Book by Book Newsletter~

Sharing Great Books!

May 2023

 

Hello! Book by Book is aimed at teachers, homeschoolers, parents, grandparents, and caregivers–basically anyone who loves to read and share great books with kids! I hope you’ll find this information useful and fun.

Below you’ll find Book Descriptions, Reader Tips/Conversation Starters and Fun Inspiring Things. Simply click on the links to get to a site, Amazon or the author and illustrator’s page. Happy reading!

Check In 

Hello! Hope you had a wonderful April. I included this picture because it makes me think of warm, breezy days. I’m hopeful this month will deliver just that. Happy May!

A Pic

Photo by Bella Pisani on Unsplash

May Book Choices

Each month I’ll be sharing 3 books that lead to an easy conversation, connection, or a creative activity. This month I’ve chosen two chapter books and an early level graphic novel. All contain elements of fantasy along with themes about choices, friendship and accountability. I hope you and your children enjoy them!

The Wish Library Principal for a Day by Christine Evans / Illustrated by Patrick Corrigan / Ages 6-8 / Fiction, Fantasy / Themes: friendship, choices, accountability.

What would it be like to be the school principal for a day? Luca, a new student, is about to find out. He meets Raven and the two become best friends. With Raven, Luca feels included. They’ve even had an adventure at the Wish Library, a magical hidden library that Raven discovered. If a child goes there and asks for a wish, a contract is signed with the librarian promising to return the wish on time. If not, the overdue fines begin and the consequences could be…unpleasant.

This week Raven is gone for a family funeral and she makes Luca promise not to go to the Wish Library without her. But Luca’s had a bad day at school–first getting into trouble with his teacher and then with another student. After a chat with the principal, he’s been given a letter to be returned the following day with his mother’s signature. Luca’s upset. If he was in charge, things would be better. Luca decides to visit the Wish Library and change his luck.

After biking to the woods, he spots the magical gold coin on the ground needed to make the wishing well appear. Luca hesitates–if he goes alone to the Wish Library, he’ll be breaking his promise to Raven. If he stays, he’ll have to show his mom the letter and deal with Principal Dawkins. He decides to go. Luca’s had enough of feeling like the new kid again. He whispers: “I wish to be in charge.” He drops the coin in the well and then tumbles down after it to the library. Will his wish solve his problems after all?

The Kingdom of Wrenly #18 Stroke of Midnight by Jordan Quinn / Illustrated by Robert McPhillips / Ages 7-9 / Fiction, Fantasy/ Themes: collaboration, self-worth, compassion

There’s trouble in Bogburp! Prince Lucas and his best friend, Clara, are off to investigate strange weather patterns in the swampy area. He suspects Tilda the Witch is up to something.

Upon arrival, the two friends go to Tilda’s rickety house. The witch isn’t home, but someone else is there. Lucas and Clara meet Clover, a witch in training. Her current ‘changing flower color’ spell is not going well and she’s discouraged. But then she asks if she can practice this same spell on Lucas and Clara’s hair because with hair it’s “foolproof.” Before Lucas or Clara can protest, Clover aims her wand, chants the spell and poof! Magical dust is swirling and when it settles, Clara and Lucas look at one another, speechless. Instead of just having the other person’s hair color, Lucas and Clara now have each other’s whole heads!

Upset with Clover, they demand an answer. Clover bursts into tears and proclaims herself the worst witch in the whole kingdom. It’s easy to see she doesn’t believe in herself. To her credit, though, Clover quickly finds a counter spell in one of Tilda’s spell books. She needs to mix the potion before midnight or the spell is permanent. Riding their horses separately, both Lucas and Clara set out to find the ingredients for Clover. She mixes the potion but realizes she needs one more dry ingredient from her oak tree outside, which is soaking wet from the storm.

