Sports Illustrated Kids: SIKIDS.com

Huey, John. (Editor-in-Chief) April 2008. Sports Illustrated Kids. Time Inc. New York, NY. SIKIDS.com

This magazine is a perfect addition to a young sports fan’s reading repertoire. Each issue comes with a color poster pull out, sports trading cards, sports pro interviews, and pictures. Many sports are included in each magazine. In the April 2008 issue sports that are covered include horse racing, hockey, gymnastics, baseball, basketball, and rock climbing. Boys and girls sports are both represented making this a magazine that any young sports fan will enjoy. All ads that are included are appropriate for young readers. The website SIKIDS.com is interactive and a fun addition to the magazine subscription. Many poll results, funny photo captions, and magazine comments that are submitted online are published in the magazine. The funny photo caption section is funny even for those who are not sports fans. A still picture of a sports figure in action is placed online and readers write creative captions. I found the comments to be extremely entertaining. I also enjoyed the section “What’s the Call” where the reader reads about a situation and decides what the official’s decision should be. Later in the magazine the answers are revealed so readers can check their officiating skills. This subscription is a “must have” in any children’s library.

THE TOP OF THE WORLD

Jenkins, Steve. 1999. The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, New York. ISBN 0395942187

This book gives fact about Mount Everest, statistics about the climbers that have set records, shows the gear needed to make a climb like Everest, and explains the thrills and dangers of climbing the tallest mountain on Earth. This non fiction book is fascinating for anyone who has ever thought about what it would be like to climb to the top of a mountain, especially Mount Everest. The pictures in this book are essential and are made of paper collage. Many of the pictures are diagrams of the mountain to help readers understand the distance that the text is referring to.

HIDING FROM THE NAZIS

Adler, David A. 1997. Hiding from the Nazis. Holiday House. New York, NY. ISBN 082312881

This biography tells the story of the Baer family and their quest to hide from the Nazi’s. Lore’s grandfather is taken away and was never seen again. I like that this story tells of the heartache this family encounters without going into gruesome details that are too mature for a young audience. When the Baer family becomes too afraid to all hid together they send Lore off to live with another family. When her parents are finally freed from the concentration camp Lore hides from them because it has been so long since she has seen them. After a few days Lore warms up to her parents and goes to live with them but it takes her many years to learn to trust them again. The end of the story explains how the war ended and the Jewish people were free from hiding. This is a great book to help elementary age students identify with this part of history. The illustrations show the Jewish and Nazi symbols which will be good for young readers to see and gain better understanding of that time. Signs in the background are also written in German. The author’s note tells the details of the families depicted in this book and where they are now.

FRIDA

Winter, Jonah. 2002. Frida. Arthur A. Levine. New York, NY. ISBN 0590203207

This biography tells the story of Frida and how painting saved her life. Frida loves to paint and when her leg is hurt from polio she begins to paint on photos. Later she is in a terrible bus accident and she will only be able to walk with a cane and is told her body will hurt. Frida paints even more to keep from being sad. The author’s note included in the book is much more descriptive about the details of the story making this book a great resource for young readers and older readers. The illustrations are done in the Mexican folk-art style. The pictures help accentuate the mood of the story. For example on the page that shows Frida’s bus accident there are imaginary creatures running form the bus with sad and fearful faces. This biography is an easy read and is filled with interesting facts about a great artist, Frida.

Babymouse Queen of the World

Holm, Jennifer L. 2005. Babymouse: Queen of the World. Random House. New York, NY. ISBN 0375932291

This imaginative graphic novel has a few different stories embedded in Babymouse’s fantasies. Readers will recognize the Cinderella and Frankenstein stories. The illustrations are done with thick black lines and white and pink coloring. The thick black lines make the illustrations jump off the page and stand out from the text. The graphic novel format makes this an easy read for younger students as the pictures tell most of the story. In this story Babymouse learns that the old cliché, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence, is all too true. She wants to go to Felicia’s party and finally gets invited by allowing Felicia to take her homework as her own. When Babymouse gets there she is bored and finally leaves to go and hang out with her friend, Wilson.

