Books
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Lodestar Award Finalists & Winners Reading List
What is the Lodestar Award? The Lodestar Award is a relatively newer award established in 2018 by the World Science Fiction Society, the same people who do the Hugo Awards for scifi/fantasy media. It’s presented alongside the Hugo every year at the World Science Fiction Convention, usually in the fall. What is this reading list? Award lists are great to use as a starting point for exploring a specific genre or subset of books, especially if you aren’t familiar with what’s out there and aren’t sure where to start. Since each book nominated was published within the year, it’s also a great way to keep up with what’s new on…
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Ancient Egyptian Book List for Middle Grade Readers (ages 9-12)
Every so often I’ll meet a kid who is REALLY into ancient Egypt. Students generally start learning about ancient world cultures somewhere around 6th grade, as part of a social studies unit. Some classes start a little earlier, around 4th or 5th grade. There’s a lot about ancient Egypt to interest kids– hieroglyphs, pyramids, mummies, mythology, etc.– and some kids get so into it that they develop a lifelong love of everything ancient Egyptian! *This post contains affiliate links. Read our full disclosure policy here. If you missed that phase yourself: The ancient Egyptians were a civilization centered near the Nile River, in what is modern-day Egypt. In book terms,…
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Chapter books for kids who love Rainbow Magic
The Rainbow Magic series by Daisy Meadows is one of the most popular fantasy series for 2nd-3rd graders. When I worked at an elementary school library, my entire Rainbow Magic collection would be checked out as fast as I could re-shelve it. If your child hasn’t started reading them already, it’s only a matter of time before they get hooked. Rainbow Magic is a long-running series with hundreds of books, all starring fairies and their friends. They’re short (under 100 pages) and written at a lower reading level, so they’ve very popular for getting kids started on easy-to-read chapter books. Kids tend to blast through a dozen or more of…
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Get kids reading with these 12 amazing magazines for ages 6-14
One of my go-to suggestions for families with reluctant readers is to try different kinds of reading. Not just reading books, but all kinds of text. Studies show that the more printed materials that are available to kids, the better they’ll do in reading, writing, and math skills. This means not just overloading on books, but also making sure magazines, newspapers, and comics are readily available. Use magazines to boost reading! *This post contains affiliate links. Read our full disclosure policy here. I particularly like magazines because they’re designed to entertain kids. That means they’re well-written, nicely formatted, have excellent photos and illustrations, and are pretty solidly aimed at a…
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Books for teens & tweens who love Dungeons & Dragons | Reading List
Updated June 25, 2021. Dungeons and Dragons, a tabletop roleplaying game where a group of friends work through a storyline featuring adventure, action, mystery and monsters, has had a resurgence in popularity. It’s not just 40-something adults who enjoy playing the same (which started in the 1980s), but teens and even tweens are super into it. My library has a very popular monthly D&D program, and several of the schools nearby have after-school D&D clubs running. Part of the popularity amongst teens comes from sources like Stranger Things, the Adventure Zone podcast and Critical Role Youtube channel– but it’s sustained throughout the years by how FUN it is to play!…
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15+ Science Fair Books for Elementary School Students (Ages 8-12) | Reading List
Twice a year, usually in early spring or early fall, elementary and middle school students come to my library to find science fair books. Usually these are books with pre-written science experiments that they can follow and enter in their school’s science fair. It’s a good way to get started with learning how to set up a science experiment, run trials, and extrapolate results to present to a group of people. However, there’s a snag: most school science fairs have either banned or strongly encouraged students to NOT do the standard science experiments like growing sprouts, erupting volcanoes, or shooting light through a crystal. And honestly, most kids don’t want…