After yet another mishap where the tree snatches up Lucas and Clara and won’t let go, Clover is forced not to blame herself again but immediately help them. She succeeds in getting Lucas and Clara free, with some last minute help from Ruskin, Lucas’s dragon. Finally, Clara and Lucas drink the potion, but it only works for Clara. Prince Lucas and Ruskin have now changed heads and there’s only five minutes until midnight. Can Clover believe in herself to mix another batch on time? Or will Prince Lucas forever have a dragon head?

The Flower Garden by Renee Kurilla (Illustrator also) / Ages 6-8 / Graphic Novel / Fiction, Partial Fantasy / Themes: choices, friendship

Anna and her friend, Tess, plant some flower seeds in order to attract more bees. It’s a beautiful day so they decide to take a nap outside on the grass with Anna’s cat, and wait for the seeds to grow. While they’re sleeping, a tiny gnome named May appears and casts a spell to help the seeds. She works so hard that an entire flower garden sprouts up almost immediately.

When the girls wake, they discover they’re surrounded by huge colorful flowers. But now Anna and Tess are no taller than a blade of grass and the flowers are towering over them. Amazed and confused, they wander through them, but then Anna trips on a stem and scrapes her hand. Suddenly, May appears and offers to help heal her hand. She then leads Anna and Tessa on a walk through the flowers. Eventually they come to the underground opening of May’s home, but Tessa doesn’t want to go in, and she and Anna have an argument. Anna insists on following May and leaving Tessa. She wants to explore. The friends are at a standstill.

Inside May’s underground home, she introduces Anna to her friends. May shows her the music area, and the two start dancing to the giant mouse’s banjo playing. Anna doesn’t want to leave. But after a bit she’s worried that she should go and scrambles back toward the outside. It’s dark and she doesn’t see Tessa among the giant flowers. Will Anna find her friend? And if she does, will Tessa forgive Anna for leaving her?

Reader Tips / Conversation Starters

Connecting with a book is a special bond! When a reader leaves a book with understanding and a smile, then a relationship has begun. The best ways I’ve found for children to do this is through conversation or creative and playful activities. Below are a few suggestions that can lead to discussions and maybe more with your reader. As always, take what you like!

~ The Wish Library Principal for a Day: This story lends itself to some great discussions and personal connections. You might ask your child, “Does Luca see how his school behavior got him in trouble? How does Luca’s wish affect everyone around him?” and finally, “Have you ever made a choice that went wrong? What did you do about it?” On another note, this might be a fun game: each family member or a group of friends writes down a wish, drops it into a bowl and chooses one (or keeps their own.) Then each person tells how the wish could turn out. The more details the better! 

~ The Kingdom of Wrenly Stroke of Midnight #18: I love the theme of compassion in this book from Lucas and Clara for Clover. They can see she’s not confident and Lucas tells her she has to believe in herself for her magic to work. If you child has felt not confident about something, did they learn to be or did someone help them to see how some things take time? Perhaps your child has experienced this with a friend or another student. Your child could even draw about the experience.

~ The Flower Garden: One strong theme in this book is about insisting on having your own way. It’s a common occurrence between kids and interesting to see how they work it out between them. Has your child been through this with a friend or sibling? How did they resolve it?

Fun and Inspiring Things

Here are a couple of things happening in May that might be of interest to you or your children. Enjoy!

• Reasons to Celebrate in May  I love a reason to celebrate or just have some fun any day, and this month there are 31 reasons to celebrate, besides Mother’s Day and the very important Memorial Day. Check out the link for some well known and not so well known fun things to do. (My favorites are on the 10th, 14th and 15th.)
• Children’s Book Week  This event started in 1919 and is “…the longest running national literacy event…” ever. It goes from May 1-7, (and again November 6-12). Click on the 2023 resources  link to find lots of fun and creative things to do with your child.

Thanks for being here! I love to hear from readers, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment. Let me know if you’d like other information not listed here, or if you’ve found other books you’d like me to feature. See you in June!

Reading with you,

Maureen

(Edition 4)