What My Kids Are Reading: March 9, 2018
Big Nate: Welcome to My World
Well, I tried to make this picture a bit celebratory since we’re on Spring Break! (But really, when does school start again???) We have been reading a lot lately, but have been so busy with school and extracurricular activities that I haven’t been able to update you guys as much! But we have discovered some new-to-us series and just started a really fun buddy read!
The 6-Year-Old
Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon: Tales from Deckawoo Drive
Kate DiCamillo writes wonderful chapter books for older readers, but we’ve just discovered her Deckawoo Drive series, and it’s perfect for my first grader! He loves seeing recurring characters pop up throughout the books, and they always get into funny, ridiculous situations. (And for a former theatre major like myself, there are plenty of opportunities to give the characters fun voices when reading aloud.) In this one, Francine Poulet, animal catcher extraordinaire, is sidelined when a wily, ghostly raccoon refuses to be caught. Will she overcome her fears to catch the animal, or will she give up her career forever to work in a pet store instead? This is a great, easy chapter book for younger readers, or for older elementary readers who like a funny story!
The 9-Year-Old
Big Nate: Welcome to My World
Lately, my 9-year-old has been taking a break from the bigger chapter books he was reading (the 5th Harry Potter book really did him in) and has moved on to graphic novels for a bit. He discovered Big Nate and hasn’t looked back! Nate is a regular kid with bad luck, but he always seems to find a way to get out of it! His character is in 6th grade, but I think these books are fine for kids around 9 and up who love graphic novels and funny books!
What We’re Reading Together
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
This is my favorite of the bunch! We are doing a full family buddy read with Sara and her kids over at Meaningful Madness. The author of Hidden Figures (the adult book) wrote the book in two other formats: one for young adult readers and as a picture book. Our kids happen to be the same ages, so we are reading all three books together. We just read the picture book together, and my kids LOVED it. (My 9-year-old even tried to re-create Katherine Johnson from his many Lego minifigs, and drew on her glasses and everything.) This picture book format makes the story very accessible, without leaving out important information. The illustrations are beautiful, and it made all of us want to learn more about these amazing scientists. my kids were shocked at how much they had to go through as black women scientists just to get jobs, even though they were smarter than…everyone. This is an important story, and I’m so grateful that Margot Lee Shetterly has written in for everyone to learn!