The Children’s Book Review | September 1, 2014
Hot New Releases & Popular Kids Stories
Here are some awesome books for your “Little Humans” … and slightly bigger humans, too! As usual, we’ve picked five kids books that we feel represent some of the best new kids stories—a few of which rocketed almost instantly to the New York Times best sellers list. Loads of big names here: Brandon Stanton, Herve Tullet, Jason Segel, Rick Riordan and Carl Hiaasen.
Little Humans
By
Publisher’s synopsis: Street photographer and storyteller extraordinaire Brandon Stanton is the creator of the wildly popular blog “Humans of New York.” He is also the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Humans of New York. To create Little Humans, he’s combined an original narrative with some of his favorite children’s photos from the blog, in addition to all-new exclusive portraits. The result is a hip, heartwarming ode to little humans everywhere.
Ages 4-8 | Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux | Oct. 7, 2014 | ISBN-13: 978-0374374563
Mix It Up!
By Herve Tullet
Publisher’s synopsis: Accept Hervé Tullet’s irresistible invitation to mix it up in a dazzling adventure of whimsy and wonder. Follow the artist’s simple instructions, and suddenly colors appear, mix, splatter, and vanish in a world powered only by the reader’s imagination. Tullet—who joins such greats as Eric Carle and Leo Lionni as a master of his craft—sets readers on an extraordinary interactive journey all within the printed page. Tullet prompts plenty of giggles in addition to a profound understanding of colors, and once again displays his unique genius and vision in a work that is a glorious and richly satisfying companion to Press Here.
Ages 3-5 | Publisher: Chronicle Books | Sept. 16, 2014 | ISBN-13: 978-1452137353
Nightmares!
By Jason Segel
Publisher’s synopsis: A New York Times Bestseller!
Jason Segel, multitalented actor, writer, and musician, teams up with New York Times bestselling author Kirsten Miller for the hilariously frightening, middle-grade novel Nightmares!, the first book in a trilogy about a boy named Charlie and a group of kids who must face their fears to save their town.
Sleeping has never been so scary. And now waking up is even worse!
Charlie Laird has several problems.
1. His dad married a woman he is sure moonlights as a witch.
2. He had to move into her purple mansion, which is NOT a place you want to find yourself after dark.
3.He can’t remember the last time sleeping wasn’t a nightmarish prospect. Like even a nap.
What Charlie doesn’t know is that his problems are about to get a whole lot more real. Nightmares can ruin a good night’s sleep, but when they start slipping out of your dreams and into the waking world—that’s a line that should never be crossed.
And when your worst nightmares start to come true . . . well, that’s something only Charlie can face. And he’s going to need all the help he can get, or it might just be lights-out for Charlie Laird. For good.
Ages 8-12 | Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers | Sept. 9, 2014 | ISBN-13: 978-0385744256
The Heroes of Olympus Book Five: The Blood of Olympus
By Rick Riordan
Publisher’s synopsis: Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen-all of them-and they’re stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood-the blood of Olympus-in order to wake.
The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it might be able to stop a war between the two camps.
The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea’s army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over.
Ages 10-14 | Publisher: Disney-Hyperion | Oct. 7, 2014 | ISBN-13: 978-1423146735
Skink: No Surrender
By Carl Hiaasen
Publisher’s synopsis: Longlisted for the 2014 National Book Award!
The #1 New York Times bestselling author Carl Hiaasen serves up his unique brand of swamp-justice in Skink—No Surrender.
Classic Malley—to avoid being shipped off to boarding school, she takes off with some guy she met online. Poor Richard—he knows his cousin’s in trouble before she does. Wild Skink—he’s a ragged, one-eyed ex-governor of Florida, and enough of a renegade to think he can track Malley down. With Richard riding shotgun, the unlikely pair scour the state, undaunted by blinding storms, crazed pigs, flying bullets, and giant gators.
Carl Hiaasen first introduced readers to Skink more than twenty-five years ago in Double Whammy, and he quickly became Hiaasen’s most iconic and beloved character, appearing in six novels to date. Both teens and adults will be thrilled to catch sight of the elusive “captain” as he finds hilariously satisfying ways to stop internet predators, turtle-egg poachers, and lowlife litterbugs in their tracks. With Skink at the wheel, the search for a missing girl is both nail-bitingly tense and laugh-out-loud funny.
Ages 14+ | Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers | Sept. 23, 2014 | ISBN-13: 978-0375870514
We love this list of popular books for kids and hope that you do to! Don’t be shy to let us know which are the best new kids stories you’ve recently read and loved. For more popular kids books, follow along with our tag for Popular Kids Stories.
