Mom Read It

Animal Fiction, Preschool Reads, Uncategorized

The Queen’s Shadow combines fiction and non-fiction with tremendous art and story!

Posted on March 4, 2015March 3, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Queen’s Shadow: A Story About How Animals See, by Cybèle Young(Mar. 2015, Kids Can Press) $18.95, ISBN: 9781894786607

Recommended for ages 6-10

The Queen throws a fabulous royal ball, with food and entertainment, and society guests aplenty. All of a sudden, the lights go out! When the lights go back on, the Queen shrieks – someone has stolen her shadow! As she interrogates each of her animal guests, we learn exactly why they couldn’t have stolen the shadow – and each reason has to do with the ability to see.

First things first – the look of this book is just beautiful. The pen and ink illustrations have a classic feel, and the use of black and white paired with bright colors (via Photoshop) makes for stunning images with incredible depth.

Putting the science of vision in the context of a whodunit is such a great approach to storytelling. Kids will love the mystery that links the different animals’ stories together, and this unique approach to non-fiction/fiction storytelling will stick with them. This is a great choice for science classes and ELA alike. Children can expand on the story by thinking of additional animals, and whether or not they would be suspects (bring in some art for that one, break out the pencils and crayons!).

Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Seed is a chilling story about belief and the loss of innocence

Posted on March 4, 2015March 3, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Seed, by Lisa Heathfield (2015, Running Press) $16.95, ISBN: 978-0-7624-5634-5

Recommended for ages 13+

Fifteen year-old Pearl’s life revolves around Seed. It’s the community she was born into; a land where Nature provides everything she could ever dream of, where the Kindred – the grown men of the community – are like beloved uncles, and where their spiritual leader and father figure, Papa S., teaches them that Nature will provide for them and punish them, if necessary. The outside world is corrupt, but Nature will favor the residents of Seed – as long as they abide by Papa S.’s rules.

When an outside family seeks refuge at Seed, Pearl struggles to maintain her belief in Papa S., Seed, and Nature – but as events become more difficult to reconcile, things are getting more and more difficult for Pearl to believe. Pearl will discover that there are many secrets at Seed, but can she face living once she discovers what’s really going on?

The community at Seed goes beyond cult, beyond closed community. It’s a horrific combination of the two, a community where men use bullying, grooming, and most egregiously, faith, to create a life where women have no power and are victimized from the moment they reach sexual maturity. They withhold education and limit contact with the outside world, always watching, to make sure that the children of Seed abide by Papa S.’s rules – but really, to keep them in the dark so that they can feed them lies under the guise of religion.

I received an advanced reader copy of Seed from Running Press, and tore right in, finishing the book in three days. It is a book that evokes visceral reactions – I was upset, I was horrified, I was angry. I wanted these children to see the lies and manipulations and walk away, to find justice for themselves and anyone who suffered at the hands of their captors – because really, that’s what Papa S. and the so-called Kindred are.

The characters, dialogue, and story pacing will draw you in and won’t let you go until you turn that last page. Even then, this is not a book that you will walk away from lightly. It will leave you shaken and changed. It’s a book I want to see in teenagers’ hands and talked about in discussion groups. I want this book on library shelves and in librarian’s hands, making sure kids read it.

Seed is an important book for an age where people are still looking for something to believe in. Do not miss this book.

Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Teen, Tween Reads

Hinges, Book One: Clockwork City : a steampunk, fantasy fairy tale for all ages.

Posted on February 26, 2015February 25, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I recently read and reviewed the Image book, Hinges, Book One: Clockwork City for WhatchaReading, and had to crosslink here. This book is a gorgeously illustrated fantasy that kids, tweens, and teens will love.

Image is blowing my mind with the books they’re coming out with for all-ages. I love a good rated “T” or “M” book as much as the next comic book fan, but when there’s an intelligent, beautiful-looking book available for kids, I am all over it. We all started reading comics when we were kids, and we need to keep finding books that elevate the dialogue and bring them more into the fold. Hinges, Book 1: Clockwork City is one of those books.

