Government – Page 2 – Mom Read It

Forget Democrat or Republican, Vote SQUID!

Posted on February 8, 2016August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

President Squid, by Aaron Reynolds/Illustrated by Sara Varon (March 2016, Chronicle Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9781452136479

Recommended for ages 5-8

This is a big election year, so get read for tons of election books – we had the adorable Monster Needs Your Vote last year, which also taught young readers a little bit about the election process, and this year, we’ve got President Squid, by Aaron Reynolds and Sara Varon, two of my favorite authors/illustrators: Aaron Reynolds, who’s given us great books like Superhero School, Chicks and Salsa, and Creepy Carrots, and Sara Varon, who’s most recently re-published her all-ages graphic novel, Sweater Weather, along with favorites like Bake Sale and Odd Duck.

Squid has had a huge realization: There’s never been a giant squid president before! He’s more than ready and willing to take on the job, and he’s got five reasons why: He wears a tie (very presidential); he’s got a TITANIC house (get it? Titanic?); Presidents are famous (Squid has a book named after him, after all); they get to do all the talking, and most importantly, Presidents are the BIG BOSSES. Since Squid is pretty bossy, he’s a shoo-in, right? Well… maybe. When Squid realizes that being President is hard work, he sets his sights on an even bigger office.

Much like younger readers, Squid knows that being President is a big, important job, but he only sees the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. President Squid is good fun; a book that can start conversations as to what a President’s real duties are, as opposed to what Squid sees. You can even talk about why the President is considered a big boss; why does he wear a tie? What makes him famous, and what’s the name of the President’s big house? Homeschool Journeys has a great printable pack of election-related worksheets and activities that can accompany a reading of the story. Chronicle also has a free, downloadable activity kit to accompany President Squid, with printables that let you make your own election!

The ink and brush artwork on Bristol paper, colored in Photoshop, is fun and eye-catching. Black font is expressive and bold, making for a fun, easy-to-read storytime or independent reading selection.

Remember to Vote Squid (hey, you can even make up Monster vs. Squid election buttons for a book battle!) and add this to your collections if you’re looking for some fun, election-related books for younger readers.

Aaron Reynolds is a Caldecott honoree and New York Times bestselling author. Sara Varon is a recipient of a Sendak Award Fellowship and an Eisner nominee – together, they’re unstoppable!

Uncategorized

#Presidents: Follow the Leaders – A funny social media guide to the Presidents

Posted on September 19, 2015September 18, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

#presidents: Follow the Leaders, by John Bailey Owen (Aug. 2015, Scholastic), $9.99, ISBN: 9780545849388

Recommended for ages 8-13

Imagine for a minute, if all the Presidents – all 44 of them! – were on Twitter? And they could talk to one another? Can you imagine what you’d find out if you were able to follow them? That would be the best history lesson ever!

#presidents: Follow the Leaders does exactly that. We hear from the Presidents – and some Vice Presidents and First Ladies! – as they tell us a little bit about themselves and react to other Presidents. There are hilarious screen names, too: James Madison, our shortest President and the author of the Constitution, goes by @LILJCONSTITUTION; William Henry Harrison, who caught a cold during his inauguration speech and died after 32 days in office, can be found @ILLWILL_H. Bill Clinton can be found @CLINSTAGRAM, and our current Prez, Barack Obama, is @BAMIMOBAMA. We’ve got some guest stars, like the White House Pets, Camp David, the Secret Service, and the White House Chef, and the Rules of Running for President makes sure everyone knows how the process works.

There are profile pictures, hometowns, hilarious hashtags, even #tbt pictures. A timeline of the U.S. Presidency rounds out the book. It’s a fun companion to a kid’s history books, but make sure no one’s doing their history homework with this as their sole source of information (I can see some of my patrons trying it)!

Author John Bailey Owen is a humorist. His author website offers blog posts and links to his other books.

Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Uncategorized, Young Adult/New Adult

What do you NEED and what are you willing to do to have it?

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Need, by Joelle Charbonneau (Nov. 2015, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s), $17.99, ISBN: 9780544416697

Recommended for ages 13+

A social network promises you whatever you need – but nothing comes for free, and the teens at Wisconsin’s Nottawa High School discover just how far they are willing to go for concert tickets, gym equipment, or just the thrill of a mission. Kaylee Dunham, social outcast at Nottawa, needs a kidney for her sick brother, but she discovers pretty quickly that the site is causing havoc around her. When things turn deadly, Kaylee starts digging to find out who’s behind NEED, but what happens when you’re up against a social network that can send someone to kill you in exchange for someone’s greatest wish?

