**What Are You Reading to your children now - or to yourself. Children's books through young adult.

I read a ton a books to my children, but never have anyplace to share, except in my thread. So, even if no one else posts here, I plan to.

But, don't limit this to just children's books. Juvenile and Young Adult books are welcome. Picture books, novels, poetry, prize winners, classics, the good and the bad, things that just spark some nostalgia - here's a place to post about them.

This is for 2011...but feel free to start early.

Dan, what a great idea. I have no kids myself, but have taken to reading and collecting really well-done kids' books, for some odd reason. I always love seeing what you and your children are reading, and I'm so thrilled you created this thread!

Thanks, I'm looking forward to this thread...although admitting that somehow puts some weird unnecessary pressure on me...strange. Anyway, tight now we're on vacation and not reading anything...none of us...sigh.

My children are 7 and 10, and so read independently. But we still end up together at bedtime, reading. I've learned the importance of finding books that are written to be read aloud, especially now that we've left the picture books for longer fare. I'm currently reading Redwall by Brian Jacques, and while they are enjoying it enormously, I have trouble reading more than a few chapters at a time. We took a break last night (the book had temporarily disappeared into one of their rooms) and read A.A. Milne instead (specifically, the chapters in which Pooh discovers the north pole and where Piglet is entirely surrounded by water) and I could have comfortably read for hours.

We've been trying to read this but haven't picked it up in a few days...

tonight we read these; old ones for us, but I love them both...especially White Wave:

The How to Train Your Dragon books did not flow, but my children enjoyed the first three enormously. Do you have different voices for the characters? I chose a voice for Toothless that was difficult to sustain, but highly enjoyed by the listeners. Lemony Snicket's series of Unfortunate Events is enormous fun and pleasant to read. It also increased my children's vocabulary levels, having a way of slipping in "big words" and then explaining them in an "I know that you already know this" way.

#6 - I tried the first volume of SoUE a while back, but my daughter wasn't ready to listen to it (or, perhaps, to me reading it).

So, I've been looking into Texas Bluebonnet Award 2010-2011 nominees lately. Here are some hits so far:

(On the Titantic, big hit with kids!)

Some other recent hits:
(meet my son!) (graphic designers take note, this is about typography and has won design awards)

Just adding missed touchstones:

from post 5: Bubba the Cowboy Prince by Helen Ketteman and illustrator James Warhola

from post 7:
All Stations! Distress!: April 15, 1912: The Day the Titanic Sank by Don Brown
The Book Woman by Heather Hensen and illustrator David Small (of Stitches... fame),
Surfer of the Century by Ellie Crowe & illustrator Richard Waldrep
Abe Lincoln Loved Animals by Ellen Jackson & illustrator Doris Ettlinger
Lost and Found & The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers
No, David! by David Shannon (we've also been reading Shannon-illustrated How I Became A Pirate by Melinda Long)
Alphabeasties by Sharon Werner & Sarah Forss

This may be a better place for this link of Neil Gaimans site which has recordings of him reading all the chapters of the Graveyard book on his promotional tour: http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx?VideoID=20

I'm looking forward to reading this thread. RG, I read Redwall a few months back: that Cluny is pretty scary, and liked it enough to pick up two more in the series, which isn't exactly chronological so I got the first one after Redwall in the timeline and the first one of all in the timeline.

Dan, I hope your kids get into Lemony Snicket; he's so much fun. In fact, I have The End hanging around and am kind of refusing to read it: one, I don't want the series to end and, two, I'm a bit afraid of what terrible ending he has in store.

I got notice that I received Book 2 in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place for ER, which means that'll I have to read Book I, which is on my shelf. I'll let you guys know how it is.

My kids (4 & 6) are still too young for most Gaimon, and for Maryrose Wood. I did request Silverlicious from the Jan Early Reviewers...

We've come across several more new-to-us picture books that are quite good. I need to actually "compose" a post so I can include pictures... I'll be back.

I tend to prefer YA over adult novels in certain genres (fantasy and to a certain extent historical fiction) so I was very happy to stumble across this thread.

The five YA novels currently on my TBR library pile are:

Chalice by Robin McKinley, one of my favorite YA authors. Her novels Beauty and Spindle's End are not to be missed.

Lost in the Labyrinth by Patrice Kindl - A retelling of the Minotaur legend. I read half of it, lost it, and spent the last seven years trying to remember the title before rediscovering it in my local library.

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready takes place in a world in which everyone born after a certain year can see and communicate with ghosts. This is an incredibly well-written novel that upstages pretty much every other offering in the genre, be it YA or adult. (reread)

Spells by Aprilynne Pike. It took about 1/3 of the prequel to sell me on Pike's writing, but she seems to be taking the one-girl two-guys urban fantasy romance trope established by Stephenie Meyer in new directions.

