Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

Dragons love tacos but only with mild toppings. They can’t handle spicy salsa or green chilis. If a dragon gets a hold of salsa, it makes their “ears smoke”, they “snort sparks” and they get “tummy troubles”. When the dragons are invited to a taco party somehow spicy salsa finds its way onto the tacos. What will happen to the dragons when they eat the tacos? OH NO!

This is a classic children’s book, and it can be read over and over. All my grandchildren love it along with its sequel. This is a great bedtime story and a must for all home libraries.

Fun Activity: Make some tacos with your child and be sure to have all the toppings. 

Published In: 2012
Publisher: Dial Books
Age Level: 2-5 years
AR Level: 3.1
Pages: 32
Stars: 5

This Very Tree: A Story of 9/11, Resilience and Regrowth by Sean Rubin 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

I grew up in Brooklyn, NY and the windows of my apartment looked across the harbor at the World Trade Center. Every morning when I woke up, they were the first things I would see and at night before I went to bed the last. I was not living in NY at the time of the 9/11 tragedy but like everybody in America if affected me deeply.

“This Very Tree” is a book that introduces the devastation of 9/11 without being too scary for younger children. The events of that day are told through the eyes of a tree without the details of the death and destruction. The tree is a Callery pear and is based on the real experiences of a tree known as the “Survivor Tree”. This tree is at the new plaza for the World Trade Center.

This picture book is not for preschoolers but rather elementary school children. Children will want to know more about this day so be prepared with your answers. I like to emphasize the resiliency and strength of the people, city and our nation that was shown after the attack. This book is a must for your home library.  

 Fun Activity: Go to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum home page and watch the video on the Survivor Tree and complete the recommended activity.

https://www.911memorial.org/learn/youth-and-families/activities-home/survivor-tree-leaves 

Published In: 2021
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Age Level: 6-12 Years
AR Level: 2.9
Pages: 48
Stars: 5

Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm 🟊🟊🟊🟊

The year is 1899 and 12-year-old May Amelia has a rough life. She is the only girl in a family of 8 children, in fact she is the only girl in the community of Nasel. Her Pappa is always telling her “Don’t Get Into Mischief May Ameila” and to be a “Proper Young Lady”. All she wants is to go fishing and run around the logging camp with her brothers. May Amelia might get some help from her mother who is pregnant, and May Amelia is hopeful that it will be a baby girl.

The book is written without quotation marks when the character is talking, making it sometimes hard to follow the dialogue. I like May Amelia, she is both tough and compassionate. Her character develops over the book which makes her endearing to the reader. This historical fiction is a wonderful insight into Pioneer Life at the turn of the century. If your child likes historical fiction this is a great addition to your home library.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 1999	Profanity: None
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.	Violence: Murder
Age Level: 10-13 years	Sexual: None
AR Level: 4.8	Mature Themes: Death of a Baby,
Pages: 253	Aging, Prejudice
Awards: 2000 Newbery Honor Stars: 4

 

Lily and her family move in with her dying grandmother. Lily is desperate to find a way to save her. Lily encounters a magical tiger on the journey to her grandmother’s house. The tiger offers her a deal that will save her grandmother, will Lily take it?

The intermingling of a Korean folktale and a young girl’s struggle with life is wonderfully presented in this novel. Not only is Lily dealing with her dying grandmother, but she wants to be heard. By the end of the book Lily finds her voice and learns to accept the death of her grandmother. Parents be aware the older sister is in a same sex relationship, which is something I don’t want my 10-year-old grandson to read about. So, I will pass on this book.

 

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2020	Profanity: None
Publisher: Random House	Violence: None
Age Level: 10-12 years	Sexual: LGBTQ Characters
AR Level: 4.1	Mature Themes: Death
Pages: 297
Stars: 3
Award: 2021 Newbery Medal

Annie the Apple Fairy by Tim Bugbird 🟌🟌🟌🟌

Annie loves to make apple pies. She and her 2 friends have a successful TV cooking show but when they get competition from Sondra the strudel fairy, all the other fairies start to watch her show. Can Annie’s show be saved? My 6- year-old granddaughter really likes this book, but I think it has more to do with the sparkly cover and that the characters are fairies. The story is average, but I like the bold and colorful pages. I recommend borrowing this one from the library.

Fun Activity: Make an apple pie with your child.

Published In: 2013
Publisher: Make Believe Ideas
Age Level: 3-12 years
AR Level: 4.2
Pages: 32
Stars: 4

Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Pena 🟌🟌🟌

Milo and his sister are on the Subway to an unknown destination. To pass the time Milo makes up stories about the passengers on the train and he then draws pictures about what their lives might be like. He is enthralled with a boy in a suit and draws a picture of him living in a castle. At the end of the book Milo realizes you “can’t know anyone just by looking at their face” because the boy in a suit has the same destination as him.

This book is not for everybody. The game of making up stories about people on mass transportation is familiar to all “city kids”. Which, I understand having grown up in NYC but not all children will. The big problem is the ending when both boys end up at a jail to visit their mothers. Not a book I want to read to my young grandchildren.

Published In: 2021
Publisher: Putnam
Age Level: 6-8 years
AR Level: 4.6
Pages: 22
Stars: 3

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

At first, I was skeptical of a book that features a boy who is raised by ghosts in a graveyard but by the end of the second chapter I was captivated. In the opening chapter the boy’s parents are killed and he escapes by wondering out of his bed and into the graveyard down the street. All the ghosts have so much to teach the boy called Nobody Owens, Bod for short. With the help of a half human, half ghost guardian Bod survives to adulthood. As he matures, he learns of a secret Society of “Jacks” that’s mission is to kill him, These are the same people that killed his parents. Will he escape a second time?

This book is a great adventure, with a well-developed plot and fascinating characters. All the quirky ghosts have wonderful personalities, and the books mystery keeps the reader turning the pages. This young adult book is going on the must-read list for my grandchildren.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2008	Profanity: None
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.	Violence: Murder
Age Level: 10-12 years	Sexual: None
AR Level: 5.1	Mature Themes: Supernatural
Pages: 312
Stars: 5 Awards: 2009 Newbery Medal