the kids are picking away

What are your kids reading these days?  That's the question posed each month over at 5 Minutes for Books' Kids' Picks carnival.  I gotta say that this always makes for a super easy blog post, because there's never a shortage of books on the kids' shelves around here!  With our city's public library closed until late fall (ACK!), we've had to plan ahead and put books on hold through their online catalog, or hope to get lucky and find a good picture book among their temporary settings' one small shelf of kids' books.  So far, so good, but it sure is going to be a long time until we get to walk around and just browse the entire collection!


Nine year old JAM is a Star Wars fan- it's in his genes.  He either owns or has checked out all of the DK offerings about this franchise, and he's gotten into the YA series now, too.  One different book that he found while we searched for titles on the library's online catalog was Star Wars: Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide by Ben Burtt.  Yup, it's exactly what the title says, and I have sat and watched in amazement as he has read through this book, saying things out loud to himself-- a picture that truly declares an innate geekiness.  :)  Not too far off that same track is another series that he has begun to read, The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney.  Here's where I trust that age ranges are appropriate, because there's no way I'm going to read something with that kind of cover, so I'm going on faith that this series, that he first came upon in his school library is okay.  I've read it referred to as "good for reluctant readers," which usually is translated into "5th to 7th grade boys," so even though there's nothing reluctant about his reading habits, I'm thinking this is right up his alley.

On a completely different part of the reading spectrum is four year old Red, whose two favorite books at this moment have one thing in common that is the immediate draw for her when she looks at the covers of books.  Can you tell??  Oh my, when I ever opened up an insanely generous shipment of books from my favorite Boss Lady, Jennifer, Red just about peed her pants when she saw the new Pinkalicious and the Pink Drink by Victoria Kann.  She adores silly old Pinkalicious, and neither of us even knew she had a new story to tell.  Many giggly story times have followed!  The other choice for her this month is a book that she found on that small shelf in the library's temporary room (this teeny, tiny sad little room in our community center-- can't wait until November!!), and since she judges a book by its cover, the overwhelming PINK on this one assured her that she'd love it.  The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton is just her kind of girly/princessy/pink book.  It reminded me a little bit of what has to be my personal favorite book by David Shannon, Alice the Fairy, which I believe to be unmatched in its' humor and creativity, but in a pinch, I'd go with Alice every time.

And then there's two year old Pudge rounding out the bunch.  He grabs books somewhat willy-nilly off the library shelf, but I was so proud of him for choosing one of the Peter Yarrow Songbooks- Songs for Little Folks, and pointing out that it was like "the book we have at home!"  These are simply so much fun-- from the unique illustrations by Terry Widener to the classic songs from my own childhood, these are perfect books to look through and sing together, or better yet, listen to the accompanying CD and let Peter Yarrow do a much better job leading the children in song than I can!  And Pudge's other favorite choice right now is by one of our absolute favorite contemporary children's authors- Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  I've loved her since I first saw One of Those Days at the library and found comfort in reading it to myself every now and then while I had it checked out for weeks.  Pudge just adores Little Pea, and I believe he can tell the whole story word for word on his own, because we've read it again and again.  The coolest thing??  I entered a contest on AKR's blog and won the ultimate prize-- Amy herself is going to call the kids and read them Little Pea as a bedtime story one night soon.  Seriously.  I'm not sure who's more excited- me or the kids!

There's a small selection of what's on my kids' shelves and in their hands these days.  How about you and yours?  Link up with us at 5M4B's Kids' Picks today!


Yours in love with fabulous children's lit,