Nancy Clancy Super Sleuth

Author Jane O'Connor and illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser's chapter book debut Nancy Clancy Super Sleuth, Book 1 (c. 2012) gives a nod to Nancy Drew mysteries in their sleuthing story for readers aged 4-10 (although, my experience is that listeners as young as 4 enjoy it too).

Ooh la la!  Now Nancy and Bree had two mysteries to solve - the secret of the twins . . . and the case of the missing marble! (O'Connor 63).  Keep up as the plots thicken, and see if you can guess the outcomes before all of Bree's and Nancy's evidence comes in.  Calling all Fancy Nancy fans, "Let's crack these cases!"

The Penderwicks

This is the book I would have loved to have read and re-read when I was a girl!!!

That being said, I'm just not sure what age to begin your child on this one.  The publisher's recommendation is age 9, and I think I'll go along with that.  I started to read it aloud to my brood . . . and they didn't want me to put it down.  Meanwhile, I was reading ahead every chance I could get.

If you have a tween who is looking for a good read, I really liked this one (the brood did too!).  It's a page turner of an adventure read.  Nice and clean.  Each character has his/her own special talent: from concert level pianist to mathematician, from botanist to storyteller, from nurturer to problem solver to athlete, so subtly this book encourages individuality with a positive vocabulary.

Yet at the same time, the adults can appear rather foolish --> from the absentminded-professor widowed father and a fairytale-like-wicked-stepmotherish snooty mother.  And as an adventure story, there is some secrecy and sneaking.  Some critics also contest that it's an idyllic, nostalgic, blast-from-the-past that's attempting to display a modern, American childhood. Those are most of the criticisms you'll run into.

So what do I think?  Personally, I think it's a more modern approach to an adventure story for those of us who love the Boxcar Children.  If you'd like to teach your reader to think critically, this could be a good, clean, adventure story to promote dialogue.  Have your own family book club around it.  Discuss these various assessments, and encourage your child to verbalize his/her own analysis. (Either way, you may want to do your own research rather than taking my word for it.)

So what's is the award-winning book The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall (c. 2007) all about?  Here's what the publishers have to say:

This summer the Penderwick sisters have a wonderful surprise: a holiday on the grounds of a beautiful estate called Arundel. Soon they are busy discovering the summertime magic of Arundel’s sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. But the best discovery of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel’s owner, who quickly proves to be the perfect companion for their adventures.

Here are more Penderwick sequels:

Magic Tree House #16: Hour of the Olympics

The Magic Tree House books Dinosaurs Before Dark debuted 20 years ago yesterday, on July 28.  Since then author Mary Pope Osborne and illustrator Sal Murdocca have taken her readers on forty-seven more adventures with Jack and Annie. The forty-eighth adventure A Perfect Time for Pandas just hit bookseller's shelves on July 24, 2012.

If your kids haven't gotten into The Magic Tree House craze yet, we suggest you check out a few books, which are easily available at local libraries, used book stores, consignment stores, and local bookstores.  There's something for everyone in this series, whether you like science, history, culture, art, fantasy, etc.  You name it, if your child doesn't find a book in this series that he/she likes, then he/she isn't trying!  Mary Pope Osborne's adventures are perfect for budding readers!  I guarantee you, your child won't want to put down these page turners!

And for this Olympic season, try: Magic Tree House #16: Hour of the Olympics

And also check it's nonfiction companion book: Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #10: Ancient Greece and the Olympics

The Secret Three

Here's another read that I vividly recall from my childhood summers: The Secret Three by Mildred Myrick with drawings by Arnold Lobel (c. 1963).


The Secret Three is a wonderful story of friendship that begins when Billy and Mark find a secret message inside a bottle that washed up onto the beach. (Seriously, doesn't that alone make you want to run out to get it?!)  See if you can decode the messages as you follow along Billy and Mark's seaside, summer adventure.  And be delighted - once again - by Arnold Lobel's excellent illustrations.  He has an uncanny way of capturing that essence of feeling we associate with each season.

Oh, and did I mention that this is a good book for those early readers too?

The Boxcar Children

Gertrude Chandler Warner (c. 1942, 2009) begins her classic story The Boxcar Children with:

One warm night four children stood in front of a bakery.  No one knew them.  No one knew where they had come from.


The baker's wife saw them first, as they stood looking in at the window of her store.  The little boy was looking at the cakes, the big boy was looking at the loaves of bread, and the two girls were looking at the cookies.  . . .

Warner's story captures the plight and adventures of four orphans as they run away and live on their own in an abandoned boxcar hidden the the shelter of the woods.  It's the ultimate summer adventure!

L. Kate Deal's timeless silhouettes compliment Warner's timeless story that has been beloved by many generations.  It's another Read Me a Story family favorite on our MUST READ list.

Piggins

What a delightful surprise!  One of my favorite children's illustrators Jane Dyer has paired up with the highly acclaimed children's author Jane Yolen in a collaboration that has given us none other but Piggins (c. 1987).  Piggins, the puzzle solving pig, adds skill and dexterity to his proper position as butler to the Reynard household.

Oh, yes, this is a children's mystery series in the spirit of Masterpiece Mystery.  Set in the Edwardian Age, Piggins is said to be "a sophisticated English mystery parody for the primary set."

So check out the Piggins books for the children while Masterpiece Mystery runs their mystery series this summer.  And see if the kids can figure out the mystery before Piggins.  Rather unlikely, dear sir.