This children's graphic novel is about a scrappy girl named Claudette. Claudette is determined to defeat the evil sorcerer Grombach and his hoard of gargoyles. She brings her brother, sister, and seven princes on her adventure. Claudette must rescue her father, slay the dragon, and bring back the sword used to protect her village. With all her might will she be able to pull off these many tasks?

Rating: 4 out of 5

Author: Jorge Aguirre
Illustrator: Rafael Rosado
Publisher: First Second
Publication Date: 2015
ISBN: 9781596438781

This children's book of poetry consists of fourteen poems, each written by a different narrator. Each narrator writes about a disaster that can happen in your life like friends moving away and even forgetting your pants day! If you ever wondered whether anyone else knew what it's like to have a bad day then this book of funny poems is for you!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Author: Susan Hart Lindquist, Alice Schertle, Madeleine Comora, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Ann Whitford Paul, Katie McAllaster Weaver, Joy N. Hulme, Sandra Gilbert Brug, Marilyn Singer, Judith Viorst, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Lillian M. Fisher, Tom Robert Shields, and Karla Kuskin
Illustrator: Wolf Erlbruch
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 0688178618

This is a book of poetry for children. The authors of this book felt that children's perception of reality contains an essential magic. They wrote a book of humorous poems for everyone to relate to when they have ever had a bone to pick with things as they are or struggled to understand things beyond their comprehension. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Author: Pamela Espeland and Marilyn Waniek
Illustrator: Trina Schart Hyman, Hilary Knight, Nancy Carlson, and Peter E. Hanson
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
Publication Date: 1984
ISBN: 0876142684

This book consists of poetry for children. There are twenty six poems, one for each letter of the alphabet. Each poem is Halloween themed too! Spooky intriguing illustrations are drawn for every poem as well to represent what each letter is for. This book is a must especially for those that love Halloween. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Author: Eve Merriam

Illustrator: Lane Smith

Publisher: Collier Macmillan Publishers

Publication Date: 1987

ISBN: 0027668703

This historical fiction book takes place in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. A young nine- year-old boy named Bruno moves to a new house in Auschwitz. He explores his new surroundings and he meets a boy wearing striped pajamas and golden armband on the other side of a fence. He has met a boy in a concentration camp. Bruno befriends Shmuel and one day Shmuel asks Bruno for help to find his father. Bruno disguises himself as a concentration camp prisoner and goes into the camp to help. Sadly both boys are killed in the gas chambers. This heartbreaking story helps to show the tragedy the Holocaust caused. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Author: John Boyne
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: 9780385751537

This historical fiction book takes place during the Great Chicago Fire. This book is about a former slave, eleven year old Hallelujah and her newfound friend Elizabeth. Hallelujah is a very adventurous girl that follows her foster brother through streets of Chicago to watch the conflagration that has started. At first Hallelujah is fascinated by the fires, but that is short lived as she sees buildings in flames and realizes all the lives that have been lost. During this time of disaster Hallelujah realizes that all people become equal in times of crisis. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Author: Harriette Gillem Robinet
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
Publication Date: 2001
ISBN: 9780689839689

This historical fiction book is set in the south during segregation and the Jim Crow Laws. Ella Mae needs to get new shoes because her hand-me-down shoes do not fit anymore, but when Ella Mae and her mother go into Mr. Johnson's shoe store she is not allowed to try on shoes because of the color of her skin. Now Ella Mae and her friend Charlotte decide to collect and restore old shoes and have their own shoe sale so that African Americans can "try on all the shoes they want."

