Reading Abounds

Title:  The Santa Trap Authors and illustrators:  Jonathan Emmett and Poly Bernatene Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 66521 Description:  Bradley Bartleby has been very bad since the day he was born and finally gets what he deserves after turning his family's home into a fearsome trap for Santa, who has always given him nothing but socks. Curriculum Links: Social Studies: Holidays and Celebrations Self-Regulation Character Education: Kindness, Empathy Reading: Narrative Writing: Narrative Notes:  Design:  This is a very interesting holiday/Christmas Title.  The typeset of the author's names gives it the feel of the "Nightmare before Christmas."   Similarly, the sharp lines in the title make the letters look like the teeth on a bear trap.  And they point to directly to Bradley!  The end pages of the book are a bright Christmas red and the writing is long enough to make this a good read aloud. Content and Illustratio...

Title:  Guppy Up! Author:  Jonathan Fenske Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 67788 Description:  Illustrations and simple rhyming text introduce a guppy with some unusual interests, such as shopping, mopping, and playing the guitar. Curriculum Links:  Kindergarten: Early Reading Reading: Word Play and Spoonerisms (eg. Guppy sips on a drink, Guppy drips on a sink.) Reading: Word Recognition Science: Animals Social Studies: Feelings Art: Lines Notes:  Design:  This is a typically designed early reader.  It was the bright orange on the cover that made me pick up the book and the title - Guppy Up! sounded a little like giddy up and I wondered what this fish would get up to.  This book is designed for an emergent reader so there is very little writing on each page and almost each sentence is limited to two words.   Content and Illustrations:   This is one interesting guppy! For a book with few words this fish has a ...

  Title:  Game Over, Pete Watson Author:  Joe Schreiber Illustrator: Andy Rash Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 97559 Description:  When video game obsessed Pete Watson discovers his dad is not only a super-spy but has been kidnapped and is now trapped inside a video game, he has to use his super gaming skills and enter the game to rescue him. Rubric Rating: Level 1 - Leave It Why I Read It: Chosen as a Read Aloud Notes:    When Pete sells his father’s old Commandroid 85 video arcade system in a yard sale in order to earn enough money to buy the new brawl-a-thon 3000 he has no idea the events that he has set in order.  His father is really a super-spy and he’s trapped inside the very video game he has just sold. Pete, along with his former best friend Wesley, must work to rescue not only his father but every other spy that has been endangered by his actions.  No one is who they seem and even the president gets involved. I...

  Title:  Ollie and the Science of Treasure Hunting Series: A 14 Day Mystery Series #2 Author:  by Erin Dionne Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 82274 Description:  While at Wilderness camp on the Boston Harbor Islands, Ollie must navigate new friends, new enemies, and a high-stakes game of tag, so the last thing he needs is a mystery. But then Ollie meets Grey, an elusive girl with knowledge of the island’s secrets, including the legend of a lost pirate treasure, which may  not  be a legend after all. Rubric Rating:  Level 2 - Like It Why I Read It:   Picked as a Read Aloud Notes:   Turns out that this is actually the second book in a series.  Generally, this didn’t affect the reading of this book with the exception that it made reference to the outcome of the first adventure.  Ollie, having spoiled an art heist in the first book, is sent away to Scout camp to escape the media frenzy that his life has become. ...

Title:  Laughing at My Nightmare Author: Shane Burcaw Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 96571 Description: A twenty-one-year old with spinal muscular atrophy describes the challenges he faces in completing everyday tasks and shares stories about growing up and living with this rare neuromuscular disease. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud it. Why I Read it: Great title and cover. Lori's Notes: It was the title of this book that piqued my interest.  As someone who generally tries to look on the bright side of life the idea of laughing at a nightmare really appealed to me.  The book is based on Shane Burcaw's blog of the same name.  I actually started reading the blog before getting the book.  I quite enjoy Shane's writing style.  He is quick and witty and I had moments where I laughed out loud.  Shane was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy as a child  It is a disease that makes his muscles progressively weaker.  However, this has not s...

Title: Mr. Popper's Penguins Authors: Richard and Florence Atwater Illustrator: Robert Lawson Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 203669 Description:   Mr. Popper trains his band of penguins to star in a vaudeville tour. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud it. Why I read it: I watched the movie with my kids and picked up the book to read as a read aloud as they enjoyed it so much. Lori's Notes: The book is radically different than the movie.  But that is to be expected considering the movie was filmed in 2011 and the book was published in 1938.  That being said the book was still quite enjoyable.  Mr. Popper, a house painter who dreams of world travel, receives a Penguin from Antarctica.  After receiving another penguin from the Boston zoo the Popper family is soon living with 12 penguins and travel the country with Popper's Performing Penguins.  This was a funny story and a great read aloud. Recommended Readers: Grade 3 and Up Themes: Families, Relatio...

