Clifford^®: Fishing Lessons

Available in Honeybee

The Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Julie Durrell

Available in Firefly

No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teacher’s Dirty Looks! by Diane deGroat

Available in SeeSaw

The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids: Werewolves Don’t Go to Summer Camp by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones

Available in Lucky

Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith

Available in Arrow

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Available in TAB

Here at Scholastic, we love to celebrate summer reading (and every other type of reading!). This summer we’re hosting the sixth annual Scholastic Summer Challenge, a free online reading program for kids, parents, and teachers.

Kids around the world are signing up and logging their summer reading minutes, which enters them to win great virtual prizes and book packs. Their reading minutes can also help out their school—the 20 schools with the most minutes will be featured in the 2013 Scholastic Book of World Records. The Summer Challenge isn’t just for kids—there are helpful hints, materials, and book recommendations for parents and teachers.

Last year, readers worldwide logged 64,213,141 reading minutes. That’s equivalent to 122 years of reading! This summer, we challenge you to help us beat last year’s record, earn some great rewards, and discover a new favorite book.

Find more information about the Summer Challenge on our website or On Our Minds.

What better way to recognize our magnificent mothers than by reading stories about them? For the younger readers, Just Me and My Mom, Mama Loves, and Where’s My Mommy? are excellent reads that’ll make mommies proud.

Moms always love their kiddies regardless of what sticky or wacky situations they get themselves in. In Just Me and My Mom by Mercer Mayer, frisky Little Critter can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble! When he and his mother spend the day together in Mayer’s quirky yet realistic version of New York City, Little Critter can’t control his clumsiness—but that doesn’t stop his mother from loving him. Even after he gets hold of a dinosaur egg from the Museum of Natural History (an obvious no-no), Little Critter’s mom still loves him dearly, and Mayer conveys her affection by having them cuddle on their way back home. Like all mothers, she understands that kids are supposed to make mistakes—and learn from them. This adorable story will make you want to give your mom a big, snuggly hug!

In Mama Loves, written by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and illustrated by Kathryn Brown, piglet siblings discuss the things their mother enjoys. From nature’s beauty to dancing in her slippers, readers will learn about the eclectic things the piglets’ mother loves! Sweetly enough, the piglets quickly realize that what their mother enjoys most of all is doing what she loves with them. The bond between mother and child is powerfully evident in this book, which will certainly encourage readers to think about loving relationships. The title is very fitting, and the illustrations of the pig family in the garden gently complement the text.

In Jo Brown’s wonderful read-aloud, Where’s My Mommy?, a cute newborn crocodile is unable to find his mother. The colorful pictures and easy-to-read text take readers through an animated world of different jungle animals, as the protagonist goes on an adventurous quest to find his mother. What I absolutely love about this story is how the little crocodile is only able to make his crocodile noise, “SNAP!” He realizes that the animal who also says “SNAP!” must be his mother. Each animal makes a strikingly different noise, which makes this story fun to read out loud. We all have something in common with our mothers, whether it is found in our genes or in our personalities. We all have our own kind of “SNAP!”

For older readers, who doesn’t love Beverly Cleary’s Ramona stories? All girls have their Ramona moments, which is why Ramona and Her Mother, the fifth book in the series, has such a timeless appeal. Ramona is just your average seven-and-a-half-year-old who is worried that her mother doesn’t love her. Cleary does an excellent job of portraying how marital tensions (quibbles between the Quimby parents) and other domestic problems affect children, and showing the ways that children cope with anxiety (such as when Ramona wears her cuddly pj’s under her clothes). Feeling unloved and also betrayed as a result of an incident at school with her teacher, Ramona decides to run away from home. She is upset and surprised when her mother helps her pack her suitcase, though she soon learns that her mom loves her dearly when she makes the suitcase too heavy for Ramona to lift. This heartfelt story will make you say “aw” and shed a few tears, and you’ll want to walk right up to your mother and tell her how much you love her.

Here’s to the ladies who bring power to the letter M. Let’s have a round of applause for the marvelous moms!

Just Me and My Mom, Where’s My Mommy?, and Mama Loves are available in the Mother’s Day Pack in Honeybee May

Ramona and Her Mother is available in Lucky May

Annie Miller joined the Book Clubs staff recently and is a former English major, food blogger, and current children’s book lover!

