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 around the world while she stayed home with her Aunt Sophie, Uncle Ralph, and her younger cousin Junior.

Now Noonie is in her purple period, and she’s sure her latest efforts will make her famous. Noonie’s Masterpiece by Lisa Railsback with art by Sarajo Frieden is a delightful book about what makes a family. Noonie gets into lots of trouble as she dismisses everything in her life except her art. Her creativity is spent trying to coax her dad back home and trying to avoid math.

Noonie is always looking through her book of masterpieces, and as she talks about famous artists in recent history, the reader learns about them too. Mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 7 through 12 could have a lot of fun finding photos of the famous pieces of art Noonie talks about and discussing why they may be considered great. Other topics to discuss include how art fits with more traditional school subjects like math and literature, coping with the loss of a parent, and finding what’s special inside each of us. The illustrations are fun to look at, too, and they help make Noonie’s Masterpiece a great book for younger girls looking for a step up from an early reader chapter book. Additional resources, including a discussion guide, a chapter excerpt and a video can be found at http://www.chroniclebooks.com/noonie/.

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 pawned to pay for rickshaw repairs. She’s determined to help, even if she has to take a risk to do it.

Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins is the touching story of a girl who longs to put her talents to use. Naima’s father is careful to let her and her sister know that he is happy to have daughters, but Naima realizes her society values girls only for cooking, cleaning and carrying water. Education for girls is limited, especially since parents are expected to pay for it. When Naima discovers a woman who has broken the mold to support herself, she can finally see a path to help her own family out of its poverty.

Rickshaw Girl is very accessible for younger readers, and it gives them a glimpse of constraints that can be placed on girls in some societies even today. The charcoal illustrations by Jamie Hogan beautifully capture Naima and her village life. A glossary in the back is a good introduction to terms used in Bangladesh, and the author’s note is about micro financing and how it is helping women and girls around the world raise themselves out of the cycle of poverty. I highly recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 7 to 10. You can find a helpful discussion guide at Perkins’s website.

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. How boring.

Hailey is sulking in her room when a real-live sprite flies out of her play castle. Maybelle has been trapped inside for 200 years. Now she’s being allowed out for a chance to regain her magic, if only she can find out how to have fun.

Hailey Twitch is Not a Snitch, written by Lauren Barnholdt and illustrated by Suzanne Beaky, is a new series for young readers. Hailey has a good heart, but she has a lot to learn about following rules and making new friends. She worries about another girl in class taking her old friends away, and she’s pretty good at knowing when she needs time alone to be crabby.

Young readers aged 6 to 8 will see Hailey work through similar issues that they do: playground disputes, getting in trouble when you didn’t know you were doing something wrong, and keeping old friends while making new ones. Maybelle and her attempts to have fun add an interesting twist. The story ends with a preview of the next title in the series, Hailey Twitch Saves the Play.

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 the kind that my daughter would have appreciated when she was seven to 10 years old. I know she would have told this knock-knock joke over and over again and expected her dad and I to laugh each time:

“Knock. Knock.

Who’s there?

Cows go.

Cows go who?

No they don’t, they go moo.”

The jokes are silly and often play on words, which is what many young readers adore as they are just learning the ins and outs of language. And because it is a Horrid Henry book, the jokes are grouped into categories that match Henry’s style. For instance, you’ll find Mummy’s Curse Jokes, Gross-Out Jokes, Scary Sitter Jokes, Underpants Jokes, and more. And of course, there’s a section for Perfect Peter’s Favorite Jokes, which Henry begs everyone not to read. Despite the banner that says, “Warning: Too rude for parents!” on the front cover, moms and dads should have fun reading these with their early readers.

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 get up to.

I couldn’t resist such playful titles as “My Kitten Won’t Stop Talking,” “My Chicken’s on the Internet” and “Beavers in the Bathroom.” Nesbitt often ends each poem with a play on words that’s sure to appeal to younger readers. Ethan Long’s illustrations are fun to look at, too. The expressions on his animal faces match the action in each poem perfectly. I particularly liked his smug-looking flying pigs and grim-faced goldfish in a military-style tank.

