Kids Books Blog

Ivan is a gorilla. He will tell you that isn’t as easy as it looks. It is even harder when you live in a cramped cage at the Big Top Mall and Video. Ivan is also an artist. He draws pictures with crayons that sell for $20 in the mall gift shop--$25 with a frame. Ivan’s best friends at the mall are Stella, an elephant who performs tricks she learned while part of a circus, and Bob, a stray dog.

Now that Ivan is a full-grown silverback, he no longer draws the crowds that paid to see him when he was young and cute. Some people still come to see Stella perform, but she is old and has an injured foot. The mall owner, Mack, decides the business needs a boost from another cute baby animal. And so Ruby arrives and everything changes. Caring for Ruby causes Ivan to rethink his art and his home and to dream of a better life for all of them.

"I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse."

August Pullman has a face that only a mother could love, only his mother to be exact. The main character of R.J. Palacio's book Wonder has an extra large forehead. His eyes are much lower than they should be. His mouth always hangs open and his ears are underdeveloped and cauliflower-shaped. What people do not know when they look at August is that they are seeing a very smart, funny, and capable young man.

Does anyone actually like writing thank-you notes? Of course, you are grateful and thankful for the thoughtful gifts from your loved ones, but what do you actually write in the thank-you note? And how long does the note have to be?

In Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-you Notes, by Peggy Gifford, ten-year-old Moxy Maxwell, who is a master procrastinator, has promised her mother that she will have all of her holiday thank-you notes finished by the day after Christmas. Part of the rush is due to the fact that she and her brother, Mark, are going to visit their father in California and are going to a star-studded New Year’s Eve Hollywood bash. In order to go to California and attend the fun New Year’s Eve party Moxy MUST have her thank-you notes finished.  In true Moxy fashion, she finds plenty of activities to distract her from her task. As time ticks by, Moxy develops many shortcut plans in order to have her thank-you notes done on time...one of which includes her stepfather’s brand-new copy machine and a can of gold spray paint.

Zita the Spacegirl gets down to business right away. It starts with two friends, a mysterious crater, and a device that opens a portal to another dimension.

Meek Joseph is immediately captured by a tentacled being with a deep sea diver's helmet. Adventurous Zita, in a daring effort to save her friend, follows the creature through the portal. A strange alien planet exists on the other side, and Zita finds that she is not welcomed with open arms.