Mom Read It

Mashup Mania! Monsterville meets the Accidental Pirates!

Posted on June 18, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Who doesn’t love a good mashup? It can be Darth Vader riding an AT-AT a la Napoleon (it exists, and I have it on a shirt) or Sherlock Holmes meeting The Doctor, or it can be Loki sitting on an Iron Throne made of everything he took from the Avengers; mashups are just fun ways of bringing some of your favorite characters and fandoms, that may otherwise never meet, together.

Ript Apparel, supplier of many of my geeky tees, offered this shirt in 2012.

So tonight, when I was going through old e-mails, imagine my surprise when I came across an email from Sarah Reida, author of Monsterville, telling me that she co-authored a middle grade mashup with Claire Fayers, author of Voyage to Magical North. (And then imagine my mortification when I saw that the email was 2 months old. I have got to go back to my old “keep your inbox as to-do list” mentality; filing emails is just not working for me.)

Image courtesy of The Children’s Book Review

How cool is this? It’s a mashup of two great middle grade novels that I read and enjoyed this year, and it’s something I can share with my library kiddos! Follow That Island! is available on the Children’s Book Review website and is a fun little side adventure, conveniently available as a downloadable PDF; at 16 pages, it’s a perfect quick read, a tease for kids who are waiting for a sequel to Monsterville, or who have just finished Voyage to Magical North and Journey to Magical Island, and aren’t ready to let the adventure end. I’ll be introducing this to my group for Summer Reading in the next couple of weeks – I’m trying out a writer’s workshop, where I’ll illustrate different types of storytelling, and the mashup will fit perfectly into one of my sessions. Hope you and yours enjoy it as much as I do.

Preschool Reads, programs

Guest post from Education.com: Pre-K Shapes Activity!

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I was so excited when Shannon from Education.com contacted me and asked me if I’d be interested in featuring a guest blog post with an activity! I’m always looking for something fun to do at home with my (graduating) preschooler and my library kids, and this fun shapes/geometry activity is simple, requires few materials, and is fun. Pair it with a fun shape story like Suse MacDonald’s Shape by Shape, or one of my more recent favorites, Mac Barnett’s Triangle, and you’re set. Enjoy the activity, and check out Education.com’s Geometry Resources for tracing, coloring, and game-creating activities!

Create Spectacular Shape Stick Puppets!

Puppets are great resources to help kids act out their own stories or re-enact stories from a favorite book. This activity lets your kid in on the fun by introducing her to a simple puppet-making activity. Large craft sticks can easily be formed into shape puppets of the characters in The Three Little Pigs so that she can act out her own version after watching the Speakaboos video. This is a great opportunity to bring out the performer in your child!

What You Need:
Thick paper, like cardstock
Construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Pencil
Crayons
Large craft sticks
Tape
What You Do:
Help your child trace a large circle onto the cardstock with a pencil. An easy way to create a circle template is to turn a bowl upside down on top of the paper and trace around the rim. Cut the circle out. Cardstock or other sturdy paper may be too thick for your child to cut by herself, so be ready to assist if needed. Cut out a variety of shapes in different sizes from the construction paper with your child. Triangles, rectangles, circles, squares, or even free-form shapes are perfect for the puppets’ features. Have your child decide on a character (animal or person) for the puppet. Ask your child to choose shapes that will make up the various facial features of the chosen subject. Discuss what the different parts of the face are, and how many of each shape she will need. Glue the shapes onto the circle. Allow the glue to dry. Once dry, your child can add small details with crayons. These details may include eyelashes, whiskers, a beard, spots, or stripes. Attach a large craft stick to the back of the circle with tape.

What’s Going On:
Your child is now ready to have her own fanciful puppet show! Encourage your preschooler to put on plays and create simple stories with her stick puppets. And to make it more of an event, you can even build a puppet theater for an expressive dramatic play experience.

What’s Going On? Puppet shows and puppet-making inspire artistic creativity, movement, and dramatic play while also enhancing your child’s fine motor skills and her understanding of the visual and dramatic arts. Working with puppets also has the benefit of letting her make creative play with literacy and sequencing skills, both of which are important for reading comprehension later on. The shape stick puppet activity is also a great way to encourage early math skills such as shape recognition and the part-to-whole relationship.

Visit Education.com for more learning resources, searchable by subject and grade! Thanks to Shannon and Education.com for the guest post.

Adventure, Espionage, Middle School, Tween Reads

Chris Bradford’s Bodyguard series: a good series for Alex Rider fans

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

As pop culture phenomenons get younger, the need for these teens can only increase. From pop stars and young stars and starlets to trust fund kids and scions of political powerhouses, everyone is a potential target. Now, imagine if there were an elite team of teens that receive Special Forces training to be that next line in defense. They’re trained to blend in with the crowd, to be a member of an entourage; they’re trained to protect. The teens of Guardian are a private, elite force, and Connor Reeves is their newest member.

Bodyguard is an interesting series. Part Alex Rider, part Jack Bauer from 24, it’s the story of 14 year-old Connor Reeves, a new recruit to the Guardian organization. Most of the first book chronicles Connor’s recruitment and training, with an interesting subplot that frames the series on a larger level. There’s a big terror plot afoot, and a Yemeni group is behind it, creating havoc on each of Connor’s missions as they progress toward their as-yet unknown greater goal. The first four books chronicle Connor’s first two missions; each mission spans two novels. In the first two books, Recruit and Hostage, Connor is sent to protect the US President’s headstrong, rebellious daughter; in Hijack and Ransom, he and a fellow Guardian protect an Aussie media mogul’s daughters as they vacation on their luxury yacht.

The writing is fast-paced and action-packed, with interesting characters and the potential for an exciting conclusion to this building subplot. I had some issues with the author’s initial descriptions of the terrorists, though: it’s a bit discomfiting, especially for someone like me, who works in one of the most diverse library systems in the country. Happily, Bradford puts more emphasis on plot development as the novels progress. Connor tends to come across as a white knight, and Bradford needs to let his female characters breathe a little more, but overall, this is a good middle school-level series for kids who wants to read a series similar to Alex Rider.

Chris Bradford’s Bodyguard series was originally released in the UK; the first four books are available in the States now, with three more to come. The Bodyguard series webpage offers a rundown on the books, plus audio excerpts; bodyguard training tips, and a teacher’s guide for the series.

Want a shot at winning your own BODYGUARD set? Enter my raffle by filling out this Google Form! Good luck!

Bodyguard: Recruit, by Chris Bradford, (May 2017, Philomel), $8.99, ISBN: 9781524736972
Bodyguard: Hostage, by Chris Bradford, (May 2017, Philomel), $8.99, ISBN: 9781524736996
Bodyguard: Hijack, by Chris Bradford, (May 2017, Philomel), $8.99, ISBN: 9781524737016
Bodyguard: Ransom, by Chris Bradford, (May 2017, Philomel), $8.99, ISBN: 9781524737030

Conferences & Events

Book Expo ’17: The Rundown

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The past couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur: I started at my new library (still in the same library system, new community), went to BookExpo, spent four days getting our library, which had been closed for renovations, ready for reopening, and sadly, dealing with the loss of a friend. The next week and a half brings three graduations and the start of Summer Reading. I will be drinking a lot of coffee.

It’s about two weeks in the past, but this year’s BookExpo America deserves some love. Here are some highlights:

The children’s author dinner at the Princeton Club was wonderful. The author lineup was fantastic: Byron Pitts (Be the One: Six True Stories of Teens Overcoming Hardship with Hope); Tochi Onyebuchi (Beasts Made of Night); Mitali Perkins (You Bring the Distant Near); author and illustrator husband and wife powerhouse Lesa Cline-Ransome and James E. Ransome (Before She Was Harriet), Dusti Bowling (Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus), and Mo Willems (Welcome). Each author (and illustrator) spoke about their books, and the publishers were kind enough to provide tote bags and copies of each book, which the authors graciously signed after their panel.