The chat last night was a rousing success thanks to all of you who participated. We had quite a few classrooms, some longtime fans, whole families, and even a few kids tune in. Judy had plenty to say about everything from the inspiration for her books to advice for burgeoning writers.

Don’t worry if you missed it! Check out the transcript below and it’ll be like you were there.

You can find the following Judy Blume titles in Book Clubs right now:

Freckle Juice and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing in Club Shop
The Fudge-a-Mania Pack (includes Superfudge, Fudge-a-Mania, and Double Fudge) in Arrow June

1. The Last Day of Kindergarten by Nancy Loewen, illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa (SeeSaw)
2. When a Dragon Moves In by Jodi Moore, illustrated by Howard McWilliam (SeeSaw)
3. Ten Friendly Fish by Debbie Tarbett (Honeybee)
4. The Night Before Father’s Day by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Amy Wummer (SeeSaw)
5. Froggy Goes to Hawaii by Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz (Firefly)

TRANSITIONAL READERS

1. LEGO^® Ninjago: The Golden Weapons (SeeSaw)
2. Little Critter: Just Helping My Dad by Mercer Mayer (Firefly)
3. Chimpanzee: Oscar and Freddy (Lucky)
4. Clifford^® Sees America by Norman Bridwell (SeeSaw)
5. The Avengers: Return of the First Avenger (SeeSaw)

CHAPTER BOOKS

1. Big Nate Goes for Broke by Lincoln Peirce (Arrow)
2. Rainbow Magic Special Edition: Selena the Sleepover Fairy by Daisy Meadows (Lucky)
3. Cam Jansen and the Summer Camp Mysteries by David A. Adler (Lucky)
4. How to Tame a Bully by Nancy Wilcox (Lucky)
5. Whatever After: Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski (Arrow)

MIDDLE GRADE

1. The Kane Chronicles #3: The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan (TAB and Arrow)
2. As Simple as It Seems by Sarah Weeks (Arrow)
3. Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai (Arrow)
4. The Summer Before Boys by Nora Raleigh Baskin (Arrow)
5. Into No Man’s Land by Ellen Emerson White (Arrow)

YOUNG ADULT

1. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (TAB and the Hunger Games Special Offer)
2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (TAB and the Hunger Games Special Offer)
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games Special Offer)
4. The Hunger Games Tribute Guide (TAB and the Hunger Games Special Offer)
5. The World of the Hunger Games (TAB and the Hunger Games Special Offer)

NONFICTION

1. Guinness World Records^™ 2012 (Lucky and Arrow)
2. Bad Pets by Allan Zullo (Lucky)
3. Guinness World Records^™: Ultimate Gross Records (Lucky)
4 Titanic Sinks! by Barry Denenberg (Arrow)
5. Seashore (Honeybee)

Scholastic Book Clubs’ Bestsellers are the most-popular books offered across all age groups (PreK-8) each month. The ranking is based on the unit sales of titles available at the time through Scholastic Book Clubs. Books available each month for $1 are not included.

If you’d like to have the Scholastic Book Clubs Bestsellers List e-mailed directly to you every month, you can sign up by clicking here.

Jeff Kinney accepts his award for Author of the Year

For five years, the Children’s Book Council has sponsored the Children’s Choice Book Awards to celebrate books, creators, and readers. Each year, 20 books, five authors, and five illustrators are selected, and children vote on their favorites. In 2012, the votes cast topped a million—more than all previous years combined. And I’ll remind you these are votes by children. As Gary Schmidt said during the gala, these awards give children a voice in the American literary scene in a way that nothing else does.

The night was filled with too many incredible moments to detail (video of the evening’s events can be seen here) but I want to share a few that I found particularly inspiring:

• When accepting the award for Three Hens and a Peacock, author Lester L. Laminack shared his belief that as long as a child sits on an adult’s lap to share a book, their two hearts beat as one, and as long as stories are read together, the book will live.

• Nick Bruel (whose Bad Kitty Meets the Baby won for the Third to Fourth Grade Book of the Year) reminded the audience that we all owe a debt of gratitude to three groups: friends, family, and teachers.

• Football player Justin Tuck was honored for his work with Tuck’s R.U.S.H. for Literacy and he remembered his mother’s encouragement that he pick up a book if he wanted to go somewhere. That statement was both real (it helped him get into Notre Dame) and metaphorical (he felt like he knew Paris without having left Alabama).

