So begins “The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors” by Drew Daywalt. This book is sure to make it onto many young readers’ favorite book lists.
Daywalt introduces his readers to Rock, a warrior looking for an opponent who can truly battle him. He meets many challengers in the backyard, but none can beat him. Meanwhile Paper and Scissors are looking for their own worthy challengers. All three set out on their own journeys to find someone who can possibly truly challenge them.
The three meet, and the battle begins. “‘Round and ’round they went, in the most massive and epic three-way battle of all time!” Who will be victorious….Rock, Paper, or Scissors?
This book is hilarious and amazing and I highly recommend it. Any child (or adult) who has played rock, paper, scissors will delight in this legend. I will definitely be giving copies of this book to several young readers in my life.
I recently turned to social media for book recommendations that took place in the Pacific Northwest. I was traveling to Seattle and wanted a good book for the plane with ties to where I was going. I looked through the recommendations I received and saw a Holly Goldberg Sloan book, “Finding Lost.” I had no idea she had a book that took place in the PNW but I was thrilled to dive in.
I would read anything Holly Goldberg Sloan wrote. Literally anything. Her voice, storytelling approach, word choices…she pulls the readers into her story because it feels real. You will read her books and feel like a good friend is telling you their personal story. You will be invested in their story, you will know these characters, you will laugh with them, you will identify with them, you will think of them as friends.
I boarded the plane, opened my book and couldn’t put it down. Hours later I was looking out the window, finished book in hand, still thinking about those characters. In “Finding Lost” we meet Cordy Jenkins who lives on the Oregon coast in the “boat house” of a large property where her mother is the property caretaker. Her father died in a boating accident and her mother is saving for a new beginning away from Oregon, the one place Cordy and her brother have called home. Cordy finds a hungry lost dog who she brings home. Her mom, who doesn’t want a dog, tells Cordy and her brother they will find the dog’s home. This little dog, who they name Lost, wins all of their hearts and guides their new beginning in an unlikely place, right there on the Oregon coast.
Now here is the reason I love Holly Goldberg Sloan books for readers of all ages. There are the obvious reasons–I love her stories, I love her characters, but what I really love are these passages that make me think. I’ve texted photos of passages from every one of her books to friends. Her words, while written appropriately for children, will give readers of all ages something to think about. I remember in one of her previous books she wrote about photo albums and how they tell one family member’s perspective. I still think about that today.
I can’t recommend this book enough. Definitely check out “Finding Lost.” If you haven’t read “Short” read that one too (it’s one of my all-time favorites). Just save her name, and when you see a book she’s written, read it. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
Earlier this week, I posted a photo on social media of a page from my favorite picture books, Tasha Tudor’s “A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays.” I’ve revisited this book more times than I can count and when I opened it earlier this week to look at the February section, I was immediately pulled back in.
Tasha Tudor takes readers through the year, month by month. She makes the ordinary beautiful, special, and memorable. As a small child, I dreamed of climbing inside those pages, helping to make maple syrup, playing with the corgis, putting on plays in the carriage house, making candles for the upcoming year.
What I didn’t realize when I read this book when I was small, is that I learned from these pages that there is beauty in our own special traditions. They don’t have to be fancy or expensive; they just have to be meaningful to us. Celebrating these things as a family make us look forward to them.
While my family’s traditions look different than the ones in Tasha Tudor’s beautiful illustrations, I realize how important those rituals are to my family. I realize now that the way we talk about the year ahead and what we look forward to, stems from that book. Not that we are imitating what we see in the book, but rather that we look forward to our own traditions and how we make them special. I learned the value of tradition from those pages.
While I wouldn’t trade our traditions for someone else’s, I would still love to climb into that book and experience Tasha Tudor’s world. If you haven’t read this beautiful picture book, please check it out. It is honestly the most beautiful illustrations of family tradition (and if someone can figure out how to make a lit birthday cake float down a river like it does in the book, please share because I think I need to add that tradition).
“Liesl & Po” by Lauren Oliver was highly recommended to me by my daughter. She repeatedly reminded me that this was a book I had to read. When my dear friend, Sally, and I were discussing books; I mentioned this one to her, and she read it that night. After reading it, she raved about the book as well. I knew I needed to read it, and last night, I finally picked it up. I wasn’t expecting that it would be impossible to put down, but it was. It was one of those incredible books that pulls you in. I was so emotionally invested in the characters, I needed to see how the story would end.