A doll named Orio arrives in the city of Cobble. She has to choose a familiar, called an Odd, and it looks like one of the Odds has its eye on her. Bauble, who kinds of reminds me of Stitch from Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, makes sure he ends up with Orio – to the displeasure of a few of the people she encounters.

Check out the rest of my review on WhatchaReading!

Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Teen, Tween Reads

HowToons shows how makerspaces will save the world – A WhatchaReading Review!

Posted on February 25, 2015February 25, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Everyone’s talking about STEM these days – or STEAM, depending on which library or classroom you’re hanging out in. What’s STEM? It’s the new thing for education – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (with an “A” for Art, if you’re talking STEAM). It’s going beyond the three “Rs” to get kids ready for this crazy future we’re heading toward. It’s LEGO Robotics, it’s NASA mentors for kids, it’s teaching kids to code in languages like HTML, Python, and Ruby on Rails.

Beyond that, it’s starting with what’s around you. I had a duct tape crafting workshop at my library that the kids went berserk for. We made wallets, change pouches, even little mustaches on popsicle sticks. If you don’t have funky, leopard-spotted duct tape, you can still make stuff – show me one home that doesn’t have a roll of duct tape laying around, right? With that base, you can create.

And that is the idea that HowToons works with. HowToons is more than a comic, it’s a movement. It’s taking comics one step further and bringing kids into the adventure, by creating a story that shows kids how to create – using things around them – to save their own world.

Read the rest of my review over at WhatchaReading!

gaming, geek, geek culture

The Family That Geeks Together – TableTop Gaming

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I wrote a piece on tabletop gaming for WhatchaReading recently, that’s received some great feedback. I thought I’d post the article here, too, especially with a lot of my readers being librarians and parents, and get some more input.

My 11 year-old son, Alex, and I hang out a lot together. I introduced him to Doctor Who, the Batman ’66 TV series, and Batman’s The Killing Joke; he introduced me to tabletop gaming. We’d played Clue, Monopoly, and Trouble until I thought I was going to weep, and even though we learned how to play Magic a few years ago at New York Comic Con, one game could get so bogged down that I kind of shied away from gaming. That changed last Christmas, when my brother-in-law gave Alex Munchkin, the card game where you loot the treasures, kill the monsters, and stab your buddy. He was immediately hooked. Next thing I knew, he was an authority in the making on tabletop gaming. He introduced me to Wil Wheaton’s TableTop web series. He collected different Munchkin games. We went to New York Comic Con together, and he showed me Fluxx, King of New York, and other tabletop games. We went home and played Munchkin with my 15 year-old, and we had a blast. I was hooked.

Many Munchkin games later, we’ve expanded to include Cthulhu Fluxx, Machi Koro, Sushi Go, and We Didn’t Playtest This At All. We go at each other, talking smack and trying to trip each other up, laughing and talking about everything – school, books, crazy members of the family – as we go along. Tabletop gaming has given me a great way to tighten my relationship with my kid as he enters – shudder – puberty; it’s “our thing”: something that’s for us, we have together. Alex is a gamer, not really a talker, but if we’re playing Machi Koro, and something’s on his mind, it’ll come up as we’re stealing one another’s resources to build our city. If his brothers are driving him crazy, I’ll hear about it as he’s attacking a monster during a round of Munchkin. He’s relaxed. I’m relaxed. If we can defeat Cthulhu and find the Necronomicon, dealing with a 2 year-old who’s sticking fruit snacks in your hair is a piece of cake.

Alex’s influence has spread to my library, where I just started a Tabletop Gaming club. Our first session, I had six kids and a parent show up to play another Fluxx game, Oz Fluxx. These kids had a BLAST. It exceeded my wildest hopes, because I haven’t had a lot of geekery catch fire with the kids at the library these days. When I finished the “learning round”, as I called the first game, they immediately asked for another round. I handed off the deck to the dad who sat in, who was more than happy to take over as game leader.

Gaming works. It gets kids thinking strategically, using numbers, words, reasoning. It helps them plan, it helps them understand cause and effect. Candyland and Chutes and Ladders, TiddlyWinks, Break the Ice – start playing with the little ones early. You can start when they’re about 3. But when they’re as young as 5, you can start teaching them Magic – it’s how Alex became more comfortable with numbers as a Kindergartener. I have a 6 year old in my Fluxx group at the library, and she was the kid who won the game. Her proud dad was the dad who joined my group, and he can’t wait until next week, when the group meets again. Gaming brings people together, so why wouldn’t it bring parents and kids together? It’s one of the few times they can oppose you without grief, right?

