Books of the Week – October 2, 2010

Here are our favorites from the past week:

Tintin, age 7

Big Nate: In a Class by Himself
Author/illustrator: Lincoln Peirce

Sixth grader Nate tries to set a world record, but he doesn't yet know his strengths. He thinks he could be the best at eating green beans, or maybe at tickling teachers. Whatever it is, he's going to have to find out before the end of the day for his fortune cookie prediction – You will surpass all others today – to come true. Of course, the book wouldn't be as humorous without our hero getting into trouble along the way. And, I just asked Tintin, Big Nate is funnier than Diary of a Wimpy Kid (to which Big Nate has been compared). And no, I'm not worried that my 7-year-old now knows additional ways to get in trouble at school (he saves all his craziness for when he's home). Oh, and I think LitDaddy appreciated the reference to Elfquest.

Usborne First Skills: Starting Chess
Author/illustrator: Harriet Castor/Norman Young

Tintin learned how to play chess over the summer and just joined the chess club at school. He's still very much a beginner, though, so when I saw this book at the library I knew he'd like it. And since the pieces all have faces, I think it makes it a little more inviting to him (he's not usually a fan of nonfiction, unless it's about outer space). I'm not sure about Tintin, but I like that the book gives a little bit of history and shows pictures of some of the oldest-known chess pieces. He's not quite done with the book yet – he just finished the section on rooks – but we'll see next Wednesday after chess club whether the book actually works.


Johnny Boo, age 4

This Book Is Haunted
Author/illustrator: Joanne Rocklin/JoAnn Adinolfi

In this book a ghost tells scary – but not too-scary – stories about a haunted house for rent, an encounter with a witch and ghost on Halloween, brothers who lay awake listening to a tapping sound, and more. At the end of the book the ghost narrator asks the reader to read the book one more time (it gets lonely being stuck in a book) or to tell him a story. Here's the story Johnny Boo told him: Once upon a time there was a bear. He was mean and friendly. He was really a ghost. The End. And yes, we did have to read the book twice in a row a couple of times.

Know-It-Alls
Author/illustrator: Varies by book

The Know-It-Alls series is full of information on various subjects. Johnny Boo has five of these books, and he wants more (although, sadly, it looks as though they're out of print). Johnny Boo has been obsessed with these books for the past couple of days and has been carrying them around with him, just as his brother did three years ago.

Our Know-It-Alls books:

Crocodiles!, by Irene Trimble and illustrated by Jean Cassels
Fish!, by Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Jean Cassels
Snakes!, by Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Michael S. Maydak
Wild Cats!, by Diane Muldrow and illustrated by Greg Harris
Wolves!, by Christopher Nicholas and illustrated by Drew Brook Cormac

We're linking this post up at What My Child Is Reading, hosted by Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns, and at Kid Konnection, hosted by Booking Mama.