Now We Are Six (and Other Books for the Six-Year-Old)

Johnny Boo turned six last week!

And now that he's six, we're reading Now We Are Six:

Now We Are Six

Author/illustrator: A.A. Milne/Ernest H. Shepard

First published: 1927

Category: Poetry

Here are some other recent favorites:

Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles Into Comics

Author/illustratror: James Sturm; Andrew Arnold; Alexis Frederick-Frost 

Publisher: First Second (March 2009)

Categories: Action & Adventure; Graphic Novel

The Adventures of Tintin: Danger at Sea

Author: Kirsten Mayer

Publisher: LB Kids (November 2011)

Categories: Action & Adventure; Easy Reader

The Adventures of Tintin: The Mystery of the Missing Wallets

Author: Kirsten Mayer

Publisher: LB Kids (November 2011)

Categories: Action & Adventure; Easy Reader

Attack of the Invisible Cats

Author/illustrator: Scott Sonneborn/Art Baltazar

Publisher: Stone Arch Books (August 2011)

Categories: Action & Adventure; Easy Reader

The Banana Split From Outer Space

Author/illustrator: Catherine Siracusa

Publisher: Hyperion (November 1995)

Category: Easy Reader

Doctor Who: Companions and Allies

Author: Steve Tribe

Publisher: BBC Books (May 2009)

Category: Science Fiction

Earth to Clunk

Author/illustrator: Pam Smallcomb/Joe Berger

Publisher: Dial (May 2011)

Category: Science Fiction; Picture Book

Gloria Rising

Author/illustrator: Ann Cameron

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (June 2004)

Category: Chapter Book

Ivy and Bean: No News Is Good News

Author/illustrator: Annie Barrows/Sophie Blackall

Publisher: Chronicle Books (October 2011)

Category: Chapter Book

Taro and the Magic Pencil

Author/illustrator: Sango Morimoto

Publisher: Viz Media (November 2010)

Category: Graphic Novel

The Woods

Author/illustrator: Paul Hoppe

Publisher: Chronicle Books (April 2011)

Category: Picture Book

8-Year-Old Boy Review: Spiderwick Chronicles

Review by Tintin, age 8

The Spiderwick Chronicles

Author/illustrator: Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (September 2004)

Source: Home library/public library/school library

The Spiderwick Chronicles are about a boy named Jared, a girl named Mallory, and another boy named Simon. Jared found a book in which creepy, terrifying, and terrible things would happen. Here are some of the creatures you will find in these books: brownies, goblins, trolls, hobgoblins, griffins, elves, dwarves, and of course Mulgarath the ogre. Now these books have one very important book called Arthur's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. There are more creepy and exciting creatures, so have fun with The Spiderwick Chronicles. I would recommend these books to any child ages 7 to 11 years old all around the world.

Mulgarath from the books (top) and from the movie (bottom):

5-Year-Old Books of the Week: Bumblebee Boy, Awesome Man, Happy Pig Day!, Hocus Pocus, Super-Dragon

We're back to blogging after a little break! Here are Johnny Boo's favorite books this week (Tintin is in the middle of reading Vordak the Incomprehensible again).

The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy
Author/illustrator: Jacky Davis/David Soman
Publisher: Dial (October 2011)
Source: Public library

Don't expect to see Ladybug Girl in this book--this time it's all about Bumblebee Boy. Oh, and some pirates, dragons and lions, too. Bumblebee Boy's little brother tries to get in on the action, but a superhero like Bumblebee Boy doesn't need an assistant--or does he? Even without Ladybug Girl, Johnny Boo thinks this is a winner.

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man
Author/illustrator: Michael Chabon/Jake Parker
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (September 2011)
Source: Public library

Awesome Man seems like your typical awesome superhero. He's super-strong and fights evil villains; he flies and shoots positronic rays out of his eyeballs. But what's he hiding? Maybe he's not so typical after all... Mixed reviews on Amazon, but Johnny Boo had me read it twice in a row, so that's all I care about.

Happy Pig Day!
Author/illustrator: Mo Willems
Publisher: Hyperion (October 2011)
Source: Public library

Another new Elephant & Piggie book! What's so great about Pig Day, and who are all those pigs? Gerald's feeling a little left out, until Piggie reveals a funny secret. Johnny Boo read this to himself and, as always, we took turns being Gerald and Piggie while we read together.