Tithe by Holly Black. Another reread. Black's novels can be a bit too self-consciously hip for my tastes, but no one writes faeries more creepy and otherworldly than she does.

Here's the books I've been meaning to list, all from the library:

First, three 2010-2011 Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominees

The Uglified Ducky by Willy Claflin and Illustrator James Stimson - A moose is raise as a duck, the tale is in "moose speak"
Down, Down, Down by Steve Jenkins. Illustrations are cut paper. Starts at the surface and ends at the bottom of the Marianna Trench. Fascinating (too wordy for my 4-yr-old)
Pirates by poetry by David L. Harrison, illustrations by Helen Robinson. Yes, poetry. Wonderfully done, very dark. My 4-yr-old had a nightmare afterward.

My wife found these at the library, and they are just so cool

Star wars : complete cross-sections by DK. Wow, and I'm not even that into starwars (my kids are though). Millennium Falcon is worth the book.
Egypt in spectacular cross-section* by Stephen Biesty. My 6-yr-old daughter and I agree the step-by-step mummification process, which is just a little series of illustrations at the bottom of one page, was the coolest part.

And finally, two old favorites, which I haven't bought, but recently re-checked out from the library.

Jordi's Star by Alma Flor Ada & illustrator Susan Gaber. I just adore this book about a lonely man in an area made desert by humans who creates his own oasis just because he likes a star in a puddle.
Dirty Joe the Pirate : A True Story by Bill Harley. In rhyme. Big sisters will love this as Dirty pirate joe, who steals socks, is outdone by his sockless pirate-counterpart and older sister...she steal his underpants.

*link for Egypt in spectacular cross-section: http://www.librarything.com/work/1748356

Haven't posted here in a while...so, February... I've begun working through the ALA Notable books (list found here: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncb/index.cfm ). Keep in mind my kids are 6 & 4.

Caldecott Award
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Christian Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead - Honestly, not impressed. The theme is very similar to Goodnight Gorilla, but neither my kids or I cared for it.

Caldecott Honor Books
,
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier - listed for older kids. I liked it, my kids didn't
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein - loved this one.

Other ALA Notable books we really liked - all these were spectacular (better than the ones above, IMO...but then, maybe that's just my science-y side):

Bones by Steve Jenkins - just cut-paper-collage pictures and pictures of bones, all done to scale. Humans mixed with animals. Brilliantly done
Farm by Elisha Cooper - Simple but beautiful illustration. First page is basic, then the text gets more and more complex about details about farms. My daughter took to this one and started drawing from it.
The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau by Dan Yaccarino - Cousteau's life with quotes from him.

And other books we found and liked

Little Vampire by Joann Sfar, Alexis Siegel and Edward Gauvin - a graphic novel my daughter takes to school and reads on her own (or to us). I haven't actually read it...
What the Rat Told Me by Catherine Louis, Catherine Louis and Wang Fei - another I haven't read, but we just got it from the library and it's so so beautiful...
A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard, illustrated by Alice Provensen and Martin Provensen - this was recommended to me ages ago by bobmcconnaughey, and what do you know, it's a terrific mixture of curious poems and curious pictures. Even my 4 yr old enjoys it.
The Lonely Phonebooth by Peter Ackerman, illustrated by Max Dalton - stumbled across this about the history of a phonebooth in New York City, which had some sad issues once cell phones came along. It's just cute, and hit with kids.

We're about halfway through reading The Evolution of Calpurnia Tait together. Set in 1899 in Texas, the book features an only daughter in a houseful of boys who is learning about natural science from her eccentric grandfather. It has a lovely, lazy flow to it, with lots of science and history mixed in. Both my children are enjoying it, but my daughter considers herself a modern Calpurnia and is deeply involved.

Time to catch-up here. Fifty-six books to mention. Most come from the library, and I tend to order a bunch at once, and then wait a bit. So, we've been getting books in waves, that's how I'll post them: 1. March; 2. Early April; 3. Late April

So, first March. This was just after the Japan earthquake and tsunami, which got the kids attention. So we got a ton of books on natural disasters...that might seem a bit disturbing or disrespectful. It wasn't. These books helped the kids better understand what actually happened in Japan. And, if they had any kind of issue (they didn't) I think it could have helped with that too. Somehow this led to Knights, Vikings and Mummies...I have no idea why.

Ok, so the highlights were:


Korgi and Korgi 2 are graphic fantasy novels without words about fairy-like girls and their pet Korgi's. My 6-yr-old daughter loved these.
Tsunami: Helping Each Other was about the 2004 Aceh tsunamni. It's really well done, and the best of the ones we checked out.

