Chomp

Chomp by Carl Hiaasen follows Wahoo a boy whose father is an animal wrangler.  When a reality show contacts Wahoo's father Micky about providing animals to set up a survivalist's show he is reluctant but agrees because he needs to pay the bills.  Will Wahoo and Micky be able to handle the arrogant Derek Badger?

I loved this book.  It was engaging and funny without being afraid to tackle some heavy subjects.  I loved the setting with all of the animals and Derek Badger the fake survivalist and his reality show made for some really funny reading.  It reminded me of one of those great family movies that has you laughing throughout.  I sped though the book and was happy with the nice solid ending that wrapped everything up.

Appropriateness:  This book tackles some very difficult subjects but does so in a way that's age appropriate.  Wahoo's friend Tuna comes with them because her father who is a drunk who gave her a black eye.  Wahoo's family has dealt with financial difficulties due to his unemployment due to a medical disability.  I would recommend this book to readers 10-14 it's a nice starting point to talk about child and substance abuse and what to do if they suspect a friend is in trouble.

Review copy provided by Amazon Vine

Into the Wild/ Out of the Wild

The book Into the Wild follows Julie who is the Daughter of Rapunzel.  Julie's mom and her fairy tale friends escaped from the wild years before and the wild has remained safely contained underneath Julie's bed.  When someone makes a wish at a magic wishing well the wild is released and townspeople are forced to reenact it's famous stories.  Julie must find her way through the wild, acting out pieces of fairy tales to rescue her mother and save the town from the wild and allow them to get back to their regular lives.

Into the Wild is a delightful mix of fairy tales.  It introduces readers to a large mix of fairy tales and the reader is made aware of the differences between the real versions and the Disney versions.  Julie is a spunky independent girl who is able to think and work independently and cares about her family and friends.

Appropriateness:  Aside from a little scariness this book is appropriate for all middle grade and young adult audiences.  Julie is twelve and her adventure would appeal to kids in the 9-13 year old range.  The lexile is 530 putting it at a third grade reading level making it a good book for reluctant readers.  

The sequel Out of the Wild follows Julie on another adventure fighting to save the world and it is also very good.
 

We Can't All Be Rattlesnakes

We Can't All Be Rattlesnakes by Patrick Jennings stars Crusher a Gopher snake that been captured by boy who didn't always treat them well.  Crusher is interested in everything about his new environment including the weird looking grass and the magical box that keeps things cold.  Crusher who came from outside develops friends inside including a mouse who he names breakfast and a turtle and a tarantula.

This is a great book that looks at pet ownership from the side of the pet.  Crusher comes from outside and is told of the horrible treatment that he will receive from his owner which he experiences.  It could really make kids think twice about the way they treat animals.  The observations about his environment had my daughter laughing and the book kept my daughter entertained even though she was only reading it in small pieces as time allowed at school.

Appropriateness:  The human in this book isn't the nicest person.  This is a book that has negative behavior that's put in a way that kids can learn from.  I would recommend this book to kids nine and up with this being a book that boys epically will love.  The lexile is 560 putting it at a mid fourth grade reading level.

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl is about a window washing company.  The employees of the window washing company are a Giraffe who serves the role of the ladder, a Monkey who washes the windows and a Pelican who is the bucket.

Description from Scholastic:

Roald Dahl uses rich language and fantastic images to tell the tale of a young boy who is able to make his dream of running a candy shop come true. The adventure begins when the little boy teams up with the Giraffe and the Pelican to clean windows at the Ladderless Window Cleaning Company.

This simple plot explodes into an excitingly zany tale that makes readers laugh out loud while conveying a positive message. Dahl expresses this tale by interweaving poetry, charming illustrations and an engaging narrative voice to make this story enticing. Many young readers will recognize that each character serves a special purpose in the story. For example, the Giraffe becomes a main character because of his long neck and ability to reach and clean high windows.