Every author and illustrator spoke with such passion about their book; I wanted to go home and read them all in one night. They’re currently waiting for me to get to them – more to come. Mo Willems taught us how to draw Piggie, from Elephant and Piggie, and I even found the power of speech to speak with him about the power of using the Pigeon when running a storytime workshop for parents a couple of years ago. What an evening.

Getting to sit in on Holly Black and Ryan Graudin’s talk about their upcoming books, The Cruel Prince (Holly Black) and Invictus (Ryan Graudin). Ryan Graudin talked about the influence of her Doctor Who fandom in writing this new novel, which shot it immediately up on my TBR. Holly Black could write the ingredients on a box of toothpaste, and I’d wait in line to read it. Both ladies were funny – Holly Black discussing her deadlines was laugh-out-loud hilarious – and engaging, and I’m thrilled that I got to see them.

The signings! So many book signings! I tried to make as many as I could. There were tons of in-booth signings as well as the ticketed signings, making authors really accessible to everyone.
Discovering new books by smaller presses. I love to discover what the smaller and indie presses are putting out there.
Getting a shout-out from Gabrielle Union when she made an obscure DC Comics character reference and I whooped. Come on, when someone makes a Mr. Mxyzptlk reference, you acknowledge that. She appeared on a grown-up book panel (I know! I even got big girl books!) along with Kate Moore (Radium Girls), Zoe Quinn, who tackles GamerGate and cyberstalking and cyberbullying in Crash Override, librarian extraordinaire Nancy Pearl, who’s written her first novel, George and Lizzie, Gabrielle Zevin (Young Jane Young), and Robin Sloan (Sourdough).

All in all, it was a good Expo.

Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

What’s hiding under The Suffering Tree?

Posted on June 13, 2017May 27, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Suffering Tree, by Elle Cosimano, (June 2017, Disney-Hyperion), $17.99, ISBN: 9781484726594

Recommended for ages 14+

After her father’s death and her family’s eviction, Tori Burns, her mother, and younger brother, Kyle, move from Washington DC to Chaptico, Maryland; a small town with a lot of history. She’s received an inheritance of a house and land from a man named the patriarch of the Slaughter family, one of the oldest families in the area – she’s never met him, never heard of him – and his family are none too happy with it. Tori is miserable in the new house and with the Slaughter family, who seize every opportunity to be spiteful to Tori and her mother. Tori learns more about the Slaughter family’s dark history – and the history of the mythical Chaptico witch – when Nathaniel Bishop claws his way out of a grave under the oak tree in her backyard. It’s no zombie movie: Bishop was an abused, indentured servant for the Slaughter family in the 18th century, and he’s been brought back for a purpose that hasn’t yet revealed itself. Tori shelters him in the shed on her property as she struggles to make sense of the weird dreams she’s having. As she and Nathaniel unravel their histories, Tori uncovers the Slaughters’ secrets, finding herself a part of the mystery.

The Suffering Tree is a paranormal mystery that hinges on self-harm. There’s blood magic throughout the book, and the entire plot is set into motion once Tori – who self-harms – spills her own blood on the property. With references to rape, abuse, racism, and slavery, this is a novel that tackles some very big issues. Tori emerges as a strong character who struggles with cutting as a way to deal with the pain of her father’s loss and more recent stresses as the novel unfolds. Her mother isn’t a strong character at all, preferring to handle her daughter’s psychological issues by asking her if she’s okay and suggesting therapy throughout the book.

Teens are going to love this one. There’s suspense and the pace is intense. Booktalk with historical YA mysteries, like the Jackaby series from William Ritter; Stefan Petrucha’s Ripper, and Stephanie Morrill’s The Lost Girl of Astor Street.

