Tag: conflict resolution

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Happy Book Birthday, Somewhere in Between!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Somewhere in Between, by Laan Cham, (July 2024, Random House), $18.99, ISBN: 9780593651568

Ages 4-7

Once upon a time, a child fell from the sky and make two friends who didn’t get along. Pink, a little girl, arrives in a bright, colorful placed called the Land of Sunshine, where a friendly creature named Fireball welcomes her and shows her around, but cautions Pink never to visit the nearby glacier; he tells her it’s “full of trolls”. Pink’s interest piqued, she finds a way onto the glacier where she meets Snowball, a friendly snow-person, and sets off on a day of play until Fireball sees her and begins arguing with Snowball. Determined to make her new friends get along, Pink creates her own Pink Land and invites the two new friends to visit, where they discover that they enjoy playing together after all. A playful story about friendship, jealousy, and conflict resolution, kids will easily relate to Pink’s dilemma as she tries to negotiate friendship with two bickering parties. Cham incorporates word bubbles and graphic novel-like panels into her narrative storytelling, giving readers multiple points of interest. The chibi-like digital illustrations are colorful and adorable; immediately eye-catching for readers and varying size fonts convey emotion and emphasis. Endpapers include extra details, including Pink’s explosive arrival and later, band-aids crossed over her entry point as she frolics with Snowball, Fireball, and her little rock friends. Kids will clamor for this sweet story.

Laan Cham is a first-generation Singaporean-British-American illustrator from New Jersey who currently lives in Vancouver. Somewhere in Between is her author-illustrator debut, and she is the illustrator of the forthcoming chapter book series Camp Scream.

Posted in picture books

Kitchen Side Story: Food Fight, by Alex Latimer

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Food Fight, by Alex Latimer, (March 2023, Kane Miller), $15.99, ISBN: 9781684644957

Ages 4-7

Mushroom and Grape are best friends, but theirs is a forbidden friendship: vegetables and fruits just don’t like each other. Things get pretty heated between the two groups, so Mushroom and Grape sneak off to figure out how to bring their two groups together, and Mushroom has a suggestion: seek out the Wise Old Cheese, long rumored to be at the top of the fridge where no one goes. The friends go on an epic journey to seek his wisdom and bring it back to heal the long-simmering feud. Filled with food puns, this story is all about friendship and conflict resolution, with a colorful cast of expressive fruits and vegetables. Googly white eyes and stick arms and legs make the cartoony foods as fun as they are recognizable. Front endpapers show the two food groups at odds with one another: Carrot and Banana face off with boxing gloves, Banana sporting a black eye; Cucumber threatens Orange with a grater, and Mushroom and Grape stand sadly in the middle of the fray. On the back endpapers, all is well: bathing suit-clad Pineapple and ONion frolic through a sprinkler; Pear paints a portrait of Potato, Orange presents Cucumber with a birthday cake, and Mushroom and Grape happily wave to the reader, arms wrapped around each other. A cute additional purchase where friendship and kindness stories (like the Summer Reading Theme, All Together Now!) do well.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Otters vs Badgers: Yummy food is the great equalizer

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Otters vs. Badgers, by Anya Glazer, (Aug. 2022, Kane Miller), $14.99, ISBN: 9781684644117

Ages 4-7

Otters and badgers live on either side of a shared river, but they do NOT get along until Francie, a shy otter who loves to bake delicious treats, accidentally ends up in badger territory on a quest to find new ingredients. The resulting kerfuffle can only be resolved with Francie’s delicious baked goods! Glazer spins an amusing tale of sharing and finding common ground that readers will appreciate. Cartoon animals communicate outside of the omniscient narrator through speech bubbles, making for a fun readaloud. Anthropomorphic characters sport scarves and bowties, carry babies in slings, and wear hats. Francie has a wooden spoon tucked behind one ear and rocks a striped apron. Endpapers are striped to match Francie’s apron. The fun resolution shows readers that you don’t have to agree on every single thing to get along. A good book to read as kids head back to the classroom, or enter classrooms for the first time.

Posted in Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction

Got a mystery? Julieta’s on the case!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Julieta and the Diamond Enigma, by Luisana Duarte Armendáriz, (June 2020, Lee & Low Books), $18.95, ISBN: 9781643790466

Ages 8-12

Winner of the 2018 Lee & Low/Tu Books New Visions Award, Julieta and the Diamond Enigma is a fun whodunit with a smart heroine who has a penchant for finding trouble. Julieta is the nine-year-old daughter whose parents both work at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (BFA). Her mom is due to give birth to her baby brother soon, and her dad, an art handler, needs to fly to Paris to collect pieces for a new BFA exhibit. After some great Paris sightseeing, Julieta and her dad are ready to pack up and head home – until she and her dad walk in on a burglar stealing the prized Regent Diamond! The diamond was going to be a key piece in the BFA exhibit, and all eyes are on Julieta’s father. Julieta starts putting together some clues, desperate to save her father’s job and reputation, all the while hoping they can get home in time to be there when her baby brother is born. With nods to to Greek mythology (especially the goddess Athena) and smartly placed clues that will lead readers to the answers alongside Julieta, this is a fun cozy mystery for burgeoning whodunit fans. Museum fans will love seeing what goes on behind closed museum doors – a realistic Night at the Museum, so to speak. I loved reading about Julieta’s goofing around with her parents in the museum and Back matter has the true story of the Regent Diamond, the goddess Athena, the art mentioned in Julieta and the Diamond Enigma, and a handy glossary of terms. A note at the beginning of the book has a helpful glossary of Spanish and French words, as words and phrases come up during the course of the story. A great book to introduce to readers that are moving from intermediate chapter books to more detailed middle grade fiction.

