Book Recommendations

12 Character Traits: 2020, Book Recommendations

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein

August 20, 2020October 26, 2020by childrenslitlove1 Comment

With back-to-school season upon us, though it may look different than ever before, many of us are reading all the school stories with our children and students. We’re reading stories about the first day of school and navigating relationships with other children at school, but how about navigating children’s relationships with themselves? Today, I bring you The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein, illustrated by Pett. Whether you’ve got a true perfectionist in your life or not, I encourage you to get your hands on this important book and share it with the children in your life!

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Book Recommendations, Family Chapter Book Read Alouds, Middle Grade

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

August 18, 2020October 14, 2020by childrenslitlove4 Comments

Let’s talk about The Hundred Dresses. As a teacher, this was the first chapter book that I read aloud to my students each year. We’d talk about kindness, being an upstander, being a bystander, standing up for ourselves, forgiveness, empathy, socio-economic diversity, preconceived notions, and so much more. As a parent, I vowed to read The Hundred Dresses aloud to our girls before school started each year, once they were old enough to sustain attention for a chapter book read aloud. I read The Hundred Dresses with our older daughter last summer, before she started first grade, and we started to reread it with both girls just this week, to gear them up for their upcoming school years. So why do I love this chapter book enough to reread it yearly with my students and now my girls?

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Book Recommendations

The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage by Selina Alko

August 17, 2020by childrenslitloveLeave a Comment

Did you know that a mere 53 years ago, interracial marriage was still illegal in 5 states? Not only was interracial marriage illegal, but if an interracial couple married somewhere legally (say Washington, D.C.), and then moved somewhere where it was illegal (say Virginia), then they faced the very real possibility of being arrested. The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage, by Selina Alko, illustrated by Alko and Sean Qualls, tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving’s fight for legal marriage and the ensuing Supreme Court Case Loving v. Virginia (1967) which legalized interracial marriage.

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Book Recommendations, Middle Grade

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

August 13, 2020August 13, 2020by childrenslitloveLeave a Comment

How do you feel about novels written in free verse? I have to admit that they’re not really my thing… But, in an effort to model open-minded reading for my girls, I have tried to read two this summer. And while I abandoned one of them, I absolutely loved Jacqueline Woodson’s middle-grade stunner Brown Girl Dreaming!

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12 Character Traits: 2020, Book Recommendations, random

Adventures in Kindness: 52 Awesome Kid Adventures for Building a Better World by Sophia and Carrie Fox

August 12, 2020August 11, 2020by childrenslitloveLeave a Comment

By now, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that we believe our most important job as parents is to help our children grow into kind, positive, and strong members of our community, and one of our favorite tools in this endeavor is children’s literature. So, when the team behind Adventures in Kindness: 52 Awesome Kid Adventures for Building a Better World reached out to see if I’d like to take a look at their book, I gave my standard, “I’ll happily take a look, though I can’t promise to feature it until we’ve received it and read it…” But this time, I figured this would be a book our family would love. And sure enough, we do! Read on to see what Adventures in Kindness, by mother-daughter duo Sophia and Carrie Fox, illustrated by Nichole Wong Forti, is all about!

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12 Character Traits: 2020, Book Recommendations

Goin’ Someplace Special by Patricia McKissack

August 11, 2020August 10, 2020by childrenslitloveLeave a Comment

A few months ago, I recommended the book The Honest-to-Goodness Truth by Patricia McKissack, illustrated by Gisella Potter. And, I was honestly a bit surprised by how many of you had never read any of McKissack’s works! At the time, I vowed to remedy that, and since our family’s focus this month is on resilience, Goin’ Someplace Special by McKissack, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, is the perfect McKissack book for you to get to know and love!

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Book Recommendations

Most People by Michael Leannah

August 7, 2020November 6, 2020by childrenslitloveLeave a Comment

2020 has been a strange, long, hard year in many ways and for many people. Even in the easiest, most normal, most mundane of times, I love sharing books with my girls that remind us of all the goodness in the world. In fact, some of my earliest book recommendations on Instagram (before I even had a website!) were Be Kind, Good People Everywhere, and Because Amelia Smiled, books that highlight good people spreading goodness. Up today, I’ve got another one of our favorite books that reminds us of all the good around us: Most People, by Michael Leannah, illustrated by Jennifer E. Morris.

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Book Recommendations

The “Loves Science” Series

August 3, 2020August 1, 2020by childrenslitloveLeave a Comment

Earlier this year, I recommended Asia Citro’s Zoey and Sassafras series, which is a delightful chapter book series that engages children in using the scientific method to solve problems with magical creatures. Today, I bring you Kimberly Derting’s and Shelli R. Johannes’s “Loves Science” series, a very similar picture book series that makes science experiments accessible and engaging to young readers. Read on to see why my girls loves these picture books and early readers!

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Book Recommendations

You Matter by Christian Robinson

July 31, 2020July 31, 2020by childrenslitloveLeave a Comment

“For anyone who isn’t sure if they matter. You do.”

When a book opens with this dedication, you know it’s going to be something special. You might have seen Christian Robinson’s newest gem floating around the internet and wondered if it’s really worth the hype that it’s getting… And it absolutely is! You Matter is one worth owning, worth the space on your front-facing shelf, and worth reading and re-reading over and over again and returning to as your child grow and come in and out of confidence.

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12 Character Traits: 2020, Book Recommendations

When You Are Brave by Pat Zietlow Miller

July 29, 2020July 29, 2020by childrenslitloveLeave a Comment

Okay, all, July is almost over, but I’ve got time to squeeze in one more book recommendation from our courage booklist, and you’re definitely going to want to check this one out. I scrambled to buy this book one day last summer, when our older daughter needed a little bravery boost for a summer camp… And we’ve returned to it multiple evenings in times of need, when the thought of what was coming the next day was a little too much to one of our girls. But, we’ve also pulled it out simply for a fun read, because it’s a fantastically written and beautifully illustrated picture book! Read on to see what makes When You Are Brave by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler, so delightful.

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