I received a sample for this review/feature. Opinions expressed are my own.
At 6 years old my soon to be 1st grader still prefers picture books but I have started introducing chapter books to her. At bedtime we read a picture book or two together and then we read a chapter or two from a chapter book. This gives her time to relax and listen to a story and use her own mind to illustrate it. I haven’t read any children’s chapter books since I was a child myself so it is fun to get back into them again. I am being introduced to all new books right along side my daughter and each book is an adventure for me too. Here are two books that I went ahead and read without her but are now in our queue to read together.
Zack and Amp get a serious surprise in the fifth installment of this intergalactic chapter book series by Nate Ball, the host of PBS’s Design Squad and Design Squad Nation. Zack and his alien friend, Amp, discover that leverage can be an Earth-saving thing when they build a rocket-launching atlatl!
Zack McGee’s life has been filled with trouble since Amp, a four-inch-tall alien scout, crash-landed into Zack’s bedroom. But now it’s Amp’s turn to be in the hot seat. When his commander, Ohm, arrives to take Amp back home, the aliens feud. Amp has to get his cranky counterpart off Earth before they all end up in a world of trouble!
Like every book in the Alien in My Pocket series, Ohm vs. Amp mixes Common Core?aligned science, and safe, hands-on experiments with a hilarious story that young readers will love.
Normally I hate to read a book in a series out of order but it was not a problem with Alien in my Pocket #5 Ohm vs. Amp. If anything it has now got me wanting to go back and read the series to Big Sis in order. This book is a quick read (for a chapter book) and even includes a do-it-yourself science experiment which I know Big Sis will flip over as she adores science. This book would be more geared for the 6-10 age range.
A deadly white mist has cloaked the earth for hundreds of years. Humanity clings to the highest mountain peaks, where the wealthy Five Families rule over the crowded slums and rambling junkyards. As the ruthless Lord Kodoc patrols the skies to enforce order, thirteen-year-old Chess and his crew scavenge in the Fog-shrouded ruins for anything they can sell to survive.
Hazel is the captain of their salvage raft: bold and daring. Swedish is the pilot: suspicious and strong. Bea is the mechanic: cheerful and brilliant. And Chess is the tetherboy: quiet and quick . . . and tougher than he looks.
But Chess has a secret, one he’s kept hidden his whole life. One that Lord Kodoc is desperate to exploit for his own evil plans. And even as Chess unearths the crew’s biggest treasure ever, they are running out of time.
The Fog Diver is a tween adventure book that takes place in a future where living in the sky is the way of life and some poor kids from the slum become the heroes. This one is more for the 8-12 age range so I am unsure if my daughter will like it but I plan on reading it to her anyway.
These are some great titles to read before getting back into the swing of school and required readings. They are fun and I think reluctant readers would really enjoy them.
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