In Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, we experience life through the viewpoint of a feisty, firecracker of a third-grade girl, who is having a really bumpy week. It starts off on a Monday when Clementine tries to help a friend who has glue in her hair by cutting off all of her hair! Everything goes wrong, and the … Read more
Read to Them is proud to offer the special, moving, magical Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. One of the most acclaimed books of our time, Wonder has swept readers of multiple generations – a wide range of students, parents, librarians, and teachers. It is a title we’ll be talking about a generation from now. Wonder tells … Read more
A rich, modern, and now classic fable. Nim’s Island takes us to the idyllic spot in the Pacific where a young girl, Nim, lives with her scientist father. They are self-sufficient in their paradise, complete with solar powered computer batteries and a satellite dish. This isn’t a standard stranded-on-a-desert-island story. We spend all our time with … Read more
Robert C. O’Brien’s Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is a Newbery-winning novel that sports an array of attractions. An intrepid mouse trying to save her family. A family farm with an array of creatures like Dragon, the cat. A wise owl living in the great tree in the forest. The mysterious rats from … Read more
“…because there isn’t anything as humble or patient or loving or loyal as the dog I have in my arms right now.” Marty Preston lives in a rural town in West Virginia where one of his favorite activities is exploring the land. Marty’s life is changed when he finds a thin, skittish beagle he names … Read more
Nory Horace was trying to turn herself into a kitten. She was hiding in case something went wrong. The world went blurry, and Nory’s heart beat faster. Her body stretched and shrank. But wait. Her front legs weren’t kitten legs. And what was this nose? It was more of a snout. A beaver nose. Zamboozle! … Read more
Go west, readers, with Ranger in Time, Rescue on the Oregon Trail, a tale of determination, danger, and loyalty that will keep you on the edge of your wagon seat! Ranger is a golden retriever who has been trained as a search-and-rescue dog, but he can’t pass the test because of his love for chasing squirrels. … Read more
“Rufus’s idea wasn’t to become a millionaire. Just to make toothpaste…” Rufus Mayflower is a can-do kid. He is a sunny problem-solver who charms and inspires the students and friends and even adults around him. When Rufus balks at paying too much for toothpaste, he decides to make his own. When he discovers how easy … Read more
“Roar!” says Judy Moody as she wakes up for the first day of third grade. Judy is not excited about a new teacher, a new desk, or a new class pet. And the worst part? None of her shirts have words on them. “Judy Moody did not want to give up summer. She did not … Read more
Gooney Bird arrives at the door of Mrs. Pigeon’s second grade classroom announcing, “I’m your new student. My name is Gooney Bird Greene – that’s Greene with a silent ‘e’ at the end – and I just moved here from China. I want a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I … Read more
“It’s better to have one true friend than a million others.” Drita and her family are refugees from war-torn Kosovo. Once they have settled in America, all Drita wants to do is fit in. She’s got heart and determination in spades, but Drita speaks very little English and making friends is easier said than done. … Read more
“Our house is bare and our rice hardly fills our bowls, but we have plenty of stories.” Minli lives in the Valley of the Fruitless Mountain where she and her parents work tirelessly to put food on their table. Each night, Minli finds herself nourished by her father’s tales – especially the story of the … Read more
“Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy…” So begins C.S. Lewis’s timeless classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Pevensie siblings are sent away from London amid the air-raids of World War II to stay with a Professor in his country-side home. It’s quite by accident that … Read more
Chris Kurtz has created Flora, the pig with passion! She has “a heart born for adventure and hooves stuck in a pen.” When Luna the farm cat warns her not to go looking for trouble, Flora responds, “But I don’t want to stay out of trouble! I want something to happen around here!” One day, … Read more
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a Newbery Award winner that teachers and parents (and even grandparents!) may remember from their childhoods. Claudia and Jamie Kincaid run away from their safe suburban Connecticut home and hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Can they remain undiscovered? … Read more
Dick King-Smith is probably best known as the author of Babe: The Gallant Pig, the story that went on to be a Hollywood movie. But, he has a large canon of delightful books with animals – real and fantastical. The Water Horse isa mischievous romp and another animal lovers’ delight. King-Smith is a natural story teller, and this … Read more
Iron resolve. Ferocious courage. And a healthy dose of insanity. In Marion Jensen’s Almost Super, each of these attributes is as important to members of the Bailey family as are the superpowers they receive on the leap year after they turn twelve. But for brothers Rafter and Benny, those coveted superpowers may just look a … Read more
What do the toys do when you are away? It is a perennial question that has inspired stories from Raggedy Ann to Winnie the Pooh to Toy Story. In Toys Go Out, Emily Jenkins takes the baton from Johnny Gruelle, A.A. Milne, and Pixar and delivers a fresh take on this timeless concept. Jenkins makes it clear that her toys have their … Read more
Kevin Henkes is one of those special authors who manages to get the tone kids live in – gentle, sweet, provocative – just right. He does it with picture books (Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse); he does it with novels (Olive’s Ocean); and he really gets is right with The Year of Billy Miller, a Newbery Honor … Read more
It’s animals on a mission. It’s a mystery to be solved. But it is no ordinary story about animals banding together to solve a problem. For starters, there are no ordinary house pets or farm animals to be found. Instead, we get pangolins and sugar gliders and Yiddish-speaking bats! Oy vey! Also, wombats, jerboas, and coyotes. … Read more
Charlie Bumpers is an Everyman, or Everykid. He’s someone we’re meant to identify with, a regular kid, not a great student, impish and not quite innocent. And every time he tries to do something interesting or innovative, he somehow gets in trouble. You know that kid, right? “I know all about you, Charlie Bumpers.” In … Read more
“A library doesn’t need windows… We have books, which are windows into worlds we never even dreamed possible.” Kyle Keeney loves games – especially those created by world-renowned game maker, Mr. Luigi Lemoncello. As luck would have it, Mr. Lemoncello has built a public library in Kyle’s hometown. Students in Kyle’s class are challenged to … Read more
Sometimes a chestnut from another generation can be just the right antidote for our times. So it may be with Jean Craighead George’s Newbery Honor book, My Side of the Mountain. While the modern world offers many conveniences like a weather report on your phone or groceries delivered to your doorstep, a life more closely … Read more
“You can do anything you want with your name. It’s yours.” Cleo Edison Oliver is confident, independent, and enterprising. She is ready to take on the world– and she is open for business. She’s also just a kid, a young African-American girl navigating elementary school. Amid her various enterprising business schemes this novel is also … Read more
