1. Fangbone! The Birthday Party of Pain by Michael Rex
My 7 year old hasn’t been too keen on reading. I know…shocking, seeing as he’s been raised in a house of readers. It’s just not his thing. The Fangbone books changed that. Fangbone is a barbarian child from an alternate world who has ended up in our world . He befriends a boy the same age and insinuates himself into the daily life of a third grader…while on his mission to guard The Big Toe of Drool (Drool being this scary ,evil dude who was dismantled into a bunch of pieces and will regain power when all his parts are reassembled. Long story.Read the books…)My kiddo ‘s been very enthusiastic about reading them . Sadly, we finished the 3rd and last one this week. Hopefully there are more in the works.
One thing I love about these books: The “our world” boy and Fangbone’s other new friends are part of a special ed class full of kids who have labels and dysfunctions and quirks. They’re bullied and picked on for their differences. I can think of many books that have protagonists who are misfits (probably because so many writers can identify with being the misfit) but not too many kids books portray The ADHD Kid as being one of the primary characters.
2. The Tub People by Pam Conrad
Oh, my lord. The anxiety I had reading this book. Intense. But when i tried to explain what was so anxiety inducing about it, my teenagers looked at me like I was cray-cray. See, there’s these wooden toys (The Tub People) who are lined up on the edge of the tub except when the child who owns them has bath time but one evening at bath time , the little Tub Child goes down the drain. Down the fucking drain! The Tub Mother puts her face to the grate and peers down the drain looking for her lost child.
OH.MY.GOD. Lost child down the drain. I did not know this was my worst nightmare until reading this book.
Every night, they call for the Tub Child and then they stop calling for him and are just sad.
Ok, I know that these are wooden people but the idea of losing a child and knowing they aren’t coming back, having to just stop looking and carry on. Sad. Forever.
It does get better and it has a happy ending, thank the book gods, which is why this earns a place on a Books We Like list.
Ok, I need to use the already written summary of this to tell you what it’s like:
Richly endearing and full of surprises, Robot Dreams follows an ill-fated friendship between a dog and robot. After a Labor Day jaunt to the beach leaves Robot rusty and immobilized in the sand, Dog, unsure what to do, abandons him. As the seasons pass, Dog tries to replace his friend, making and losing a series of new ones, from a melting snowman to epicurean anteaters. Meanwhile, Robot passes his time daydreaming, escaping to better places…Through interwoven journeys, the two characters long to recover from their day at the beach.
Although its adorable characters and playful charm will win over young readers, Robot Dreams speaks universally to the fragile nature of friendship, loss, and redemption
This is a wordless graphic novel. My 7 year old was a little hesitant about “reading” it on his own He explained to me it was because he has a hard time reading emotions and expressions. I felt like that was even more reason for him to give it a try & practice decoding some of these things he has a hard time with.It worked out well. The great thing about this book is that it’s sweet, simple and engaging enough for children but has deeper elements older people can appreciate.
This little boy named Floyd gets his kite stuck in a tree. He throws all sorts of things up into the tree trying to knock his kite free but…they all get stuck. Yeah, even the firemen. We love ridiculously far-fetched and exaggerated tales like this. great artwork and I LOVE the typography.I’m such a whore for good typograhy
Well, of course they do. This is a how to guide for any kid who wants to throw a party for dragons. They love tacos but they HATE spicy stuff. That’s not just advice but a warning.
This was a cute book but nobody demanded a re-read of it.
At the end , the author & illustrator info is creatively written and fits the theme of the book. I LOVE when they do that!
I’ll have to check out Fangbone for my reluctant reader. Put hold on it at th elibrary…
Very much like your suggestions and will pass them on to the younger crowd — after this Antique has read them of course! The video of The Tub People is delightful.