You asked us what we were reading?
Here are the kids’ top book pics for Summer of Funner 2015!
Together, we’re reading….
Sidewalk Flowers
by JonArno Lason and Sydney Smith
Anansi/Groundwood, 2015
As lovers of JonArno Lawson’s poems, I wasn’t sure how the kids were going to respond to this wordless jaunt through town. Reader, they loved it…As a somewhat distracted father and a rather attentive daughter walk together, the girl collects wildflowers and bestows them on various recipients, such as a dead bird, an old man, and a neighbour’s dog. The book begins in black and white, with the girl’s red jacket as the main colour burst. But, as the duo travel along, the bright wonders of the city, from sidewalk flowers to yellow cabs, surround the girl in colour, too. As she plucks her flowers and leaves her gifts about town, both the girl and the recipients of her gifts are transformed by the exchange.
Of course, we’re planning a separate post dedicated to our [creative] responses to this book on our sister site, The Lunchbox Season, this fall. In the meantime, you can see how Lawson’s “story” become a book right here on the Groundwood Blog.
And you can buy the book HERE!
Half Magic
by Edward Eager
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1954/1999
Inspired by a certain librarian on a certain podcast I love to listen to, I ordered this classic for the kids. Of course, I pre-read it first…and fell in love…The kids are about to love it, too: four siblings from Toledo, Ohio, Jane, Mark, Katherine, and Martha, are having the worst summer ever, until they find a golden coin on the sidewalk. The coin grants your wishes – but only by half! While it’s easy to wish for twice as much of something physical, like two scoops of ice cream, it’s a lot harder to ask for a cat who talks, or to help your mother get home. Deserts, Knights, and downtown riots! This book has it all!!
Eragon
by Christopher Paolini
Random House, 2005
Tobes caught the film version of this book on Shomi one night, and so we picked this book up for him as a birthday gift. Eragon is the first in a series about a poor farm boy who learns that he is to become a Dragon Rider…Need we say more?
By themselves, the kids are reading….
Toby
Digger [Omnibus]
Ursula Vernon [author of the Dragonbreath series]
Sofawolf Press, 2013
from the publisher:
Digger Is a story about a wombat.
More specifically, it is a story by author and artist Ursula Vernon about a particularly no-nonsense wombat who finds herself stuck on the wrong end of a one-way tunnel in a strange land where nonsense seems to be the specialty. Now, with the help of a talking statue of a god, an outcast hyena, a shadow-being of indeterminate origin, and an oracular slug she seeks to find out where she is and how to go about getting back to her Warren.
We purchased our copy at Little Island Comics in Toronto.
Balance Keepers: The Fires of Calderon, by Lindsay Cummings, Harper Collins, 2015
Beast Quest: #13-18 [The Dark Realm Series], by Adam Blade, Scholastic
The Fog Mound: Travels of Thelonious, by Susan Schade, Aladdin, 2007
Bea:
Graceling, by Kristin Cashore, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009 and its sequels, Fire, and Bitterblue.
from the publisher
Kristin Cashore’s best-selling, award-winning fantasy tells the story of the vulnerable yet strong Katsa, a smart, beautiful teenager who lives in a world where selected people are given a Grace, a special talent that can be anything from dancing to swimming. Katsa’s is killing. As the king’s niece, she is forced to use her extreme skills as his thug. Along the way, Katsa must learn to decipher the true nature of her Grace . . . and how to put it to good use. Follwed in the series by Fire and Bitterblue….
All the Bright Places, by Jennifer Niven, Random House, 2015.
Wings of Fire: Winter Turning, the Seventh Book in the Wings of Fire Series, by Tui T. Sutherland, Scholastic, 2015
Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, Harper Collins, 2012
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