Tag: what to read

Waiting for the next book in a Series

I love a good series. I like that there is another book to look forward. I often read series after multiple books are out which is nice because I can run and grab the next book as soon as I finish one. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten into a few series as they were being written, so I’ve had to wait for the next book.

While I may not be the most patient person, I recommend reading a series while it is being written, and to follow the author on social media during that process. Following the author is great because they give little glimpses into the next book. One author we follow has shared small bits of conversation from the next book giving just enough to make you really curious where the story is going. Sometimes they share a few deleted scenes from the book as well.

The authors tend to do a lot of buildup on social media prior to the release of the next book. If the previous books are already best sellers, the authors may do pre-order incentives. We’ve preordered multiple books in Shannon Messenger’s “Keeper of the Lost Cities” series and Messenger does a great pre-order incentive (which has been different for each book so it’s worth pre-ordering all of them). When you pre-order the book and send in your receipt, you may receive a signed book plate sticker, other stickers related to the book, a drawing of a character, or other items that make young readers excited about the book to come. The authors also will share social media if they are doing a book tour or online book discussions.

While it is exciting to be able to race through an entire series, reading one as it is being written brings its own excitement. All of these things build anticipation for a book and make young (and older) readers so excited to read the next book. Waiting for the next book builds anticipation and teaches readers like me patience.

Reading children’s books

The designation “children’s book” means a book is appropriate for a child reader. It does not mean the book is only meant for children. A good children’s book is both appropriate for a child reader and enjoyable for readers of all ages.

I feel like this is an important topic because there are so many great books that are written for young readers but should not be limited just to that age group. A great children’s book covers important topics ranging from friendship, family issues, loss, and more. Readers of all ages can relate to these topics.

A few weeks ago, my mom and I visited the library book sale. As we searched through the stacks, I picked up a copy of Holly Goldberg Sloan’s “Counting by 7’s.” I handed it to my mom and said, “I loved this book. You should read it.” She added it to her pile to buy.

My mom read it, immediately understood why I thought it was so good and recommended it to someone she knows. You can visit my review of the book here: https://news.hamlethub.com/coscob/life/4099-on-the-children-s-shelf-counting-by-7s-by-holly-goldberg-sloan?tmpl=component. My mom and I are both older than the target audience for this children’s book, but as readers (and humans) we can appreciate this incredible story. If we focused on it simply being a children’s book, we would have missed out on a great read.

As an adult, I never let a book’s category deter me from reading. Some of the books that have had the biggest impact on me have been children’s and young adult books. What children and young adult books have had the biggest impact on you?

Holiday books, holiday decorations

Every December when I was small, my mom would pull out the holiday bins to decorate. Ah, I loved holiday bin day. She would begin decorating and I would look through all the boxes finding my favorite holiday things. We had this little toy bus with Santa riding on it…his head would move back and forth as the bus moved. I don’t know why I thought this was fabulous, but I did.

In between the decorations and ornaments were books…a few favorite holiday books that we packed away the previous January. Books I had forgotten about all year until I found them buried boxes. Books that suddenly pulled me in as I flipped through all the pages.

I’ve continued this tradition in my family. I pack a few favorite holiday books in the bins with the decorations to pull out the next year. When my children were small, they loved when I would pull the books out of the bins. They would flip through the pages. As they got older, they didn’t pick up the books to look through but occasionally would see one in the bin and say, “remember how much I loved that book!”

It’s just a few favorites (not hoarder level of books). The ones you don’t want to give away. The ones your children loved that you hope they read to their children someday and say, “this was my favorite book when I was your age.” While there will be years that you simply move the books to the side and don’t unpack them, just seeing those couple favorites in the bin will make you smile.

It might be many years before my children flip through the pages of the books in our holiday bins again, but I will save those favorite children’s books for that day. Maybe they will read it to a younger cousin or a niece or nephew or someday their own children. I just hope someday, in their holiday decorations box, they keep a couple favorite books from their childhood that will remind them of Christmas years ago when we read those stories.

Thanksgiving Parade books

My birthday is at Thanksgiving which is a weird holiday to sometimes share a birthday with, simply because I share the day “sometimes.” My family always made a big deal of my birthday on Thanksgiving whether it was that specific day or not.

