Good Summer Books
For many young book lovers, summer is the best reading season of the year. School is over and the evenings are becoming longer, so you won't be spending so much time reading under the covers with a flashlight. Until the summer heat becomes unbearable, you can even read outside. I used to spend much of the summer reading in a crab-apple tree outside the public library.
This year has been a fine one for juvenile literature, and the pickings will be good. Lemony Snicket's verbally rich and delightful Series of Unfortunate Events continues with The Carnivorous Carnival (HarperCollins Juvenile Books; $10). One of my younger colleagues says it's hardly as good as The Reptile Room, but certainly worth a read. Sunny Baudelaire, he tells me, now is beginning to say real words. The book comes with a free packet of Misfortune Telling Cards, but alas, they are only funny the first time. The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snicket (HarperCollins Juvenile Books; $11.99) is amusing, but perhaps too fragmented and chaotic for readers age 10 or younger.
Gryffindors have cause to rejoice, because finally, there is news from Hogwarts. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be in bookstores June 21. The fifth in the series logs in at 768 pages, so it should keep readers busy for several days. Fans of J.K. Rowling's best sellers also might check to see if they own the two most recent Rowlings: Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages (Scholastic Trade: $8 each). Incidentally, Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody by Michael Gerber (Fireside: $11) is not at all suitable for juvenile reading.
Highly recommended is the engrossing Esperanza Rising (Scholastic Paperbacks: $4.99), a novel based on a true story from the 1930s. When her father is murdered, heroine Esperanza must leave her beloved Rancha de las Rosas in Mexico and become a migrant worker in California. Although her new life is hard, Esperanza and her family ultimately survive and grow stronger through love, courage and determination.
I regret to say that many young boys I know are united in misplaced fondness for Dave Pilkey's Captain Underpants series. Most sane adults will find these comic books in very poor taste, but they seem a surefire draw for the fourth- and fifth-grade audience. If you must, The New Captain Underpants Collection, a boxed set of the first five books, is available from Blue Sky Press for $24.95.
The toddlers in my life seem to have an illimitable appetite for picture books about Clifford the Big Red Dog. Clifford's Big Red Easter (Scholastic Trade: $4.99) by Nancy Parent and Robin Cuddy, is the newest addition to the series. Another favorite picture book is Marcus Pfister's simple and sparkly The Rainbow Fish, translated from German by J. Allison James (North South Books: $13.27).
Scary mysteries seem to be popular this year. A witty and absorbing read is The Mysterious Matter of I.M. Fine by Diane Staley (HarperCollins Children's Books: $15.89). This is a lively take on conventional horror stories and on the magical powers some books seem to have. Neil Gaiman's Coraline (HarperCollins: $15.99), though dark and moody in places, is a notable addition to the canon of magical adventure books, a perennially delightful genre ranging from Lewis Caroll to Edith Nesbit to C.S. Lewis.
These books all are exciting and worthwhile. My young consultants are unanimous (and probably right) in their opinion that C.S. Lewis' Narnia books are the best of all. Begin with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and remember to buy an unabridged edition with the original colored illustrations by Pauline Baynes (HarperCollins: $8.95).