IF THE BOOK FITS...READ IT

Vote!

AUTHOR: Eileen Christelow

ILLUSTRATOR:  

ISBN#: 978-0547059730

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Clarion Books; 1 edition (February 18, 2008)

SUBJECTS: Cartoon Style, Government, Reference, United States, Voting

READER LEVEL: READER JR

RATING: 

Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	needs explanation	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	mild concerns	caution ahead	needs supervision

Kids can get involved in the voting process at any age.  They practice voting in school, answering questions like, which type of apple is liked the most, and at home, with decisions like where should the family go for dinner.  The book, Vote!, will help children take their current understanding of the way voting impacts their lives and bring it to the next level, voting for Mayor.  

Rather than jumping all the way to the presidential election, which might be beyond the grasp of some kids, the story stays close to home, focusing on what is familiar to young readers.  The illustrations are cartoon like, some of it is from the point of view of a couple of dogs, and the explanations are simple.  For example, one line says, "Voting is a way to choose."  The vocabulary and sentence structure are pretty basic and the story is short and easy to read but there are definitely concepts in here that will provoke questions so this book might be a good one to read aloud to or along with your child.

While they are learning about democracy, political parties and the history of voting, hopefully they will also come away with an understanding of the importance of exercising their right to vote.  Don't forget to check the back for the glossary, a timeline of voting rights and more detail on the political parties.

IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY:

America Votes, How our President is Elected, Linda Granfield

If I Were President, Catherine Stier

Jake Maddox Free Throw

AUTHOR: Jake Maddox

ILLUSTRATOR:  Sean Tiffany

ISBN#: 978-1598892383

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Stone Arch Books (September 1, 2006)

SUBJECTS: Determination, Sports - Basketball, Teamwork

READER LEVEL: READER, JR.

RATING: 

 Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	needs explanation	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	mild concerns	caution ahead	needs supervision

Basketball player, Derek Phelps can't wait for the season to start.  He's taller than he was last year so the coach is going to make him the center this year.  Unfortunately, Jason, who was the center last year, is not thrilled with this decision.  He shows some poor sportsmanship, refusing to pass to Derek and giving him a hard time for every mistake he makes. He has plenty of chances too because Derek can't seem to make his free throws.  Derek practices hard, though and is determined to do better.

The entire book takes place on the basketball court and the majority is play by play of the games.  Derek, Jason and a few other players are introduced by name and position but other than that little information is given.  The coach has a minor role and doesn't help much with the player rivalry. Early readers looking for a basketball story will get exactly that, though not much more.  The vocabulary and sentence structure are simple and the comic book style illustrations are appealing. Don't forget to look for the cool basketball facts and discussion questions at the end.

IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY:

Backyard Sports #1 - Wild Pitch, Michael Teitelbaum

The Zack Files #1 - Great-Grandpa's in the Litter Box

AUTHOR: Dan Greenburg

ILLUSTRATOR: Jack E. Davis

ISBN#: 978-0448412603

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Grosset & Dunlap (August 6, 1996)

SUBJECTS: Reincarnation, Humorous Stories, Cats, Supernatural, Death, Divorce

READER LEVEL: READER, JR.

RATING: 

Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	needs explanation	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	mild concerns	caution ahead	needs supervision

Zack is ten and is really into weird things, like "haunted houses, UFOs, and storms where it rains frogs."  To look at the subjects listed for this book, you would think, "Oh No, my child is not reading this."  However, it is really rather innocuous and quite funny. 

Zack lives part of the time with mom and part of the time with dad, since the divorce.  Zack's dad has finally broken down and is letting Zack get a kitten.  While at the Animal Shelter picking out his kitten, Zack meets an old tomcat who talks.  Not only does the tomcat talk, he claims to be Zack's Great-Grandpa Julius, hence the death and reincarnation.  Since family is family, Zack takes the tomcat home and the adventure begins.

This is the first in a large series.  The Zack Files series would be a perfect fit for the young boy (or girl) in your life who loves series books (29 to chew through) and loves paranormal/supernatural stuff (but not too scary) and likes funny!  Also, with a ten year old protagonist, you could give this to an older, struggling reader.

It was also made into a television series on ABC family.  Here is a link to the Zack files website.

IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY:

Wild Pitch (Backyard Sports #1)

AUTHOR: Michael Teitelbaum

ILLUSTRATOR: Ron Zalme

ISBN#: 978-0448447117

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Grosset & Dunlap (May 1, 2008)

SUBJECTS: Baseball, Friendship, Sports, Feelings, Determination

READER LEVEL: READER, JR.