The Books of Ember

DuPrau, Jeanne. 2004. The City of Ember. Random House. New York, NY. ISBN 0375822747
This first book in the series tells of a city that does not have any natural light. The city is always in darkness except for the generated light. Slowly, the city is running out of food and the generator is seeing causing power outages. Lina soon discovers pieces of a document filled with clues to get out of their city. She partners with a boy named Doon to try to solve the mystery and save their community. DuPrau created an excellent plot; however, the book is a slow starter as she tries to get the details laid out. If a reader will persevere through the first few chapters they will be greatly rewarded with a story that is so compelling it is hard to put down. I am having to push the patrons at my library to not give up and so far I haven’t had a child that stopped after reading just the first book of the series.

DuPrau, Jeanne. 2004. The People of Sparks. Random House. New York, NY. ISBN 0375928243
The People of Sparks is the continuation of The City of Ember. The people of Ember have received the message from Lina and Doon and have escaped their doomed community. As they begin a new life they run into a whole new set of troubles in Sparks where they are not welcomed guests for long. Lina sets to saving her people again as she discovers the truth of what war can do to a world. This book has some heavy themes that are handled with delicacy and grace and without too many gory details. Readers in the second book will not be disappointed as the adventure continues and captivates them again.

DuPrau, Jeanne. 2006. The Prophet of Yonwood. Random House. New York, NY. ISBN 0375975268
The Prophet of Yonwood is the prequel to The City of Ember; however, it really could be a stand alone title. The only connection to The City of Ember is in the last section of the book, “What happened afterward”. In this book a young girl, Nickie, goes with her aunt to help clean out and sell her great-grandfather’s estate. While visiting Nickie decides she wants to live in Yonwood but soon learns that the “grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence”. A vision by Althea Tower has caused the townspeople to become paranoid and “righteous” leading to a whole series of misunderstandings. By the end of the book even dogs have been banned because “they take some of the love we are supposed to give to God”. After a long trip to look for her dog, Nickie learns that Althea has been misunderstood and slowly the town is set right again. The plot on this story is intriguing and will keep readers engaged. I felt at the end of the book that it would have been a better stand alone book.. I was disappointed that The City of Ember was tied so loosely to it. I had hoped to see the creation of Ember and the events that led up to it.

The Giver Series

Lowry, Lois. 1993. The Giver. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston. ISBN 0395645662
The Giver is the story of a community that wants sameness among the people. Occupations, spouses, and even children are assigned to the people. When Jonas is selected to be “The Giver” or the memory for the people he begins to doubt that the decision for sameness is what is best. He learns of many injustices in the community just to keep everyone the same. He is certain that it would be a good thing if people were allowed to have choices. In a conversation that Jonas has with The Giver about a baby he says, “what if we could hold up things that were bright red, or bright yellow and he could choose? Instead of the Sameness?” The Giver responds, “He might make wrong choices.” Then Jonas responds “Oh I see what you mean it doesn’t matter for a new child’s toy. But later it does matter, doesn’t it? We don’t dare let people make choices of their own.” This is the turning point for Jonas in his thinking and from then on he begins to have doubts about this “perfect” community. This book is captivating and though provoking. The end of the story is filled with hope as the reader is allowed to finish the story on their own.

Lowry, Lois. 2005. Gathering Blue. Bantam Books. New York, NY. ISBN 0553494783
The second book in The Giver Series, Gathering Blue, is not a continuation of the first book. It is about a new community and a new group of people with secrets and a desire for physical perfection. This book begins with a great hook as we find Kira sitting in “the field” with her recently deceased mother. This story has several twists in the plot and readers begin collecting clues to solve some mysteries in Kira’s life. The plot is easily followed and has a continual drive. Readers will fall in love with Kira and her desire for the simple life as well as her love for weaving. Along with Kira; the characters Thomas, Christopher, and “little tykes” Joe and Matt are well developed and so lovable. Lowry has created another compelling and thought provoking community in a story that will entertain readers from beginning to end.

Lowry, Lois. 2004. Messenger. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston. ISBN 0618404414
The final book in The Giver Series, The Messenger, is a continuation of the second book. In this book the story centers around Matty and “Seer” (Christopher). In this book Matty is still living with Seer and their village wants to stop new people from coming in. Matty is sent through the forest back to Kira to bring her to her father before it is too late. This is the book where readers will understand the gift that Kira has in her weaving as well as the gift that Matty has. This final book is filled with suspense, wonder, amazement, and love as Lowry brings this series to a close. The vivid descriptions of the forest, Kira, and their journey are amazing and will allow readers to connect to the story. This series of books is a must for all elementary, middle, and high school collections. It is a great series for teaching kids to think and to stand up for what they believe in.