Other notable books I really liked:


Why We Have Day and Night was an Early Reviewer prize. The rest are really nicely done juvenile non-fiction books. For the sake of touchstone they are: Earthquakes, Medieval Castle (a Magic School Bus book without the school bus) & Pompeii: Lost and Found (by the Magic Tree House author).

And the rest:

April has been Hawaii month - my daughter's current obsession. Also, Jarrett J. Krosoczka visited my daughter's school, and it was a big event. (My daughter played the lead in a video her class made of one of his books. JJK liked it so much he posted it on his blog.)

So, the big hits were Krosozka's books:


Instead of touchstones, here is the series page: http://www.librarything.com/series/Lunch+Lady

And the rest from early April:

Then, this week I stumbled across the 2011/2012 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominees. We haven't read all these yet.

My favorite book

The Tsunami Quilt: Grandfather's Story by Anthony D. Fredericks & illustrator Tammy Yee

This wasn't from the award list, but a Hawaii book that took a long time to arrive. It's about school that was hit by a tsumani in 1946 and lost 24 students and teachers. It's told by the grandson of a survivor who only learns about it only after his grandfather, the survivor, passed away. My daughter first read this on her own and was so struck by it that she then told me all about it. I was quite moved while reading to her later on.

This book needs special mention:

The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan

This is a graphic novel about the Dust Bowl years in Kansas. It's long and mature and very well done...ok, it's magnificent. It mixes surviving in the 4-year-long drought and dust storms with readings from later Wizard of Oz books. The problem I had with it was that my daughter really didn't need to see this. There is a really gruesome scene, one that bothers me. It's very powerful...I don't really filter anything from my daughter, but this one time I wish I had.

Other notable books I really liked:

For touchstones, these are Goal! by Mina Javaherbin, The Duchess of Whimsy by Randall & Peter De Sève, and The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According To Susy) by Barbara Kerley (which include apparently real journal entries from Twain's daughter Suzy).

Most of the rest I simply haven't read yet:
*

*note, this first book also isn't from the award list, but yet another Hawaii book that took a long time to arrive.

I look after my neice one day each week and we spend the day reading. Her being a mere 20months is irrelevent. Yesterday we had Room on The Broom, The First Snow of Winter, Peepo! and then collection of alphabet books as Gaeilge. In between books we went outside and picked daisy's.

39 new books to list for May and June.

Our favorite

Inside the Tomb of Tutankhamun by Jacqueline Morely, illustrated by John James

We saw the King Tut exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota, in St. Paul - a terrific exhibit and a wonderful museum. We spend several nights slowly making our way through this which includes wonderful illustrations on all sorts of things, the mummification process being the highlight (which was not a surprise)

Other top favorites


Kipling's Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was a favorite childhood movie of mine. I was ecstatic to find this at a library book sale. In the end I loved the book quite a bit more than my kids did, but they liked it too. This edition is wonderfully illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.

It's So Amazing!: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families by Robie H. Harris, illustrated by Michael Emberley - I haven't actually gotten to read this. But, my wife reads it to my 6.5-yr-old daughter every night, upon request. So, this is here from their recommendation.

Henry Aaron's Dream by Matt Tavares - What a wonderful surprise. I just picked out a random baseball book at the library for my son. I had no idea it would be so interesting. It covers Hank Aaron's childhood through his making the Milwaukee Braves roster in 1954. Racism and segregation are dark and sad themes. Also, it was a kind of cool unexpected coincidence that we celebrated the Fourth of July in Eau Claire, WI's Carson Park - the same field where Hank Aaron played his first minor league season with the Eau Claire Braves in 1952 (and where he faced a white pitcher for the first time in his life)

Several other favorites


The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Bruce Degen - library book sale find. The Magic School bus is always a favorite
Math Curse by Jon Scieszka - library book sale find
Imogene's Last Stand by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter - from the 2011-2012 Texas Blue Bonnet Award list
If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen - library book sale find



Dinosaur Hunt (Max Spaniel) & Funny Lunch (Max Spaniel) by David Catrow - my wife found these at the library.
Dogs and Cats by Steve Jenkins - a library book, we love Jenkins
The Carousel by Liz Rosenberg, illustrated by Jim LaMarche - library book sale find.

Books I loved, but my kids couldn't stand


The Mutiny on the Bounty by Patrick O'Brien & Magellan's World by Stuart Waldman, illustrated by Gregory Manchess - I've learned that juvenile books are a great way to learn. Sure, I could have gotten about the same info from wikipedia, but these are so much more fun.

The geology books... partly for Hawaii. I really liked these, especially the first two. We bought the first one at the top of Haleakala, on Maui.



A bunch of other good ones

I'm reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children to my 3 kids. They like it quite a lot, but I am censoring out all the bad language. Why put bad language in a YA book?

