musing

Parnassus Kids: What We Read This Summer

Posted on August 15, 2014 Updated on August 15, 2014

Are the young book-lovers in your life looking for their next great read? It’s one thing to get book advice from an adult — ugh, what do grownups know? — but it’s something else entirely to get a recommendation from another kid. In this special guest post, our “junior booksellers” (children of shop staff) report on the books they loved most over the summer.

Recommended by Isaac, age 5 —

Runaway Ralph By Beverly Cleary Cleary’s chapter books for young readers are classics for good reason. Isaac says: “I love the song in it. I like Ralph the mouse and Catso the cat.” For lots more Beverly Cleary, click here.

Recommended by Peter, age 9 —

Books by Gordon Korman Peter found an out of print copy of Korman’s I Want to Go Home in a stack of his mom’s old books and loved it. “Lots of jokes! Warm laughter, hysterics, and mysteries,” he says. For current books by Korman, click here!

The Revenge of the Baby-Sat By Bill Watterson Peter: “Calvin is very funny. Hobbes is very calm until they are playing sports.” Peter’s mom notes that Watterson’s books do a nice, sly job of teaching kids impressive vocabulary words.

Recommended by Maia, age 11 —

Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book I By Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis Maia’s a gal of few words, but she means it when she recommends a book: “This series is adventure-y. I liked the many different points of view.”

Island of the Aunts By Eva Ibbotson, Kevin Hawkes  In this novel, three aunts tend an off-the-grid island with some weird inhabitants. When they can no longer properly take care of their charges, they kidnap three children — Fabio, Lambert, and Minette — to help. “I like it because all the aunts think in unique ways,” Maia says.

Enjoyed together by Isaac, Peter, and Maia — (read aloud and reported on here by mom, Margy)

The Silver Chair By C. S. Lewis, Pauline Baynes “Good audiobook for road trips, as the characters are also on a journey — a quest for a long-lost prince. Our favorite character, Puddleglum, was unfailingly negative (no ‘Life is Good’ bumper sticker for him) and surpassingly tender-hearted.”

Danny the Champion of the World By Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake “This father and son story has an unexpected gentleness for Dahl. Also, there’s an admonition to all parents, at the end of the book, to be ‘sparky’ like Danny’s father, which I think means this: be kind and tell good stories.”

Recommended by Gennie, age 8 — 

The School for Good and Evil By Soman Chainani, Iacopo Bruno, Soman Chaniani Gennie devoured this book and its sequel. “This is one series that I really liked,” she says. “You would like these books if you like twisted stories! But even if you don’t, you will probably like them.”

Warriors #1: Into the Wild By Erin Hunter “I love the Warriors series,” Gennie says. “It’s sooooooooooooo good. If you read one book, you feel like you have to read the others to live! And you love each book more and more.” The world of the Warriors is a civilization of cats, which makes these books particularly intriguing for readers who like their dramas populated by animal characters.

Emily Windsnap and the Monster from the Deep By Liz Kessler, Sarah Gibb This book changed minds: “At first I thought that I would hate the this series because it was about mermaids. But when I read the first sentence I knew I would love it,” Gennie says.

The Boy on the Porch By Sharon Creech Gennie liked this one, although she found it not quite as action-packed as some of her other favorites: “If someone is looking for a calm, sweet book, they would like this.”

Recommended by Cameron, age 11 —

Death Cloud By Andrew Lane “Everyone knows the Sherlock Holmes stories, but it took Andrew Lane to tell about the mysteries that he solved in is youth,” Cameron says. “So far there are two books in this thrilling series: Death Cloud and Rebel Fire.” He’s hooked.

Spy School By Stuart Gibbs Cameron sums it up: “This series is about a boy named Ben Ripley who is recruited by the C.I.A. to come to spy school in book one, learns survival skills in book two, and does spying on the evil spy school in book three. The books are called Spy School, Spy Camp, and Evil Spy School.” (Cameron adds, “Evil Spy School is NOT FOR SALE yet. This is a perk of working at a book store. You can read advance copies.”)

School for SPIES Book One Playing with Fire By Bruce Hale, Brandon Dorman “This series is about a orphan named Max who lives at an orphanage when he finds out that it is a school for spies! On his first day he learns a shocking secret that puts his bravery to the test.” – Cameron (We’re sensing an espionage theme in Cameron’s favorites.)

Tales of Ancient Egypt By Roger Lancelyn Green, Michael Rosen School reading doesn’t have to be boring. Cameron says: “I never thought that I would read this book… until I read it for school reading and it was GREAT! For ages 10-110.”

Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon By Steve Sheinkin Cameron loves this book so much, he recommends it to everyone: “This book is amazing — nothing less. It is the story about the building of the atom bomb. This is NONfiction but it feels like fiction.”

Peak By Roland Smith “This is about a boy named Peak who goes off to climb Everest. He does this with his dad because his parents are separating.” Cameron adds, “Maybe this book is good for people whose parents are separating.”

The Adventures of Tintin By Hergé “These comic books were made 25 years ago in France,” Cameron says. [Ed. note — Well, actually… Hergé was Belgian, and the Tintin character debuted in 1929.] “They are about news reporter Tintin, his drunk friend Captain Haddock and his dog Snowy. They go on adventures, from catching thieves in America to catching pirates.”

* * *

For little book-lovers who aren’t reading yet or who just love to hear a book aloud: Join us every Thursday at 3:30 and Saturday at 10:30 for storytime in our children’s books section. Thursday’s stories are read by WSMV Channel 4 meteorologist Nancy Van Camp, and Saturday’s stories are presented by guest readers!

Photo at top: Two young customers turn the piano in the shop into a reading desk. Ingenuity!