It’s July, and your kids have another month for summer reading (and maybe even time this fall!).They may be searching for some new titles and I just might have a solution. Instead of books from long ago, I’m focusing on books from the recent past. These titles are books I’ve reviewed and adored, but because they are older, you may not know about them. You may know the authors from their more recent books, but their earlier ones are books you’ll also want to know (and books you’ll find on your library’s shelves!). What are some of your favorites from the past? Please let us know in the comments.

The Space Between Lost and Found This story helps us to understand those diagnosed with Alzheimers, and how it affects everyone in the family.

The Boy at the Back of the Class a book that will help all who read it to understand the meaning of what a refugee truly is and how important it is that refugees are treated with respect and kindness

Dan Unmasked a story about comic books, superheroes, baseball, grief and most of all the power of friendship.

The Lonely Hearts of Maybelle Lane a story about friendship, family and gaining the understanding that taking care of someone else not only helps the recipient, but also yourself.

We Could Be Heroes this memorable tale about two delightful neurodivergent children who find friendship for the first time, will grab your heart

The List of Things That Will Not Change A book about divorce, step families, therapy, gay parents

Camp Clique story about friendship, acceptance and trust

Here In the Real World a touching tale of friendship, family, the knights’ code of chivalry and heroes. 

School’s out! The kids are thrilled and hopefully you are, as well. After all, you have a little more down time, a few less lunches to make and more time to enjoy your children. Personally, I am loving the warmer weather, the sunshine (finally!), the lush green trees, the flowers and the freedom to walk out the door without a jacket. I’m spending a lot more time reading books, both children’s and adult, rather than reading the internet (although I’m not sure why!), trying new recipes and basically enjoying life. I guess there’s just something about the open windows and summer breezes that energizes me. My reading has led me to five middle grade chapter books that I want to share with you. I hope your kids will enjoy them as much as I did! You might even want to add them to your TBR list, too!

middle grade books: harlem charade by Natasha Tarpley 

Are you looking for a good mystery for your middle grade reader that will pull them into the story from the first page? This might be the one! Harlem Charade, set in the diverse streets of Harlem, has  many twists and turns. The main characters, Elvin, Alex and Jin, who are each struggling with problems at home,  work together to solve the mystery behind the attack on Elvin’s grandfather. Could the attack be a part of the councilman’s plan to shut down the local family businesses and force everyone to move out to make room for Harlem World? The story helps the reader understand both the meaning of, and the repercussions of gentrification, as the kids work together to solve the mystery and save their neighborhood. This is an action packed story that keeps the reader guessing until the end. I highly recommend it!

MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS: short  BY holly goldberg sloan

I was looking forward to reading the new book by the author of one of my favorite middle grade reads from the past few years, Counting by 7s, and I wasn’t disappointed. Julia is struggling with several obstacles as she begins summer vacation. She’s the smallest in her class, by far, her best friends are gone for the summer, and she is mourning the loss of her beloved dog, Ramon, her closest friend and buddy, who  suddenly curled up and died unexpectedly of a heart attack. To give Julia something to focus on, her mom registers her and her little brother to appear in the community production of The Wizard of Oz. Of course, much to her horror, Julia is cast as a Munchkin.

I immediately identified with Julia’s grief, which she tries to keep inside, because I have lost so many dogs through the years, and it’s very difficult. And I had the opposite problem about size – I was always the tallest in my class, which is equally horrifying! So I was pulled in from page 1!

I especially loved Julia’s relationships that develop with the adults in the story: her neighbor, Mrs. Chang, the director of the play, her parents and her fellow actors. They showed her so much respect, support and understanding throughout the summer, which helped Julia deal with her grief and improve her self confidence.

MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS: one hundred spaghetti strings BY jen nails

This book certainly pulled at my “mom heart strings”! I wanted to hug Steffy and Nina and protect them from the unfairness of their world. They have been happily living with their aunt Gina since their mom’s traumatic brain injury in an auto accident and their dad’s subsequent abandonment, which is almost as long as they can remember. But now their dad is coming home and their beloved aunt is moving out. This poignant tale tells the story of how each of the girls deal with the situation, Steffy by cooking and Nina by dancing, how they are forced to grow up far too early and how they learn that sometimes you need to rewrite your family’s recipe, even though it may be far different than you hoped.

MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS: a rambler steals home BY carter higgins

Derby, her brother and her dad lead a vagabond life. They travel the country hauling their rambler to ball parks and fairgrounds selling hamburgers and fries. But every summer, they can’t resist returning to Ridge Creek, Virginia, for the Rockskippers season, a minor league baseball team.. They’ve been spending every summer there as long as Derby can remember, and their many friends always look forward to their return. I admired Derby’s strength as she tells the story of missing her mom who walked out years ago, her determination to find a way to help her dearest friend in Ridge Creek and her struggle to understand what home truly means.  As her dear friend, June, tells her, “Your home has wheels, but your heart has roots right here.” This is really a winner!

MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS: the summer i saved the world in 65 days 

BY michele weber hurwitz

I don’t usually post things twice, but I think this book warrants breaking that rule! I’m hoping a lot of people who didn’t see it last summer, or may have forgotten, will see it today. Now that school is out for your kids, or very nearly so, the search for a special book begins. This would be a great one to read first!

Nina is spending her summer between middle school and high school pretty much on her own. Her parents, both lawyers, go to work early and return late, her older brother is always busy, her best friend has discovered boys and only wants to talk about clothes and makeup and Nina’s beloved grandma has died. So Nina spends a lot of her day in her room looking at all of the houses in her cul-de-sac. On the first day of summer she watches her next door neighbor, Mrs. Chung, who lives by herself, struggling to plant her garden full of marigolds as she always does, even though she has a broken leg. After Mrs. Chung gives up and goes inside, Nina remembers something her favorite teacher told the class on the last day of school. He said, “It is very often the ordinary things that go unnoticed that make a difference.” At that moment, Nina comes up with a plan that will change her summer and change her neighbors’ summers, as well. Nina decides to do something unnoticed every day for the 65 days of summer and see if she can really make a difference. This is an inspiring story for a beginning of summer middle grade book for kids going into fourth grade and older. Maybe we could all decide to do something ordinary and unnoticed for someone for one day or for 65 days this summer and see if it makes a difference. I’ll bet it does!

Do your kids have some books to suggest? Please let us all know in the comments.

Happy Summer!

I hope you’ve had a good week beginning with the school holiday on Monday. It was wonderful to have such warm temperatures on President’s Day! We had a great dinner with my sister, brother-in-law and niece and nephew on Monday. It was fun to catch up! Then on Thursday, we visited old friends and on Friday we got to take one of our niece’s out for dinner. Now I’m ending my week by sharing some Kids’ Books to Remember with you.

KIDS’ BOOKS TO REMEMBER: READ ALOUD

Hank the Cowdog  by John R. Erickson

Agnes and Clarabelle  by Adele Griffin and Courtney Sheinmel. This is the first book of a new beginning chapter book series that you won’t want to miss.

Judy Moody Predicts the Future  by Megan McDonald

KIDS’ BOOKS TO REMEMBER: PICTURE BOOKS

Freedom Summer  by Deborah Wiles. This is an excellent book that will help your kids better understand our country before the Civil Rights Act was law.

Four Feet, Two Sandals  by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed. This story will help your children develop an understanding of, and develop empathy for the refugee children of our world.

Magic Beach  by Alison Lester. This story will help you prepare for your trip to the beach for spring break!

KIDS’ BOOKS TO REMEMBER: CHAPTER BOOKS

Trixie Belden mysteries, along with Nancy Drew books were my first true favorite series. I was surprised and so happy when I found this on the library shelf!

Trixie Belden, The Mystery at Bob-White Cave  by Kathryn Kenny

Mallory vs. Max  by Laurie Friedman

The following two books are part of a fun series that appeal to both boys and girls.

The Girls Get Even  by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Boys in Control  by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

LINKS FOR MOM AND DAD

In celebration of President’s Day:

Fantastic Kids Books about American Presidents

As you begin to get ready for spring break, here are some audio books that will help your trip go much faster.

Great Audio Books for Kids

This link tells about one of my favorite chapter books of the past year.

Survival and Wildness with Peter Brown

This is a new blog you will want to follow. The Loud Library Lady shares a new series that is bound to become a favorite with your family.

We Love Fenway and Hattie!

Thank you for once again inviting me into your inbox. I’m taking a few weeks off, so Kids’ Books to Remember will return on March 19th. Have a good few, hopefully warm, weeks!