Now I’m scouring Kickstarter for new games to bring home, and to my library. I’ve got 3 in the hopper now: Gryphon Games’ 12 Days of Christmas and King’s Kilt, and Exploding Kittens, by Ellan Lee, Shane Small, and The Oatmeal’s Matthew Inman. Which also happens to be the most-backed Kickstarter EVER. Once I get these, I’ll make sure to report back.

In the meantime, what are YOU guys playing? I’d love to hear about it. Weigh in on Twitter, or in the comments below!

This article appeared on WhatchaReading on 2/21/15.

Early Reader, Preschool Reads

Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs is a laugh-out-loud retelling (that every mom will love)!

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs, by Davide Cali (April 2015, Tundra Books) $17.99, ISBN: 9781770497634

Recommended for ages 3-8

In this hilarious retelling of the classic fairy tale, Snow White escapes the Evil Queen, and ends up at a house that belongs to 77 dwarfs. They let her stay on the proviso that she helps with the chores. For 77 little men. Not only does she have to remember everyone’s name, but she’s got to do their laundry, help with their grooming, tell every single one of them their own, personal bedtime story, referee all the quibbling – is being on the run really worth this, Snow?

Every mother will appreciate this, whether she’s wrangling multiple children, hosting a playdate, or acting as class mom. I’ve got three kids, and on some days, I swear there are 77. Snow White, I’m right there with you.

This book is adorable, with bright, cartoony illustrations that kids and grownups alike will enjoy. Snow White’s expressions are priceless (and oh, so recognizable), and the multitude of dwarfs, with all their word balloons, will strike a chord with any parent whose found themselves surrounded by children.

Look at me, I’m reviewing this book for parents. But we’re the ones who read them first, so why not? Kids will love this book because it’s flat-out funny, with eye-catching art. They’re most likely already familiar with the story of Snow White, so they’ll have a good frame of reference for Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs. And if you read this book as dramatically as I plan to? You’re going to have a lot of giggles and cries of, “Again! Again!” This is going into my bedtime rotation and my storytime rotation. Don’t miss this book.

Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Seti’s Charm starts off an exciting middle school adventure series!

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Seti’s Charm: A Max Carter Adventure, by Chris Everheart (2014, Yellow Rocket Media) $12.99, ISBN: 9780985912581

Recommended for ages 9-12

Fourteen year-old Max Carter has lived with his grandfather since being orphaned at a young age. He adores his grandfather, and works alongside him in the family Egyptology museum, with plans to be an archaeologist himself one day. When smugglers attack the museum, putting his grandfather in the hospital and burning the museum to the ground, Max knows he has to recover the funeral charm of Pharaoh Seti I from the thieves and see it safely back to Egypt. Max seemingly has all the odds against him – his grandfather’s younger wife wants to see him sent to military school and the museum sold off for good, and the thieves – whom Max traces to a tropical island – certainly aren’t going to make it easy for him.

This is a great middle grade adventure. We’ve got a young hero who will appeal to Alex Rider fans, with a touch of Indiana Jones to spark some interest. There’s intrigue, action, and enough Egyptian history in here to give readers a beginning foundation of Ancient Egyptian funeral rites, which will make the next family trip to the museum a lot of fun. (Possible spoiler alert: I found myself wondering if a character was going to get his or her brains pulled out through his or her nose at one point, so I may spend a little too much time on that sort of thing.) English teachers and school librarians, this would be a good book to talk up during a history class unit on Ancient Egypt.

Chris Everheart’s author page has information about his books, plus links to his bio, blog, and events.

