Sophie’s Children’s Book Selections

Sophie’s Children’s Book Selections: Kids Ultimate Road Trip Atlas

By • December 10, 2012 • Blog, Sophie's Children's Book Selections • Comments Off on Sophie’s Children’s Book Selections: Kids Ultimate Road Trip Atlas

children's bookPipper and her pals often pile in the car and head out on adventures when the BowWOW Bakery closes for vacation or special holidays. Sophie always brings along this children’s book to keep everyone excited and involved in where they’re going and busy playing games to speed the time until they arrive. The information below comes from Amazon.

Release Date: March 13, 2012
Age Level: 8 and up
Grade Level: 3 and up
Series: National Geographic Kids

Keeping kids entertained while on a long drive can be a challenge, but the National Geographic Kids Ultimate U.S. Road Atlas can help. This book includes easy-to-read, simple road maps of each state and Washington, D.C., and a map of the United States. State symbols, cool things to do, boredom busters, fun facts, wacky roadside attractions, and games accompany the maps and provide engaging information with stunning photographs that will keep kids engaged for hours. In the back matter, a comprehensive index makes it easy for kids to look up names and places. To top it all off, everything is presented in colorful NG Kids style, allowing kids to learn as they ride and have a blast doing it!

Sophie’s Children’s Book Selections: Honest Pretzels

By • December 3, 2012 • Blog, Sophie's Children's Book Selections • Comments Off on Sophie’s Children’s Book Selections: Honest Pretzels

children's bookBy Mollie Katzen

This is actually a children’s book that Pipper recommended to Sophie. Pipper loves Mollie Katzen’s recipes, most of which are full of nutritious natural ingredients. Mitzi tested some of the recipes and agreed they are good-for-you delicious keepers. And just because this is a children’s book doesn’t mean adults can’t help too! The information below is from Amazon.

Release Date: October 13, 2009
Age Level: 8 and up
Grade Level: 3 and up

Get ready to help with dinner for real!

Are you a kid? Then this book was written especially for you. With it, you can become a fantastic cook and amaze your friends with Pita Spirals and Creamy Corn Soup or Cinnamon Swirl Sticky Buns and Best Hot Chocolate. Or you can fill your lunch bag with a wedge of Spaghetti Pie, a serving of Maple Yoghurt Fruit Dip, and a handful of Honest Pretzels that you made yourself.

Are you a grown-up? Then welcome to another very special cookbook by Mollie Katzen. In these pages she speaks directly to children through 65 fully kid-tested, illustrated recipes that require only a little adult assistance. It’s not just a cookbook full of yummy recipes–it also gives young cooks, ages eight and up, a chance to practice reading, math, and logic skills. And think of the sense of accomplishment they will feel as they grow into creative, confident chefs.

Sophie’s Children’s Book Selections: Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer

By • November 5, 2012 • Blog, Sophie's Children's Book Selections • Comments Off on Sophie’s Children’s Book Selections: Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer

children's bookWhen it comes to a good children’s book, Hilda loves a good mystery. It’s one of the few things that keeps her sitting in one place when she’s not out fighting fires and saving cats from trees. Here’s one children’s book Sophie thought would keep her out of  mischief for a while. It’s written by that famous writer/lawyer who has tons of popular titles for grownups. Overview provided by Amazon.

Release Date: May 3, 2011

Age Level: 8 and up

Grade Level: 3 and up

Series: Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer (Book 1)

In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk, and a lot about the law. He dreams of a life in the courtroom. But he finds himself in court much sooner than expected. Because he knows so much, maybe too much, he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth. The stakes are high, but Theo won’t stop until justice is served.

Sophie’s Children’s Book Selections: Inviting look-it-up dictionaries

By • October 25, 2012 • Blog, Sophie's Children's Book Selections • Comments Off on Sophie’s Children’s Book Selections: Inviting look-it-up dictionaries

children's bookSophie knows about all kinds of children’s books. She knows fiction, non-fiction (like science books and travel books), cookbooks (of course) and more. She’s a librarian after all. Pipper loves browsing through the library shelves with her. Recently, they were in the reference section where there were all kinds of encyclopedias and dictionaries. Sophie told Pipp that there is a plethora of research materials there. Pipper wasn’t sure what plethora meant, so they pulled a dictionary from the shelf to find out. Here are two fairly new dictionaries Sophie recommends with information about them from Amazon.com

 

Scholastic Children’s Dictionary
Publication Date: July 1, 2010 | Age Level: 8 and up
The #1 choice in children’s dictionaries is brand new for 2010!

