I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944: An exciting account of D-Day from a child's point of view

I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An exciting account of D-Day from a child's point of view

I read this book as part of a kids' book club. It was chosen, by popular vote, by five young boys ranging from 9 to 11. I'm glad we chose this book. Boys tend to get excited about World War II. I don't know what it is about war and boys. Even my son, whom I haven't exposed to any sort of violent media in the past, somehow made everything into guns, even paper. I was hesitant at first. However, while I was reading it, I soon saw the appeal. It also describes a tender relationship between a son and a mother a boy's longing for his best friend who was taken away by the Nazis. It was also timely to read this book while we are all going through the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. It's the first time that kids are going through something challenging on a global level. The assignments I gave the group were: a time capsule, a recreation of a fortified castle described in the book (using coloring materials, blocks, or even Minecraft), and a decoding of a Caesar Cipher. Overall, a great book for young boys.

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The Haunted Library: A spooky read that combines friendship, family, and detective skills

The Haunted Library by Dori Hillestad Butler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A spooky read that combines friendship, family, and detective skills

I read this book as part of a book club with kids from 6-8 years old. The kids got to identify with Kaz who struggles with his confidence in "ghostly skills" and spunky Claire who's a budding detective. The two of them made a great team! Our assignments ranged from showing up to the (Zoom) book club meeting as our favorite characters, making fingerprint characters (and seeing how each of our fingerprints were unique), recreating our favorite settings ("haunts" in the book), and creating shadow puppets. The kids found the story really fun and exciting. My daughter, my co-teacher for the book club, couldn't put down the book until she figured out who the library ghost was. It helped her tap into her inner private investigator. Overall, a great read for early elementary readers.

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