Liesl is trapped in the attic of her house, being held being a locked door by her stepmother. Her father has just died. She is alone, until a ghost, Po, appears in her room and becomes her friend. Po helps Liesl escape the attic, and they go on an adventure to bring her father’s ashes to the place he loved the most. They face many obstacles on their adventure, befriend a runaway orphan, and are chased by those who believe there is something far more powerful than ashes in the box Liesl is carrying. Will Liesl and Po make it to the far away favorite place and deliver the ashes to their final resting spot? Is the box Liesl carrying filled with something more powerful, like the others believe? This book is worth checking out to find the answers to these questions.
This book was so brilliantly written, I found myself photographing pages as I read, so I didn’t forget these passages. While the intended audience is children, the words speak to readers of all ages.These words make the reader think. They make the reader feel. Without giving away the ending, I will share my favorite quote from the book.
“And this, really, is the story-within-the-story, because if you do not believe that hearts can bloom suddenly bigger, and that love can open like a flower out of even the hardest places, then I am afraid that for you the road will be long and brown and barren, and you will have trouble find the light. But if you do believe, then you already know all about magic.” – Lauren Oliver
Oliver wrote this story to deal with the pain of the loss of her own friend. She didn’t write it with the plan of it being a book, she wrote it because she needed to write this story. As a reader, I needed to read this story. I highly recommend this book. Don’t turn away from this book because it starts off so sad, keep reading….it is worth it.
*This was originally printed on Books, Ink (HamletHub) in December 2015.
I haven’t read many time travel books. If I’m going to read one, I need it to feel possible, believable, and realistic (although I read fantasy so I’m not sure why these are my rules on time travel but if the book doesn’t involve fantasy, then I want the time travel to feel completely possible).
I was given a copy of Caroline Lawrence’s “The Time Travel Diaries: Adventures in Athens.” Lawrence introduces her readers to Alex and Dinu, two friends who are enjoying newfound fame and popularity in their school after appearing in a popular video game. How did they end up in a video game? Well, they traveled back through time to gather information for the video game maker who in turn added them into the game. Life post time traveling (and appearing in a popular video game) is good for the two friends but they both vow they never want to time travel again. Their time travel mentor, the video game maker, is gone so they don’t expect they will ever be asked to time travel again.
Much to their surprise, their mentor shows up and makes them an offer they can’t refuse…. but it involves one more trip through time. The mission sounds simple enough, find one specific person. Who did they need to find and observer? Socrates. Like last time, they just need to follow 3 “simple” rules: 1. go naked, return naked 2. no eating, only drinking and 3. interact as little as possible (as it might change the course of history).
How bad could one more quick trip through time be? Could they find the one person they needed to and make it back without interacting with too many people? Could they handle a surprise person following them through the portal through time? I want to tell you what happens, but I want you to read this book.
Lawrence writes in a way that traveling back through time to find Socrates felt completely possible. I didn’t doubt any aspect of the time travel. I was invested in this trip, the possibility of finding Socrates, the wonder of seeing the streets Alex and Dinu had just walked in modern times as they were originally built. I loved this trip through time. My only disappointment was that I could only travel through time to search for Socrates in the pages of the book because after reading it, I wanted to go too.
Definitely check out this book! Join Alex and Dinu on this epic adventure through time. I highly recommend it.
One of my favorite things about books that take place in a different world is a map. I have a weakness for a good map for a few reasons. First, I like to visually see the world I am diving into. Seeing the magnitude on a map at the start of the book shows me we are in for a big adventure across this new land. I refer back to book maps often. Second, it shows the author has “mapped” everything out, so we won’t travel west to a location previously described as being due east.
My mom heard about a talented new author and gave me a copy of her book, “Hero of Draconis” by Evelyn Klotz. If you haven’t heard of Evelyn Klotz yet, check her book out…. this is an amazingly talented young writer (and by young, she was 12 when this book was published!). Klotz had my attention from the start as the book opened with a map. I couldn’t wait to see the story that unfolded across this new world.
In “Hero of Draconis” we follow the adventures of three children and two animals on a true fantasy adventure complete with dragons, magic, and a missing royal baby. This book has it all. I want to tell you more, but I want you to read it and uncover the story as you dive into the pages.
Klotz’s writing is incredible for a writer of any age. To realize this young writer was so young working on this book is even more impressive. While reading, I was sending photos of text to my closest bookish friends with messages like “can you believe how well written this is????”