• Our National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Walter Dean Myers, reminded us of his succinct, powerful message: Reading is not optional.

Scholastic's own Brian Selznick accepts his award for Illustrator of the Year

Throughout the night, the reactions of children in the audience reminded me, and I’m sure everyone else, why we work in this business. There was a group of obviously nervous kids eager to talk to Jeff Kinney—their anxiety seemed to melt away as soon as he said hello. I saw Jon Scieszka bursting into laughter with a group of fans, while Brian Selznick stood nearby deep in conversation with another group of young readers, writers, and artists. The teen who introduced S. E. Hinton was far more poised and eloquent in expressing her gratitude than I was when I shook Ms. Hinton’s hand.

From start to finish, the focus was on the audience for whom we produce these books. And there’s something truly magical about that.

T. Rex Floor Puzzle

In May Honeybee

Ocean Friends Floor Puzzle

In May Firefly

Reviewed by Cathy, Georgia Mom

The best thing about the Ocean Friends Floor Puzzle and the T. Rex Floor Puzzle is that they are made of oversized pieces! The dinosaur puzzle isn’t your typical rectangle shape with four corners and straight edges. It’s an outline of a Tyrannosaurus rex. This puzzle was so much fun for my son (he’s almost two). He and I worked together on the puzzle and he really enjoyed the large size of the pieces. While we were putting the puzzle together, I was delighted to read the bottom of the box aloud to him. There’s a “Did You Know?” portion that gives incredible facts about various parts of the T. rex. I was able to use the box to teach my son different things about this fascinating dinosaur. This puzzle is definitely the more challenging of the two, and one that older children might really like.

The Ocean Friends Floor Puzzle is rectangular and has corners and straight edges. It’s definitely the easier of the two puzzles. The bottom of this box has a “Let’s Look” feature where your child can look for different animals in the puzzle. The finished puzzle is absolutely adorable and very gender neutral. I liked that it’s something a girl or a boy could enjoy. My son liked counting the animals that we saw in the puzzle, and then his favorite part is always taking the puzzle apart.

While both puzzles have a warning on them about small parts and not being for children under the age of three, I think a child between ages two and three could really enjoy these. A parent would need to be present and helping with these, but my son really enjoyed them and I enjoyed working with him to complete each puzzle.

Both boxes are sturdy and aren’t too bulky. The feature that I enjoyed the most, as did my son, was the oversized pieces. It made it very enjoyable for him, and was great for working on hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills!

Good Night, I Love You by Caroline Jayne Church

In May Honeybee

Reviewed by Stephanie, New Jersey Mom

Good Night, I Love You is a fantastic bedtime story for toddlers and young children. It involves both a little boy and a little girl getting ready for bed, so all kids can relate to the characters in the story. The subtle rhyming makes the book flow nicely and my children loved reviewing their evening routine on each page. This is also a great book for beginning readers. My six-year-old was able to read the entire book recognizing sight words and sounding out the longer words on his own. The colorful pictures are beautifully drawn and show how much fun getting ready for bed is. The drawings are simple and adorable and complement the store perfectly. The thicker pages are durable and can withstand two boys reading and flipping back and forth through the pages. This book has been a popular favorite for my boys at bedtime this past week.

Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet by Jane O’Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

In May Firefly

Reviewed by Trish, Missouri Mom

Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet is just as fancy as the others. We love the Fancy Nancy series at our house. This time, Nancy learns a life lesson about being a good friend. Nancy is sure she is the perfect person for the lead role in her ballet, and what a surprise to find out it is not her at all. Nancy teaches the younger female audience that if you put the right spin on it anything can be fancy. This book is perfect for four- to eight-year-old girls who love to be imaginative and feel grown up.

Hero Dad by Melinda Hardin, illustrated by Bryan Langdo

In May Firefly

Reviewed by Kristen, Ohio Mom

Hero Dad is a beautiful story about celebrating our American soldiers. The short story is told through the eyes of a young son as he describes the work his father does for the US military. He compares his dad’s special powers to many pretend superheroes. This young boy doesn’t need to worship fake superheroes, because he has a real-life hero in his own family. Hero Dad honors our soldiers and describes their jobs in an easy-to-understand manner. This is a definite must-read for all young children so that they can begin to understand the sacrifices our soldiers make for our country and how families deal with their absence. It segues nicely into a talk about our country’s role in the world. Easy to understand with terrific illustrations, Hero Dad is a wonderful book to help support our troops and their families.