A great read-aloud, this book is also a spectacular model to use with young, developing writers. Among other things, it is a terrific example of what poetry is and how poetry can be used to tell stories. The book closes with the words "No book ever ends when it's full of your friends, the Giraffe and the Pelly and Me." The last line invites young readers to imagine the wonders that lie within all books. This fun, fast-paced story is a fabulous choice, containing many valuable lessons.

My daughter Katelyn read this book.  She thought the idea for the book was original and fun.  She liked each of the characters.  There were some pictures throughout the book to illustrate what the characters were doing.  Katelyn took this book to school with her to read during silent reading and would excitedly come home to tell me what had happened each day.

Appropriateness:  There is a bit of scariness in the book but the scary part resolves very quickly with a happy ending.  The book is short with quite a few pictures but a difficult reading level making this a great read aloud or story for advanced younger readers.  The story is one that would appeal equally to boys and girls.  The lexile is 890 (WOW!!) putting it at a sixth grade reading level.

What to Expect When You're Expecting Larvae: A Guide for Insect Parents (And Curious Kids) (Expecting Animal Babies)

 What to Expect When You're Expecting Larvae: A Guide for Insect Parents by Bridget Heos is a delightful non-fiction book about insect development.  The book is presented in question and answer format and covers all the questions that a kid could ask about insect eggs and babies.

This is an entertaining non-fiction book that kids will enjoy.  It is written in a way that is easy to understand and difficult vocabulary words are defined for the reader and there is also a glossary at the end of the book.  The illustrations are cute and inviting for young readers.

Appropriateness:  I was not able to find any reading level information on the book but it seems like it would be around a late second grade level.  It would work as a read aloud for younger students.  I would look for this book at your local library.

Review copy obtained from Netgalley

Zoo School

This is a delightful kids book about a school at a zoo. My daughter was excited each night to hear what zany lesson the kids were going to have (gym class with seals, sorting and counting with real monkeys). It's the type of school every kid wishes they went to.






We loved this book in my house.  The premise was fun and the kids had wonderful adventures each day at school.




The book has about twelve chapters that aren't too long and it has a story which is entertaining to kids as well as adults so it's a fantastic book to read aloud to your child or your class. It is one of my daughters favorites.  The lexile is 720 putting this at a mid fourth grade level and making it perfect for either advanced younger readers or upper elementary readers.

Elephant Talk

Elephant talk by Ann Downer is a fantastic non fiction book about elephants and how they communicate.  It starts with a section on elephant herds and then discusses long distance calls, low frequency sounds, body language and scent, vibrations and elephant human relationships.

This is a beautiful book filled with information that animal lovers will find interesting.  The book is filled with beautiful elephant pictures that kids will love.  The information is presented in an interesting way that will keep kids interested.  The writing is intelligent and well researched yet readable for a younger audience.  The only think I felt would have added to the readability to the book is if the author included a glossary filled with the large number of vocabulary words that were used.

Appropriateness:  I would recommend this book to readers fourth grade and up.  The only reading level information I was able to find on it stated that it was for middle and high school grades.  It would be a fantastic book for a book report or a research project.  Unfortunately it's only available in library binding so I'd suggest requesting it at your local library if you don't want to shell out the $23 that amazon is charging for the book.

The Enormous Crocodile

The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl tells the story of a very naughty crocodile.  The crocodile decides that he would like to eat some children and he devises some tricky methods to accomplish this mission.  The story has been illustrated with delightful color pictures which make the book even more entertaining for young readers.

I bought this book along with a big pile of Dahl's books at a clearance sale.  I showed it to my daughter and then put it on the shelf and told her she could read it when she was finished with the book she is currently reading and warned her that it would be difficult but it was short so I thought she'd be able to handle it.  Unknown by me she decided to read this book on her own time and loved it.  She thought the story was very funny and finished it easily in an evening.