A few weeks ago, I sent out an email to all of the library volunteers from the past school year, to let them know about Red Canoe Reader. I received a lot of kind and supportive responses. It meant so much to me. When I was an elementary school librarian, the volunteers played a vital part in the success of the library. They are the moms who didn’t mind trying to make sense of the crazy and mixed up library shelves, to check in hundreds of books or to rearrange the furniture. And most importantly, they were the moms who kindly helped the kids with their many requests and needs. There was never a complaint when a little one would ask, for example, for the “blue book with an elephant on the front”. Even with that small amount of information, they would always do their best to help the kids to find the perfect book! And that was not an unusual situation. It happened multiple times through out the day! So, when one of the moms mentioned in her reply to my email that her son, a rather reluctant reader, was  needing some new beginning chapter book series on the second and early third grade levels, I got busy with this addition to the website. I was planning to compile a list of beginning chapter book series, so this prompted me to get started! I had already posted a list of middle grade chapter books a month ago, Chapter Book Series, so if you have some kiddos who are ready for books on the 3rd – 6th grade levels, that is the list for them. If your kids are not quite there yet, then try some of the series in this new list, Beginning Chapter Books.

Reading Strategies for beginning chapter book Series

I suggest going to the public library and getting several books on the list. It doesn’t need to be the first in the series. Luckily, the majority of these series can be read in any order. Then let your little one choose a book, cuddle up and begin to read it together. You can take turns reading pages. Perhaps, you can read a few chapters each night or more if you can’t put it down! In that case, keep reading! I found with my kids that once they found a series they loved, a great strategy was to buy the books. There’s something about owning the book, that adds to their confidence. Of course, if you have a great public library, you may not need to do that. You may just be making lots of trips to pick up new books!

As always, this list is certainly not all of the beginning chapter book series out there. For one thing, early chapter books are defined differently by publishers, librarians, teachers and parents. These are simply books that appealed to lots of different kids with lots of different interests in my library. And when a child finds the perfect series for them, they are going to keep reading. I’ve seen it happen so many times and it’s magical! It’s one of the reasons I loved being a school librarian.

Do you know of some beginning chapter books to add to the list? I’ll look forward to hearing your suggestions in the comments below.

In my last post, I wrote about some of the new chapter books in Some New and Noteworthy Chapter Books and I wrote about some of my favorite chapter books in my post, Children’s Books for Christmas: Chapter Books.  Those books are usually written on the third grade level and higher. But what about the kids who are not quite ready for these, but are eager to feel the pride in reading chapter books? That is when I would lead them to the colorful displays of the early chapter books in the library. The displays made it easy for the kids to choose their own book, once they were familiar with the series.

And about this time of year, those displays contained very few early chapter books, because the kindergarten and first graders had discovered them. So many times, those beginning readers would come in and ask for a book with chapters. They might still be reading on the first grade level, but they wanted to have the thrill of moving on to reading chapter books. This meant the books needed to have a table of contents containing a list of the chapters and the page numbers. The book might have only three chapters, but that didn’t matter, because it was a chapter book!

Then the next step would be finding that series that would draw them in and make them eager to read another one. My assistant and I would spend what seemed like endless hours working with all of our kids to help them find the perfect book, because we knew if we could hook them on a series, most likely we would create a real book lover.

Recently, I saw a blog post about early chapter books that I was very much in agreement with. Sarah Mackensie wrote about early chapter books on her blog, Amongst Lovely Things, titled Series Books that Will Turn Your Struggling Reader into a Voracious Reader. I was very excited to read her thoughts, because her ideas and methods were so similar to what we tried to do in our elementary library. In addition, Sarah has excellent step by step instructions to help make your child into a reader who is eager to read every book in a series! She also includes a list of many chapter books that will entice your child. When I saw this post, I was already planning to write about early chapter books, so I was excited to read Sarah’s ideas and wanted to share her post with you. I would encourage you to give her ideas a try, if the child in your life needs a little extra support and guidance to make them into a lifelong reader.

cynthia rylant early chapter books

Once the kids began chapter books they had many favorites. And I was constantly searching for new series, to make sure they could find a perfect book when they were ready to move on to a new one. To introduce early chapter books, I would read the first few chapters of some early chapter books during my weekly storytimes with the kindergarten and first grade classes. I always started with Cynthia Rylant’s Henry and Mudge and High Rise Private Eyes series.