RATING: 

Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	needs explanation	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	mild concerns	caution ahead	needs supervision

This is a perfect book for the young, newly independent, reluctant reader (probably boy, although if you have a baseball crazed girl...). This series is based on the popular Backyard Sports video games. 

The writing is basic (boring), elementary prose.  The story is also basic and elementary.  It's plot involves a baseball team, The Backyard Bombers, who play pick-up games with other teams in the neighborhood.  The story follows the game's play by play, ad nauseam.  The author threw in a friendship story line, where Joey, the Bomber's manager it seems, gets a little too bossy.  The team gets disgruntled with Joey and they start playing badly.  Joey very simply realizes the error of his ways, and the team wins!

So, as you can see, a middle school student probably could have written this book.  However, I did give it two stars for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I like the diversity on the baseball team.  The Bombers are made up of girls and boys named Achmed, A.C. Chen, Pablo, Ernie, Vicki and Samantha, to name a few.

I also think if your young reader (Reader, Jr.) is starting to read chapter books, and cannot find a sports series, and he is not into fantasy (Magic Tree House, etc) then give this series a try.  Or better yet, see below for Matt Christopher's young baseball series.

IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY:

Peach Street Mudders Series, Matt Christopher

#1 All-Star Fever

Jake Maddox Sports Stories, Jake Maddox, Bob Temple, and Sean Tiffany

All-Star Fever, A Peach Street Mudders Story #1

AUTHOR: Matt Christopher

ILLUSTRATOR: Anne Dewdney

ISBN#: 978-0316141987

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Little, Brown Young Readers (April 1, 1997)

SUBJECTS: Baseball, Guilt, Sports, Feelings, Determination

READER LEVEL: READER, JR.

RATING:   

Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	needs explanation	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	mild concerns	caution ahead	needs supervision

This series is author, Matt Christopher's, foray into literature for a younger audience.  It has all the hallmarks of his older books:  sports, real life situations, setting seems to hark back to a simpler time (when children rode their bikes to practice and let strangers fix their bike chain) and ends with a good message, but written for the Reader, Jr.

I think this book would be perfect for a sports crazed, reluctant reader.  All-Star Fever is written about Bus Mercer, who is trying to make the county All-Star team.  In the midst of the three games that the All-Star scouts are watching, Bus make many errors on the field and in his life. The former caused by the guilt of the latter.

Bus receives a belated birthday present from his parents in the form of a brand new mountain bike.  He is thrilled to receive the exact bike he wanted and not really concerned about the three rules his parents have given him with the bike.  However, the first day he breaks 2 of the three rules due to peer pressure and the guilt it causes eats away at him and his ball playing, hence the game errors.

I actually thought the play by play of the games a bit boring, and it was more than a little difficult to keep track of all the players.  But young boys who live and breathe sports will eat it all up.  

I perked up a bit with the resolution, which happens in an unexpected way.  The resolution touches all the bases a parent wants to see, including honesty (Bus comes clean with his parents) and good sportsmanship is just as important as athletic talent.  This is the first in the series.

IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY:

Backyard Sports, Michael Teitelbaum and Ron Zalme

#1 Wild Pitch

Jake Maddox Sports Stories, Jake Maddox, Bob Temple, and Sean Tiffany

 

Ruby Lu, Brave and True

AUTHOR: Lenore Look

ILLUSTRATOR: Anne Wilsdorf

ISBN#: 978-1416913894

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Aladdin (January 3, 2006)

SUBJECTS: Ethnicity: Chinese American, Family, Friendship, School, Sibling Rivalry, Urban

READER LEVEL: READER, JR.

RATING: ***

Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	needs explanation	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	mild concerns	caution ahead	needs supervision

We learn a lot about Ruby Lu right away.  She is a happy almost 8 year old who likes where she lives (20th Avenue South).  She likes the rain, the sunshine, the bus, her school, and most of all her magic class.  Tiger, her best friend, lives two blocks away and is good at making new friends, something that Ruby feels she isn't able to do so quickly.  She likes her old friends best.  Tiger tells Ruby, "You never know when a new friend might become another best friend" but Ruby isn't so sure.

Next we learn about Ruby's little brother, Oscar.  She is very excited about Oscar and her friend, Emma's baby brother, Sam, making many comparisons between the two as they grow.  Ruby is very upset when Sam starts to talk before Oscar.  When he finally does speak, he ruins Ruby's magic show.  Not only is she upset by what happens, but she feels that Oscar is more of a star than she is.  Finally Ruby finds a solution when she makes Oscar her assistant in the magic show and they share the stage.