Little Critter: Just Helping My Dad by Mercer Mayer

In May Firefly

Reviewed by Kevin, Michigan Dad

How many dads have a story about their kids’ attempts to “help out” turning disastrous? My guess is that most can recall a moment in which the only response to their son or daughter’s well-intentioned help is a self-inflicted slap on the forehead. Legendary children’s book creator Mercer Mayer has expertly summed up the feelings of both child and father in Just Helping My Dad. Little Critter is thrilled that Dad is home and wants to help every way he can all day long. From making breakfast to mowing the lawn and (spray) painting the garage, Little Critter feels a great sense of pride accomplishing tasks to make his dad’s day more relaxing. Even when Little Critter’s actions lead to a parking ticket, a bee attack, and a broken toilet, kids discover in the end that his father will always love him. Mayer’s colorful and animated pictures enhance Little Critter’s excitement as well as Dad’s dismay. This book is not only an excellent read-aloud, but also a super story to share on Father’s Day. Young readers will relate to Little Critter as much as dads will feel the pain of his father. Warning: after reading this book, you may want to hide your hammer.

Coral Reefs by Jason Chin (offered in the Land and Sea Pack)

In May SeeSaw

Reviewed by Jen, New York Mom

This is a wonderful nonfiction book as well as a picture book. My five-, four-, and two-year olds especially loved the pictures. They were able to relate to the book because they love the aquarium and were able to name the sea animals. The book was long for my kids, so we did not read it all at once. We read a few pages at a time and enjoyed talking about the story and pictures. The illustrations in themselves were a great discussion piece for the kids and they felt a sense of adventure, just as the little girl had when she went to the library and got swept into the ocean for a journey.

I would recommend this book for all ages—the pictures for the little ones and the great information for the older ones.

Go West, Amelia Bedelia! by Herman Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat

In May SeeSaw

Reviewed by Abby, Massachusetts Mom

I was so excited to read this book with my kids because I used to read Amelia Bedelia books as a kid. This particular Amelia Bedelia adventure takes her on a vacation to visit her uncle, Buck Bedelia. Uncle Buck owns a dude ranch out west and he helps Amelia acclimate to her new surroundings by dressing her in appropriate attire, teaching her to ride horses, showing her how to lasso a steer, and giving her a chance to help work on the chuck wagon. Amelia is still as silly as I remember her and hasn’t learned about puns or frequently used figures of speech.

The only thing that I would say that my kiddos (ages six and seven) didn’t get was why people thought Amelia Bedelia was so strange when she didn’t understand what people were saying—like that a “tenderfoot” isn’t a person with a foot ailment and that “hold your horses” doesn’t indicate that you should hug your horse. Both of my kids did a fair amount of the reading in this one so they could read the words but the comprehension might be better for second or third grade even.

We had a great time reading about Amelia Bedelia’s adventures on the ranch and we’re on the lookout for more silly stories like this one.

Scholastic Discover More: Animal Babies by Andrea Pinnington

In May Firefly

Scholastic Discover More: Ocean and Sea by Steve Parker

In Club Shop

Reviewed by Suzie, Texas Mom

Our family recently read two new books from the Scholastic Discover More collection. We read Animal Babies and Ocean and Sea. My 15-year-old son was just as fascinated and interested as my eight-year-old daughter. The photography and illustrations are beautiful as well as detailed and informative. The underwater photography is quite impressive in the Ocean and Sea book.

Animal Babies is for younger kids, ages four and up, and text is kept simple but colorful. The book is divided up into sections on hatching, feeding, habitat, etc.

Details on the history of exploration, the fishing industry, and the effects of pollution are discussed in Ocean and Sea, ideal for ages nine and up. This book is divided by spreads that explore timelines, history, and stats. The full-color photography of some very unusual creatures sparked our curiosity. The facts, stories, and illustrations inspired many conversations and questions.

The exciting surprise about the Discover More books is the free digital book that accompanies each book. Logging on to the Scholastic site and entering the provided code takes you to an interactive book. The companion book to Ocean and Sea is the 91-page book titled Shark Spotter. There you will meet every kind of shark and be able to click on the photos and key words to learn more. Definitions and encyclopedia entries provide more facts and exciting stories.

The companion digital book for Animal Babies is Animal Babies Fun. Younger children will get a kick out of hearing sounds, watching fun and informative videos, and even playing games.