One year when I was small and my birthday was really on Thanksgiving, my mom took me to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. As we walked to the parade route, I saw the first balloon go by from afar. Down the street, between the buildings, I saw a giant balloon and it was more amazing that I ever imagined. TV didn’t do it justice. They are huge and that first balloon will always be one of my favorite Thanksgiving birthday memories. The parade was amazing, but that first balloon sighting was the best.

The Thanksgiving parade is still one of my favorite parts of the day (along with pie, obviously). I’ve been to many Thanksgiving parades since and even lived my dream of being a giant balloon handler in the Stamford parade a few years ago. Yes, I walked a giant dragon through the streets of Stamford!

As we get closer to Thanksgiving, here are a couple amazing Thanksgiving parade books. My first pick is Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet. I love this book (and the illustrations). Sweet introduces readers to the true story of Tony Sarg, who invented the giant balloons we see in the Thanksgiving Parade.

Another favorite Thanksgiving parade book is Milly and the Macy’s Parade by Shana Corey. While the characters and Mr. Macy’s involvement in starting the parade are fictious, it is based on the creation of the parade. Prior to reading this book, I didn’t know that Macy’s employees from other countries who were feeling homesick as the holidays approached brought traditions from their countries to the parade.

Both of these beautiful picture books based on the history of the parade are wonderful additions to your Thanksgiving traditions. Read the books then watch the parade (on tv or in person). Both stories bring even more magic to the Thanksgiving Parade.

Reading should be fun!

Every parent has experienced the battle between “do this, it’s good for you” and the child’s “but I don’t want to!” So how do we encourage reading without pushing too much and facing resistance? Here are a few suggestions:

Avoid commenting on the level of the book.

Yes, there are times when your child will need to push themselves to read something harder or at their appropriate level for school reading, but if you child is choosing to a read a book on their own….let them! They chose to read. Maybe the book is too young for them, but maybe they find comfort in revisiting a favorite character. One of my children read the same book many times. I tried suggesting something else, but if she was going to read for her own enjoyment, she liked visiting those characters again.

Do a family read aloud.

Take turns reading the book out loud. See who can come up with the best voices for each character. Have your child sit next to you so they hear the story while looking at the words on the page. This is a great way to start a book a child might be hesitant to read because there are more words on the page or bigger words than they are used to seeing in books. If you don’t know how to pronounce a word, mispronounce it. Let them know it’s ok to not know how to pronounce the word. The first time I read Harry Potter, I struggled with Hermione. I had never seen that name before and had not yet seen the movies.

Check out library programs.

The library is an incredible resource. They have so many classes and programs that revolve around books. Tell a librarian your favorite book and they will have several suggestions of other books you will likely enjoy. Libraries have family reads, crafts revolving around books, prizes for summer reading, and it’s free!

Ask your child for a book recommendation.

Whenever one of my children would see me reading a book they recommended, it made them so happy. It reinforces that you value the books they enjoy, that you enjoy those books as well. It makes them feel pride in their book selection.

Read the book…watch the movie.

I love this one because a good movie night is always fun. Make popcorn (a special treat in our house is to put some m&m’s in with the popcorn) and watch the movie after you finish the book. Depending on the movie, you can take the theme as big or as small as you would like. Make a meal from the book if there is a lot of food mentioned throughout the story. Take advantage of pinterest…so many great ideas there to make the book come alive through some simple (and some complicated for those who like a challenge) decorations.

Model reading.

Read. Children notice what we do. They notice a lot of things we don’t think they see. Let them see you reading. Tell them about your book. Maybe the story line is not small child appropriate but tell them something about your book. Simply “my book is so good; I can’t wait to see how it ends!” Let them know you are excited to read your book. Children remember the things you dread and the things you enjoy. Showing them your love for reading helps foster their love of reading.

If you have other suggestion on how you make reading fun, please share them!

Book inspired Halloween costumes

This week, several friends sent me a photo of a little girl dressed up as a book fairy. Her wings were made from an open hard cover book. Her skirt was made from lose book pages. The costume was brilliant, and I wish I was going to a Halloween party just to be a book fairy. The fact that multiple friends sent me the same image made me happy…they know me well.

This got me thinking about other bookish Halloween costumes. I know I originally said I would write about ways to bring books alive, and I will cover that more soon, although I think Halloween costumes are a perfect way to make a book come alive for a child (or teen, adult, pet, anyone). Dress up as your favorite character whether they are from a movie, cartoon, book, or comic book.