Appropriateness:  This is Roald Dahl so parents need to understand that the book is going to be a little scary and does not have a happy ending.  This book is very difficult (but short!) and has some big vocabulary words, making it most appropriate as either a read aloud or for advanced readers.  Scholastic lists the lexile at 410 (third grade) but puts the grade level equivalent as 5.6 which I'm assuming is related to the difficult vocabulary level.

Bad Kitty

 Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel tells the story of Bad Kitty getting a bath.  This is a modified graphic novel which has chapters and lots of pictures.  The original Bad Kitty is an alphabet picture book and the author followed that book with several others that are designed for readers that are reading early chapter books. 

I got this book for my daughter when she was a kindergartner (she's an advanced reader). I figured she'd read a chapter at a time and it would take about a week like the other beginning chapter books she was reading.

Well I was wrong.

The day she started the book she came downstairs to tell me that she was finished (without being prompted to read at all). She read four chapters before bed without being asked because she loved the book so much.  That's the sign of a great beginning chapter book.  We've since given Bad Kitty books at birthday parties along with the Bad Kitty Stuffed Animal and it's always a great hit.  The lexile is 650 putting it at a mid third grade level and it works well as a read aloud, advanced younger readers and for upper elementary school readers who want something funny.

Dragonsdale

Dragonsdale by Salamanda Drake follows Cara, a girl who lives on a dragon farm.  Cara's mom died while flying a dragon so Cara's father has forbidden her to ride.  It is a nice combination of a dragon and a horse story.  You can read a longer summary here.

My daughter picked this one up at our local book fair and I wasn't thrilled.  The cover is very pretty and fancy and it was about dragons (the book she was reading at the time was also about dragons) and she thought it looked terrific.  However, this  book is huge (almost three hundred pages and the print is not large) and it was signifigantly more difficult than the usual things she reads.  I reminded her several times that she could quit if she wanted (it took her about a month to finish) and she had several other books she could read instead and she refused each time.  Even though this was a very long book with difficult vocabulary she was so interested in the story that she would not stop reading.  That tells me that this is an excellent book.  


Scholastic states the reading level for this book at 5.6 and a lexile at 900 (compare that with the young adult books I review!).  The book uses difficult vocabulary words but does a fantastic job of putting them in context so that young readers can figure out what they mean and there are pictures to help the reader visualize Cara's fantasy world.  I would recommend this book to upper elementary school students and to young advanced readers.  It would also be an excellent read aloud for younger kids who will enjoy Cara's story.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George is a beautiful retelling of the Norwegian folk tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon.  An ice filled fairytale of a girl who lives in an ice castle with a polar bear and has to fight the troll queen.

This is a beautiful retelling that fills in the holes in the original story. I was unfamiliar with the fairy tale when I read this book and fell in love.  The princess is smart and crafty and strong and has to save her prince from the evil troll queen.

Appropriateness:  This is a book that will speak to all ages.  The content is G rated (the prince does sleep on the other side of the bed with the girl but it is innocent) and the tale is so sweet that I checked to see if they had the audio version at the library for my six year old daughter to listen to.  On the other hand when my English teacher father was here for Christmas he read the book and declared that he enjoyed it very much (which is a lot for him).    The lexile is 810 which puts it at a mid fifth grade level which is perfect for middle school readers and the content makes it acceptable for upper elementary school advanced readers who would like a little romance (and a strong princess for once!).

Humphrey the Hamster

The Humphrey the Hamster series is one that is loved by both my daughter and my husband.  Humphrey lives in room 26 and he helps out the families that he visits their homes and teaches kindness and friendship.  For example, he unplugs a classmates television so the family can learn to have fun without the television.  Humphrey's experiences make for good discussions of different problems that kids face, how to change these problems and how to help others.

This series works well as a read aloud (perfect in a classroom setting) and would be equally enjoyed by both boys and girls.  The content is not age specific so it would be enjoyed and is appropriate for elementary students of any age.  There are currently six books in the series and they're written on a 3-4th grade reading level.