When the kids wanted to try another series (or all of Henry and Mudge and High Rise Private Eyes are checked out), I would suggest another series by Cynthia Rylant, Mr. Putter and Tabby.  

These are all well loved early chapter books that give the kids a real sense of accomplishment.

national geographic readers

For the children who would rather read a nonfiction book, National Geographic Readers are a great choice. They range from second grade through fourth grade reading level, Lexile 220 – 650, AR 1.9 – 4.2. Due to this wide range of levels, you might want to check on each book on the Lexile site and the AR BookFinder site to find the right book for your child.

Katie Woo and Max and Zoe

Two extremely popular early chapter book series for the kids, once they are ready to move on from the Cynthia Rylant books are Max and Zoe, and Katie Woo. Katie is a sassy, spunky, curious and funny Chinese American girl who is great at getting into trouble. The character was inspired by the great niece of the author, Fran Manushkin. Max and Zoe feature Max and his best friend Zoe as they explore different places and meet new people. 

BILLIE B. BROWN and HEY JACK by sally rippin

Billie B. Brown is a girl and her best friend Jack lives next door. The Billie B. early chapter book series describes her quirky adventures from her point of view. Hey Jack gives her next door neighbor a chance to be heard. At first it was hard to convince our early readers that they should read both series, even though there might be a girl or a boy on the cover (horrors!), but once we convinced them to give it a try, they loved both series.

star wars and lego chapter books

Finally, two more favorites are the Star Wars and the Lego early chapter books. These books were loved by kindergarteners through third or fourth grade, no matter their reading level. In fact, one little guy would come in almost every day and want a new Star Wars books. I tried to convince him to try something else, and sometimes I would succeed, but often he was adamant that he wanted a Star Wars book. He told me that he and his dad would read them together and read them over and over. I soon realized that the books might be above his reading level, but they were providing some special family time. Since the new Star Wars movie was released in December, I would guess these are even more popular now!

Finally, for Lego lovers, there is a series of Lego early chapter books. They range from first grade through fifth grade reading level. These books describe adventures of lots of different characters and include many about Star Wars, making them extra popular!

This is just a short list of some of my favorite early chapter books. There are so many more! Look for a list of these books to be added to my website within the next few weeks. I’ll let you know when that happens! And please remember, that although the links from the book titles direct you to Amazon, most of these books can be found in your public library.

Which early chapter books series are your favorites? Please let me know in the comments below!

Encyclopedia Brown Series

By Donal J. Sobol

Accelerated Reading Levels:  4.0-4.8

When my older son, David was eight years old, he was a very reluctant reader. He was a good reader, but he would much rather be outside playing instead of reading (The opposite of his mother. My mom was constantly complaining that all I wanted to do was stay inside and read!). My husband and I searched for books to entice him, but we weren’t having much luck, until Encyclopedia Brown. David read one book and was hooked on the series! He loved reading one story or chapter each night and solving the mystery. However, we had a problem. We were living in a community with a rather small library, the Encyclopedia Brown books were extremely popular and the library had very few copies. This, of course, was long before the internet, Amazon or the ability to put holds on library books online. So we had to come up with another solution. We decided to buy the books for David, although money was rather tight.

To give you a little bit more background, let me tell you about our life in the 80’s. We usually didn’t buy gifts for the kids, other than for birthday or Christmas, so to buy books for no occasion was going to be a very different practice for us. We also didn’t give the kids an allowance, with the understanding if there was something they needed (not something they simply wanted) we would buy it for them. We didn’t want to give David the idea that we would buy anything he might want, so we needed to be creative. We decided to let him earn the books. I think back on this time with fond memories for so many reasons. First of all, my son was reading and loving it! Secondly, he actually kept his room picked up (which rarely occurred again!), carried baskets of laundry up the two flights of stairs and helped with folding the clothes. He even vacuumed! All of this was done, without a complaint. In fact, he was constantly asking for more chores, because he earned a star for each chore and when he had accumulated enough stars to equal the $2.50 price of the book we headed to the mall!

