Kids Blog : boys

Never Race a Runaway Pumpkin

UndergroundLibrarian@evpl — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:20:00 GMT

This is #7 in the Roscoe Riley Rules series by Katherine Applegate. It's just the thing for October! First-grader Roscoe is all excited about guessing the weight of the giant pumpkin in the bookstore window to win books for his school library -- and candy for himself. But his superstitious nature takes over when he encounters a black kitten there.

Roscoe's teacher uses this opportunity to discuss estimating, along with superstitions. And she does her best with him, but as he says, "Ms. Diz had that I-need-a-nap look she sometimes gets, but usually not until the ned of the day." Roscoe seems to be sitting in the time-out chair a lot -- he starts the story there, and the rest of the book tells how he got there.

Roscoe reminds me a little of Junie B. Jones because he always seems to be in one scrape or another, but he does not use the kind of baby talk that Junie B. Jones does. These are good beginning chapter books.

Today's the perfect day

HipChick@evpl — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:24:00 GMT

See that awful weather outside? Feel that chilly nip in the air? Today is the perfect day! Let's do nothing! This story is about two little boys who have spent their day doing everything. Now what? They try to do the near impossible task of ten whole seconds of nothing! Hold their breath, not a blink of an eye, remain absolutely still. The cartoon like illustrations will humor all ages as they come to realize doing nothing is a lot harder than it seems.

Can you do it?

Brendan Buckley's Universe - and everything in it

kiya@evpl — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:26:00 GMT

Brendan is a ten year old scientist. He likes to understand the world and how it works. He has a whole notebook of the questions he has about the world, and the answers he has discovered. Brendan is ten, and one day at a rock show at the mall, he accidentally runs into the grandfather he has never met - his mom's dad. No one will tell him why his grandpa Ed lives ten miles away, and they've never met. Brandon begins to suspect that it is because his mom is white, and his dad is black. Brandon is already struggling to understand why the color of his skin makes a difference to people he doesn't even know, and finding that some questions just don't seem to have good answers.

This is an interesting, thought-provoking book about a subject that can be hard for kids to understand. Sundee Frazier, the author, is multi-racial, and makes the subject accessible to pre-teens.

Looking For a Good Book For Boys Age 8 - 12? Or Anyone Else?

UndergroundLibrarian@evpl — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:48:00 GMT

Smoke by Mavis Jukes might be just what you need. Colton, age 12, has a huge Maine Coon cat named Smoke. Colton's mother has decided they need to leave Idaho to live on a ranch in California. Colton is not real excited about the move, but he doesn't complain, and of course Smoke goes along. Colton starts school there and makes new friends, but then Smoke disappears. If you read the back of the book, you will discover that Colton sees a mountain lion. At the time Colton is all alone and he has told no one else where he is.

This may be the most exciting part of the book, or maybe how Colton protects himself is. But what else I like about Smoke is the characterization of all the people. Even though some people may not have a huge part in the plot, they are all well developed, each with his/her own personality. From Colton's teacher through his mother, rodeo-riding father, friends, on down to his father's new fiancee and the kid in Colton's class who seems to rub most everybody the wrong way, each person seems like someone I know now.

Horn Book says Smoke is "Well worth reading for the unusual setting and point of view as well as Juke's deft, uniquely direct characterizations, whererin everyone comes off as believable."