These books are just the right amount of funny, factual and GROSS to entice even the most reluctant reader. Magic for those boys who, “don’t like books!”
“The Awful Ends to the Awfully Famous”
The most reluctant of readers will find it difficult to resist this consistently disgusting chronicle of the gruesome deaths of 19 will famous people. Bragg’s informal, conversational style and O’Malley’s cartoon illustrations complement the flippant approach to the subject; the energetically icky design includes little skulls and crossbones to contain page numbers. Engaging, informative and downright disgusting. -Kirkus
“Failures, Flops and Flaws of the Awfully Famous”
In this follow-up to How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous, Bragg pokes fun, plays up, and revels in the mistakes of 14 famous figures because “There’s nothing better than reading about how someone else messed up.” Written in a chatty style, full of wit and laugh-out-loud moments, this charmingly irreverent delivery of history is not only entertaining but packed full of lessons to be learned. -School Library Journal
Grade 5+
Andy, a crabby alligator, is a reluctant friend to Preston, a young coyote pup. Find out what makes Andy even crabbier! They spend lots of time not catching rabbits, falling over cliffs, and trying to decide the difference between an owl and a bear. A perfect bridge between picture books and text-heavy chapter books.
Meet Ace and Bub, the flying beaver brothers! Ace loves extreme sports and is always looking for a new adventure. Bub loves napping and, well, napping. But when penguins threaten to freeze Beaver Island for “resort and polar-style living,” the brothers put their talents to work saving their tropical island paradise. Can they save Beaver Island from environmental destruction? And can they do it in time to still win the annual Beaver Island Surfing Competition?
This hysterical series is loaded with exciting plot lines and lots of well-times blank stares. These books magically turned my son from a reluctant reader to a voracious one.
Serving justice . . . and lunch!
Hector, Terrence, and Dee have always wondered about their school lunch lady. What does she do when she isn’t dishing out the daily special? Where does she live? Does she have a lot of cats at home? Little do they know, Lunch Lady doesn’t just serve sloppy joes—she serves justice! Whatever danger lies ahead, it’s no match for LUNCH LADY!
Isabel is the BEST bunjitsu artist in her school. She can throw farther, kick higher, and hit harder than anyone else! But she never hurts another creature…unless she has to. This series of brief stories about Isabel’s adventures are a beguiling combination of child-friendly scenarios and Eastern wisdom perfect for the youngest readers.
In this graphic-novel mind boggler, Shiga blows the choose-your-own-adventure concept out of the water. Readers play the role of little Jimmy and on the first page make the seemingly innocuous decision of ordering a vanilla or chocolate ice-cream cone. Tubes connect panels in all directions and veer off into tabs to other pages, creating a head-spinningly tangled web of a story.
Eleven-year-old Jack Putnam and his eighth-year-old brother Benny are being dragged against their will on a summer-long vacation with their family. And not to somewhere cool like Disney World, but to a little port town in Maine named Chowder Bay, far away from anyplace fun. But what promises to be a very bleak summer quickly becomes a series of exciting adventures in one of the most mysterious places on earth!
In gorgeous, oversize pages filled with warm jewel tones, Pearson’s varied panel layouts and detailed, purplish backgrounds artfully carry emotional weight and subtle humor in equal measure… Every volume of this fairy-tale-adventure series is a must-have.—Booklist
The Story Hour 