Biography: Marco Polo

It's not often that you come across a truly excellent biography for children. It's apparent from the first page that this isn't just another standard title, designed for report writers and school projects.

Author Demi has interwoven rich storytelling with luxurious, oriental illustrations. Embroidered motifs and gold overlays set off the chinese ink watercolours; each page contains a beautiful framed image inside an embroidery border. Images break out of the frames for impact, while the minimal text tells the amazing story of Marco Polo's adventures in flowing prose.

Kids looking for report material might find it hard to extract the information they need from this book; it's not set up to deliver fact bites, and this is a good thing. To me, the value of this title lies in its ability to tell a mesmerizing story that will inspire the adventurer in any reader.

Biography

Ages 8-13

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Easy Reader: Zoom! Boom! Bully

Jon Scieszka specializes in books for boys, and this easy reader title (part of his Trucktown series) is a perfect fit.

It's clear that boys read differently from girls: they tend to prefer nonfiction or fast paced stories, focus on plot rather than interpersonal drama, and have different interests than girls. Rather than fighting against this, educators and authors are starting to work with boys' natural reading preferences, to the benefit of everyone.

Scieszka's Trucktown series is set in a city where the vehicles are the protagonists. Loud, funny and excited: that's how Scieszka describes his trucks and his readers. In this title, Big Rig knocks down whatever the other trucks build. Can they show him that being a bully is not the answer?

I highly recommend these titles to motivate kids who are just beginning to read, especially boys with interests in vehicles, crashing around, or being funny. (that describes most 5-7 year old boys I know!)

Easy Reader

Ages 4-7

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Poetry: The Bill Martin Jr Big Book of Poetry

Storyteller Bill Martin (of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) pairs up with classic children's illustrators in this essential poetry anthology. Nearly 200 best loved poems are included in this weighty book, each illustrated by a favourite artist.

The poems range from classic (Robert Frost) to contemporary, and provide kids with a warmly comprehensive introduction to the genre. I would recommend this to kids of all ages, from preschooler to tween. Come on folks, the world needs more good poetry in it!

Poetry
All ages (esp. 6-12 yrs)
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Novel in Cartoons: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal

Jeff Kinney has written a book that boys will love. If you're looking for a book that your preteen boy or reluctant reader won't be able to put down, this is it!

Greg Heffley's mom is making him keep a journal. This is bad for him, but great for us! We get to follow Greg as he plays his favourite video games, tries to avoid getting beaten up by the boys at school (unsuccessfully), and generally lives the life of a sixth-grade, middle-child boy.

This whole book is written in half prose, half cartoons. There's lots of visual content (comics, diagrams, etc) and the printing resembles that of your average sixth grader. The visual layout is immediately appealing to kids.

Kids will instantly recognize the social tensions and family issues that Greg is navigating, and empathize with his goofy exploits. For more of Greg, read Kinney's sequels: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roddick Rules, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw.

Novel in Cartoons

Grades 4-8

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Graphic Novel: Claudia and Mean Janine

Claudia and her sister, Janine, may as well be from two different planets. Claudia, who pays more attention to her art and the BSC than her grades, feels like she can’t compete with her perfect sister. Janine studies nonstop, makes straight As, and even takes college-level courses. But when something terrible happens in the family, the two sisters discover they’re more alike than they originally thought.

This classic Babysitter's Club tale is told in graphic format. A sure hit with middle school and tween girls!

Graphic Novel

Grades 3-7

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Graphic Novel/Fiction: The First Escape

The First Escape is the first book in the Dopple Ganger Chronicles, a six-book series following three children--Sadie and Saskia Dopple and Erik Morrissey Ganger. Sadie and Saskia are mischievous identical twins living at an orphanage, where Erik is their only friend. They are separated when Saskia is adopted by Muzz Elliott, a wealthy woman searching for her long-lost family treasure. While Saskia stumbles into the center of a crime only she can stop, Sadie and Erik embark on a quest to find her. This book is in an exciting new format called an illustra-novella, in which the story is told alternately in graphic novel format and plain text with occasional illustrations. A great choice for reluctant readers, and a good story to boot.

Graphic novel/Fiction

Grades 5-9

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Fiction: Antsy Does Time

Fueled by friendship and sympathy, Antsy Bonano signs a month of his life over to his "dying" classmate Gunnar Umlaut. Soon everyone at school follows suit, giving new meaning to the idea of "living on borrowed time." But does Gunnar really have six months to live, or is news of his imminent death greatly exaggerated? When a family member suffers a heart attack after donating two years to Gunnar, Antsy wonders if he has tempted fate by playing God. Fans of "the Schwa" will welcome favorite and new characters in this wholly fresh tale, which is as touchingly poignant as it is darkly comical.

Fiction

Grades 5-9

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