BOOKS FOR CHILDREN: How do you know what's good?

While there are many places (especially on the internet) where you can read book reviews, how do you really know if it's a good book or not when a single book might receive anywhere from one to five stars?
The answer: read the reviews of a book-addicted teacher librarian.


NOTE:
** The age recommendations are guidelines only; whether or not a certain book is suitable for a particular child depends on multiple factors, including their maturity, reading level, interests, and in some cases their experiences.
** While the ratings are largely based on my own personal appreciation/enjoyment of the book, they are also influenced by my experiences as a teacher and the potential attraction for the target-aged child (acknowledging that what one child may love, another may find exceptionally boring). A rating of 5 indicates the book is likely to be popular with the majority.


Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Series: The Adventures of Captain Underpants (Jnr Fic)

AUTHOR: Dav Pilkey (Aust) PUBLISHED: 1997+

PLOT: Two fourth-grade boys hypnotise their principal and get him to believe that he is the hero of their own made-up comic book.

AGES: 7-8
GENRE: Humor, mild Adventure
RATING: 4 stars.

Series: Anthony Horowitz Horror (Fic)

AUTHOR: Anthony Horowitz (Aust) PUBLISHED: ~2000 SERIES: Anthony Horowitz Horror, by Orchard Books

PLOT: ("Scared"):
Contains three short stories. 1) Scared: Nature gets its revenge on an insolent teen boy. 2) A Career in Computer Games: A boy who does nothing but play computer games becomes trapped in one. 3) Howard's End: When Howard has a fatal accident, he thinks he's tricked his way into heaven. But has he?

Interestingly, all characters are rude, disrespectful, insolent, delinquent - perhaps some good moral lessons ;)

REVEW: They are similar to The Midnight Library series in that each book contains a few short stories.

AGES: Suggested for 11+ because of the horror themes.
GENRE: Horror, Thriller.
RATING: 5 stars.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Much Ado About Nothing (retold)

AUTHOR: retold by Andrew Matthews (UK/Aust) PUBLISHED: 2006
PAGES/ILL: ~ 55 pages, large font with sporadic pictures. SERIES: A Shakespeare Story by Orchard Classics

PLOT: Hero and Claudio are in love and plan to marry. At the same time, they plot to have Hero's friend Beatrice and Claudio's friend, Benedick, fall in love with each other.

REVIEW: A lovely introduction to Shakespeare; easy to understand, but keeping to the original in an engaging way.

AGES: 6+
GENRE: Humor, Historical, Classic.
RATING: 5 stars

The Graveyard Book (Fic)

AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman (UK)
PUBLISHED: 2008

PLOT: As his family are being murdered, a toddler wanders into a graveyard. Pursued by the murderer, the ghosts of the graveyard are charged with his safekeeping, and there he is raised.
As he grows, he learns about the other ghosts in the graveyard, the dangers in and out of the graveyard, ghouls, witches, himself, and his would-be murderer.

REVIEW: A wonderfully-written story that can make you laugh and cry.  It has horror themes, and might be genuinely scary for some children, but these parts are quickly resolved, and any conflict always ends on a high note.

This would be an ideal read-aloud for 7th or 8th grade.

AGES: 11+ (I'd hesitate before recommending this to under 11s or 12s - it really depends on the child's maturity and what they have previously read. This book is perfect for high school reluctant readers, with enough appeal to engage adults).
GENRE: Horror
RATING: 6 stars!!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Series: High School Musical (Fic)

AUTHOR: Helen Perelman (USA) PUBLISHED: ~2008

PLOT: The books tell various stories based on the characters created by Peter Barsocchini for the hit movies.

REVIEW: Will appeal to tweens because of links to the Disney movies.

AGES: 8-13. The thin plots and simple language will not appeal to more advanced readers.
GENRE: Realistic Fiction.
RATING: Personally, I'd give them 1 star, but they get 3 1/2 stars for their appeal to the target age group.