These two books encourage learning and exploring. The interactive digital books supplement the learning process and help children of all ages discover more while having fun. We are looking forward to the other Discover More books.

Top Five Moments in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing:

5. When Fudge attempts to fly

4. Fudge’s birthday party

3. “Eat it or wear it”

2. The trip to the shoe store

1. When Fudge eats Peter’s pet turtle

There you have it, the top five moments from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing as chosen by our wonderful readers! Have another favorite moment? Let us know, and don’t forget to tune in here tomorrow night (May 9) at 8:00p.m. EST for a LIVE CHAT with Judy Blume!

National Princess Week was officially a few weeks ago, but I’d like to declare it National Princess Month because, let’s face it, there’s never a bad time to make a sparkling tiara and jeweled wand! I used the Pretty Princess Dress-Up Kit (available in April Honeybee) to get princessy today, celebrating by decorating my pink accessories with all the kit has to offer: tubes of glitter, jewels, stickers, and hot pink and white ribbons.

I began by carefully squeezing out small beads of glitter, adding sparkling swirls and pointed stars, and then went all-out, sticking on all the stickers, tying on the ribbons, and adding the jewels! The end product looks stunning, and is perfect for my newly declared National Princess Month.

Like many children, my obsession with being a princess began with Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin. I watched Beauty and the Beast on VHS until the tape nearly stopped working. I loved Belle and refused to be anyone but her during dress-up time. I had a small wand that was filled with water and floating glitter stars. I waved it at my older sisters and commanded their attention. They were quick to remind me that Belle doesn’t have a wand, so I told them I was “Magic Belle” and that they were about to be turned into mice. After that I spent a solid year calling myself Magic Belle, which makes absolutely no sense.

Of course these childhood make-believe moments seem silly when we look back at them now. However, they are crucial in letting imaginations grow. It’s important for children to get creative, battle evil villains (older sisters), feel empowered (with glitter wands), and get messy (with paint and glue). So in this month of princess-ness, encourage children to let their imaginations run wild, daydream of holding royal court, and do a few twirls just for fun!

Margaret Hagan is the merchandising coordinator for Scholastic Book Clubs Special Offers. She loves to travel, she is fluent in Spanish, and her all-time favorite children’s book is Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech.

A Bookish Birdhouse from The Quiet Book.

Back before moving to New York and packing away my birdhouse-making supplies, I promised to share with you my instructions for making what I call “Bookish Birdhouses.” It’s taken a long time, but I’m finally living up to that promise! Earlier this year I unpacked my supplies and hosted a Bookish Birdhouse workshop in our apartment for three friends and colleagues, who agreed to let me photograph them as they tried their hands at this project for the first time. Included with this post are photos (click to view larger) of their efforts and mine — hopefully enough to tempt you to try this project too! I’ve made about 20 Bookish Birdhouses as gifts in past 3 years, and each one has turned out beautifully. If you can cut and paste paper, this is a craft you can do!

The birdhouse on the right featuring art from The Quiet Book, written by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Renata Liwska, was a retirement gift for the amazing and wonderful Beth Puffer, lately of Bank Street Bookstore. The other birdhouses and birdhouse-makers featured below are as follows… Betsy Bird (of the New York Public Library and Fuse8) made a birdhouse featuring More written by I. C. Springman and beautifully illustrated by Brian Lies; Heather Scott (my Scholastic Book Clubs colleague and Aunt Feather) made a birdhouse featuring B Is for Brooklyn by Selina Alko; and Lori Ess (who shares an office with me!) made a birdhouse that features Polly Dunbar’s fantastic illustrations for Here’s a Little Poem edited by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters. (The Miss Rumphius birdhouse was another of my own projects.)

Three quick things before we dive in:

First, these birdhouses are intended for decorative purposes only. You can try putting one outside for use by actual birds, but I suspect it won’t last long if you do!

Second, unless you are using books that are no longer under copyright, you are arguably in violation of copyright law by making one of these beauties. (See info about “derivative works” for more info.) It’s a gray area of the law, but suffice it to say that you could well into hot water for making these and trying to sell them. GIFTS! They make great GIFTS!

Third, you should NOT be intimidated by the length of these instructions! It’s not hard to make one of these beauties (even a 6th grader can do it), but some steps are trickier than others, and I hope to save you from potential frustration by giving you my insider tips.

For the full story and how to make it, click here!