The bestselling Scholastic Children’s Dictionary is brand new for 2010! Some of the outstanding new features include: brand new cover and interior design, more than 1,000 all new photographs and illustrations, and double the current number of word histories and sample sentences. New entries and definitions have been written by prominent lexicographers and reviewed by an advisory board of educators and librarians. Bonus material includes a thesaurus and specially commissioned endpaper maps.

children's bookMiriam Webster’s Elementary Dictionary
Publication Date: January 2009 | ISBN-10: 0877796750 | ISBN-13: 978-0877796756 |

An all-new edition of the essential dictionary for children grades 3-5, ages 8-11, with more than 36,000 entries. Expanded usage sentences and phrases include over 1,300 quotes from classic and contemporary children’s literature. Additional features include hundreds of new, colorful illustrations, photographs, and diagrams: word history and synonym paragraphs; pronunciation paragraphs for each letter; child-friendly usage hints; and Greek and Latin word root paragraphs to aid spelling and vocabulary building. Special sections include geographical terms, signs and symbols, word roots, and a list of literary works used in the text.

Sophie’s Book Selections: A Light in the Attic

By • October 1, 2012 • Blog, Sophie's Children's Book Selections • Comments Off on Sophie’s Book Selections: A Light in the Attic

book selectionsSophie reads all kinds of books and has plenty of book selections she might recommend. Even though storybooks are her favorite, she also loves digging into books about real people and real events…and she has some special poetry books she especially loves. A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein, is top of her list of book selections. In fact, she loves all of Shel Silverstein’s books. But she thinks one of his most special poems is in this book. It’s called “How Many, How Much.” Sophie been known to quote these lines from it to Pipper and her pals, “How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give ’em.” Here’s the blurb from Amazon: Here in the attic of Shel Silverstein you will find Backward Bill, Sour Face Ann, The Meehoo with the Exactlywatt, and the Polar Bear in the Frigidaire. You will talk with Broiled Face, and find out what happens when Somebody steals your knees, you get caught by the Quick-Digesting Gink, a Mountain snores, and They Put a Brassiere on the Camel. From the creator of the beloved poetry collections Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up, here is another wondrous book of poems and drawings.
Do you have a favorite poetry book to share? Please let us know in comments.

Sophie’s Book Selections: Charlotte’s Web

By • September 17, 2012 • Blog, Sophie's Children's Book Selections • Comments Off on Sophie’s Book Selections: Charlotte’s Web

book selectionsSophie loves reading classics. Those are the forever books, the ones your parents loved and their parents loved. Sophie has a long list of favorite classics as book selections for recommending to friends. Sometimes, she pulls one from the shelf to read again. That’s what makes them classics—they’re just that good. High on her list—maybe even Number One—is Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White with illustrations by Garth Williams. Pipper thinks it would be cool if the Fern in the story lived in Fernwood with Pipper and her pals. Here’s the blurb from Amazon: Sixty years ago, 1952, E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web was published. It’s gone on to become one of the most beloved children’s books of all time. Charlotte’s Web is the story of a little girl named Fern who loved a little pig named Wilbur—and of Wilbur’s dear friend Charlotte A. Cavatica, a beautiful large grey spider who lived with Wilbur in the barn. With the help of Templeton, the rat who never did anything for anybody unless there was something in it for him, and by a wonderfully clever plan of her own, Charlotte saved the life of Wilbur, who by this time had grown up to quite a pig. How all this comes about is Mr. White’s story. It is a story of the magic of childhood on the farm. The thousands of children who loved Stuart Little, the heroic little city mouse, will be entranced with Charlotte the spider, Wilbur the pig, and Fern, the little girl who understood their language. The forty-seven black and white drawings by Garth Williams have all the wonderful detail and warmhearted appeal that children love in his work. Incomparably matched to E.B. White’s marvelous story, they speak to each new generation, softly and irresistibly.
We’d love you to make some book selections to recommend your favorite children’s classic. Please share in comments.

