What We Are Reading

It’s Children’s Book Week–the 100th Children’s Book Week! To kick things off, I wrote a post for the Houston Moms Blog entitled “True Confessions of a Children’s Book Lover.” I hope it helps inspire you with some fun, easy ideas for celebrating this week.

Colby Sharp, creator of the oh-so-inspiring book The Creativity Project, regularly posts fun videos on his YouTube channel about what his fifth grade students are reading. I have read a few books based on his recommendations within those videos. Since I don’t have any fifth graders, but I do have five kids, I thought it might be a fun blog post to share the books we are reading right now.

So last night, I interviewed each of my five children and asked them about the books they are reading right now. Here is what they told me:

Boy #1, 10 years old, 4th grade:

He is reading The Boy, The Boat, and the Beast. This masterful novel by Samantha M. Clark is one he saw me reading last week. He asked to read when I finished. I read it in two days. It was hard to put down. So far, he is really intrigued by it. He is reading it on his own without needing coaxing from me which I consider a HUGE win! Since I read this book last week, I can tell you that it made me cry! It is such a powerful story. I am excited for my son to finish reading it so we can have a discussion about this book. The story can stand alone but has an allegorical quality as well, so I am curious to see how much he picks up on once he finishes. I think we will have a really fun discussion!

I asked him what he likes about the book right now and he said that he likes how the boy in the story seems to be able to do impossible things. He says it is making him think.

Boy #2, 10 years old, 4th grade:

He is reading Michael Vey 4: Hunt for Jade Dragon. My twins have both really loved the Michael Vey series by Richard Paul Evans. They are jam-packed, full of adventure and twists and turns that keep my boys engaged from start to finish. I have only read the first Michael Vey book and totally understood why my kids love them so much. The main character has Tourette Syndrome plus an amazing “power.” Both of these challenges make him approach life a bit differently. He is relatable to all kids because I think everybody feels like they don’t belong or they are different in some way. This book is a sort of adrenaline rush from start to finish with very little “down time.”

I asked him what he likes about the book and he says there is a lot of action and it’s really exciting. He likes that Michael Vey keeps having new adventures.

Boy #3, 8 years old (almost 9), 3rd grade:

He is reading The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. It is tough for me to get this boy to try fiction. He usually wants to read nonfiction animal-themed books. Seeing him thoroughly engaged and talking about this book is a pretty big deal. I think we’ll both be sad when he finishes this one. As the title suggests, it is a play on the story of King Midas, only instead of things turning to gold, they are turning to chocolate.

I asked him what he likes about the story and he said that it is pretty funny and he doesn’t know what to expect next.

Boy #4, 6 years old, Kindergarten:

He read The Little Red Fort by Brenda Maier. It is a more modern rendition of The Little Red Hen. The illustrator, Sonia Sanchez really makes this book come alive. Her illustrations and the graphic design of the text on each page work together to make this beautiful picture book visually engaging. The characters are Hispanic and the main character is loveable from the title page! The end of the book contains ideas for how to build a fort of your own along with a page-long author’s note about the history of the folktale The Little Red Hen. This would be an excellent resource to use when studying the original and looking for similarities and differences.

I asked him what he liked about the book and he said that he really liked the pictures. He also really liked the ending.

Girl (one and only), 3 years old

We recently read Chris Barton’s nonfiction picture book about Congresswoman Barbara Jordan entitled What Do You Do With a Voice Like That? It is beautiful. It tells the story of a remarkable woman from the time she was a little girl to the legacy she left behind after her passing. It does not dwell on her death (in fact, I had to double-check the timeline at the end of the book to make sure I had understood correctly that she had passed away), but celebrates her life and all that she did to make the state of Texas–and the entire United States of America–a better place.

My girl loved the illustrations created by Ekua Holmes and I loved sharing with her an empowering story about an African-American woman who used her voice to bring more goodness into the world.

What I’m Reading

I am reading The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson. And I love it. It is a multi-faceted middle grade novel that addresses racism both today and in the past while looking at friendship and acceptance and family. The main character is trying to solve a big puzzle that her grandmother was trying to solve but couldn’t. It is highly engaging and one I will definitely share with my own kids once I finish. I am thinking I’ll make it our first read-aloud book this summer. It would be fun to read this all together so we can talk about it as we go along. I can already imagine them on the edges of their seats wondering what will happen next!

What are your kids reading?

Let’s keep the conversation going! What books are your kids reading? Share in the comments below.