Making it Up As I Go

In honor of International Children’s Book Day (which is today), here are some of the recent favorite kids books in our house.

The Creature Department by Robert Paul Weston is so awesome. Two kids discover that the success of the Google type business in their town is due to the existence of a department within it run by monsters, and that department is in danger. It’s up to the two kids to become friends and save the monsters! It’s a great story that also features boys and girls being friends, working with science, and has a little “love yourself for who you are” thrown in with an interesting twist.

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George is the first in a four part series about a magical castle that changes its rooms around every Tuesday. Celie is the youngest of the royal family that lives in it, and when her parents are attacked and presumed dead, she and her brother and sister have to defend the castle and the country against those who would try to take it away. Strong, smart, compassionate female characters work and fight alongside strong, smart, compassionate male characters, and individual’s talents are celebrated.

Ms Rapscott’s Girls by Elise Primavera is just fantastic. Ms Rapscott runs a boarding school for daughters of extremely busy parents (so busy that the daughters arrive in cardboard boxes in the mail) where she teaches the girls practical life skills as well as lessons like “how to find yourself” and “how to get lost on purpose”. The characters are diverse and flawed and each grows in a realistic way. There’s lots of humor and the takeaway lessons don’t clobber you over the head.

Masterpiece by Elise Broach is a lovely story about a little boy who befriends a very talented beetle. When the beetle draws a miniature picture for the boy for his birthday, everyone thinks that the boy drew it himself, and he gets pulled into a tangle of lies and tricks as a museum curator asks him to help foil an art thief. There’s a lot of action and low key tension in this one, as well as real information about the artist Albrecht Durer and museums.

A Dragon’s Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans by Laurence Yep and Joanne Ryder is a cute story about a dragon whose pet human dies, only to leave her house and her “house guest” to her niece, who believes that the dragon is now *her* pet. The little girl gets a hold of a magic sketchbook, and when her drawings come to life and begin to run amok in San Francisco, dragon and girl have to go gather them all up again. Told from the perspective of the dragon, it’s a nice twist, and the story is sweet and imagination provoking. There’s an undercurrent about grief which is quite effective, and it’s a fun story over all.

Villain School: Hero in Disguise by Stephanie S. Sanders is the longest book that Tiny’s ever read by herself (240 pages), and she loved it. She says, ” It’s about a school for villains. The main characters are good guys but they go to a villain school. In part of it they have to use a blueprint to figure out how to get past booby traps so that they can get to the girls’ dormitories. They want to go there to cheer up one of their friends whose best friend had to go to another school. Going there would cheer him up because you have to do a lot of girlie things to get there and it’s really funny. There aren’t very many scary parts in it, and there’s a part with a crystal ball where you tell it to do stuff and it does it. I think you should read this book.”

Pilfer Academy by Lauren Magaziner is the most recent book that Z read, and she loved it. She says, “It’s about a kid who gets kidnapped and taken to a thief school. He doesn’t really like it at the beginning but then he likes it and then he doesn’t. It’s complicated. The school itself was actually stolen from a Duke in France, and the boy and his friend have to return it to him. It’s very funny and not scary at all. There’s ice cream in it called Triple Diple Ultra Deluxe Melty Creamy Creamer Rainbow Swizzle Milk Munch Ice Cream. I would recommend this book.”

Playing Juliet by Joanne Stewart Wetzel was another big hit with Z. She says, “Playing Juliet is about a twelve year old who is in theater and wants to play Juliet. There’s lots of jumping out the window and sneaking places you’re not supposed to be at night. It’s highly enjoyable but not too long. It made me want to be in theater. I would recommend this book.”  For the record, the sneaking out is dealt with responsibly and the girl does get caught and in trouble for it.

Bake Sale by Sara Varon is a graphic novel “about Cupcake, who is literally a cupcake, who has a bakery and is in a band, but then he’s too busy in his bakery to have time for the band, so they hire a potato. I really liked this book. It’s in color and I liked the art,” Z says.

Mr Pants: Trick or Feet by Scott Mccormick and RH Lazzell is “about three kitties and their mommy who is a human. They want to go to the zombie walk but all of the costumes are sold out. Then they try to get to the zombie walk but they miss their plane because it’s snowing so they decide to trick or treat in the airport but Mr Pants only gets bread and soda cans while the others get candy. I like the art and it’s very funny,” Z says.

Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth  by Judd Winick is a favorite in our house. Z says, “it’s a book about a little boy who falls from the sky and he thinks everything is outstanding. He stays with another little boy and he enrolls in his school by putting a raccoon in the office and signing himself in. He’s trying to stop a bad guy and it’s really funny.”