Kids Picks
It’s time to start the final countdown until school is out for the summer. We can’t wait for long beach days and games of tag until long after the sun sets. When the weather is nice, all you want to do is play, and we can’t blame you! But don’t let that summer slide happen to you. Try your best to keep up with the things you learned in school, especially your reading. Here are some brand-new books to keep you entertained when the sun goes down.
Ages 3-5
“Unstoppable Me” by Adam Dirks with Bethany Hamilton
If anyone deserves to be called “unstoppable,” it’s Bethany Hamilton. She is a surfer who lost one of her arms as a teenager in a shark attack, but that has never kept her from going in the water and continuing to be the champion she is. In “Unstoppable Me,” Hamilton and her husband, Adam Dirks, tell the story of Makana the lion, who loves to surf but is scared to go back out when she wipes out. Her friends find a way to talk her into trying again, and Makana learns that even when the going gets tough, you can’t give up.
“Don’t Blink!” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
This book is such a cute bed-time story – or is it? Here’s the deal: The longer it takes to get through the book, the longer you can avoid going to bed. But you can’t blink! Every time you blink, you have to turn a page. This ridiculously cute, interactive story is narrated by a stuffed owl sure to entertain your little ones right up to the last page – if they can make it that long!
Ages 6-8
“You Go First” by Erin Entrada Kelly
Middle school is tough for so many reasons. Everything seems complicated – school, bullying, friends, family and social media. Charlotte and Ben became friends through an online Scrabble game. Charlotte is 12 and lives near Philadelphia. Ben is 11 and lives in Louisiana. The two are separated by more than a thousand miles, but situations in their lives are all too familiar and they have more in common than either one realizes. They are both highly gifted, both having problems within their families and both struggle to make and keep friends. “You Go First” is a heartwarming story about the troubles of growing up and discovering who and what really matters in your life.
“Dolphin Summer” by Catherine Hapka
Summer is here and Lily isn’t happy about it. Her best friends are all away at camp. What’s worse is that no one even asked if she wanted to go. Her parents gave her a ridiculously long list of books she has to read and all she wants to do is spend time at the aquarium. When Lily finds a dolphin in a nearby canal, she’s obsessed and starts spending all of her time watching it. If the dolphin doesn’t find a way back to its family, and fast, it won’t survive. Somehow, she feels that she and the dolphin were meant to find each other.
Ages 9-12
“See You in the Cosmos” by Jack Cheng
Alex loves space and rockets so much that he even named his dog Carl Sagan after a real-life astronomer. The 11-year-old’s dream is to launch his golden iPod into space and show other life forms what life on earth is like. He records a journey from Colorado to Los Angeles on his iPod and meets some amazing people. Along the way, he also uncovers secrets about his family that he isn’t sure he was ready to learn, like the truth about his father, who died years ago. Critics are comparing “See You in the Cosmos” to “Wonder,” and that was enough to make me want to read it. However, from the first page, I fell in love with Alex and couldn’t wait to see where his journey took him.
“The Memory of Forgotten Things” by Kat Zhang
All that 12-year-old Sophia has left of her mother are memories. Memories including the year she turned 10 and her mom made her a birthday cake from scratch. She can still remember how it tasted. But this isn’t a memory that Sophia should even have, because her mother died when she was only 6 years old. However, that isn’t how Sophia remembers it. She has never told anyone about her memories that are so incredibly real to her, even though they never happened. When she is given a school assignment to research solar eclipses, somehow Sophia is convinced that the upcoming eclipse will give her the chance to go into a world where her mother never died. With the help of two classmates, she tries to grab onto this rare opportunity.