Readers can also download companion audio tracks of Nesbitt reading quite a few of the poems himself. It’s quite a treat to listen to Nesbitt read while you follow along with the words and illustrations in the book. Instructions for downloading the tracks, which can be played in iTunes, Windows Media Player, Quick Time, and any other player that supports mp3 files, are included at the beginning of The Tighty Whitey Spider.

You can also check out Nesbitt’s great poetry website, http://www.poetry4kids.com. And Nesbitt’s collection called My Hippo Has the Hiccups is available for a free download or viewing online with audio tracks.

The Tighty Whitey Spider is exactly the kind of book my daughter would have loved when she was in elementary school. I can’t think of a better way to help younger children develop an early appreciation for poetry than reading Nesbitt’s poems.

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 to pull her into the story. Each day she would tell me which part she was on and we would discuss it. Finally she finished the book and we celebrated by watching the film adaptation. Rowan enjoyed seeing how the director changed the book a bit and liked imagining how she might have portrayed the characters herself.

We came to this website looking for some books we could read together for the summer. Thank you for the website! — Rebecca G., Eldersburg, Maryland

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 turn the page I was so scared of what would happen next like maybe one of the creatures would hop out of the book. I’m not a big fantasy reader, but this book had a way of mixing some of my least favorite genres (mystery, scary/adventure) and making a whole new one that I very much enjoyed.

I really liked how the author described everything in such detail that I felt like I had been to Whangdoodle Land after reading this book. I also loved the creatures concepts and inventions in the book – they were so creative. For example – the Whangdoodle’s boat and soda machine really tickled me. The boat is called the Jolly Boat, and to start it you have to tell jokes so it laughs, which makes it go. Then on the lower deck there is a special soda machine that you ask for any kind of food with anything on it and it makes it for you on the spot. –  Franny S., Portland, Oregon

A Mother’s Review

I’d like to recommend a book for the 2nd-3rd grade level, though it’s good up to 5th or 6th grade. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards. Yes, the author is the same of Sound of Music fame. This is one of two novels she has written (Mandy, about an orphan girl, is also an excellent choice for this age.  It is reminiscent of The Secret Garden). Whangdoodles is the adventure of three children (a girl, age 7 or 8, and 2 boys, ages 11 and 13) and a professor specializing in DNA/cloning research. Using their senses and child-like belief in the unbelievable, they travel to a land which has forever been closed to human kind.

Whangdoodleland is the place where all creatures in whom people have stopped believing have gone to live. It is ruled by the Whangdoodle who is, sadly, the last of his kind. This book is reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. It is a lovely adventure with many morals, and absolutely no objectionable words for the 6-8 year old set. (Note from reviewer: 2008 is an anniversary year for the book and it has been republished with a special anniversary edition cover.) — Sarah T., Castro Valley, California

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 and she came for a visit to see if she wanted to get married. Anna and her brother were worried that she wouldn’t want to stay and be their mother. At the very end of the book, we found out.

This was the first book that we read for our mother-daughter book club. Everyone really liked the book. We talked about lots of things like how hard it is to move to a new place, and we discussed our favorite parts of the book. I especially liked that the book was funny and sad. Everyone agreed that they wanted to read more books in the Sarah: Plain and Tall series. – Hayley P., Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania –  8 years old

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, Dragondrums. Dragonsong introduces Menolly, who is a talented teenage musician but her father cannot stand her being anything but what is traditional for women in their village. Menolly is lost, impresses a host of small dragons (fire lizards), and eventually finds both a home in a music school and respect from her family. — Sarah T., Castro Valley, California

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, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Twits, The Witches, The Magic Finger, Matilda, or George’s Marvelous Medicine, then you are sure to love Boy. This book is all about pulling pranks, evil headmasters, having your nose cut off in a car accident, getting you tonsils taken out on the family coffee table, putting a dead rat in a cookie jar, and having your sister’s boyfriend smoke goat poop. If you ever want to just have some fun and laugh, then I would highly recommend this book. The author is Roald Dahl, and it tells all about his hilarious childhood. The whole group liked it. — Catherine H., Portland, Oregon