If a child likes a book series, what better way to get them even more excited about reading more in the series then for them to dress up as that character. We often see Harry Potter and Hermione, and I love that children love the characters so much that they choose to dress up like them. In our house, costumes have been some very popular book characters and some more obscure. Some of my favorite book character costumes from our Halloweens past include Gerald from the Mo Willems “Elephant & Piggie” books, a borrowed Sophie Foster costume from Shannon Messenger’s “Keeper of the Lost Cities” series (and yes, we had a friend who happened to have that costume), Katniss Everdeen from Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games,” and a group costume consisting of Hermione, Harry’s Owl (carrying a copy of the Daily Prophet), and Doby.

Some characters are challenging because their costumes look like regular clothes, so how do you identify it as a costume? Fear not, it is still possible. For many of our book costumes, I made a trick or treat bag. I picked up a package of plain white cloth bags and printer transfer paper. Print a full sheet book cover onto your transfer paper and iron it onto the bag. It’s simple (although read the instructions to see if you need to flip the image before printing so you don’t have a backwards book cover). Easiest way to immediately identify that the child is dressed up as their favorite book character, and that bag will likely become a favorite little book tote bag.

I can’t wait to see all the costumes, especially the book inspired ones this Halloween. If you dressed up as a book character, be sure to share a picture. I’d love to see it!

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” continues through “The Hollow Trilogy”

Last year, at the Ridgefield Library book sale, I picked up a YA book that takes place in Sleepy Hollow and the author weaves “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” through the story. The book was part of “The Hollow Trilogy” by Jessica Verday (and actually was book 2 but I’m ok with starting in the middle and going back to book 1 later).

The trilogy takes place in the town of Sleepy Hollow. Abbey’s best friend, Kristen, disappears the Headless Horseman Bridge near the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. While everyone believes Kristen is dead, Abbey believes there is something they don’t know about what happened to Kristen. A mysterious young man, Caspian, shows up at Kristen’s funeral. Caspian has secrets but despite those secrets, he makes Abbey feel somewhat normal, until she finds out all that he is hiding. Caspian, along with other characters we meet, has ties to “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”…close ties, really close ties.

The book has a bit of a “Twilight” meets “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” feel to it (minus vampires). What I loved about this YA series is how well Verday incorporated Sleepy Hollow into the book. Having visited the cemetery and the Old Dutch Church, I wanted accuracy in the setting and she achieved that. Abbey would often visit Washington Irving’s grave. I appreciated how well those scenes were written.

I love books that have local landmarks in them. I love seeing the story take place someplace I can literally picture in my mind, and I really love when the author does a great job using those actual locations. This trilogy is a great October read for YA readers. Read the book and visit Sleepy Hollow. Walk the paths behind the Old Dutch Church through Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and feel the book come alive around you. Any time we can experience books in multiple ways, it makes the readers more excited about reading. Check back in next week and I’ll discuss more ways we can have a multi-sensory approach to experiencing great books!

I’m back with a Halloween read

It’s been a while and I’ve missed sharing children’s books with all of you. For those new here, I write about favorite children’s and YA books (and why I think adults should read them too!). You may wonder why children’s and YA books. I have so many good memories of being read to as a child, reading books myself, and visiting my favorite characters in books. I love revisiting favorite childhood books and finding new amazing books to share.

Now that we are close to Halloween (my favorite holiday), I’m enjoying Halloween books. One book I love to reread this time of year is Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” It’s just scary enough without bringing on nightmares for a chicken like me.

I especially love that the story is local. I always enjoy when we can share books with children and bring them to life. The legend takes place in Sleepy Hollow, NY, a short drive from here. After reading the book with your child, visit Washington Irving’s home, Sunnyside or stop by the Old Dutch Church (yes, it is still standing) and while there you can visit Washington Irving’s grave out back. While there, cross the headless horseman’s bridge. To walk the steps of the story brings it to life in a whole new way. I have such great memories of my mom taking me to Sleepy Hollow and walking the same path Ichabod Crane walked in the legend.

I found an old copy of the legend on vinyl which is equally amazing. If you want more ways to bring it to life after reading, the old Disney cartoon is available on Disney+. For older readers, also check out Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow.”

Check back in next week when I share my favorite YA book that builds off of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”