Graduation is just around the corner for elementary, middle and high school as well as college. Here are some outstanding books to help your graduate navigate through a successful life.
Peace is an Offering, by Annette LeBox, and painted with watercolor by Stephanie Graegin, is a smallish sized book about appreciating and taking notice of all that surrounds us and in being kind to one another. The poetic verses are simple and have only one or two sentences on each page, like this: “A kiss on the cheek, raindrops and dew. / A walk in the park, a bowl of hot stew.”
The Three Mouths of Little Tom Drum, by Nancy Willard, and wonderfully illustrated with pen and ink pastel by Kevin Hawkes, is a humorous story about how a lack of self-control can have some very bad results. But being inventive can help get through difficult times. When Little Tom Drum asks his mom if he can have yet another piece of strawberry pie, she teases him and asks if he has “three mouths”. But before he knows it, three mouths appear on his face. Now he has to be home-taught and deal with his mouths. However, he soon realizes that he can invent cool things that make life easier for all. This is a perfect book to read out-loud which will then encourage much discussion.
Night Sky Dragons, by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham, and beautifully illustrated with pen and watercolor by Patrick Benson, is ultimately a story of redemption and how one family comes back together. This wonderfully told story takes place in China where a young boy, Yazul, is dealing with his mother’s death. He spends much time with his grandfather learning how to make kites which helps him take his mind off his sorrow. However, when he makes a bad decision with a kite and ruins a family heirloom, his stern father makes him pay by working hard in the kitchen. When the family is overrun with bandits, Yazul’s ingeniousness saves the day and his relationship with his father. Here is another book that begs to be read out-loud.
Half a Man, by Michael Morpurgo, and illustrated by Gemma O’Callaghan, is a touching story that helps all of us understand others that might look deformed or different such as injured soldiers returning from war. The story is told through the eyes of Michael, a young boy, who is afraid to even look at his grandfather who was severely burned during the war. The grandfather is affected by how he looks and thinks of himself as “Half a Man”. But as Michael spends more and more time with him, both begin to bond with each other and his grandfather begins to discover a more fulfilling life. This touching chapter book is short with only 35 pages of text along with pictures on every open spread.
Mesmerized (How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France), by Mara Rockliff, and illustrated by drawing with pencil and coloring digitally by Iacopo Bruno, will deftly show how you can question, research and analyze theories in science that seem untrue. When Benjamin Franklin was in France seeking funds to help America defeat the British, he was hired by the king to investigate a man whom claimed to have magical abilities, such as waving an iron wand around a person and then saying they are healed. As you read how Franklin set out to disprove this man, you also see the clear methods used to disprove all the man was about. The scientific details found throughout, as well as in the back of the book, might just motivate a new scientist in your family.