Title: Cardturner Author: Louis Sachar Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 43908 Description: When his wealthy uncle, a champion bridge player who has lost his vision, asks seventeen-year-old Alton to be a cardturner for him, Alton has no idea how much he will ultimately learn from his eccentric relative.  Includes appendix by Syd Fox with information about bridge. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: I really enjoyed the novel Holes and this book is by the same author. Lori's Notes: Alton's rich uncle, a champion bridge player, is blind and needs a cardturner for him to play.  A fantastic story about families and relationships, it weaves together the storylines of Alton and his uncle and first loves.  It does delve a little into the paranormal/ghostly but it wasn't distracting to the overall sense of the novel.  It also touches on the idea of how relationships change and change us.  I'm not a bridge player at all and had no idea how the game was p...

Title: As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth Author: Lynne Rae Perkins Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 44333 Description: A teenaged boy encounters one comedic calamity after another when his train strands him in the middle of nowhere, and everything comes down to luck. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: Looking for a fun read that would be good for a boy. Lori's Notes: A series of comedic events lead to the isolation of Ry from his family.  Trying to phone his grandfather Ry gets off his train and left behind in Montana, his parents are sailing in the Caribbean and his grandfather isn't answering the phone.  The dogs (who receive their own chapters in graphic novel format) are trying to make their way back to their old home and no one seems to be able to find each other.  There were moments that had me giggling but I have to admit that throughout the novel I was waiting for "something bad to happen" and while bad things do happen they'r...

Title: A Tale Dark and Grimm Series:  The Grimm Series Author: Adam Gidwitz Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 51063 Description: Follows Hansel and Gretel as they walk out of their own story and into eight more tales, encountering such wicked creatures as witches, along with kindly strangers and other helpful folk. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: A fantastic title and a love for all things Grimm! Lori's Notes: A re-writing of a few fairy tales to include Hansel and Gretel (including their own). These two children run away from home, have adventures including a rescue, a trip to hell, and outwitting a murderer.  Some of the stories are dark - just as the Grimm stories were - and bloody.  The narrator who interjects throughout the stories is funny and sarcastic.  I really enjoyed this book and having read many of the original Grimm tales I liked the return of the more grisly parts! Recommended Readers: This book would be a great read aloud for ...

Title: Holes Author: Louis Sachar Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 138616 Description:   As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself. Rubric Rating: Level 4: Love It! Why I Read It: This book was highly recommended to me by an associate and I have to say that it did not disappoint. Lori's Notes:   While the cover was quite boring, the contents were not and it quickly became one of my favourite read alouds with my son.  Stanley has had his fair share of bad luck.  It seems to run in the family.  After being wrongly accused of theft Stanley ends up at Camp Green Lake digging Holes. With the plot extending to include Green Lake's shady history, the present day camp, as well as Zero and Stanley's personal family histories, the characters are destined to...

Title: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library Author: Chris Grabenstein Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 69703 Description:   Kyle Keeley is the class clown, popular with most kids (if not the teachers), and an ardent fan of all games: board games, word games, and particularly video games.  His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the building of the new town library.  Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot to be one of the first 12 kids in the library for an overnight of fun, food and lots and lots of games.  But when morning comes, the doors remain locked.  Kyle and the other winners must solve every clue and every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route.  And the stakes are very high. Rubric Rating: Level 4: Love it!  (Really top marks!) Why Did I Read It:  This book had such a fantastic title that I had to read it!  Who would ever want to escape a library? ...

Title: Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have Author:  Allen Zadoff Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 37965 Description:   Fifteen-Year-Old Andrew Zansky, the second fattest at his high school, joins the varsity football team to get the attention of a new girl on whom he has a crush. Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud It Why I Read It: The title is fantastic and the first two sentences of the book had me hooked. Lori's Notes: Andrew Zansky knows that there must be a God because he's not the fattest kid in school...he's the second fattest. Bullied, with only one friend, he's a social outcast until he joins the football team.  Although this brings him the sense of acceptance he's longed for he realizes that being part of the popular clique isn't all that it's cracked up to be.  And being popular does not necessarily mean being happy.  A very good read, with laugh out loud moments. Recommended Reader: Grade 9 and up.  A particularly good read for boys....

Title: Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story Author: Adam Rex Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 44352 Description: After being bitten by a vampire, not only is fifteen-year-old Doug doomed eternally to be fat, but now he must also save himself from the desperate host of a public-access-cable vampire-hunting television show that is on the verge of cancellation. Rubric Rating: Level 1: Leave It Why I Read It: This was all title and cover.  I thought the cover image was fabulous and I was piqued by the humour of the title. Lori's Notes:  Doug is a vampire.  But he isn't the typically good-looking, mesmerizing, adaptable vampire.  He's a socially awkward, geeky, fat vampire.  He is an overweight social misfit who just wants to fit in.  Becoming a vampire just further emphasizes how out of place he is at school and even within his own social group. Sejal, a foreign exchange student (and Doug's crush) exemplifies this same idea having been diagnosed as ...