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Author: Susan Lynn Meyer
Illustrator: Eric Velasquez
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication Date: 2015
ISBN: 9780823425280 

This informational book is all about learning why certain features are on animals and there use. 25 animals explain why they look the way they do. This book is set up in a question answer format that has someone ask an animal a question and the animal answers. An example question is "Dear horned frog: Your mouth is ginormous. Why so big?" Read this book to find out the answer! 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Author: Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2014
ISBN: 9780544233515

This informational book is all about discovering animal habitats around the world. This book helps readers learn how animals grow and thrive in their different environments. This book is also interactive because it has readers search for camouflaged animals in their surroundings. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Author: Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins & Robin Page 
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers 
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 9780618507641

This informational book won the Caldecott honor in 2004! This book has kids try and guess which animal each part belongs to throughout the book. It also questions the different things that animals do with different parts of their body like nose, ears, tail, etc. It is a very interactive fun way to learn more about animals. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Author: Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers 
Publication Date: 2003
ISBN: 9780618256280

This fantasy book is about an orphaned boy, James, living with two nasty aunts. James finds a way to escape his miserable life by climbing in a giant peach that he created after spilling magic crystals he got from a mysterious man on his aunts' peach tree. Once entering the peach he meets what will become his new sense of family; magically overgrown insects: a ladybug,a spider, a grasshoper, a glowworm, a silkwork, and a centipede. They have many adventures that take place in a giant peach like going across the Atlantic Ocean to even a parade in NYC! This book is a wonderful story that never gets old reading!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Publisher: Puffin Books
Publication Date: 2000
ISBN: 9780140374247

This fantasy book is about how a boy named Charlie who found a golden ticket in a Willy Wonka Chocolate Bar. There were a total of five golden tickets that let five lucky children into Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory. The other children are very greedy and spoiled and not kind like Charlie and find themselves having an early exit to the chocolate factory. It is Charlie who remains and Willy Wonka says he is the winner and the whole day was a contest. Charlie's prize is the entire chocolate factory!! This book is great to teach children how it is not good to be greedy and it will only hurt oneself in the long run. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Publisher: Puffin Books
Publication Date: 1998
ISBN: 9780141301150

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This fantasy children's book is about a girl named Matilda who is a sweet girl that has mean parents that are uninterested in her. She does play tricks on her parents like putting superglue in her Dad's hat, but finds some peace at home because she taught herself to read and loves books. She thought school would be an escape from her mean parents, but there she faces the two hundred pound kid hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. When Miss Trunchbull tries to attack Matilda is when Matilda discovers she has powers and can move things! Matilda also befriended her teacher Miss Honey. Matilda uses her powers to defeat Miss Trunchbull and her parents decide to move away and Matilda was able to convince her parents to let her stay with Miss Honey. This book helps to show the importance of education and when one puts their mind to it they can accomplish anything. 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Publisher: Puffin Books
Publication Date: 1998
ISBN: 9780141301068

This realistic fiction book won a Caldecott Honor! It is about how one day at a family picnic a stray dog appeared. The little boy and girl play with the dog all day and name him Willie. They leave without Willie, but think about him all week. They go back Saturday to see Willie again but he is getting chased by the dog catcher! The little boy and girl chase after Willie and claim the dog as their own. Then Willie lived happily ever after with the family. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Author: Marc Simont
Illustrator: Marc Simont
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Publication Date: 2001
ISBN: 9780060289331

This realistic fiction book is about a girl named Iris who went to the lake in the Enchanted State Park with her family and dog. The trip is far from smooth though. First their car breaks down and then they got lost but they did eventually make it to the lake. When they get there, there is a NO DOGS ALLOWED sign! Iris's father decided the plan would be that everyone would take turns with the dog in the parking lot until they figured out what to do. Everyone had a blast with the dog, who might have had the most fun! This book was all about problem solving and not everything goes as planned.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Author: Sonia Manzano
Illustrator: Jon J. Muth
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2004
ISBN: 9780689830884

This realistic fiction book received a Caldecott Honor! This book is about a little boy named David that is yelled at his mom throughout the book to stop doing things such as: running outside naked, playing baseball inside, and many other things. But at the end of the book David's mom gives him a huge hug and tells him how she loves him. This book is relatable to little kids who always find themselves getting into trouble and getting yelled at.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Author: David Shannon
Illustrator: David Shannon
Publisher: The Blue Sky Press
Publication Date: 1998
ISBN: 9780590930024