 

Posted in Fiction, Intermediate

The Major Eights: New intermediate series for girls who wanna rock!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Major Eights: Battle of the Bands, by Melody Reed/Illustrated by Émile Pépin, (Jan. 2018, little bee books), $5.99, ISBN: 978-1-4998-0564-2

Recommended for readers 6-8

Jasmine, Maggie, Becca, and Scarlet are four eight year-old friends who love rocking out together, even if their bands major gigs are happening in one another’s basements. Jasmine’s competitive streak gets the best of her when she enters the girls into a Battle of the Bands happening at the Fall Festival – and now they all have to learn how to really play and sing, AND come up with a song to perform!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the formation of The Major Eights: a fun new intermediate series about four friends who navigate friendship and music together. Books look like they will spotlight one character – in Battle of the Bands, it’s Jasmine; in the next book, Scarlet’s Big Break, it will be Scarlet – and bring the group together to help the character achieve her goal. The story is heavy on friendship and working together, with some conflict resolution to help the characters grow. The characters are multicultural. Black and white illustrations keep the pace moving for younger readers who are getting used to longer chapter books.

Battle of the Bands is a fun, easy read for chapter book readers. Test these out with your Ivy and Bean and Jasmine Toguchi readers, and tie a fun reading group activity into it, like band poster contest or a talent show.

Posted in Animal Fiction, Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate

Detective Gordon and Buffy the Mouse are on the case

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

detgordon_acaseinanycase_cover_lrDetective Gordon: A Case in Any Case, by Ulf Nilsson/Illustrated by Gitte Spee, (Mar. 2017, Gecko Press), $16.99, ISBN: 9781776571086

Recommended for readers 6-8

Swedish author Ulf Nilsson’s third Detective Gordon series pairs the toad detective with his mouse sidekick for a very important case and a little bit of a misunderstanding. Detective Gordon has taken a break – he may have retired – and Buffy is holding down the fort in his absence, until she has to call him out of retirement when two schoolchildren go missing. Buffy has her own way of doing things, and Detective Gordon has his own way of doing things; the friends have a misunderstanding, but put aside their differences to work on what’s important. After the case is solved, they resolve their own differences.

This was my first Detective Gordon book. You don’t need to have read the previous books; readers can jump right in and follow the Detective and Buffy’s adventure. It’s a great next step for Frog and Toad readers, with a similarly tender pace and narration. Nilsson creates an adventurous subplot for the two missing kindergarten children, who want to create the steps that bring one of their favorite storybooks to life; he also explores themes of friendship, conflict resolution, teamwork, and talking things over. Gitte Spee’s soft colors and gentle characters will attract readers who love a good animal tale. This makes a good read-aloud selection, too, with many discussion topics to introduce to the kids in your classroom, library, and home.

Detective Gordon: A Case in Any Case received a starred review from School Library Journal.

Posted in Animal Fiction, Early Reader, Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Intermediate

Ape and Armadillo TAKE OVER THE WORLD… Maybe.

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

ape-arm_1Ape and Armadillo Take Over the World, by James Sturm (Sept. 2016, TOON Books), $12.95, ISBN: 978-1-943145-09-6

Recommended for ages 6-8

Ape and Armadillo want to take over the world, but the whole plan seems a lot more fun for Armadillo – the ringleader, naturally – than it will be for Ape. While Armadillo gets to sneak in and get all the work done, Ape is stuck fighting spitting serpents, an army of robots, and escape through sewer tunnels – YUCK! Armadillo needs to learn how to compromise, or he may lose a friend and fellow Agent of Evil.

Kids will love this graphic novel that touches on a situation very familiar to kids: the bossy friend who wants everything done his or her way. Ape decides that he’s not going to be the flunky any more, and Armadillo has to adjust his own point of view and work – together with Ape – on a game that they can both play and enjoy equally. It’s a fun resolution, loaded with armor, magic wands, magical creatures, and butter pecan ice cream. Secondary Ape and Armadillo comics run at the bottom of each page, providing more insight into these characters and leaving me hoping we’ll meet this dynamic duo in more adventures to come.

ape-arm_2

This is a good book to use when talking about feelings and playing nicely with others; the dialogue and art treats the audience respectfully and examines a potentially frustrating situation with honesty and humor. It’s a TOON Level 3 book, considered a chapter book comic for advanced beginners, so ages 6 and up will dig right in. TOON includes parent resources at the end of each book, including tips on reading comics with your kids, and levels breakdown: Lexile, Guided Reading, and Reading Recovery, and appropriate grades. There’s a Teacher’s Guide in progress, so check the Ape & Armadillo page on the TOON site to get yours when it’s ready.

I love James Sturm’s books. He just knows how to create great stories for kids, and get his messages across in a fun, bold way. He’s also written the Little Knight books with his fellow Adventures in Cartooning compatriots, and he’s written Birdsong: A Story in Pictures for TOON.