With the new baby, the shifting, and on the work front, life has been extremely chaotic. Our reading adventure, particularly night time reading, has taken a backseat. We are gradually moving on to chapter books, and Atharva is now showing an interest in non-fiction books.
I was overjoyed when #KBCBOOKBINGO2023 was announced this year, as it offered us the opportunity to read so many books and spend valuable time together. We are grateful to all the KIDSBOOKCAFE members and Asha ma’am for sharing their wonderful book recommendations and aiding us in expanding our personal collection.
Sharing Atharva’s entry for #KBCBOOKBINGOJR in the hopes that we may motivate you to read a few of these books.
1, A book with Pirates – THE ANTLERED SHIP BY DASHKA SLATER
It is a wonderful story about an inquisitive little fox and his sailing adventure with an impossible group and their fellowship. The illustrations are fascinating and the map on the endpapers to follow Marco’s voyage is what Atharva enjoyed the most.
2. A book with Siblings – HEALTHY EATING WITH ZAYN & ZOEY
Atharva is a foodie and of late he was enjoying unhealthy food a lot and we were worried about his eating habits. We are glad we got Healthy eating with Zayn and Zoey. The book talks about balanced diet, nutrients and how we can make healthy choices. We are big fans of Zayn & Zoey and this one has helped us in planning our healthy meals
ONLY KBC MEMBERS HAVE A SPECIAL COUPON CODE KBC15 which will give you 15% OFF when you order directly from the ZAYN AND ZOEY website. Simply click this link that takes you to the Zayn and Zoey shop on their website.
3. A book with Grandparents – GRANDMA’S BAG OF STORIES BY SUDHA MURTY
We added Grandma’s bag of stories to our library for the fun, interesting, and short moral stories it has to offer. This book reminded me of the times I would visit my grandparents during vacations and listen to wonderful folktales and stories by them.
4. A book by your favorite Indian author – OFF TO BIHAR BY SONIA MEHTA
Atharva was introduced to Sonia Mehta’s Dealing with Feelings books through KBC and it was an absolute pleasure to read those.
This summer vacation, his school project was on Bihar and he asked us to get ‘Off to Bihar’ from Sonia Mehta’s Discover India series. The book talks about the place, climate, history, monuments people, and food of the state along with some fun activities and it helped him in writing his project.
5. A book by Mark Sperring- I’LL LOVE YOU ALWAYS
This is such a beautiful picture book and has been part of our bedtime reading. As the title suggests, it talks about parents love for their children.
6. Any Indian language book – MUJHE SAMAJH NAHI AAYA BY TULIKA BOOKS
A thoughtful story about a girl with Down’s syndrome and the challenges she faces in her school life. This book is an attempt to create awareness about the sensitive topic of children with special needs/differently abled, and their challenges.
This book is available in English and other Indian languages.
7. A book set outdoors or in nature – EVA’S IMAGINATION BY WENDA SHURETY
I am sure every parent has overheard the wailing “I’m bored!” that opens this book. It’s an engaging picture book to inspire kids to use their imagination.
When Eva complains about being bored, her mother asks her to find her imagination. Eva sets out on a wild adventure to the tall mountains, deep valleys, dense forests, and dark caves to find her lost imagination and gets rewarded with a treasure in the end.
This book can be ordered from Scholastic India via our kbc storefront as well. Scholastic India always has special offers on.
8. A book about Bugs – DO YOU LOVE BUGS BY MATT ROBERTSON
With lively pictures and a wealth of fascinating details, each page discusses a different kind of bug. The book starts with golden rules to love bugs and goes on to include bees, beetles, butterflies, dragonflies, grasshoppers, moths, spiders, ants, snails, worms and even stick insects. We uncovered so many fun facts about the creepy crawlies in this jam-packed amusing book.
9. A book set in Winter – THE RIVER BY TOM PERCIVAL
The river is a soul soothing picture book appropriate for kids as well as adults. Tom Percival addresses grief (death of a pet) and uses the shifting character of a river as a metaphor for the several different emotions experienced by the young boy in the story.
Tom Percival is a huge favorite of ours and we had to include one of his books to our list.