This traditional literature is about the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. One of the little pigs built a house out of straw. The big bad wolf showed up and huffed and puffed and blew the little pig's house down. The second little pig built a house out of sticks, but when the big bad wolf showed up he huffed and puffed and knocked the house down. The third pig built his house out of bricks and when the big bad wolf showed up he could not huff and puff enough to knock the house down. Now the big bad wolf kept trying to trick the third pig to come out of his house so he could eat him, but the big bad wolf failed and tried going down the chimney to find himself in a cooking pot. The third pig ate ate the wolf for dinner and lived happily ever after.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Author: Paul Galdone
Illustrator: Paul Galdone
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication date: 1998
ISBN: 9780395288139

This traditional literature is about the boy who cried wolf. The shepherd boy became bored one day and thought it would be fun to yell to the townspeople that a wolf was after his sheep. All the townspeople came running as fast as they could but no wolf was in sight. The next day the shepherd was bored and cried wolf again but no wolf was in sight. The next day the boy started to hear three wolves and once they appeared he cried wolf again, but this time the townspeople did not believe him and did not help.This book helps to show the importance of telling the truth and being trustworthy. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Author: B. G. Hennessy
Illustrator: Boris Kulikov
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers 
Publication Date: 2006
ISBN: 9780689874338

This traditional literature is the story of the ugly duckling. The ugly duckling is about a duck that looks and sounds different than its siblings. Mother duck still loves the ugly duckling even though it is different. As the ugly duckling grew up it realized it was not a duck and in fact was a swan!! The swan was now happy with itself once it found out who it truly was.This book is perfect for teaching kids about belonging and finding oneself. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Author: Sebastien Braun
Illustrator: Sebastien Braun
Publisher: Boxer Books
Publication Date: 2010
ISBN: 9781907152047

This beginning reader book won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor! This book has repeating questions and sentences like "have you seen my hat?" that will help kids learn to read. A bear asks a lot of animals if they have seen his hat and they all say no. A deer comes along and sparks the bears memory that he did see an animal wearing his hat that tried to deny it. The bear ends up with his hat back and is a happy bear.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Author: Jon Klassen
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication Date: 2011
ISBN: 9780763655983

This beginning reader book has the characters Lolly, Spider, and Sam telling stories after a picnic on the beach. The book is separated in a chapter way by each person's story. All of their stories included a rat and a cat. Lolly's story was very short, Sam's story had a twist ending, and Spider's story was the scariest of them all.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Author: Edward Marshall
Illustrator: James Marshall
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers
Publication Date: 1994
ISBN: 9780140370041

This beginning readers book by Dr. Seuss is a simple easy to read book for children learning to read. It involves short rhymes, words, and silly illustrations to help kids predict the words on each page. Even with short rhymes and sentences, this book is a little lengthier so kids can practice their reading. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Author: Dr. Seuss
Illustrator: Dr. Seuss
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: 1963
ISBN: 9780394800295

This picture book has very detailed illustrations that help to show a story about how both kids and parents have "what if?" questions in their life. A little boy looks for his friend's party that he lost the invitation to. Along the way the little boy asks his mom a lot of questions about the party. Once he goes into the party his mom then worries if he will have fun. The book ends with the little boy having fun at the party and the mom being reassured. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Author: Anthony Browne
Illustrator: Anthony Browne
Publisher: Candlewick
Publication Date: 2014
ISBN: 9780763674199

This picture book helps show how kids can go from being bored to figuring out all the fun and exciting things they can use their imagination to do. A little girl runs into a potato who finds kids boring. The girl is shocked and shows him how she can imagine she is a famous ballerina, or how she can fly. The potato is still not amused by the little girl who is no longer bored and is now happy to be a kid than a potato. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars


Author: Michael Ian Black 
Illustrator: Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 
Publication Date: 2012
ISBN: 9781442414037

This picture book has beautiful illustrations along with a great inspiring message. Kids of all nationalities travel the world telling of all the things they would do to make it a better place. An example is "no matter how sick people were, they would have the medicine they needed". If kids ran the world the world would be a place of peace with no more hate. This book is very inspiring showing kids how they can make a difference in this world. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Author: Leo & Diane Dillon
Illustrator: Leo & Diane Dillon
Publisher: The Blue Sky Press
Publication Date: 2014
ISBN: 9780545441964