Series: The Ranger's Apprentice (Fic)

AUTHOR: John Flanagan (Aust)
PUBLISHED: 2004+
SERIES: The Ranger's Apprentice
FIRST BOOK: The Ranger's Apprentice

PLOT: Will is small for his age, but agile and energetic. All his life, he has dreamed of becoming a great knight like the father he never knew, so he is devastated when he is rejected as an apprentice to Castle Redmont's Battleschool. Instead he is apprenticed to Halt, the mysterious Ranger whose uncanny ability to move unseen is thought to be the result of black magic. Reluctantly, Will learns to use a Ranger’s secret weapons: a bow and arrow, a mottled cloak and a stubborn little pony. It may not be the sword and battlehorse he longs for, but when Will and Halt set out on a desperate mission to prevent the assassination of the King, Will finds that a Ranger’s weapons are not so useless after all . . .

REVIEW:
The author wrote the series for his 12 year old son (who was apparently very small) to show him that you don't need to be big and buff to be extraordinary. Issues dealt with include orphanage, responsibility, death, war, friendship, trust, bullying, overcoming adversity.

Links to a website, and the books are also available as e-books. At the date of this post, a movie is in the works.

A good one to start out with if children aren't sure if they enjoy the fantasy genre or not.

AGE: Average reading age would be 10+. Exciting enough to engage adults as well as children.
GENRE: Fantasy, Adventure
RATING: a strong 5 stars

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Series: The Bromeliad (Fic)

AUTHOR: Terry Pratchett (UK)
PUBLISHED: ~1998
SERIES: Bromeliad
BOOKS: A three-book series (Truckers, Diggers, Wings)

PLOT (Truckers):
A group of nomes (not Gnomes) are forced out of their hole in the ground and discover tribes of other nomes living in a store. When they discover the store is to be demolished, they make plans to leave, and thus begins the adventure.
Along the way, the nomes find out a lot about the world, humans, and themselves.

REVIEW:
BRILLIANT social commentary and satire on everything from why people wear name tags to the development of language, religion, and egocentricity. The knowledgeable child (or adult) will adore it.

AGES: From whenever reading ability allows it, but the satirical undertones will go over young children's heads. Probably from ages 11-12 will get the most out of it.
GENRE: Fantasy, Humour, Adventure
RATING: A strong 5 stars.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Series: Jack Brown (Fic)

AUTHOR: Greg Pyers (Aust) PUBLISHED: ~2006
SERIES: Jack Brown
FIRST BOOK: Jack Brown and the Labyrinth of the Bats

PLOT:
A teenage boy has the ability to see through the minds of animals he encounters. The series begins when he rescues a baby gorilla from infamous poachers, who then make him a target of revenge. Together with his cousin (a girl who happens to be an expert in martial arts), these circumstances take them on a variety of adventures as they sporadically fall into (and escape) the clutches of the poachers.

REVIEW:
Great descriptions, action, suspense, and characterisation.

AGES: 9 (with high reading level) - 16
GENRE: Adventure
 RATING: 4 1/2 - 5 stars

Series: The Midnight Library (Fic)

AUTHOR: Nick Shadow (UK)
PUBLISHED: 2004
SERIES: The Midnight Library

PLOT: for example: "The Whisperer" contains three short stories. "The Whisperer" is about a "haunted" computer which writes for the user and predicts the future, eventually predicting the user's death (which comes to pass). "Gabriel" is a demon in disguise as a teenager. A girl (who has a crush on him) suspects he is a vampire, but she discovers the truth when he 'eats' her soul. "Fast Forward" is perhaps more predictable. A tween boy sees a fortune teller at a fair. After he wishes he were old, he travels through a haunted train ride. When he emerges he is indeed an old man and dies of a heart attack.

REVIEW: Each book contains two or more short stories in the Goosebumps vein, although in some ways, they are a little more sophisticated. Both series contain similar horror themes: haunted/possessed items/houses, fantasy horror (vampires, zombies), religious horror (voodoo, demons, etc). Similar to the Anthony Horowitz Horror series.

AGES: 10+. This, of course, depends on the individual child. If a child currently enjoys Goosebumps (without being overly frightened by them), you could recommend this series.
As always with horror, knowledge of the child is important. Some children are more imaginative (some may call it 'sensitive') than others and reading horror fiction may lead to nightmares.