10. A Biography – STEVE JOBS LITTLE PEOPLE BIG DREAMS BY MARIA ISABEL SANCHEZ VEGARA
Our biography book is from our much-loved Little People, Big Dreams nonfiction series. These books are loaded with information and wonderful pictures.
The story takes us through Steve’s life from his adoption to development of his brand Apple. It additionally makes reference to his experience of meditation in India. It is a motivating story of a man who made computers available to ordinary people by fusing technological prowess with practicality and intuition. I am glad it has inspired Atharva to have courage to pursue his interests.
We adore the series to the fullest and our current favorite is Steve Jobs.
11. A book set in another country – LISBON FOR KIDS
In Lisbon, we discovered Livraria Bertrand, which according to Guinness World Records is the oldest operating bookstore in the world. Most of the titles were in Portuguese and Spanish in the children’s section but we did get Lisbon for Kids, which mentions all the famous areas of interest in Lisbon. Atharva would read about the famous sites from the book and be our guide for the place throughout the trip.
The book also has stickers and coloring activities which were interesting and fun. The best part is that you may choose to have your book stamped stating that it was purchased from the oldest bookstore in the world. As a result, the book serves as a priceless memento of our trip!
12. A book about someone making the best out of a sticky situation – AMMACHI’S INCREDIBLE INVESTIGATION BY VINAYAK VARMA & RAJIV EIPE (PRATHAM BOOKS)
Ammachi is an exceptionally cool grandma who uses science and innovations to tackle everyday problems. In this hilarious story Ammachi tackled the instance of missing unniappams (traditional Kerala sweet snacks) utilizing her brilliant creations and caught the thief red handed.
13. A book with a bird on cover – I SEE THAT BY ANDRIY LESIV & ROMANA ROMANYSHYN
An excellent educational book about our vision. It explains how we see, low vision, spectacles, Braille, optical illusions, and furthermore working of microscopes and telescopes. The chapter on optical illusion caught Atharva’s attention the most and kept him engaged for a while.
The book is the winner of the “Bologna Ragazzi Award 2018”, in the non-fiction category.
14. A non-fiction book – TIMELINES OF EVERYTHING BY DK PUBLISHER
Since we ordered it, Atharva has been completely absorbed in this book. This book is with him while he eats, sleeps and dreams. The astounding visual timelines depict the progression of history’s most important events. It has sections on prehistory, ancient world, medieval period, age of exploration, age of revolution, and the modern world. What a fascinating method to retell the history.
15. An Inspiring book – I AM SO MUCH MORE THAN THE COLOUR OF MY SKIN BY DIVYA THOMAS
A delightful book that urges kids to look beyond the colour of their skin and characterize their future by their dreams. On each page you will find a child with a different skin tone and what they want to be when they grow up and the reaffirmation ‘I am so much more than the colour of my skin’.
16. A book that helped address an issue – MISS HAZELTINE’S HOME FOR SHY AND FEARFUL CATS BY ALICIA POTTER
We got this book for our “scaredy cat” after he started his new school and was facing a lot of difficulty in adjusting to the new surroundings.
The book is about Miss Hazeltine who trains shy and fearful cats at her school and Crumb the most scared of them all. One day Miss Hazeltine goes missing and how Crumb gathers courage to go out and find her. The story is perfect for shy children to overcome their fears and be brave. The illustrations, specially those cats, and their expressions are gorgeous.
17. A book published by Parragon publishing – BRAIN BOOSTING BY PARRAGON BOOKS
This one has been sitting in our library for some time and Atharva took it out for the book bingo challenge. The book has lots of puzzles and quizzes to train your brain, improve memory and concentration, problem solving and reasoning.
18. A book with human animal duo – LEO AND THE OCTOPUS BY ISABELLE MARINOV
Leo is a neurodiverse child and feels alienated in his reality. He develops a connection with Maya the octopus, and feels he has much in common with. We loved the way the story developed, its lesson about making an effort to understand others, and the difficulties of forming friends. Also, the book is an excellent resource for octopus facts.
This book is a true delight to the eyes and the pages are colour coded based on the mood of the octopus.