This decodable book is for new readers to help them learn to read. This book's target is short vowel sounds. Each page has a new plot and sentence to help the reader to learn about short vowel sounds. An example from this book is "Pam had some jam on her ham". To show the target words with short vowel sounds, the left hand column of each page lists the target word along with a picture of the word. The example above has target words: Pam, jam, and ham. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Author: Brian P. Cleary
Illustrator: Jason Miskimins
Publisher: Millbrook Press
Publication date: 2009
ISBN: 9780761342021

This decodable book is designed to help new readers learn to read. The focus of this book is long vowel sounds and also consonant digraphs. Each page has a new plot with a sentence describing the illustration. It also has on the left hand side of each page the pictures and words of the target words. An example would be "The sun shone on the throne as he talked on the phone" with the words being targeted: shone, throne, and phone.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Author: Brian P. Cleary
Illustrator: Jason Miskimins 
Publisher: Millbrook Press
Publication date: 2009
ISBN: 9780822576402

This decodable book is designed to help new readers learn to read. This book's main focus is on short vowel sounds and also has consonant blends. Each page has a sentence that describes the illustration such as "the clam swam in the tram ". Every page has a different plot and on the left hand side of each page has the words that are being focused on. With the example above the left hand side of the page has the word and picture of: clam, swam, and tram. 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Stop, Drop, and Flop in the Slop
Author: Brian P. Cleary
Illustrator: Jason Miskimins
Publisher: Millbrook Press
Publication date: 2009
ISBN: 9780822576358

This wordless picture book is intended for a more mature audience dealing with love and death. An elderly man visits his deceased spouse's grave with letters and flowers. Her spirit appears and scares the man off. While the man runs away he finds that his car will not start and at the same time his wife's spirit follows him and comforts the elderly man. She "takes his heart away" and the man passes, but now can forever be with his true love. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Title: the last lonely Saturday
Author: Jordan Crane
Illustrator: Jordan Crane
Publisher: Highwater Books
Publication date: 2000
ISBN: 0967798906

This wordless picture book is all about a dog named Daisy and her ball. Daisy adores her red ball so much she even sleeps with it by her side. One day at the park, Daisy plays with another dog who ends up popping Daisy's ball; she is devastated. Another day at the park the dog that popped Daisy's ball brings another one and they play together. Now Daisy has a new ball and a new friend. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Title: A Ball For Daisy
Author: Chris Raschka
Illustrator: Chris Raschka
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade books
Publication date: 2011
ISBN: 9780375858611

This wordless picture book is very unique from the start since it is held and read horizontal and only consists of black and white pictures with a touch of yellow. The story is about a girl in her attic that uses objects around her to make all types of shadows such as an elephant or wolf. The story continues with the little girl using her imagination to become friends with a wolf shadow, but must leave her fun once "dinner is ready". 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Shadow
Author: Suzy Lee
Illustrator: Suzy Lee
Publisher: Chronicle Books 
Publication Date: 2010
ISBN: 9780811872805

This board book offers the opportunity for beginner learners to learn numbers by counting different types of birds.This book has very abstract pictures of birds numbering from 1-10.  The numbers are both listed and spelled out in large bold print. 

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Title: Charley Harper's Count the Birds
Author: Zoe Burke 
Illustrator: Charley Harper
Publisher: PomegranateKids
Publication date: 2015
ISBN: 9780764972461

This board book is designed to help children learn their numbers. This book goes from 1-10 with the numbers listed and spelled out. Each page has a corresponding illustration with the number being expressed. 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: 1 is One
Author: Tasha Tudor
Illustrator: Caldecott Honor Illustrations
Publisher: Little Simon 
Publication Date: 2002
ISBN: 0689851421

This board book contains a group of townspeople on the hunt for a bear. Most of the book contains the search for the bear. Once the bear is found the townspeople scurry off and hide in their homes.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Title: Where's the Bear?
Author: Charlotte Pomerantz
Illustrator: Byron Barton
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: 2003
ISBN: 0060088206