Sophie’s Book Selection: Judy Moody

By • September 3, 2012 • Blog, Sophie's Children's Book Selections • Comments Off on Sophie’s Book Selection: Judy Moody

book selectionSophie likes reading about different personalities and she has a book selection. She enjoyed reading the Judy Moody books especially because she thinks everyone can recognize the kinds of moods Judy Moody gets into. She told Hilda about the first book, Judy Moody was in a mood, by Megan McDonald with illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds when Hilda was steamed. That was because she missed watching the Olympics pole vaulting trials on TV while she was at the dentist having her teeth cleaned.  Read Amazon’s blurb here. “Judy Moody was in a mood. Not a good mood. A mad-faced mood.” To start, Judy Moody doesn’t have high hopes for third grade. Her new desk won’t have an armadillo sticker with her name on it. her new classroom will not have a porcupine named Roger. And with her luck, she’ll get stuck sitting in the first row, where Mr. Todd will notice every time she tries to pass a note to her best friend, Rocky. An aspiring doctor, Judy does have a little brother who comes in handy for practicing medicine, a cool new pet, and a huge Band-Aid collection. Judy also has an abundance of individuality and attitude, and when Mr. Todd assigns a very special class project, she really gets a chance to express herself! Megan McDonald’s spirited text and Peter Reynold’s wry illustrations combine in a feisty, funny first chapter book for every kid who has ever felt a little out of sorts.
Can you recommend a book selection about a character dealing with her or his emotions? Please share in our comments.

Sophie’s Book Selections: The Cricket in Times Square

By • August 6, 2012 • Blog, Sophie's Children's Book Selections • Comments Off on Sophie’s Book Selections: The Cricket in Times Square

book selectionsSophies’s second favorite book that takes place in New York City, after From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler—which takes place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden and Garth Williams (illustrator). You can figure out where that one takes place! She tells Mitzi all about her book selections, and she borrowed it from the library and loved it too. Read Amazon’s blurb here. One night, the sounds of New York City—the rumbling of subway trains, thrumming of automobile tires, hooting of horns, howling of brakes, and the babbling of voices is interrupted by a sound that even Tucker Mouse, a jaded inhabitant of Times Square, has never heard before. Mario, the son of Mama and Papa Bellini, proprietors of the subway station newsstand, had only heard the sound once. What was this new, strangely musical chirping? None other than the mellifluous leg-rubbing of the somewhat disoriented Chester Cricket from Connecticut. Attracted by the irresistible smell of liverwurst, Chester had foolishly jumped into the picnic basket of some unsuspecting New Yorkers on a junket to the country. Despite the insect’s wurst intentions he ends up in a pile of dirt in Times Square. Mario is elated to find Chester. He begs his parents to let him keep the shiny insect in the newsstand, assuring his bug-fearing mother than crickets are harmless, maybe even good luck. What ensues is an altogether captivating spin on thr city mouse/country mouse story, as Chester adjusts to the bustle of the big city. Despite the cricket’s comfortable matchbox bed (with Kleenex sheets); the fancy, seven-tiered pagoda cricket cage from Sai Fong’s novelty shop; tasty mulberry leaves; the jolly company of Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat; and even his new-found fame as “the most famous musician in New York City,” Chester begins to miss his peaceful life in the Connecticut countryside. The Cricket in Times Square—a Newbery Award runner-up in 1961—is charmingly illustrated by the well-loved Garth Williams, and the tiniest details of this elegantly spun, vividly told, surprisingly suspenseful tale will stick with children for years and years. Make sure this classic sits on the shelf of your favorite child, right next to The Wind in the Willow (ages 9 to 12). …And Sophie adds, next to Pipper’s Secret Ingredient!

Can you recommend a children’s book that takes place in New York City? Please share your book selections in our comments.

Sophie’s Book Selections: From the Mixed Up Files

By • July 10, 2012 • Blog, Sophie's Children's Book Selections • Comments Off on Sophie’s Book Selections: From the Mixed Up Files

book selectionsWhen Pipper told Sophie all about her trip on the New York City Metro’s #6 subway to Katz’s Deli and her experience in New York, Sophie thought of two of her favorite books that take place in the Big Apple. The first book is From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, which takes place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sophie said her book group at the library raved about it and made it one of their official book selections. This book gets 5 stars from Sophie! Here’s what Amazon says about it. …  When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn’t just want to run from somewhere she wants to run to somewhere—to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and preferably elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She invites her younger brother Jamie along (he’s got the cash). Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find themselves caught up in the mystery of an angel statue that the museum purchased at an auction for a bargain price of $250. The statue is possibly an early work of the Renaissance master Michelangelo, and therefore worth millions. Is it? Or isn’t it? Claudia is determined to find out. This quest leads Claudia to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the remarkable old woman who sold the statue.

Do you have any books to recommend about The Metropolitan Museum or about particular works of art? Please share in our comments.