NEED is a fast-paced thriller that teens – boys and girls – will enjoy. Everyone’s life seems to revolve around a multitude of social networks, so joining one more – that promises to give you free stuff for just one little task – will click. The tasks start off almost innocuously – more like pranks, really – but as the situations escalate and everything starts falling into place, the book becomes tense and unputdownable. The pervasiveness of social media and a seemingly invisible antagonist who can contact you anywhere, anytime – and can assemble your own classmates against you – is truly unsettling.

NEED is a good addition to collections for fans of tech fiction and a good thriller. It also lends itself to a good discussion on wants versus needs.

Joelle Charbonneau is a New York Times bestselling author of the Testing trilogy. Her author website offers links to social media, information about her books and appearances, and a section dedicated to authors united in support of Ferguson, Missouri’s youth by supporting their library, which stayed open and provided a safe space for the community during the riots. NEED will be available in November 2015, but you can pre-order a signed copy from Ms. Charbonneau’s site.

Possible booktalk: Kaylee signs up for NEED because she wants a kidney for her sick brother. Other classmates sign up for NEED because they want material possessions like concert tickets and gym equipment. What is a want versus a need? If someone offered you the chance to have something you really wanted, but you had to complete an anonymous task, would you blindly do it? Would you question it at all? Is there always a price to pay for something that appears to be free?

Preschool Reads, Uncategorized

Hit the Election Trail with Monster Needs Your Vote!

Posted on August 14, 2015August 13, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Monster Needs Your Vote, by Paul Czajak/Illus. by Wendy Grieb (Aug. 2015, Mighty Media Kids), $16.95, ISBN: 978-1-938063-63-3

Recommended for ages 4-8

It’s election season, and Monster wants to get involved! He’s got a bunch of different platforms he supports – longer summers, dessert for dinner – but he quickly discovers a more important cause to stand for, and shows kids that no matter what your age, you can make a difference!

This latest book in author Paul Czajak’s Monster & Me series gives kids a glimpse into the election process – choosing a platform, the power of a grassroots movement, and the campaign trail, in particular. Monster’s focus on education and literacy makes this a great classroom and library read-aloud – never talking down to the youngest of readers, Czajak Grieb use rhyme and adorable, kid-friendly illustration in eye-catching, bright colors to talk to kids. A free, downloadable Campaign Kit from the publisher is loaded with great add-ons, including facts about Presidents and First Ladies, a political vocabulary sheet, Monster coloring sheets, and more.

The coming Presidential election is already heating up, with a huge primary on the horizon and a lot of passionate issues on the table. Monster Needs Your Vote is a valuable addition to educators and parents who want to get kids involved. I can’t wait to see what my preschoolers think of it (although I expect that dessert for dinner will be a key concern)! Monster gets my vote – I hope he gets yours!

Have a sneak peek at Monster Needs Your Vote right here, then hit that campaign trail!

Fiction, Middle School, Science Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigible, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human makes humans the invention.

Posted on March 29, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigble, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human, by L.A. Messina. Tater Tot Books (2014), eBook: $3.99 ISBN: 9780984901838

Recommended for ages 10-14

Henry is a young teen robot in his 13th upgrade. He’s not the popular kid at school, and he has a faulty processor that comes from a virus that attacked his system when he was younger. When his father’s boss shows up at their home one night with a new human model to test for the market, Henry is thrilled – his own human! But this human isn’t a slack-jawed, drooling blank slate like most humans are. This one makes up words, can do things without extensively detailed commands, and doesn’t want to sleep in his box because it’s not comfortable. At first, Henry is worried – what if this human goes berserk like the one that went on a rampage in his mother’s business? – but he comes to realize that the HueManTech ETC-420- GX-2, or “E”, as Henry calls him, is a very special model.

Unfortunately, Henry’s not the only one who thinks “E” is special, which leads to a taut race to unravel the truth about E, especially when the government begins showing an interest in E and Henry’s family.

The book starts out slow as Ms. Messina establishes the drudgery of Henry’s young teen life – mocked at school, boring job at his mother’s spa, Henry is the lonely kid who takes comfort in his comic books and video games, until something exciting – E’s arrival – sparks up his life. Even then, the narrative moves at a slower pace as Henry discovers how special E really is. But once the plot kicks into motion, involving the government and the origins for both E and Henry, the story moves at a great pace that kept me turning pages and wanting to know more.

The book, available via e-book format, is a good read for tweens and young teens. It provides a wealth of opportunities to discuss what would happen in a society where robots were on the top of things and humans were the creation; it also offers chances to discuss morality and the government. It would be a good discussion group story for educators to encourage among their students and patrons.

Lynn Messina’s website offers a book trailer for Henry, along with fun extras for readers.