One reason David loved the Encyclopedia Brown series was that each book contains ten stories and each book begins the same, with an explanation about who Encyclopedia is. Therefore, the books can be read in any order, which makes it very easy when checking them out from the library or buying the book.

We learn at the beginning of each book that Encyclopedia lives in Idaville and his dad is the Chief of Police. Whenever, the police have a difficult case they can’t solve, Chief Brown brings all of the facts home and discusses them with Encyclopedia during dinner. Usually, by the time the family has finished their dessert, Encyclopedia has solved the crime! No one knows that Idaville’s great crime solving record is due to a ten year old detective!

Each story or chapter is a complete story in itself, which lends itself very well to reading one chapter each night before bed. And the best part about the books, is that at the end of each chapter, the reader is asked the question, “How did Encyclopedia know?” Then you are instructed to turn to the end of the book to check your solution. What a great extra that is! Not only, do the books motivate kids to read, but also to practice their problem solving skills!

If you have a reluctant reader, a mystery lover or a child looking for a new series, you might suggest Encyclopedia Brown. I hope you have as much fun with it, as David and I did!

The Stranger

By Chris Van Allsburg

Houghton Mifflin Company

1986

AR 3.7, Lexile 640

The Widow’s Broom

By Chris Van Allsburg

Houghton Mifflin Company

1992

AR 4.7, Lexile 810

Today my husband and I went on a hike at our local arboretum. We love to go there every October to wander the trails and take pictures of the amazing trees. However, a few years ago after we waited 45 minutes on a weekend just to get through the gate and then more time searching for a parking space, we told ourselves that perhaps we would skip our fall hikes at the arboretum until we retired. We reassured ourselves that we would continue to go there throughout the year for the trails and the peacefulness which leads one to believe that you’re really out in the country, just not in October. Well this year is different! One of the perks of being retired is that we can go to the arboretum during the week! It was amazing. It was so peaceful. We were both taking pictures and constantly remarking about the beauty in the forests. I was thankful to be outside and to spend time with my husband in the midst of the splendor of the trees. I was thinking, maybe this retirement idea might work after all (I’ve had my doubts)!

As we hiked, I began to think of the books I most loved sharing with my classes in October. With less than one week remaining until Halloween I thought of my definite favorite, The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg. I’m sure you’re familiar with some of Van Allsburg’s other books, such as The Polar Express and Jumangi (both Caldecott winners), but he has written many other picture books as well. His books have amazing illustrations, as well as mysterious and intriguing stories. They sometimes have black and white charcoal pencil illustrations, but other times the illustrations are pastels. When asked why this is, Mr. Van Allsburg explains in his online biography (http://hmhbooks.com/chrisvanallsburg/faqs.html) that he always imagines all of his stories before he begins and sometimes the pictures are black and white and other times color. He’s not certain why this is, but this is how he works!

In The Stranger Farmer Bailey hits a man with his car and then takes him home to recuperate. The farmer’s family becomes very fond of the stranger, as his stay stretches into weeks, because the stranger has no idea who he is or where he came from. At the same time, Farmer Bailey realizes that fall is not arriving as it should. It had begun to come, but now it seems like summer. Chris Van Allsburg skims back and forth across the lines of reality and fiction, as the mysterious events continue. His illustrations almost come alive, although the story is a fantasy. These draw the reader into the story and lead to many questions. For example,  Why is the doctor’s thermometer stuck on zero? Why do the rabbits run toward the stranger, rather than away from him? Why are the farm trees green when the surrounding trees have turned orange?

I also loved to share Van Allsburg’s The Widows Broom. It is another mysterious story perfect for Halloween. In this story, a witch’s broom loses the power to fly, so it is abandoned in a widow’s field. The widow retrieves it and brings it into her home. The next day she is amazed to awaken and see the broom sweeping her floors and helping with many other chores. She even plays the piano for the widow during the long evenings. However, her neighbors are very suspicious of the broom and its intentions. This leads to a great ending with a wonderful twist.

I encourage you to explore all of Chris Van Allsburg’s books. Although they are picture books, children of all ages, as well as adults will be fascinated by his stories and amazed at the illustrations. Be sure, too, to visit his website, http://hmhbooks.com/chrisvanallsburg/index.html. And learn why Chris Van Allsburg says:

“The idea of the extraordinary happening in the context

of the ordinary is what’s fascinating to me.” Chris Van Allsburg