the kids are picking away

Last month found me too crazed with house and family stuff to take part in 5 Minutes for Books' Kids' Picks, which was a total bummer.  But I'm back now, and I've got a couple books per child that have been big hits lately. 

While our house had been undergoing some renovations this summer, our city's public library is getting a complete makeover!  It will be so very cool when it re-opens (scheduled for November... which in my pessimistic view means after the new year), but it's been sad not to be able to browse the shelves.  There has been a teeny tiny room for library services in our community center, which I'm VERY thankful for, but the number of books that we've checked out has dropped significantly during this period. 

Do you think that means we've abandoned our love for reading??  HA!  No worries there, for while we haven't borrowed many, we have taken some time to get reacquainted with the many books that grace our home library shelves! 

Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin are a match made in children's literature heaven.  We have several of their books, but Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type and Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure are currently among our living room hardcovers and have been read multiple times in the last two weeks.  For whatever reason, I am compelled to adopt a thick southern accent when reading about Farmer Brown and the endearing Duck (who I ADORE even if he is "trouble").  These are the types of books that I can read again and again without getting bored with them and still laugh each and every time Duck ends up with the typewriter. 

Another pair of books that both Pudge and Red love comes from Brian Lies, and I'm so happy to have them also among our owned hardcovers.  Bats at the Beach and Bats at the Library have amazing illustrations with giggle-inducing details (bug-mallows anyone?), and they both make for FABULOUS read aloud stories.  I'm excited for the new Bats at the Ballgame, which will have to make its way onto our next Amazon order!

As for JAM, well, what isn't that kid reading?  I didn't even bother looking at the county's suggested reading lists this summer, because I know that he's reading above his grade level and doing it every day, and I trust him now to find books that he is interested in among his own collection and the library's.  (He's been able to take a few independent trips to the library "room," and I can always count on him bringing back a good mix of novels and Star Wars stuff.)  Recently, he revisited a book we both loved, as well as got to one of my review books before me!  Dean Pitchford's Captain Nobody is an outstanding book, truly.  I reviewed it last fall, expressing my love, and JAM just finished it again last week, putting it down on the couch and turning to me to say, "Man, that really was a great book."  Before I could even get it on my TBR shelf, JAM grabbed my copy of Jon Scieszka's Spaceheadz, the first book in a new series.  I could hear him laugh while reading this one, and he finished it in just two sittings.  I'm reading it today, and I can certainly understand how he was compelled to laugh out loud.  Funny, funny stuff from a seriously funny author!

So that's what my kids are picking these days.  How about yours?  Join us at 5M4B's Kids' Picks and tell us all about it!


Picking reading above all other hobbies,