Hocus Pocus
Author/illustrator: Sylvie Desrosiers/Remy Simard
Publisher: Kids Can Press (August 2011)
Source: Public library

Hocus Pocus is a (nearly) wordless book about a rabbit and a dog who live with a magician, who is oblivious to the animals' Tom-and-Jerry-like relationship. When Hocus Pocus (the rabbit) spots a carrot on the counter, he must make his way to it without waking up Dog. Unfortunately for Hocus Pocus, Dog does wake up, and hilarity ensues.

Super-Dragon
Author/illustrator: Steven Kroll/Douglas Holgate
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Children's Books (February 2011)
Source: Public library

Drago's family is entering a flying contest, but Drago isn't allowed to enter because he doesn't know how to fly yet. He sits by as his family practices, but at night while everyone's asleep he takes flying lessons from a bird. At the contest two weeks later Drago surprises everyone with his Figure 8 skills and saves the day for his family.

Books of the Week: Joey Fly, Private Eye; Sardine in Outer Space; Patrick (Toon Books); Wonder Woman

Here are our favorites from last week:

Tintin, age 8

Joey Fly, Private Eye in Big Hairy Drama
Author/illustrator: Aaron Reynolds/Neil Numberman
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. (November 2010)
Source: Public library

In this second Joey Fly graphic novel, Joey and his assistant, Sammy, are called upon to solve the disappearance of Greta Divawing, the star of the Scarab Beetle Theater. Joey rounds up the cast and crew of the theater to find out what happened to the missing butterfly, but he has only a few days until Greta's next performance.

Tintin's note: I liked when the Painted Lady was missing and Mr. Fly had to figure out the problem.

Sardine in Outer Space 6
Author/illustrator: Emmanuel Guibert
Publisher: First Second (October 2008)
Source: Public library

One of Tintin's favorite graphic novel series, Sardine features colorful panels about a space pirate and her friends. The sixth Sardine includes nine stories, covering a rude cell phone, flying wooden horses, edible moons, an imprisoned Cupid, a depressed planet, and more. And of course, the evil Doc Krok and Supermuscleman make several appearances throughout the book.

Tintin's note: My favorite is the story about how Uncle Yellow Shoulder lost his eye. He has a yellow shoulder because his parrot peed on him.


Johnny Boo, age 5

Patrick in A Teddy Bear's Picnic and Other Stories
Author/illustrator: Geoffrey Hayes
Publisher: Toon Books (April 2011)
Source: Public library

Patrick the teddy bear goes on a picnic with his mother, tries to get out of napping, and finally overcomes his fear of Big Bear the bully. This Toon Book is yet another great graphic novel for beginning readers.

Johnny Boo's note: I like Big Bear because he's furry.

Wonder Woman: The Story of the Amazon Princess
Author/illustrator: Ralph Cosentino

Publisher: Viking Juvenile (April 2011)

Source: Public library

This is the story of how Wonder Woman came to be, told in picture book format but with the feel of a comic book. There's a bit of mythology, a few villains, and lots of color. We had to read this one several times in a row, several days in a row, and are looking forward to checking out Cosentino's Superman and Batman books as well.

Johnny Boo's note: I like her black hair.

A Kid's Review: Valentine the Porcupine Dances Funny

Review by Johnny Boo, age 5




















Valentine the Porcupine Dances Funny
Author/illustrator: Derrick Brown/Jenny Lewis
Publisher: Write Fuzzy
Source: The publisher

Valentine the Porcupine is about a radio with a porcupine who says, "Will someone dance with me?" Her momma says, "Strange is cool," and Valentine says, "I believe you, Momma." And then her momma says, "I love you because you're you." My favorite part is when she got a laser that would give homeless people homes and when the blowfish said, "Will someone dance with me?" The pictures are awesome. My favorite picture is when Valentine is holding the blowfish up. I would recommend this book to silly people.

Buy it: Amazon


It took illustrator Jenny Lewis 10 months to cut out, glue and paint every element of every page. Below she demonstrates how Valentine came to be:

It's a Boy-Tested Book Bonanza!

Check out our new page, It's a Boy-Tested Book Bonanza!, for a list of books my boys love. Come back often to see what we've added!

And now, in honor of Ice Cream Sandwich Day: