What My Kids Are Reading 4/28/17
The 6-Year-Old
From Amazon: “All of Louis’s thoughts are very important to him. In fact, his thoughts are so important to him that when he has something to say, his words begin to wiggle, and then they do the jiggle, then his tongue pushes all of his important words up against his teeth and he erupts, or interrupts others. His mouth is a volcano! My Mouth Is A Volcano takes an empathetic approach to the habit of interrupting and teaches children a witty technique to capture their rambunctious thoughts and words for expression at an appropriate time. Told from Louis’ perspective, this story provides parents, teachers, and counselors with an entertaining way to teach children the value of respecting others by listening and waiting for their turn to speak.”
This book is so much fun, whether or not your own child “erupts” other people all the time. It’s funny for kids, the illustrations are great, and it’s a great opening to talk about not interrupting in a fun way.
I know I posted this a couple of weeks ago, but my 6-year-old still insists on reading a few pages of this to my husband and me every single night. Over 50 years after its original publication, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish shows that it stands the test of time with kids learning to read, and wanting reading to be fun. Dr. Seuss clearly knew what he was doing!
The 8-Year-Old
From the publisher: “In the series opener, Jack and the Geniuses: At The Bottom of The World, readers meet Jack and his foster siblings, Ava and Matt, who are orphans. But they’re not your typical kind of orphans—they’re geniuses. Well, Ava and Matt are, which sometimes makes life difficult for 1twelve-year-old Jack. Ava speaks multiple languages and builds robots for fun, and Matt is into astronomy and a whiz at math. As for Jack, it’s hard to stand out when he’s surrounded by geniuses all the time. When the kids try to spy on Dr. Hank Witherspoon, one of the world’s leading scientists, they end up working for him in his incredible laboratory. Soon, Hank and the kids travel to Antarctica for a prestigious science competition, but they find that all is not as it seems: A fellow scientist has gone missing, and so has any trace of her research. Could someone be trying to use her findings to win the contest? It’s up to Jack, Ava, and Matt to find the missing scientist and discover who’s behind it all—before it’s too late.”
It is so much fun to watch a new generation of kids discover Bill Nye the Science Guy, and I was so excited to see that he’s started a middle grade book series! This book is so good that we started out reading it together, and my 8-year-old didn’t want to wait so he kept reading it on his own to find out what happened next. It’s funny, smart, and will make all kids interested in science. (Who wouldn’t want a flying robot?) If your child loves science and mysteries, this is the book for him or her. If your kid isn’t too excited about science yet, this is the book to get them excited. The second book in the series, Jack and the Geniuses: In the Deep Blue Sea, comes out on September 12!
What We’re Reading Together
Not a traditional book this week, but we’ve been having fun reading Highlights and High Five magazines together! I loved reading Highlights as a kid, and I love reading it with my kids now. I would definitely recommend these magazines to anyone with kids who love to read and love to get mail. (Which is everyone!)