If your child loves a good adventure through a fantasy world, this book is just the book you are looking for. Pick up a copy and let your child know this book was written by a young author. What better way to show your child the stories they imagine inside their heads could be a book than to give them a book written by someone their age. Evelyn Klotz will be an inspiration to many aspiring writers, and her book is a non-stop, can’t put it down tale for fantasy readers of all ages.
Sometimes it feels like I “must” read a book. It keeps coming into my life in different ways, begging to be read. “What Do You Do With an Idea?” by Kobi Yamada is one of those books. My friend recommended this book, but not just the usual “it’s good, you should read it.” She recommended it as “one of those books that you have to read, it will change your life.” I knew I needed to read it. Then my mom showed up at my house carrying a copy of it, saying someone she knew recommended it to her. Okay, I got the hint….I had to read this book.
If you read just one book that I recommend here, On The Children’s Shelf, please choose this one. The recommendations I received didn’t do it justice. It is one of the best books I have ever read. While written for children, this book should be read by readers of all ages, and read to those not yet able to read it themselves.
Yamada takes something that exists in your imagination, an idea, and makes it tangible. The reader joins the main character on this journey from that initial idea, as it grows bigger and stronger, fights the doubt of others, until it comes to fruition. The idea becomes too large for just one person and it fulfills its destiny.
While the story alone is brilliant, Mae Besom’s illustrations are genius. This is by far one of the prettiest books. I loved every page of this book.
This book now holds a special place in my heart and will be a resource I return to often when I doubt my own abilities, doubt my own dreams and ideas and need a reminder of what to do with an idea.
* This was originally written in 2015 but I needed this reminder, so I’m sharing it with all of you.
*author’s note – this originally appeared on Books Ink in 2015 and “My New Friend, Ivan”. While I have reread this book many times, I wanted to revisit this review because you can’t reread a favorite for the first time again but I can remember how incredible that first read was reading this.
Every once in a while, a book comes along that changes you. It changes how you see the world; it touches your heart and opens your eyes. It makes you question things; it makes you think. This week, I met Ivan, Stella, Ruby, Julia and George. Within moments of opening this book and diving in, I knew these characters would stay with me long after I finished this book. When I sat down to write this, I asked myself how many times I could use the words “brilliant,” “profound,” and “amazing” without them losing their power because this book really is that special.
“The One and Only Ivan” by Katherine Applegate is the story of a gorilla, named Ivan, and two elephants, Stella and Ruby, who live in cages in a shopping mall. Ivan was captured as a baby and was raised by the owner of the mall. Once he grew too large to live in the owner’s home, he was moved to a cage in the mall where he lived for twenty-seven years. Stella is an elephant who was bought from a circus. She too, is kept in a cage in the mall. Ivan is an artist who draws and later paints pictures that are sold in the mall. Stella is forced to put on a show performing tricks for the crowds every single day. Stella falls ill and the owners buy a young elephant to replace her. As Stella gets sicker, she asks Ivan, her dear friend to promise her that Ruby, the young elephant, will not spend her whole life in a cage. Ivan promises and although it seems impossible, he is determined to find a way to save Ruby.
Applegate introduces us to George and his daughter, Julia. George works cleaning the mall. Julia seems to understand Ivan in a way other humans don’t and Ivan finds a way to ask Julia for help. Despite the fear of losing his job, George helps Julia try to save Ivan and Ruby.
While I felt angry that humans could be so uncaring and hold an animal in a cage for 27 years in a mall, Applegate managed to restore my faith in the kindness of humans through George and Julia. While this book is written for children, it is one of the most brilliant books I have read. While Ivan’s words might seem simple, their meaning is so deep and powerful.
“I’ve learned to understand human words over the years, but understanding human speech is not the same as understanding humans.” – Ivan
Ivan reminds me of my other favorite talking animal in children’s literature…a wise spider named Charlotte. Like Charlotte, Ivan shows the reader what a true friend is.
Ivan was a real gorilla who lived in a cage in a shopping mall for 27 years. In that time, he never saw another gorilla. Thankfully, the real Ivan finally got moved to a zoo, and spent his final years with other gorillas. Although this book is fiction, it is inspired by the real Ivan.
