Tag Archives: books for kids

Cooking with Kids

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My kids have always been interested in cooking.  My oldest daughter loves baking.  During the stay at home order, my kids and husband would have cooking competitions. I’ll be honest, they weren’t exactly competitions.  They just wanted an excuse to make some crazy concoctions.  They were very creative and most of what they made was edible.

Check out these cookbooks from our collection to explore cooking with your own kids. I wish my family had these books at home during the stay at home order.

 

 

 

 

 

Mug It!

While we were home, we did check out Mug It! on hoopla.  We made mac & cheese and chocolate chip cookies during the quarantine.

 

 

 

 

 

Cool Sugar-Free Recipes 

I’m always looking for healthy foods that my kids will actually eat.  This book has clear instructions for the recipes and great pictures. The Chocolate Fudge and Flavorful Bread recipes look tasty.  I have said that every tooth in my girls’ mouths is a “sweet tooth.” They LOVE their sweet treats.

 

 

Super Simple Lunches

“Super Simple” is right! There are nine delicious no bake recipes.  This book includes cooking basics, measuring tips, cooking terms, a picture dictionary of tools, and an ingredients list.  The Ham and Cheese Pinwheel recipe has ingredients that can be adjusted to fit everybody.

 

The Math Chef

While this book doesn’t have fancy pictures, it has many math activities to make learning fun.  What better way to explain volume, fractions, and area than with food.  The Superquick Stromboli Slices recipe meets the Boones competition standards. This one calls for frozen dough, but the Boone kids love making their own dough.  This is another recipe that is easily customizable for each member of the family.

 

My Summer Reading List

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All this time at home has given me an opportunity to read many new children’s books. I thought I would share with you some of my new favorites. Many of these books are on order and will be available soon.

 

FUNNY BOOKS (My favorite genre):

Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat
by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
Lexile Level: 660

Personally, I love funny books so reading Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat was a delight! Klawde, an intergalactic overlord/emperor feline has been overthrown and exiled to planet Earth by teleporter. He lands in Elba, Oregon and is taken in by a young man (Raj) who has recently been transplanted with his family from Brooklyn, New York. Raj is dealing with his own crisis of being a city boy and having his mother sign him up for survival camp on an extinct volcano. Klawde reveals his situation to Raj who orders equipment from the internet so Klawde can build an escape transporter. There is laugh-out-loud dialog in this hilarious book. Fast read.

 

Bernice Buttman, Model Citizen
by Niki Lenz

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 5th grade 1st month/ 7 points
Lexile Level: 780

If you’ve ever read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever you might remember the irascible Imogene Herdman. Picture a cross between Imogene and reality star Honey Boo Boo who intersects with Nonnatus House from Call the Midwife and you have yourself quite a book! I couldn’t put it down! Bernice is being raised in a trailer park by a “distracted” mother and 4 rowdy brothers. She is renown in school as a hateful bully and her dream is to be a famous Hollywood stunt woman. She has not been taught any manners and is rude and crude. When her mother leaves the family for some scheme to be on a reality show, Bernice is sent to live with her aunt who is a Catholic nun. OH MY!!!! The transformation is similar to Korman’s best seller: Restart.

 

A Zombie Ate My Homework
by Tommy Greenwald

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 4th grade 1st month/ 5 points
Lexile Level: 560

This is a new series (trilogy) about a young zombie that was developed in a government laboratory who escaped and was taken in by a very kind family. This is a fast (short chapters) and fun read that I think the entire family will enjoy. (Great for reluctant readers!)

 

 

NONFICTION:

The Day the Universe Exploded in My Head
by Allan Wolf

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.

The Day the Universe Exploded in My Head is an enjoyable poetry book filled with great illustrations and funny informative poems dealing with space.

 

 

Gross as a Snot Otter: Discovering the World’s Most Disgusting Animals
by Jess Keating and Jessica Anne Morrison

Interest Level: 5 – 8 years (This seems like a very low leveI- I found it interesting and I’m 67.)

This book will have your children enthralled, horrified, and completely hooked! Great illustrations and amazing facts team up to make this a great selection!

 

FANTASY:

The Whispering Wars
by Jaclyn Moriarty

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 5th grade 1st month/ 15 points

The Whispering Wars is a beautifully written fantasy filled with enchantments, nonstop action, stolen children and a magical flu (which creeped me out since I read it while quarantined with the COVID). For those who love a well plotted fantasy – this book comes highly recommended.

 

The Mystwick School of Musicraft
by Jessica Khoury

Interest Level: 10-12 yr.

This book is a Harry Potter-esque book with music as the vehicle of the magic. Amelia Jones has always dreamed of following her dead mother’s footsteps in studying at the Mystwick School to learn the magic of music. After she completely blows her audition she is thrilled to get the invitation to attend – but later finds out that it was issued by mistake and now she must prove her worth. This is a charming fantasy and sure to prove a worthwhile series.

 

 

GRAPHIC NOVEL:

InvestiGATORS
by John Patrick Green

Interest Level: 7-10 yr.
AR Level: 3rd grade 3rd month/1 point

This is a series of goofy fast-paced graphic novels based on the exploits of alligators who solve mysteries by traveling through toilets. If your kids love Dog Man and Captain Underpants this will be a winner!

 

 

 

SURVIVAL:

Lifeboat 12
by Susan Hood

Interest Level: 8-13 yr.
AR Level: 4th grade / 4 points
Lexile Level: 610

Lifeboat 12 is a fictionalized account of a World War 2 survival story. During the bombing of London children were sent to the countryside (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) for safety but they were also sent on ships to Canada. This was a great idea except that Nazi U-boats were torpedoing the ships. Ken Sparks a 13 yr. old Londoner is on the ship with 89 other children when the ship is hit and sinks. Because their boat was not swamped like the others and made it farther from the wreck, the rescue boats missed them. The book chronicles the horrific days of little water, scorching sun, cold nights, and the pain of “trench foot” while trying to row back to the motherland. It’s written in verse – so an easy read- especially for reluctant readers who love survival stories.

 

REALISTIC FICTION:

Finding Orion
by John David Anderson

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 5th grade 3st month/ 13 points
Lexile Level: 790

This book is bizarre. Rion Kwirk’s family is very quirky. His mother named the children after constellations and his father works for a candy factory where he concocts unusual and sometimes disgusting flavors. Everything is turned even crazier when a clown arrives with a singing telegram to inform them that their grandfather has died. His dad’s father is the polar opposite of his son. Rion’s grandfather rides motorcycles and gives gifts like a taxidermied squirrel and crossbows. The story REALLY gets going when they attend the “FUN”NERAL and then discover that they must follow through with a scavenger hunt to find Grandfather’s ashes. As weird as it seems in the description, this is a poignant read and delves into forgiveness and what it means to be “family”.

 

Reviewing Media for Our Children

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One of the most common questions I get from parents of voracious, high-level readers is “How can I make sure what they’re reading is appropriate?” It’s a tricky question. We all have different levels of comfort with what our children read, different definitions of what is “appropriate.” And while some of us would like to be able to screen everything first, that often isn’t possible.

Stetson University’s Christopher J. Ferguson ran a small study showing that reading banned books “is associated with both increased civic behavior and little risk of antisocial behavior.” Click here for the full study. In other words, there don’t seem to be consequences for children reading questionable material. Children often “self-censor” what they read, and will ask questions to understand better. That being said, you know your child best, and you know what they will understand and enjoy! So, how can you stay one step ahead of your prodigious reader?

One of my favorite websites is Common Sense Media. Their goal is to review media – books, movies, games, apps, and even YouTube channels – and track content so that parents, caregivers, and educators can make informed decisions. They give an age recommendation for media and also specifically note what kind of content it contains. Let’s run through a quick example: the oft-banned Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. They recommend the book for children 8 and older. They note positive messages for the book, “Full of positive messages about the power of love, friendship, and self-sacrifice. Also about not letting your background dictate who you become.” There is also a note about violence and scariness, “Kids are in peril often, but it’s mostly at the hands of fantasy creatures…” The description goes on to outline each of these scenarios, so that you know how intense the book will be. If you have an issue with language, you may be happy to know that there is one instance of “Damn.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common Sense Media also provides parent and child reviews, as well as a rundown of each book. There are lists of recommended books, so if you’re looking for something new it can be a great place to start.

Of course, not everything has been reviewed. You may not be able to find every book your child is interested in. If you have any further questions or need more resources, our librarians at GPL are more than happy to help!