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  • Take a break, read a book for fun

    Take a break, read a book for fun

  • Take a break, read a book for fun

    Take a break, read a book for fun

  • Take a break, read a book for fun

    Take a break, read a book for fun

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School is a full-time job. The better part of the day, five days a week, is spent in class. Then there’s homework to do at night and often on the weekends. And many kids are involved in extracurricular activities: sports, lessons of one kind or another, clubs and so on.

Sometimes children are too overloaded with structured activities. Just as adults need a break from their work, so do kids. Children should have time to spend in creative play and time to literally do nothing, just lay around, take a nap, stare at the ceiling or the clouds or into space.

There should be, of course, a balance between work and play, doing something and doing nothing. Reading a great book just for fun hits that balance right on the head; it isn’t work, and it isn’t flopping; it’s constructive entertainment. What a great way to relax.


Books to borrow

The following book is available at many public libraries.

Stick Dog” written and illustrated by Tom Watson, Harper, 189 pages.

Read aloud: age 7 and older.

Read yourself: ages 8 – 9 and older.

Stick Dog lives in an empty pipe under Highway 16 in the suburbs. He is not lonely or sad; he has lived in the pipe for as long as he can remember, and Stick Dog has four very good dog friends: Poo-Poo, Karen, Mutt and Stripes. Stick Dog’s friends are very important to him, but there is one thing that is even more important: food!

It is summer, and Stick Dog knows it is the time for humans to be grilling outdoors. One afternoon, Stick Dog and his buddies smell the irresistible aroma of hamburgers grilling in Prospect Park. Stick Dog has to get one of those hamburgers, and his friends decide to join him. But the task turns out to be much more complicated than any of the dogs anticipated.

It’s hilarious on every account, and the kindhearted Stick Dog and his four canine friends will have kids laughing page after page after page.


Librarian’s choice

Library: Reading Public Library, 100 S. Fifth St.

Acting director of libraries: Bronwen Gamble.

Children’s department manager: Marissa Guidara.

Young adult coordinator: Ashly Roman.

Choices this week: “Stanley” series by Linda Bailey; “Punk Farm” series by Jarrett Krosoczka; “Alvin Ho” series by Lenore Look.


Books to buy

The following books are available at favorite bookstores.

Claude in the Country” written and illustrated by Alex T. Smith, Peachtree, 2016, 96 pages, $12.95 hardcover.

Read aloud: ages 6 – 9.

Read yourself: ages 7 – 9.

Claude the dog had a best friend, Sir Bobblysock (he was a sock and very bobbly). The two have been on some wild adventures together, and one day they decided to go to the countryside.

When they arrived in the countryside, they discovered many amazing things, including a peculiar odor coming from a farm. Meeting the friendly owner, Mrs. Cowpat, Claude asked her if he and Sir Bobblysock could help her on the farm. Mrs. Cowpat was thrilled: the County Fair was taking place that very afternoon in one of her fields. Claude and Sir Bobblysock went to work, feeding chickens, collecting eggs, herding sheep, washing pigs. The biggest job of all, however, was when one of the huge bulls with very spiky horns took off, heading straight for the County Fair judge’s bottom. Would Claude be able to save the day?

Loaded with laughs and very funny illustrations, there’s never a dull moment with this book.

Beard Boy” by John Flannery, illustrated by Steven Weinberg, Putnam, 2016, 32 pages, $16.99 hardcover.

Read aloud: ages 3 – 5.

Read yourself: ages 6 – 7.

Young Ben really wanted a beard. The coolest people in Ben’s neighborhood had beards, including the best baker in town, all of the barbers, the butcher. Ben had questioned many bearded men about their beards, and as a result, Ben knew quite a lot about beards. But the reason Ben wanted a beard was because his dad had one, and Ben wanted to look just like him.

When Ben’s dad explained that he would be able to grow a beard when he was about 25 or 26, Ben was very upset. Ben simply couldn’t wait that long, so he took matters into his own hands with some very unusual, hilarious results.

Kids will love “Beard Boy,” a clever, laugh-out-loud book, over and over again.

Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and lectures on children’s literature. She can be reached at kendal@sunlink.net.

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