This book will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you angry. It will make you sad. It will make you smile. It will make you believe in friendship. It will make you believe in promises. It will make you think. While many adults may miss this profound book because it is on the children’s shelf, I wish copies would be kept in the adult section of every library as well, as I believe every adult should read it. While adults may get caught up in the fact that it is told in “first person Gorilla,” one needs to move beyond that and realize how powerful this book really is. The moment I finished reading my library copy of the book, I immediately went on amazon and ordered my own copy. This is a book I will reread many times over. It will join “Charlotte’s Web” on that shelf of really special, life changing books. I am so grateful my daughter recommended it to me to read, and I hope those of you reading this article pick up a copy and meet my favorite Gorilla, Ivan.
We all remember the September 11th that we experienced. We remember where we were when the planes hit. We remember who told us. We remember that feeling, like being punched in the stomach and you can’t breathe. Some remember trying to get out of New York City. Some remember clutching their phones waiting for text messages from friends and family. We remember the feelings of gratitude for those who were safe, the feelings of despair for those who weren’t. We will never forget that day. To those of you reading this who lost someone that day, my thoughts are with you. To those of you reading this who are or have family or friends who are firefighters and police officers, thank you for running in to help no matter how scary the situation is.
I remember the September 11th that I experienced. I didn’t want to read any books about that day. I wasn’t sure I could handle reading the story of someone who was far closer to it than I was, until I stumbled upon one book. It’s remains the only book I read about that day.
Michael Hingson’s book “Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust” takes the reader into the World Trade Center on September 11th. Hingson and his guide dog were on the 78th floor at a meeting on teh morning of September 11th. When the planes hit his guide dog, Roselle, did exactly what she was trained to do….she lead Hingson to safety….down 78 flights of stairs.
This first person narrative takes the reader through the trip down all those stairs and out to safety. The story includes flashbacks of Hingson’s life and shares with the reader his experience growing up blind and his bond with his guide dog.
You will cry reading this book (I have to be honest with you and I would only recommend this book for teen readers and older). Hingson talks about the firefighters who were going up the stairs while he and Roselle were making their way down. Several firefighters asked Hingson if he needed a guide down the stairs. He was fine, he had his dog. While he was scared, Hingson put his trust in his guide dog. Roselle knew she had to try to get Hingson to safety and she did.
This book reminds the reader that heroes come in all different forms. The obvious heroes are of course, the firefighters who were running in as everyone else ran out to safety. They are true heroes. There were other heroes too…the people inside helping each other get out. While they might not think of themselves as heroes, they are. Of course, there is one more hero….Roselle the guide dog.
Some of my early memories include characters in books. I remember them the way I remember childhood friends. Some were fleeting and I only knew them through a story I read once. Others were there for a longer period of time, perhaps a series that I read over the course of several years. Some were those special old friends who I revisited many times over the years as I jumped back into a favorite book. Some were friends I couldn’t wait to introduce my children to and hope they formed as special of a friendship.
Through books, I’ve cared for baby Wilbur along with Fern. I solved crimes with Nancy Drew. I learned magic with Harry Potter. I fought the evil squirrels with Miss Suzy. I was there when the wild rumpus started. I’ve cried with fictional characters. I’ve visited castles, islands, foreign lands, the places where fairytales exist with amazing friends as guides. While that life has existed inside of the pages of books, those friends I’ve met there, have changed me, made me a better person.
The one thing I never expected was for books to bring so many human friends into my life. I’ve shared so many favorite books with so many friends who were just as excited to dive into the story as I was. I’ve had brief conversations with people at library book sales when we’ve pointed out books we recommended to each other. I’ve had deep conversations about book series with friends that have lasted through all the books. I’ve received pictures texted to me of a book page with the message “you need to read this.” I’ve found books left on my front steps by dear friends who were excited to share them with me. I’ve learned through all those interactions that reading isn’t necessarily a solo event. Reading is social in its own way.
I never expected when I started writing about children’s books back on HamletHub’s Books Ink 12 years ago, that I would meet so many incredible people both in the pages of so many amazing books and in the community around me. My introduction to my dear friend, Sally, was literally “she loves books as much as you do, you will be great friends.” Sally introduced to my incredible friend, Kerry Anne, who has been one of the biggest cheerleaders of me writing this column.
While the characters in books become friends, stay with us, help us grow, challenge us, change us, and are always there for us, I’m so incredibly grateful for the real-life friends I’ve made because of books. Books are so much more than simply words on pages. If you are as lucky as I am, books will introduce you to some of the greatest people, both on paper and in real life.
