Noonie is sure that she will someday be a famous artist. She knows many well-known artists go through periods where they focus on color, and she herself has been through a blue period. This came after her mom died while she was in kindergarten and her dad’s job as an archeologist took him to locations [...]

Everyone knows that Naima draws the most beautiful alpana patterns in her Bangladeshi village. But she wonders what good can come from her talent if she can’t help her father drive a rickshaw because she’s a girl. Money is tight for the family, and Naima worries that her mother’s heirloom bracelets will need to be [...]

Seven-year-old Hailey Twitch likes everything sparkly and flouncy and colorful. She is thrilled to get an assignment to cook an ethnic food for diversity week at school. She wants to work with her friend Antonio, whose family is from Mexico. But then she’s paired with rule-following Addie Jokobeck, who is determined to make French fries. [...]

Horrid Henry is at it again, although this time he’s really trying to make us laugh. Horrid Henry’s Joke Book, which is written by Francesca Simon and illustrated by Tony Ross is the latest in the series of stories about this rascally little boy who’s always trying to get away with something.
These jokes are exactly [...]

Just in time for National Poetry Month, beloved children’s poet Kenn Nesbitt has a new collection of poems called The Tighty Whitey Spider and More Wacky Animal Poems I Totally Made Up. Perfect to read out loud with your son or daughter, these poems will have you both giggling about the silly antics Nesbitt’s animals [...]

A reader from Massachusetts sent in this review of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
My 8 year old daughter Rowan read The Secret Garden and LOVED it. It was the first book that she really enjoyed and couldn’t put down. She was an avid reader, but this was the first book with enough depth [...]

Two readers wrote in to recommend The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards.
A Daughter’s Review
I loooooved this book! I was sooo fun and full of magic. I just got this feeling of happiness, anxiety and fear while reading this book. Sometimes I got so caught up in the story I couldn’t [...]

This review was sent in by a young girl who read Sarah: Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan for her mother-daughter book club:
This book was a story told by Anna about how she got her new mother Sarah. Her father put an ad in the paper looking for a new wife. Sarah was from Maine [...]

I received this review from a mom who recommends this series for mother-daughter book clubs.
I’d like to recommend Anne McCaffrey’s young adult series for your 8-12th grade range.  I don’t see anything else I recognize as science fantasy, and this is a classic, with a female main character. The books, in order, are Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, [...]

My daughter Catherine wrote this review of Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl; it’s one of her favorite books. I recommend this book for all ages and girls, boys, women and men. In short, it should be a hit with everyone.
I love this book! A personal favorite!
If you liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, [...]