I constantly hear people bemoan the lack of good chapter books for kids ages 6-9. They wonder what they will do when their child finally finishes A-Z mysteries and Magic Tree House.

The good news is, there is plenty for them to do. Truly. Not that there isn't room for more and better literature for this age group, there definitely is, there always will be, but there are lots of choices out there already.

And for girls there are TONS! Granted, these books definitely fall into patterns and they are very repetitious, and many of them are too similar to one another (spunky white girl that has adventures—seriously, look at this list! They are all spunky white girls having adventures.) But get them for your daughter anyway. Stick them around the house, at the kitchen table, in the bathroom, in her bedroom, and see what sticks.

Here are some of our favorites, and I'll continue this next week with some that are not our favorites, but that are probably just as good.

Lucy and Mary really liked these series:

Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows


Only Emmy by Sally Warner (there are now six or seven in the series)


Katie Kazoo by Nancy Krulik



The Mallory Series by Laura Friedman


The Cupcake Diaries by Coco Simon


And of course, Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

Some new, promising series now a little too young for my girls, but might be great for yours...

Princess Posey by Stephanie Greene (this is for younger readers, 5-7)

Sophie the Awesome (and so forth) by Lara Bergen


Penelope Crumb by Shawn Stout (This one is for older readers—Penelope is in 4th grade)


I'd love to hear any suggestions from anyone else for this genre—thinner novels with lots of pictures for younger middle grade readers. Hands down, this is the area I get the most requests for suggestions! We all need help in this area—I certainly do for Shaemus!

Have your girls read...

Sharon Creech?

These are our favorite Sharon Creech books, though she has many others to love.


Heartbeat by Sharon Creech


Granny Torrelli Makes Soup


Replay

And her newest:

The Great Unexpected

She has some other books, much more famous than these: Ruby Holler, Walk Two Moons, Love that Dog, Hate that Cat, but we like these even better. Good, girly, realistic fiction—some with a little, wee bit of romance. Easy reads. Good for weekends and vacations!

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.

()


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...)

Nonfiction and fiction mixed together in fabulous books

These four picture books are worth reading to your older children, and if they don't want you to read them out loud, leave them in the bathroom. Leave them on the kitchen table. Leave them on their beds. Leave them somewhere and your kids will have ten minutes of amazing art mixed with a great story and a real life individual who made a difference in this world!

For the Birds: the Life of Roger Tory Peterson by Peggy Thomas


Mama Miti by Donna Jo Napoli


Jose! Born to Dance by Susanna Reich


Abe Lincoln Tells a Joke: How Laughter Saved the President (and the country) by Kathleen Krull

Snow

It's snowed in NC! About one inch of ice/snow that will melt in a few hours, but it's seven in the morning and my kids are outside ready to revel in something you mountain people might sneer at.

But it's put me in the mood for winter weather so I'm going to share three books about my favorite fairytale, East of the Sun and West of the Moon. I'm not sure why I love this tale so much, but I think a large part of it is the landscape and atmosphere. Antarctica. Polar Bears. Hidden caves that are palaces inside. Battles in the snow. Troll queens.

My three favorite retellings, in order:

East  by Edith Pattou


Ice by Sarah Beth Durst


Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George


Don't the covers make you want to go on a long trek to the North Pole? In a furry coat? On the back of a polar bear?

And I'm briefly going to tell you about one of my favorite adult series (though you've probably heard about them):

The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.


This is the opposite of ice and snow. It is dust and heat in Botswana. It is the most wonderful female detective of all literature (okay, I haven't read a lot of mysteries with female detectives so this statement is tenuous at best). The mysteries aren't the most wonderful mysteries—this is not Agatha Christie—but Mme Ramotswe's anecdotes on life are always worth the reading. And the people she associates with are simply wonderful. I just read the last one, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party and thoroughly enjoyed it, but if you haven't tried the series, I would start with book one.

(Okay, after further research, this appears to be a series on HBO now, so you've probably ALL heard of it, but you may not have read it—I'm trying to make myself feel useful here—so read it before you watch the show. Or after.)

Happy Weekend! Happy Reading!

Emily... ah, Emily

I was an adult when I discovered that L.M. Montgomery had written more than just Anne of Green Gables and its sequels.

She also wrote this:



Emily of New Moon

And this:



Emily Climbs

And this—the best of the three, probably because it's the most romantic and thrilling and painful all at once:

Emily's Quest

These books are lengthier than the Anne books, and they are full of lengthy description, which is sometimes still wonderful, and sometimes—just too much. But once you assure yourself or your daughter who is giving these books a try that it's okay not to read every word, you are transported into a tangible world of friendships and heartaches and passions and loves. A world you wish you could inhabit.

I remember feeling giddy the first time I read these, not wanting to go too fast because there would only be one first reading of these books, but dying to know if Emily ended up with... the boy I wanted her to end up with.

Mary is reading them now (while skipping unnecessary description at times) and really loving them. Yesterday, I perused the new YA section at the library and found this on the shelves (and pretty much only books like this):

   

Pause for several moments of deep thought.

Please. Please. Okay, I won't beg. But give Emily a try if you want to find true, lasting satisfaction in your reading.