It Rained Warm Bread by Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

“It Rained Warm Bread” is a holocaust story as experienced by a 13-year-old boy, Moishe. He is a Jew living with his family in the city of Kielce when the Nazis marched into Poland. When the Nazis first came to Kielce the family hides in a family friends barn. When that becomes too dangerous for the famer, they go to the Jewish Ghetto and from there they are separated into different concentration camps. Moishe is moved from camp to camp where he is always hungry, cold, and tired. At the end of the war, he is placed on a Nazi death march and survives by playing dead.

The story is told in verse and is a true account from a holocaust survivor. It is horrific and at the same time hopeful. Moishe never gives up hope. So many of the historical fiction books about the holocaust are from a girl’s perspective. It was refreshing to find a book on this topic that could resonate with my 10-year-old grandson. The books depiction of the Nazis cruelty and atrocities left him asking how people could treat each other that way. This is a must read for middle school students.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2019	Profanity: None
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.	Violence: Holocaust
Age Level: 9-13 years	Sexual: None
AR Level: 3.7	Mature Themes: War, Prison, Cruelty
Pages: 148
Stars: 5

Milo's Hat Trick by Joh Agee 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

    

     
Milo the Magnificat’s magic show is not doing well. He keeps messing up all the tricks. The theater manager is giving him one more chance. He must pull a rabbit out of a hat. Milo goes into the woods to find a rabbit but instead he gets a bear, and the best part is that the bear can disappear into a hat. Milo’s magic show is now a hit with children young and old, this is until the bear wants to go home. What will Milo do? This book is a home run by Jon Agee. A fun story that all preschoolers will love.

Fun Activity: Teach your child a simple magic trick.

Published In: 2001
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Age Level: 5-8 years
AR Level: 2.4
Pages: 32
Stars: 5

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

Life was tough in the Depression-era 1930’s, but it was even tougher if you were a 10-year-old African American orphan. Bud, Not Buddy is living in the Home, which has been his residence on and off again since his mother died when he was six years old. Bud has also lived with various foster families, and none have worked out for him. At the start of the novel, he is being sent to a new family and as usual it ends in a disaster. Bud’s dream is to find his real father who he believes to be a famous Michigan band leader called Herman E. Calloway. Among his mother’s possessions was a series of flyers advertising the bands performances. Bud knows his mother would not have kept the flyers if they didn’t mean something to her. After the latest terrible foster home experience Bud runs away and decides it time to go find his father. 

The thought of a 10-year-old child traveling alone for more than 100 miles with no supervision or resources sends chills down my back. I don’t think in today’s world the outcome would have been as positives as it was for Bud. Bud is clever and determined and with the help of some good Samaritans along the way he does find Herman E. Calloway. The ending is a surprise and leaves the reader with a warm feeling even if it’s not Bud’s dream. This is a book that I am recommending to my grandchildren and hopefully they will like it as much as I did.  

Published In: 1999
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Age Level: 10-11 Years
AR Level: 5.0
Pages: 288
Stars: 5
Awards: 2000 Newbery Medal Winner, Coretta Scott King Award

Pop's Perfect Present by Corey Finkle 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

A young girl wants to give her dad the best present ever. She comes up with a “marvelous plan”. Instead of giving him a picture of them doing things together she will spend the day with him doing those things. First, they go fishing and when that doesn’t quite work out, they play baseball and next it is cooking. After a series of failed activities, they return home. Can she save the day?

I love the message in this book, that things do not always have to be perfect to make them great. Just spending time with someone you love is the best gift of all. A wonderful gift for Father’s Day.

Published In: 2023
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Age Level: 4-8 years
AR Level: N/A
Pages:40
Stars: 5

Belling the Tiger by Mary Stolz 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

All the mice living in a house by the seaside are called to a meeting to discuss the cat problem. July, the cat has been “reducing the ranks and making life miserable”. At the meeting two brothers, Bod and Ozzie, are chosen to put a bell collar around the cat’s neck. These two mice are the most cowardly of all the mice, but they are more afraid of the mouse leader than they are of the cat. The brothers accomplish the task of getting a bell collar but on the way home they are deterred by the cat. Bob and Ozzie end up on a ship headed to the jungle where the cats are a lot bigger.

This picture book is longer than most and many toddlers will not have the patience to sit through it. For older children the brothers are on an adventure that will keep the reader captivated. An easy read for elementary school students.

Fun Activity: With your child do a comparison on how house cats and tigers are both different and the same.

Published In: 1961
Publisher: Harper & Row
Age Level: 6-9 years
AR Level: 4.9
Pages: 32
Stars: 5
Awards: 1962 Newbery Honor

Berry Song by Michaela Goade 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

“Berry Song” is a wonderful book about the stewardship of the land. As a grandmother and granddaughter forage for food the author takes us through the seasons. All the time she is telling her granddaughter to “take care of the land as the land takes care of us”. The illustrations are beautiful, and the message is powerful without being preachy. A great addition to a home library.

Fun Activity: Take a hike with your child and see what berries you can find.

Published In: 2023
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.
Age Level: 4-8 years
AR Level: 2.9
Pages: 34
Stars: 5
Awards: 2023 Caldecott Honor

Bats at the Library by Brian Lies 🟌🟌🟌🟌🟌

A window has been left open at the local library. When the bats in town hear about this, they all fly to the library to have a night of learning and fun. The book is written in verse and the author takes the reader through all the bat antics. Such as swimming in the water fountain, making shadow on the wall and using the copier to take pictures of themselves. A humorous and fun book to read at bedtime.

Fun Activity: Make a bat headband with your child. Here is an example of one that I like. 

Published In: 2008
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Age Level: 2-6 years
AR Level: 3.1
Pages: 32
Stars: 5
Series: 4 “Bat” Books