Love & Wisdom

Red Trycicle Recommends: The Ultimate Summertime Reading List

Starting to get the mid-summer boredoms? This week, we have a summer reading list compiled by childr

By Red Trycicle July 7, 2011

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With these long, lazy days of summer stretching out before us, there’s no better time to dive into a new book. From lobster to lunch ladies, sleepovers to Star Wars, this top ten list of the best children’s books for summer is an eclectic collection sure to tickle the fancy of your little ones. Age ranges are indicated for each book but are by no means a required reading age, but rather a general idea of which books are for younger or older children. Many of the books listed for four and five-year-olds, for example, would be enjoyed by two-year-olds as well. Here are some entertaining suggestions:

Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie
Written by Julie Sternberg
Illustrated by Matthew Cordell
Ages 9-12

I had heard wonderful things about Julie Sternberg’s book Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, so I made a bee-line for the Storyteller bookstore in Lafayette. Like many other books I’ve loved, I was initially drawn to the cover art (by Matthew Cordell) with its simple illustration of a little girl writing a letter. Sternberg has created an unforgettable character in Eleanor, who must learn to adjust when her beloved babysitter Bibi moves to Florida to be with her father. Eleanor struggles through various stages of grief and ultimately learns to accept and love her new babysitter. Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie speaks beautifully to the emotions of a child who has suffered a loss. This book will serve that magical literary purpose that books so rarely do: making a child feel better and smile through tears.

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute
Written and illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Ages 9-12

Remember the Lunch Ladies we had growing up? Hair nets. Sausage Surprise. Mustaches. Today’s Lunch Ladies are so much cooler. Not perhaps as cool as the Lunch Lady in Jarrett Krosoczka’s awesome book, Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute, since she can fly and drives a scooter with a “sloppy joe” button that allows her to cream her evil nemeses…ooo…and a “spatucopter” which sounds exactly like what is it – a spatula that can fly. Krosoczka’s graphic novels (yes, this is just the first in a set of Lunch Lady adventures!) are fantastic – fast-paced, entertaining and with just the right amount of kid humor to keep your children engaged and asking for more.  Sure, she may have yellow rubber gloves and wear Mom jeans, but in this graphic novel, the Lunch Lady’s the coolest thing since sliced bread, or Sausage Surprise as the case may be.

Want more? For more recommended children’s books visit redtri.com.

Post by Katie Zeigler.

Red Tricycle offers ideas for cool things to eat, see, make and do with your kids in your neighoborhood. Sign up (http://www.redtri.com/newsletter-signup) for your five fresh weekly picks for Seattle and Eastside Families.

 

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