The second half of the book focuses on Ruby's adventures at Chinese School.  Her mother is very talented, can sew, never gets tired or sick, is always polite and seems to know what Ruby needs even before she does.  Know she thinks Ruby needs Chinese School.  Ruby doesn't want to go at first, but she ends up loving it. 

Ruby Lu, Brave and True contains plenty of descriptive language - "At night the rain was a lullaby of a billion grains of rice falling on the roof" and references to her family's background - "The kitchen smelled like jook and ice cream" and her father is an A.B.C. (American-born Chinese) and her neighbor is fluent in Cantonese.  The writing style is more interesting than many books geared at this reading level however it can be a little disjointed as every few chapters a new issue is tackled and resolved.  Despite that, Ruby Lu is a happy character who is able to overcome the small challenges that she faces and the book is an entertaining read that gives many insights into family file within a specific culture.  Visually, it is also comfortable for Reader JR's because it has plenty of white space, entertaining visuals (flip the pages and watch what happens to the hat in the bottom right hand corner) and an easy to read font size.

IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY:

Junie B. Jones,

Daisy Dawson Is on Her Way, Steve Voake

Cam Jansen #1 - The Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds

AUTHOR: David Adler

ILLUSTRATOR: Susanna Natti

ISBN#: 978-0142400104

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Puffin (July 22, 2004)

SUBJECTS: Detective

READER LEVEL: READER JUNIOR

RATING: **** 

Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	mild concerns	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	may need explanation	caution ahead	needs supervision

Cam Jansen is the fifth grade queen of crime solving.  She says "click" and remembers everything she sees.  She is fearless and confident as she approaches the little mysteries that she encounters on a daily basis.  She uses her incredible memory to evaluate every situation and analyzes the facts in order to draw a conclusion that generally helps someone in need.  

In this book, Cam Jansen solves her first crime when she is at the mall with her best friend Eric.  They are watching his baby brother when they witnesses a jewelry store being robbed.  Cam uses her special technique to remember things, saying "click" to make a picture of the moment in her mind, to track down the robbers.  

She encounters some serious trouble with the bad guys along the way, coming face to face with them in their hide out.  This scene may scare some children, as Cam hides in close range of the robbers.  She uses her quick thinking, though to get out of a bad situation and her first mystery is solved.

IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY:

Nate the Great, Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Olivia Sharp, Marjorie Weinman Sharmat 

Daisy Dawson Is on Her Way

AUTHOR: Steve Voake 

ILLUSTRATOR: Jessica Meserve 

ISBN#: 978-0-7636-3740-8 

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Candlewick (March 25, 2008) 

SUBJECTS: Daydreamers, Animals, Talking Animals 

READER LEVEL: Reader, JR 

RATING: 

Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	needs explanation	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	mild concerns	caution ahead	needs supervision

After Daisy Dawson's mother pleads with her not to dawdle, to please not be late like she was three times last week, Daisy thinks to herself, "Late three times. That meant she had actually been on time twice. Not too bad." You just have to love a character whose glass is so half full! 

The story, characters and illustrations are all that appealing. Daisy, marching to her own drum, goes to school, where her teacher is always trying to reign her dreamy self back to the lessons. Along the way, Daisy realizes she can communicate with the animals around her. 

With this new found ability, Daisy is as busy as ever communicating with the class hamsters and the ant hiding under her chair, much to her teacher's chagrin. When Boom, the large hound dog who Daisy passes every morning on the way to school, goes missing, Daisy and the animals must save him before the Dog Catcher does away with him. 

The story is sweet, the adventure safe, and Boom is eventually returned to his rightful place on the farm. Little girls will have a good role model in Daisy, who is brave, kind and spunky. We have placed this book in the Reader, Jr, reading level, a level safe for newly independent readers. However, it does have some sophisticated vocabulary, so do check in with your young reader and make sure that vocabulary is not too challenging.

IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY:

Junie B. Jones, Barbara Park

Keeker and the Sneaky Pony, Hadley Higgenson

Nate the Great, #1

AUTHOR: Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

ILLUSTRATOR: Mark Simont 

ISBN#: 978-0440461265 

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Yearling/1977 

READING LEVEL: READER, JR

SUBJECTS: Detective, Humorous Stories 

RATING: ***** 

Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	needs explanation	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	mild concerns	caution ahead	needs supervision

Marjorie Weinman Sharmat's witty, enjoyable Nate the Great series has really held up over the years. Part of what is so lovable about this book is the language. Sophisticated and witty, yet simple for the Reader, Jr to follow. It doesn't condescend. This book is the start of the series. 

IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK, TRY: 

OLIVIA SHARP by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (Nate's Cousin)