Meet Melonhead and Moxy Maxwell

Melonhead and Moxy Maxwell are two great, loveable characters who also find trouble. They are real characters that kids can relate to and enjoy in two separate books. You can compare these characters to Clementine, Stink, Judy Moody or Fudge. These two great chapter books for children in grades 3-5^th are both funny and heart-warming with two characters that never have a dull moment!

Melonhead by Kate Kelly is a spin-off from the book Lucy Rose. Melonhead is short for Adam Melon. Adam lives in Washington D.C.  with his parents, who both work on the hill. With Adam there is never a dull moment. In this first book Adam and his friend Sam have been given a school assignment of a science experiment of “reinventing”, meaning recycle the old into the new. Sam and Adam are excited about this new assignment and their adventures unfold as they go about concocting, creating and reinventing some sort of invention. This is a hilarious story that includes a great experiment with diapers, (how many cups of water can they hold before exploding) as well as many melonhead disasters along the way. This is a laugh out loud funny series.

Melonhead

Melonhead and the Big Stink

Lucy Rose: Here’s the Thing About Me

Lucy Rose: Busy Like You Can’t Believe

Luce Rose: Working Myself to Pieces and Bits

Lucy Rose: Big on Plans

Now let’s meet Moxy Maxwell. In her first book, Moxy Maxwell Does not Love Stuart Little, Moxy doesn’t like being told what to do, especially what to read. She loves to read, but only what she wants to read. Moxy is 9 years old and has a twin brother who pretty much does the opposite of Moxy and Moxy likes to procrastinate, really procrastinate. In fact she is the “tween” of procrastination. The twins have a summer reading assignment and now it is the day before school is to start and Moxy still hasn’t read the book, Stuart Little. Her brother, on the other hand read the book the first day of summer. But now there isn’t much time left, and even though Moxy carried the book around all summer with the intention of reading it she never did. Now her mother has demanded that she read the book or she won’t be able to participate in her water ballet recital. In fact she has strict instructions from her mother to not leave her room until she has read all of Stuart Little or there will be “consequences”. Of course that isn’t possible with Moxy. Come join Moxy for a day in her life and see what crazy things ensue, like cleaning her room, training the dog, inventing an automatic swinging hammock as well as planting a peach orchard.  

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Like Writing Thank-You Notes

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Like Practicing the Piano but She Does Love being in Recitals

 

Dragonbreath

Dragonbreath  is a great little series by Ursula Vernon about a little dragon, Danny Dragonbreath, who can't breath fire yet but he has no fear.  The story is great for reluctant readers, grades 2-4, with comic like pictures.   Come follow him on his hilarious adventures including diving into the deep depths of the ocean to the attack of the ninja turtles.

A great review from School Library Journal says it all:
Danny Dragonbreath feels like a loser in more ways than one. No matter how hard he tries, he can't muster up even one lukewarm dragon's breath. Now he's in trouble with his teacher at the Herpitax-Phibbias School for Reptiles and Amphibians. He handed in a carelessly written paper on the ocean and received a well-deserved F. Now he must rewrite the paper. To research the topic he talks to his cousin, a sea serpent. Along with Danny's iguana friend, Wendell, Edward takes them on an underwater adventure to the Sargasso Sea. The adventure becomes life-threatening when Danny and Wendell are attacked by a giant squid. Danny must save his friend and does so with a long-awaited fire breath. Not only is Danny a hero but he gets an A on his re-submitted paper. The exchanges between the less-adventurous and nervous Wendell and nonchalant Danny make this a laugh-out-loud read. The text is generously illustrated with engaging, comic-book style cartoons in green, black, and white, many full page and others that cover several spreads. This humorous adventure story will appeal to reluctant readers and children seeking early chapter books.—Tina Martin, Arlington Heights Memorial Library, IL

The importance of summer reading!

Why is Summer Reading Important?

Why do public libraries have summer reading programs and why are they so important? Each year studies have shown that when children continue to read over the summer there is no “loss” of reading skills. This is why it is imperative that children participate in summer reading programs through the public libraries. These programs encourage reading, encourage participation in a special summer programming, that could really be considered an enrichment program that are geared towards kids to make coming to the library and reading fun. Reading is important because it is also essential to helping students become better readers, writers and spellers. It encourages self-selection of books, which can be very motivating for reluctant readers.

The reason why these programs are so powerful is because they provide activities and a range of reading materials to accommodate all diverse learners and learning styles. The goal isn’t only to advance literacy rates among children and engage them in reading related activities but to also foster a love of reading. This also involves parents and all family members, young and old. Summer reading increases the success of reading experiences as well as providing a great access to books and other materials that libraries provide.

Putting books into the hands of the children, isn’t that what it is all about?

Hooked on Books

My new logo. Now that summer has officially started in this household I'll be posting much more. Any questions, or you want a specific reading list, please leave a comment or you can reach me at llemon11katz@gmail.com. Happy Reading!