Early Reader, Toddler Reads, Uncategorized

Time Together: Me and Grandpa evokes sweet memories for kids and grandparents

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Time Together: Me and Grandpa, by Maria Catherine/illus. by Pascal Campion (Mar. 2015, Capstone) $8.95, ISBN: 9781479557967

Recommended for ages 3-7

Morning reading time. Whispery fish time. Ultimate nap time. Close your eyes and see the images these words evoke, and you have the essence of Me and Grandpa, a sweet litany of different “times” children spend with their grandfathers. The images are bright, yet subdued, feature boys and girls from multiethnic backgrounds, and there is one spread dedicated to each setting. There are active and passive activities, from playing a sport or gardening to relaxing, reading the morning paper or cuddling for an afternoon nap.

The digital images are vivid, with splashes of realistic touches that look like paint or sponge art, creating a multilayered appearance. Text is black or white, depending on the background, distinguishing itself but never taking over the spread, allowing for a gentle read and contemplation of each image and moment with a grandparent.

They’re great books for a grandpa/child storytime, and a perfect gift to either a grandparent from a child, or vice versa. Libraries, plan your Grandparent’s Day/Mother’s Day/Father’s Day events around this one.

A companion book, Time Together: Me and Grandma, also by Maria Catherine/Pascal Campion, will be released on March 1st.

Uncategorized

My mistake – Finishing School HAS NOT BEEN DISMISSED!

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Yesterday, I posted a review for Gail Carriger’s Waistcoats & Weaponry, mentioning that this was the final chapter in the Finishing School series. Thankfully, I was wrong, as fellow librarian Jenna Goodall and Gail Carriger herself let me know!

Now that I’ve fangirled properly over receiving a Tweet from Gail Carriger, I send huge thank-yous to Jenna Goodall and Ms. Carriger for enlightening me. Back to awaiting Prudence, and now, Manners and Mutiny!

Fantasy, Fiction, Steampunk, Teen

All Hail Gail Carriger! Waistcoats and Weaponry concludes the Finishing School saga!

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Waistcoats & Weaponry, by Gail Carriger (2014, Little Brown Books for Young Readers), $18, ISBN: 9780316190275

Recommended for ages 13+

If there is one writer I fangirl for these days, it’s Gail Carriger. I discovered her Parasol Protectorate series a few years ago, and was immediately hooked. There’s paranormal adventure, steampunk fabulousness, including airships, mechanicals, and loaded parasols, and most importantly, fierce fashion. And tea. A lot of tea. What’s not to love?

When she announced she was writing a YA series that takes place in the Parasol Protectorate universe, I was jubilant. The Finishing School series: Etiquette & Espionage, Curtsies & Conspiracies, and now, Waistcoats & Weaponry, take place at a finishing school for young ladies. But it’s not just any finishing school: the ladies are taught to be covert assassins as easily as they’re taught to properly bat their eyelashes and set a proper table. If you’ve been following the series, you know that Sophronia left off with a pretty major benefactor last book. He’s alluded to here in Waistcoats, but Sophronia is front and center in this book. She’s working out her feelings for both her friend, Soap, and Felix, a wealthy Duke’s son who’s been flirting outrageously with her. She’s still trying to figure out what Monique – and, by extension, a vampire hive – is up to. And when family drama strikes at her friend Sidheag, she has to be there for her. She’s got a full plate, and watching her juggle it is nothing short of brilliant.

I love Sophronia, and seeing her develop as a character throughout these three books has been a delight. She goes from being a headstrong young girl who likes to find out how things work, to a headstrong, determined young woman who exudes an air of polish when she needs to, but is never afraid to pull on a pair of trousers (gasp!) and get right into the thick of things to find out what she needs to know. She’ll take on a vampire or a werewolf if it means helping her friends, but she’ll always think things through and try to come to the best situation for everyone involved. It’s also tremendous fun to see the storylines developed in The Parasol Protectorate come full circle here; Finishing School takes place about 15-20 years before, and events discussed in the first series find their origins here, as do several key characters.

I’m sad to see Finishing School dismissed, but I can’t wait for Prudence, her new series, to hit stores next month. Pick up the Finishing School series. You’ll be so glad you did. And make sure to stop by the Finishing School website, where you can take some lessons of your own, and download an educator’s guide to the series. THERE’S AN EDUCATOR’S GUIDE TO THIS SERIES. Why wasn’t I taught this stuff in high school?!