Midway Monkey Madness

Midway Monkey Madness by Sarah Stephens follows Beppo, Superman's pet monkey.  Beppo took a trip to the fair.  While he was at the fair a huge evil Gorilla named Gorilla Grodd was causing trouble at the animal sideshow.  Beppo has to work to save the fair using both his mind and his super powers.

Midway Monkey Madness is a super funny beginning chapter book.  There was just enough action but not enough to scare young kids.  The pictures were great because they went along with the story to illustrate the action in the plot.  The author did a fantastic job of creating a fun read with action words set in a large colorful to help the reader create more inflection.

I read this together with my daughter because it looked like a quick read and we had such a fun time reading it.  She did spooky laughs and loud ROOOAR's and POW POW POW's where the author had highlighted them and it made reading the book so much fun.  

Appropriateness:  This is a fantastic book for young readers.  I would recommend it both as a read aloud (or a read together, it's fun to do one page Mom and the next page Child with this one) and as a book for readers straddling the divide between picture books and chapter books.  While this book will be enjoyed by girls (and mine loved it) I'd like to highlight this book (and the entire series) as one that boys will love and adore.  It's comic book like with full illustrations super hero characters and fun plot will be sure to engage even the most reluctant of readers.  It is written at a second grade level with a lexile of 480 and a guided reading level of J

Netgally provided by the publisher.

Ellie McDoodle

The Ellie McDoodle books follow Ellie as she goes on vacation and moves to a new school.  The book is Ellie's illustrated journal and is filled with pictures and antidotes of her adventures.  As a bonus at the end of each book the author offers drawing and journaling tips to help your child create their own illustrated journal.


The books are written on a mid third grade level and would be enjoyed by any elementary aged student.  My daughter loved the two novels that have been published so far and is excited for the newest novel.  She thought Ellie's adventures were exciting and loved the pictures throughout the book.  This is a good book for both advanced readers and for older reluctant readers.  The pictures and humor are encouraging for young readers.

Baby Mouse!

Babymouse is a fantastic series of graphic novels for the young reader.  They follow the trials and tribulations of Babymouse as she suffers horrors such as dodge-ball and school musical auditions. 

My daughter loves these so much that she sits and reads them in one sitting without being asked and cheers when one arrives in the mail.  I asked her why she loves Babymouse and she said it's because they are pink pink pink and there is always a happy ending and they are easy to read.  These are girl books and because of the pinkness I wouldn't think boys would like them.

These graphic novels are perfect for the reader that's moving from picture books to chapter books.  They're at a second grade reading level.  There are twelve in the series and they're generally available as buy 3 get the 4th free from Amazon.com.