This “Archie & Reddie” book is a nice beginning reader. As with all in the series, our two main characters (similar to Elephant and Piggie) have a mystery to solve. The graphics are big and comic-like with a few words on each page. This is a nice addition to your emergent reader section.
This Archie and Reddie beginning reader uses simple language, humor, and a graphic novel format to keep emergent readers engaged and interested.Two fox friends are looking for their favorite hats for Hat Day. Archie can’t find the hat he wants to wear. After a series of humorous events, Archie realizes his favorite hat, the one that looks exactly like his head, has been on his head all the time. The series is sure to be a hit with fans of Mo Willem’s Elephant and Piggie.
Lenny loves baseball and he loves reading in his Big Book of Baseball Facts. He wants to play in the big leagues one day. In his very first game a ball is hit to him, but Lenny hides behind his glove. Lenny decides that he loves reading about baseball, but he is not good playing at it. His dad says that he just needs to practice. Lenny’s dad helps Lenny practice catching pop flies. Lenny learns that he does not have to be great all of the time and at everything.
This graphic novel features some dark & difficult subjects including bullying, cyberbullying, and verbal and physical abuse. Naifeh handles it well and I think it will be enjoyed by mature middle school or high school readers. The book seems to be the first in a new series, setting the main character up as a problem-solver of the magical variety for people in need. In this first book, she reigns over the losers table in the lunchroom at school and reluctantly gets involved with halting a cyberbully called “shy_shelbi” who is encouraging & blackmailing for chaos in the guise of helping. Underlying storylines feature families with abuse secrets which give the whole book an edgy feel. I appreciated that even though some problems are solved, the characters realize that there are always consequences and unsolved issues – even with some positive outcomes. Life is not easy. The graphics are colorful and facial expressions are very expressive. Light & dark help handle the mood and the seriousness of some scenes.
Chipmunk lives on a rock and sings her songs everyday. Sometimes her songs are happy, sometimes bittersweet, and sometimes very sad. Rock is a very good listener, but Chipmunk longs for a friend to sing with her. So Chipmunk sets off to find a friend. First she tries a pinecone, but Pinecone ends up getting along with rock. Then she tries a log which then leads her to finding other friends.
The illustrations complement the text, especially the illustrations about the songs. The message that it is okay to express emotions and also a message of perseverance is important.
Maisie’s mom asks her to walk the dog – and Jonah, her younger brother in a wheelchair asks to go along too. While Maisie struggles with the dog and pushing the wheelchair, Jonah’s imagination brings the walk alive. From a tree of cats and bell machine, to a popsicle garden and a sky slide, Jonah shares his joy. As the walk progresses, Maisie begins to see the world through a more imaginative lens, changing a chore into something filled with fun and laughter.
I See You See is a celebration of imagination and the bond between siblings.
Like an ever-shifting scene in a kaleidoscope, the stories in this book have fragments in common – characters, themes, settings, objects. Each story starts with a kaleidoscopic image from a full drawing on the next page. Each image is related in some way to each story. Each story could be read separately. Taken together, they’re like a strand of unique beads on a very strange necklace. They go together, but it’s hard to find a common message. I enjoyed reading the stories. They were fantastical and strange and mysterious- each a little gem. I kept feeling like I was missing the bigger point of all of them put together however. The author’s note at the end explains that he had been working on a different project prior to the pandemic and then deconstructed it into these loosely connected stories during the quarantine. This makes sense, but in terms of handing this book to a middle schooler… I’m just not sure it’s going to make much sense. It might be an interesting book for a book group to discuss since the overall book still feels very mysterious & unexplained to me.
While the title suggests the childhood song Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, the story is instead built around the nursery rhyme, Star Light, Star Bright. A young boy wishes on a star while at the same time a star is wishing on a little kid. Both are disappointed when their wishes don’t come true.Each wonder about the other’s wish. Did they wish for checkers? A tent? A frisbee? Walkie-talkies? Clyde cannot figure out what the star wished for. Finally both realize they each wished for a friend. Together they enjoy checkers, a tent, frisbee, and the walkie talkies; never having to worry about a lack of a friend again.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Kid is a sweet story with charming illustrations that would do well as a bedtime story, but lacks the humor and kid appeal of Daywalt’s other books.
In book four of the Sunny graphic novel series, our main character anticipates a boring, unexciting summer after finding out her friends are going to be out of town but things change after she gets a job at the Golf and Swim Club snack stand. She makes friends that are older than her and sees others start relationships. This book is a light, fun graphic novel about friendship and being a tween. I would recommend it especially if you already have the first 3 books of the series.
This picture book discusses how even in a loud and overwhelming world if you take a moment to stop and listen you can hear the individual things around you. This book would be a great reminder to students to close their eyes and use their ears to move past the full force of one large cacophony of noise and give your full attention to something. This book has some very nice reference notes about listen.