Early Reader, Fiction, Preschool Reads

Ozzy the Ostrich teaches kids to stand up to bullies

Posted on June 12, 2017April 6, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Ozzy the Ostrich, by José Carlos Andrés/Illustrated by Bea Enríquez, (June 2017, NubeOCHO), $15.95, ISBN: 978-8494541599

Animal Planet chapter books: Nonfiction Nibbles for intermediate readers

Posted on June 9, 2017April 4, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Animal Planet Chapter Books: Bugs (Book #3), by James Buckley Jr. (June 2017, Liberty Street), $5.95, ISBN: 978-1-68330-756-3

Call Me Sunflower explores alternative families

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Call Me Sunflower, by Miriam Spitzer Franklin, (May 2017, Sky Pony Press), $15.99, ISBN: 9781510711792

Recommended for ages 9-13

Sunflower Beringer can’t stand her first name, so she has everyone call her Sunny. And she really can’t stand that her mother uprooted her and her sister, and left their dad, Scott, back in New Jersey to run his bookstore while she attends grad school in North Carolina. Now they’re living with a grandmother they barely know, and she’s the new kid in school. Ugh. Sunny has to do something, so she creates Sunny Beringer’s Totally Awesome Plan for Romance”: a can’t-miss list of ways to bring her mom and Scott back together, including making playlists of Scott’s favorite songs and getting her mother a makeover. While she works on a family album that will remind Scott and Mom of when they were in love all over again, though, she discovers a picture that changes everything. A strong subplot involving animal rights activism and Sunny’s relationship with her grandmother really gives Call Me Sunflower depth.

I’m becoming a Miriam Spitzer Franklin fangirl. I loved Extraordinary (2015); in Sunny, I found many similiaries to Pansy, Extraordinary‘s protagonist. Both stories are realistic fiction, told in the first person, about girls dealing with big life changes. They have complicated friendships and they have both There are humorous moments, and each has a unique voice, a unique point of view; Ms. Franklin captures the frustrations, the fears, and the unique experience of being a tween in a relatable voice that readers will gravitate to. I love that she created an alternative family structure with an adoptive family outside the traditional husband-wife setting and gave us a family unit that is working it all out. I admit to being a little confused with Sunny’s birth story – she is adopted, but has pictures of her mother holding her at the hospital – but that’s likely because my own adoption experience happened differently. All in all, a bittersweet, tender look at families. Pair with realistic fiction like Death by Toilet Paper by Donna Gephart, Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm, and Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand.

Early Reader, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Preschool Reads

Surreal graphic novel fun for little ones: Adele in Sandland

Posted on June 5, 2017April 18, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Adele in Sandland, by Claude Ponti, (June 2017, TOON Books), $12.95, ISBN: 978-1-943145-16-4

Cheer Up, Ben Franklin! There’s a party coming soon!

Posted on June 1, 2017January 28, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Cheer Up, Ben Franklin!, by Misti Kenison, (July 2017, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), $9.99, ISBN: 9781492652472

Recommended for ages 0-3

Poor Ben Franklin is sad! No one has time to fly kites with him today. George Washington’s rallying his troops, Betsy Ross is sewing a flag, Sam Adams is throwing a tea party in Boston, and Alexander Hamilton is too busy counting money. What’s a Founding Father to do? Ben’s friends are sure to pull through in the end, with a signing of the Declaration and a big fireworks party to cheer him up in this fun, adorable book by Misti Kenison.

This is the cutest book for budding historians (and the adults who love them: one of my best friends is an historian who wrote her thesis on Franklin, and she loves this book). It’s great for toddlers who understand what a drag it is when no one can play with them, and the artwork is adorable. Ape this book up in storytime! Ben’s giant, mournful eyes will get sympathy from anyone, and the big fireworks party at the end is a great way to celebrate with an Independence Day storytime. Thanks to Ms. Kenison for, to paraphrase Abigail Adams, remembering the ladies! Including Betsy Ross and Abigail Adams is important, to illustrate to readers that women were indeed a big part of founding the United States of America.

A timeline at the end of the book goes from 1773, when Sam Adams organized the Boston Tea Party, through 1801, when Jefferson became President. Each historical figure mentioned in the book is briefly profiled here, too. A must-add to libraries, schools, and personal collections, and also a perfect gift for the Hamilton fans in your life.

Misti Kenison is a web/graphic designer and author/illustrator of the Tiny Traveler series. Visit Misti at her Tiny Traveler site to learn more about her books, and download some fun printables!