A columnist of heart and mind

A columnist of heart and mind
Interviewing the animals at Children's Fairyland in Oakland. L-R: Bobo the sheep, Gideon the miniature donkey, me, Tumbleweed Tommy the miniature donkey, Juan the alpaca, Coco the pony

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Ms. Patel's Summer Reading List For Kids

(Above: Ms. Patel reading to students at Redwood Day School)

Once again, by popular request, here's Ms. Patel's Summer Reading List For Kids, courtesy of Liz Price Patel, Head Librarian at Redwood Day School in Oakland:

Grades K-1
The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
Early elementary kids will roll on the floor laughing when you read this book aloud with them for the first time. As they develop their own reading skills, they will delight in following along.

Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
Fun for dragon experts and novices alike, Dragons Love Tacos is a whimsically and beautifully illustrated picture book about the dangers of feeding dragons spicy salsa.

Grades 1-3
The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art by Barb Rosenstock
Opening this picture book biography opens a dialogue with your child about the wonders of abstract art and the day Vasily Kandinsky “invited the world to see the paintings roaring from his noisy paint box.”

The Chicken Squad: The First Misadventure by Doreen Cronin
If you have enjoyed Cronin’s picture books (like Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type), you’ll love this next step in reading. In their first early chapter book misadventure, Dirt, Sugar, Sweetie, and Poppy are on the case to solve the mystery of what landed in the backyard.

Grades 3-5
Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy
This nonfiction work is a beautiful combination of science and art. Roy captures the strength and beauty of Great Whites in her illustrations and details shark facts in her clear and poetic text.

5,000 Awesome Facts about Everything by National Geographic Kids
Pages full of fascinating snippets will keep trivia lovers busy for hours.

Timmy Failure series by Stephan Pastis
Kid detective Timmy Failure is the founder of Total Failure, Inc., (Total being Timmy’s polar bear sidekick, of course). Even the most reluctant readers can’t help but laugh out loud while solving these cases.

Grades 4-6
El Deafo by Cece Bell
This autobiographical graphic novel captures universal childhood truths through the eyes of Cece, a girl who loses her hearing just before entering kindergarten.. In her daydreams, Cece’s superhero name is El Deafo; and in real life, the power of her device allows her to hear her teacher anywhere in school. This can come in handy for a girl who really wants to fit in and make new friends.

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm
The Key West backdrop makes this a sweet summer read. Eleven-year-old Turtle finds herself transported from New Jersey to Key West to live with relatives. Set in the midst of the Great Depression, this book brings together the intricacies of family, making new friends, and buried treasure.

Grades 5-8
Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Follow the story of a fairytale harmonica that brings courage and hope to its musicians: Friedrich in Nazi-era Germany, Mike in Great Depression-era New York state, and Ivy in a California Central Valley farming community during WWII. The stories of each child leave off at a cliff-hanger and come together in the end to form a masterful novel.

CHERUB series by Robert Muchamore
It has been hard to keep the CHERUB spy novels on our library shelves. Summer reading should be riveting and fun, and for the action-adventure lovers out there, Muchamore’s teen intelligence agents will do the job.

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