Author: TCBR Contributor

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review Published: June 11, 2009 Welcome to the wonderful world where children have learned to read and are now reading to learn. The following reading suggestions are for children who you would consider fluent readers. Fluent readers can read for long periods of time and are also able to use expression when reading-aloud. They are now at a stage where they will continue to develop their reading skills independently. They are able to read a broad range of text types with accuracy, and will be able to continue challenging themselves with more difficult reading…

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review Published: June 10, 2009 Father’s Day (US) is on Sunday, June 21. Just in case you’re looking for something small and thoughtful, I have put together this list of “daddy and me” books. Only 50% of dads read to their children who are under the age of three, so it seems that some may need a little extra encouragement. By giving a dad a special book to share with his child (of any age) you are giving him the opportunity to create lasting moments that will not only benefit both dad and child…

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review Published: June 9, 2009 If your young readers like magic and fantasy, or have gobbled up the whole Harry Potter series, you need to enter this giveaway. With a strong Russian heritage, author Erica Kirov brings an old-world depth to the fast paced neon-world of today’s Las Vegas. Two very different times and cultures collide in an out-of this-world experience. Swords, caviar, and Siberian tigers, meet skateboards, pizza, and hedgehogs. If you want to know more about Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass, you can see my full review here. Thanks to the publisher of…

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review Published: June 8, 2009 Photo Credit: Sharon Stewart Hallie Durand, also known as Holly McGhee, is the author of Dessert First, the first book in her chapter book series starring a girl named Dessert. Dessert is a believable third-grade character with lessons to learn and energy to share — you can check out my review of Dessert First here. The tone of Hallie Durand’s debut novel is pitch-perfect, so I just had to know more about her background and her journey to becoming a published author. I hope you enjoy reading her answers…

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review Published: June 4, 2009 Summer reading with a child between grades 1 and 5 is so exciting. The youngest are gaining priceless reading skills at their “early reader” stage and the eldest are full-steam-ahead reaching an “early-fluent to fluent reader” stage. It’s more important than ever to keep up their momentum with their newly found skills — reading a minimum of four books over the summer will help keep them at their current level of reading. The trick is to pick books they will engage in easily. I’ve hand-picked some of my favorite…

The Children’s Book Review Published: June 3, 2009 Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass by Erica Kirov Reading level: Ages 9+ Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (May 1, 2009) What to expect: Magic, Magicians, Good and evil, Family, Russian history – Fiction, Las Vegas With its gold embossed razzle-dazzle cover and the publisher’s synopsis, I was allured by a super-natural power that the Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass beholds. When Nick turns 13-years-old his life takes an unsuspecting turn. He’s been living in a not-so-cool hotel in Las Vegas, The Pendragon, with his magician father whose magic skills are more illusion than…

The Children’s Book Review Published: May 29, 2009 Hopefully you had the opportunity to read my review of Mortimer’s First Garden by Karma Wilson. Mortimer’s tale inspired me to do a little gardening with my 3-year-old — we planted some sunflower seeds. At the time of my review, I included this excerpt from the book not realizing that these words would actually save our little blooming sunflowers: In the morning Mortimer woke up to… pitter, patter, pat, pat. “Rain!” groaned Mortimer. Out in his garden he found… brown, soggy dirt. Mortimer stomped his paw. “Nothing! I knew the miracle wouldn’t…

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review Published: May 22, 2009 Sabuda & Reinhart Pop-Ups: Baby Signs by Kyle Olmon (Author), Jacqueline Rogers (Illustrator) Reading level: Baby-Preschool Hardcover: 12 pages Publisher: Scholastic Inc.; Pop edition (April 14, 2009) What to expect: Babies, Parents, Sign language Because speech develops at a slower rate than an infant’s or toddler’s cognitive abilities, more and more families are choosing to practice sign language with their children. Sign language lets children a way to communicate what they want or need, alleviating some of the stress and frustration that often leads to tantrums. Hand-and-eye coordination develops…

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review Published: May 21, 2009 Peter Pan: A Classic Collectible Pop-Up by Robert Sabuda Reading level: Ages 4-8 Hardcover: 14 pages Publisher: Little Simon; 1 edition (November 4, 2008) What to expect: Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Fantasy, Pop-up Whatever Sabuda touches turns to magic. So what happens when he touches a story like Peter Pan that is already magic? An alluring feast of enchantment! His illustrations stay real to the time period in which J.M. Barrie wrote this classic tale (1902), only they have a richness about them that comes from a more magical and…

  The Children’s Book Review Published: May 19, 2009 Summer is approaching fast, which means school will be out very soon. It also means it’s baseball season. What better way to entice our kids to read over the summer than by giving them a series of books that is based on a sport that they love — topic can be everything! SLUGGERS, a series about three kids who travel the country playing baseball, is sure to captivate its audience with mystery, fantasy, and even some historical fiction. Loren Long, one of my all-time favorite illustrators and the guy who thought…