The weekly post where I recap all the KidLit books I’ve been reading. Occasionally, I’ll also review some adult fiction books as well.
Be sure to check out Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to see what other kidlit readers are reading. Because, you know, we can never have too many books in our TBR pile.
September Book Giveaway:
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| My full review here |
September’s book giveaway is Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon. The giveaway will go live here on the blog this Sunday, September 10th at 12:00 AM EST and will run through the following Friday. Be sure to check back to enter.
Board Books
Spoonful
written by Benoit Marchon
illustrated by Soledad Bravi
A clever and cute read. The head of the illustrations are cut out, so it is the same head on each page. I would recommend this for toddlers as I think the illustrations will read better–easier to understand. Also, the pages of this board book are a bit flimsy and I feel would be easily torn by small babies.
Bunnies Near and Far
by Sarah Jones
I really enjoy Sarah Jones’ style. This is a simple and cute counting book. My 10mo smiled every time we’ve read this one together.
Picture Books
Everyone is Yawning
by Anita Bijsterbosch
Oh my goodness, this book was delightful. Each page has flaps where you can make the animal open its mouth and yawn. We have read this multiple times over the past few days and my children love it.
Rulers of the Playground
by Joseph Kuefler
A fun story about playing well with others. It could be used as a starting point for bullying and/or including everyone in your play. The illustrations are very textural and nice.
Creepy Pair of Underwear!
written by Aaron Reynolds
illustrated by Peter Brown
Both Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown are always so consistent, and they deliver on this book. We love Creepy Carrots and this is a great follow up. The text is fun and the illustrations are fantastic. If you’ve followed any of my other posts, you’ll know that I am a huge fan of limited color palettes. The glowing neon green underpants are comical and so much fun.
A Hungry Lion or A Dwindling Assortment of Animals
by Lucy Ruth Cummins
My daughter and I read this last night and loved it. I especially enjoy how much the text and illustrations compliment each other. They both work together to tell a really funny story. I also enjoyed the twist at the end. The title is great too.
Poetry
Cricket Never Does: A Collection of Haiku and Tanka
written by Myra Cohn Livingston
illustrated by Kees De Kiefte
I love short-form poetry. This collection is great and starts off very strong. Livingston is able to capture a crisp and clear image with only a few short words. There is elegance in these short poems.
Middle Grade
Zombiefied
by C.M. Gray
Before I say anything else, I enjoyed this book enough that I plan on reading the next one in the series. I do, however, feel like this book was just a giant intro to everything. I felt like it took awhile for the story to actually start, and once it started, it just served to set up the series. I think that is why I’d like to check out the next one. It seems like it has potential. I do like the comical illustrations.
Young Adult
White Cat (The Curse Workers #1)
by Holly Black
read by Jesse Eeisenberg
Holly Black is consistently good. I don’t think I have read a book of hers that I did not enjoy. White Cat has been on my TBR for a long time. The story was fantastic, with an ending that caught me off guard, which doesn’t happen often. I plan on picking up the next in the series. Listening to the audiobook version, it took awhile to get used to Eeisenberg’s voice, just because it is so recognizable. I wish he had used more inflection for the different characters, but overall, it was a good listening experience.
Non-KidLit
Set to Sea
by Drew Weing
This is a fun quick graphic novel about a a guy who sits around all day, dreaming of being a poet. Though a series of events, he finds himself on a ship where he gains all sorts of life experiences that ultimately make him a better writer. The crosshatching style in the illustrations is beautiful. Also, I am a sucker for sea stories, so I enjoyed this one overall.
Sloth Reads 
I just bought Rulers of the Playground for our school read aloud initiative. A Creepy Pair of Underwear is one I keep hearing about and I guarantee it will be a hit with students. Guess I will finally have to purchase!
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What a great collection of picture books!I am excited about White Cat. I've just downloaded the audiobook from my library.
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Rules of the Playground looks real cute. I enjoy Holly Black's novels, and I think we did feature a few titles from this series awhile back. 🙂
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yes. I enjoyed both of them. You'll have to let me know what you think of the Creepy Underwear.
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I hope you enjoy White Cat. The sequel is in my pile that I hope to get to (eventually)
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Thanks for stopping by!
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