Booked Up
“It’s essential to keep kids enchanted with reading, especially at this transitional age,” says Joanne Schwartz, children’s librarian at Toronto’s renowned Lillian H. Smith Library. Luckily, kids in this age group have an amazing capacity to stretch their imaginations while challenging their brains, making chapter books a natural leap forward for those who are ready, and intelligent picture books comfortable favourites for all. Here are some sure bets.
HUMOUR
Clementine (Hyperion) by Sara Pennypacker; illustrated by Marla Frazee
Clementine is like an updated Ramona Quimby – imaginative, with a knack for mischief. This is the tale of her bad week: she’s in the principal’s office, her mom is mad at her, and though she makes it to the gifted math class – “so far, no gifts.”
This more challenging book follows the adventures of Paul, a mouse allergic to cheese, and his friends, who (mis)hear that humans are eating mouse noses on toast, and vow to stop them.
PICTURE BOOKS
The Farm Team (Kids Can Press) by Linda Bailey; illustrated by Bill Slavin
Vivid characters charm in this hockey tale. The Farm Team competes for the Stolski Cup against the villainous Bush League Bandits: a nasty grizzly, Needles the porcupine and, in net, a skunk.
Peg and the Yeti (Harper Collins) by Kenneth Oppel; Plasticine illustration by Barbara Reid
This spirited story from a kid’s-lit dream duo charts plucky Peg’s trek to the top of Mount Everest, where she faces freezing storms, avalanches and – most dangerous of all? – a real live yeti.
POP-UP BOOKS
One Red Dot (Little Simon) by David A. Carter
Kids will have a ball trying to find the elusive dot on marvellously intricate “wiggle-wobble widgets” and “flip-flop flaps.”
The Perfect Pop-Up Punctuation Book (Dutton Children’s Books) by Kate Petty and Jennie Maizels
This fun and useful book teaches the basics of commas, colons and semicolons, with lots to pull on, pop up, spread and slide.
ADVENTURE/MYSTERY
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