Also just finished up The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. This is one of my childhood faves and the kids loved it! I think it is out of print and hard to find but if you run across it, pick up a copy.

Debbie - It's interesting the kinds of things we find in children's book. I don't censor, but sometimes I regret that...see especially The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan (post 19).

Books we read over July, August, September and October

Favorite book:

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

My seven-yr-old daughter is more interested in chapter books, but without any real sense of what may be good. So, we end up with a lot of not so great books (here's to hoping I never read another June B. Jones). But this one, which I found this on the 2011 ALA Notable list, is a gem. It's has all the standard "juvenile" themes, where kids are bad, but never in way we find all that serious, yet it still managed to catch both my 7-yr-old daughter's and my interest. Angleberger adds some depth as we find ourselves exploring the psychology of strange boy who gives very good advice, through his origami yoda puppet, and with a very bad yoda voice. The book is one classmate's case study, where he tries to determine whether or not this Origami Yoda has real magic.

Other books to highlight, which I found on the 2011 ALA Notable Books List and borrowed from the library (The complete ALA list is here http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/awards/notablebooks/lists/2011/index.cfm )


Shake, Rattle & Turn That Noise Down!: How Elvis Shook Up Music, Me & Mom by Mark Alan Stamaty - includes an entire graphic history of Rock-n'-Roll
City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems, illustrated by Jon J. Muth - Touches on death, or maybe the frog just went away. Parent's call.
Back of the Bus by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Floyd Cooper - A boy watches Rosa Parks from the back of the bus. The changing spirit in him is hinted at through a marble.
Chalk by Bill Thomson - Drawings come alive with magic chalk. No words.



Me, Frida by Amy Novesky - Interesting look at Frida Khalo's visit to San Francisco
LMNO Peas by Keith Baker - a fun ABC book. Good for both my 5 & 7 year old.
Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo & Alision McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile - Very cute, in graphic novel form.
Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall - my daughter wouldn't even look at this. Then, one day she told me all about this wonderful book she saw in her school library...and go figure, we had a copy from the library sitting right there...

more to come

There are some great looking books here, Dan. I'm sure I've read Hondo & Fabian to my granddaughter at least five times. Unfortunately, she's now 8, so most of these wouldn't suit her any more. She's moved past Junie B. Jones and into the American Girl books and The Boxcar Children, and prefers to read them herself. She also loved the kid's version of Dewey the Library Cat and had me buy her the adult edition last week. The next time she spends the night with us we'll tackle that one together.

 

Last week she also fell in love with Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars which she brought home from the school library and read so many times she memorized parts of it. It is a book of poems about astronomy. It was quite a challenge for me to explain to an 8-year-old what a black hole is.

Steve - I will check for both of those at my library.

More books to share, also from July to October. Apologies for all the pictures, but it looks so nice this way.

Binky

Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires
Binky to the Rescue by Ashley Spires
Binky Under Pressure by Ashley Spires
A graphic novel series about a house cat who ponders exploring “space”, i.e. outdoors.

Peter Catalanotto

Ivan the Terrier - The best of the bunch. Ivan ruins fairy tales.
Dylan's Day Out – beautiful illustrations.
Emily's Art - A lot more text then the other two. This explores the idea of the “best” in art.
Peter Catalanotto visited by daughter’s school and she came home with these. He's a magnificent illustrator.

Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco & Annie Was Warned
JJK visited my daughter’s school last year and left us huge fans of his Lunch Lady series. Annie is here because my daughter “stared” in a school movie of this (Kindergarten Class). We met JJK at a local reading recently, and he still remembered the move and even played the movie while reading it.

Others

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold
Cat and Fish by Joan Grant, illustrated by Neil Curtis – I don’t even remember the story, but the illustrations are wonderful
Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia – This is just so much fun to read through. Every single Lego star wars figure ever made is discussed, in alphabetical order.
There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Bruce Degen

At my house, we're reading The Penderwicks together. With a highly driven middle schooler and a laid back third grader, it's difficult to find books that appeal to all three of us, but this one is promising.

My son read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to me, and it remains a wonderful book, despite having been written in another era. It does have a strongly Christian outlook, so be advised.

(Off topic: my kids came home from trick or treating with religious tracts in their bags telling them that they are going to hell. I might be less wary of organized religion in this country if it spent a little more time focused on, say, God's grace or love rather than the vengeful smiting stuff. Especially aimed at children. Sheesh.)

#30 - Eek!- re the religious tracks. Despite my discomfort with the religious devotion in my neighborhood, that was not likely to happen.

Good to here your take on The Penderwicks. I duplicated this thread in the Children's Literature group, hoping to get more traffic, and it came up there too.