Today’s the big day! The ALA (American Library Association) announced the 2020 John Newbery and Randolph Caldecott awards. I’m excited because I really like the Newbery and Caldecott book picks. And, both the Newbery and Caldecott book winners are on my best of 2019 book lists: Imagination Soup’s Best 2019 Middle-Grade Chapter Books & Graphic […]
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Fantastic New Chapter Books, January and February 2020
Ready for a batch of new January and February 2020 chapter books? I have recommendations for you in realistic, paranormal, fantasy, historical fiction, and science fiction. In other words, there’s something for everybody. (Let me also add that I honestly can’t pick one or two favorites from this list because they are all really […]
Continue ReadingOwnVoices Historical Fiction Chapter Books
Discover amazing historical fiction chapter books written by OwnVoices (#ownvoices). If you aren’t aware of this term, OwnVoices signifies when an author of a marginalized group writes a fiction story about a character in that same marginalized group. When a reader asked me to share a list of diverse, historical fiction chapter books written […]
Continue ReadingBooks for Tweens Who Love Animals
A friend of mine recently asked me for book suggestions for a reluctant tween reader who loves animals. Since many of you have or teach children ages 8 – 12 who might also like animals, reluctant or not, you’ll want this list, too. I have several posts with ideas to help reluctant readers. But one […]
Continue ReadingDownload a Reading Bingo Game for Your Kids and Students
Over the winter vacation, we watched the Harry Potter movies along with a BINGO game for each one. It gave me an idea to make my own bingo game for you all to encourage your kids to read more books. But before I tell you about the game, I want to give you some context… […]
Continue ReadingNew Books for Growing Readers Ages 5 – 8
Dear parents and teachers of growing readers, you’ll be so happy to see how many fantastic new easy readers and new easy chapter books have been published around this month! (December 2019) ACORN BOOKS: The new Acorn easy (early) reader books from Scholastic are exciting! I reviewed Hello, Hedgehog! and Unicorn and Yeti books […]
Continue ReadingBest Middle Grade Chapter Books & Graphic Novels of 2019
Want to know about the best middle-grade chapter books and graphic novels of 2019? 2019 gave us so many amazing middle-grade chapter books and graphic novels! Especially for realistic fiction books that tackle growing up while facing big issues like colorism, poverty, immigration, and identity. Add several memorable historical fiction stories and a few adventures […]
Continue Reading9 Trending Middle Grade Novels for Ages 9 – 12
Happy November, book-loving friends! Today I’m sharing with you some amazing new middle-grade books for your 9 – 12-year-old readers. You’ll notice I’ve starred my favorites that are contenders for my best of 2019 list. But all these books are incredible so even the books I didn’t star are totally worth reading. Trending Middle […]
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