I had a Eureka! moment at Lightroom, one of my favorite bookstores in Bangalore, this summer. You see, I have been searching long and hard for an engaging, illustrated series for the 7-11 set that isn’t saturated with middle-grade cynicism, loser-cool, or gross-out potty humor (Books, I love you guys, but you know who you are!). And when my eyes alighted on The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffin and Terry Denton, I knew I had found what I was looking for. Read more…Try this Treehouse
friendship
Book and audiobook review: The One and Only Ivan
Title: The One and Only Ivan
Author: Katherine Applegate
Format: Single book, audiobook
Audiobook narrator: Adam Grupper
Audiobook length: 3hrs 46min
Age Group: 10+
There once was a 400lb western lowland gorilla named Ivan, who lived in a concrete cell in the middle of a shopping mall. For 27 years, he entertained shoppers and gawkers, but had no contact with others of his kind.
It is from these dire, real-life circumstances, that author Katherine Applegate spins a soaring and unforgettable tale. Read more…Book and audiobook review: The One and Only Ivan
Boys and their bots
It’s a happy and familiar story: Boy meets bot, boy befriends bot…they become best pals, rescue each other from peril, and live happily, chasing adventure ever after.
Simple though it may sound, this theme has been spun into some great books for boys at all reading levels. Read more…Boys and their bots
Book review: Pax
Title: Pax
Author: Sarah Pennypacker (author of acclaimed Clementine series)
Illustrator: Jon Klaassen (award-winning picture book author/illustrator of I Want My Hat Back)
Format: Single book
Age group: 9+
A mesmerizing book about the profound bond between a fox and a boy.
Peter is 7 years old when he finds an abandoned and starving fox kit in the woods nears home. Peter adopts the fox and names him Pax. The two form a deep connection, “two, but not two”. But the disease of war encroaches, and Peter’s angry and restless father has caught the bug. When he decides to enlist in the army, Pax and Peter are forcibly separated after more than 5 years at each other’s side. Read more…Book review: Pax
Audiobook review: A Boy and His Bot
Title: A Boy and His Bot
Author: Daniel H. Wilson
Narrator: David Ackroyd
Length: 4h 40m
Format: Audiobook
Age group: 10+
Code Lightyear is a shy young Cherokee boy. At school, he keeps his head down and tries to avoid the taunts of bullies. Rather than standing up for himself, Code prefers to concentrate on doodling robot designs. He also misses his beloved grandfather, who disappeared on a visit to Mek Mound, the hilly site of an ancient, Native American civilization.
On a field-trip to this hallowed place, Code wanders off from his classmates only to stumble through a portal into Mekhos, a bizarre and dangerous land populated entirely by robots. Read more…Audiobook review: A Boy and His Bot
Audiobook review: Big Hero 6
Title: Big Hero 6 Junior Novelization (Disney’s Big Hero 6)
Author: Irene Trimble
Narrator: MacLeod Andrews
Length: 2h 18m
Format: Audiobook
Age group: 8+
Fourteen-year old Hiro Hamada is brilliant but wastes all his time hustling at ‘bot fights in dark alleys instead of focusing on his future. He worships Tadashi, his older brother, who rescues him from scrapes and encourages him to think bigger. Everything changes when Hiro loses his big brother in a terrible accident at a famous robotics lab where Tadashi was developing a health-care robot named Baymax. Heartbroken, Hiro teams up with Baymax and with 5 of Tadashi’s friends when he realizes that the explosion at the lab may not have been an accident at all.
You may be surprised to hear about Big Hero 6, the audiobook! The movie was of course a huge hit and no doubt your kids, like mine, saw it when it was released. But the audiobook is really well written and read with a beautifully resonant voice by MacLeod Andrews. Read more…Audiobook review: Big Hero 6
Book review: Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot
Title: Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot
Author: Dav Pilkey
Illustrator: Dan Santat
Format: Book series (9 books)
Age group: 5+
Poor Squeakyville! This town and its mousey inhabitants seem perpetually on the hit-list of some mad scientist or colony-craving alien. Luckily for Squeakyville, one of its littlest residents – boy-mouse Ricky Ricotta – has teamed up with his best buddy, The Mighty Robot, to hold chaos at bay. From facing down school bullies, to combatting all manner of mutants from around the planetary system, Ricky and his Robot embark on 9, action-packed adventures. Read more…Book review: Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot
Audiobook review: The Star of Kazan
Title: The Star of Kazan
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Narrator: Patricia Connolly
Length: 10h 15m
Format: Full length story
Age group: 9+
When Sigrid and Ellie, maids for a family of Austrian musicians, find a baby abandoned at a small church among the Alps, they are utterly bewildered. They bring the foundling home to Vienna and eventually raise her as their own. All is well until Annika, now a young girl, unexpectedly inherits a box of costume jewelry, and a mysterious German aristocrat emerges claiming to be Annika’s long-lost mother. Read more…Audiobook review: The Star of Kazan
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