*Picture book, fantasy for preschoolers through second graders *Bats (the animal) as main characters *Rating: The strength in Bats at the Ballgame is definitely the illustrative talent of Brian Lies–cute concept and some clever text, like Cricket Jacks! Short, short summary: Told in rhymed verse, Bats at the Ballgame by Brian Lies is the story [...]

Many of you who read this blog may also be writers or aspiring children’s authors. Some of you may be interested in taking some online writing courses to learn an aspect of the writing business you didn’t know before. WOW! Women On Writing offers several online workshops in a variety of subjects from finding an [...]

*Picture book, fantasy (fractured fairy tales) for preschoolers through third graders *Young girl as main character *Rating: The Gold Miner’s Daughter is clever and adorable. One of those “I wish I would have written this” books! Short, short summary: Jackie Mims Hopkins writes this adorable tale about Gracie Pearl, who lives in gold minin’ country [...]

photo by Enokson www.flickr.com This is a topic near and dear to my heart–using picture books with all ages. Of course, preschool and elementary teachers use picture books with their students. Parents of kids in these age groups also read plenty of these wonderful books, and of course, kids read them on their own. But [...]

*Realistic fiction, picture book (sports story) *Young boy as main character *Rating: If you love basketball, you will definitely love Long Shot. If you love stories about hard work, determination, and perseverance, you will REALLY love Long Shot. Short, short summary: NBA star Chris Paul tells his story about being short and wanting to play [...]

*Chapter book, fantasy *12-year-old boy as main character *Rating: Both children and adults will love Walking Through Walls. For kids, it’s an exciting story that keeps them guessing to the end what’s going to happen and what decisions the main character is going to make. For adults? Well, we all love good writing, and Walking [...]

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders, contemporary *Young boy as main character *Rating: When I Grow Up is true Weird Al Yankovic style. Mommys and Daddys and teachers who grew up in the 80s to “Eat it!” will read this fondly to their kids. Short, short summary: In fun rhyme, Al Yankovic tells the [...]

It’s summer! Most of you who are teachers and librarians and even home school parents are finished with school and ready for the pool and vacations. Here’s a little book to pick up and take with you for some inspiration. When I was teaching, I liked to read books like My First Year In the [...]

*Young adult (although many older middle grade readers will like the series) spy novel *Young teen boy as main character *Rating: Ark Angel is an exciting read, and main character, Alex Rider, is a charmer. This isn’t a new book/series by any means, but I thought it time I pay some attention to the popular [...]