GENRE: Horror, Thriller.
RATING: 4 1/2 stars.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Where Is The Green Sheep? PB

AUTHOR: Mem Fox (Aust)
PUBLISHED: 2004

NOTES: Starting with colours (red sheep, blue sheep), the book follows a predictable pattern (Here is the __ sheep. (x2) .... But where is the green sheep?)
The ideas are connected and follows an ABCB rhyming pattern.
VERY cute story!

AGES: birth to 3
RATING: 5 stars

Where's My Cow? (PB)

AUTHOR: Terry Pratchett (UK)
PUBLISHED: 2005

REVIEW: Pratchett may not be known for picture books, but you only need to skim this one to see his style coming through. It's a story about reading a story and making up a story. May go over the heads of some children (it's quite unusual, and the double/triple layering of the story can take a bit for young minds to wrap their head around), but a great book which lends itself to adult-child discussion about what is happening.

AGES: 5+.
RATING: 5 stars.

The Elsewhere Chronicles (GN)

AUTHOR: Nikko Bannister (U.S.)
PUBLISHED: 2007.

PLOT: Rebecca, Noah, Max and Theo discover a passageway into another world in the abandoned house of Grandpa Gabe, Rebecca's grandfather. When Rebecca and Max are trapped on the other side of the passageway, Noah and Theo rush to their aid. In ElseWhere they meet monsters - wicked spies called Shadows, - and strangers who become friends. They use their wits, brawn, and light to fight off the Shadows - and to protect our own world.

REVIEW: A 4-book graphic novel series by Lernerbook publishers. Linked to a website. Excellent illustrations. Story takes some understanding and interpretation (some links between the dialogue and the illustrations need to be made by the reader).

AGES: 8+.
GENRE: Adventure, Horror, Graphic Novel.
RATING: 5 stars.

Series: The Magic School Bus (Jnr Fic)

AUTHOR: Joanna Cole, Bruce Degen (USA)

PLOT: A class of school children learn in unusual ways thanks to their unusual teacher and a bus which can take them anywhere.

NOTES: The original books have been adapted into Scholastic Readers. The Scholastic website also links to classroom and home activities. Some books can be read online as Google Books.
This brilliant series will help children learn and encourage interest in a large variety of topics.
There are also tv series and films based on the books.

AGES: 5+.
GENRE: Fantasy, Adventure.
RATING: 5 stars.

Series: Ace Detectives (Kids Inc series) (Jnr Fic)

AUTHOR: Geoff Patton (AUST) (2007)

PLOT: A group of teenagers join together to create a detective agency, solving crimes in their town.
NOTES: A 4-book series. Well-written. Children will enjoy following the clues along with the characters. Part of the Kids Inc series'.
Good follow-up books would be Encyclopaedia Brown, etc.

AGES: 7-10.
GENRE: Realistic Fiction, Adventure.
RATING: 4 - 4 1/2 stars.

Series: Rainbow Magic (Jnr Fic)

AUTHOR: Daisy Meadows (UK) (2004)

PLOT: Two young girls help the fairies recover wands and other magic items stolen by Jack Frost, who uses them to wreak havoc across Fairyland and the real world.

NOTES: Linked to a website, there are several sub-series: 7 books for 13 types of fairies (Weather Fairies, Rainbow Fairies, Ocean Fairies, PetKeeper Fairies, Party Fairies, Dance Fairies, etc) and a 3-book series for a further three types of fairies (Holiday, Christmas, Special Fairies), etc. They are now published in "reader" format, too.

AGES: Girls aged 6-8.
GENRE: Fantasy.
RATING: 4 stars.

Series: Fairy Realm (Jnr Fic)

AUTHOR: Emily Rodda (AUST) (2000)
PAGES: >100.

PLOT: A young girl discovers a door to a magic realm of fairies, unicorns, elves, etc at the bottom of her grandmother's garden. In each book she must show courage and solve problems to save the realm.

NOTES: Previously published as the Storytelling Charms series under the name Mary-Anne Dickinson. Multiple sub-series: 6 books in series 1; 4 in series 2.

AGES: Girls aged 6-9.
GENRE: Fantasy.
RATING: 4 stars.