19. A book with a Vegetable’s name in the title – TOMATO FLOOD BY NIYATEE PARIKH SHARMA
Veer and Ananya help out Baba in the garden. One such day they started playing with the tomatoes in the garden and end up squashing and splashing them all over the soil. They are in for a surprise with the growing number of tomatoes. What can be done with so many tomatoes? Read this hilarious story to find out some amazing tomato recipes and ways to get rid of Veer and Ananya’s bumper harvest.
With the Tomato prices soaring, reading Tomato flood is the only way we are consuming tomatoes!
20. A book with the Letter Z in the title – ZIPPY MESSES UP BY ANITHA BALACHANDRAN
Zippy Zebra and all his animal friends are playing indoors and make the house a mess. They then decide to clean up together. The book is part of the zippy series based on different educational themes for young readers. Simple, rhymed words make it easier for kids to read this book on their own.
21. A Second-hand book – ROSIE REVERE ENGINEER BY ANDREA BEATY
Rosie loves to assemble things and dreams of becoming a great engineer. She loses her excitement for flaunting her inventions when she is ridiculed and now keeps them hidden. But one day her great great aunt drops by and makes her understand that failure is just the beginning and it’s about not giving up. Our favorite line is
“The only true failure can come if you quit.”
Atharva struggles with the idea of something being “too hard” after the initial attempt. So this book was perfect for him. He has been reading this fabulous book for days and weeks now.
22. A book with stars on the cover – WHAT WE’LL BUILD BY OLIVER JEFFERS
When we think of stars, Oliver Jeffers comes to our mind. What We’ll build has been in our to be read list for long and kbcbookbingo gave us a chance to read this.
It is a story about parenthood and I enjoyed it more than Atharva. The book has a wonderful message about the power of family, friendship, love, hope and imagination in adverse times. I am hoping in few years he will relate more to the book and enjoy reading it. But for now, in Atharva’s words, “This is part of Mumma’s collection!”
23. A book about books – A WALK IN THE WORDS BY HUDSON TALBOTT
I gradually introduced age-appropriate chapter books and novels to Atharva’s collection and realized he had lost his love for books. I came across this marvelous book when Atharva was going through a non-reading phase. This book is a narrative where the author walks us through his journey as a slow reader and explains how he overcame it.
The book addresses children’s anxiety about reading big words and a book full of texts without pictures. It also has a hall of fame for slow readers, where we came across Albert Einstein, Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci, and George Washington.
A Walk Through The Words has encouraged Atharva to read at his own pace.
24. A book with a villain – ALADDIN: READ IT YOURSELF WITH LADYBIRD
I wanted to introduce Atharva to some of the classic tales and found the Read It Yourself with Ladybird collection perfect for it. These books have four different levels, from beginners to fluent readers, and have simple and easy sentences to improve reading skills.
Aladdin runs into the villain magician who assigns him the task of locating the magic lamp. Aladdin discovers the lamp, but the villain blocks the well with stone after Aladdin demands that he first helps him out. What does Aladdin do? This is the classic Aladdin folktale part of the Arabian Nights, retold in the level 3 book for confident readers who can read simple stories with colorful illustrations.
25. A book that has a Royal character – THE GRAND CHAPATI CONTEST (HOOK BOOK) BY ASHA NEHEMIAH
When the Royal kitchen’s chief chapati cook decides to quit, the queen decides to hold a grand chapati contest to see who can cook perfect chapatis for the king. Read this engaging and hilarious story to know what happens next.
This book is part of the Hook series, which is a great transition book between picture books and chapter books for young readers who are just starting to read independently. Written by Indian authors with colorful illustrations, simple vocabulary, and hilarious stories for kids, these are perfect to get them hooked to reading.
26. A book that focuses on cooking or baking – THUKPA FOR ALL BY PRABA RAM AND SHEELA PREUITT
Thukpa for All takes us on a delicious journey to Ladakh. It is a delightful story about a visually impaired boy, Tsering, his community, and Thukpa. Tsering invites over his friends and neighbors for a warm bowl of Thukpa, and as his grandmother is preparing the dinner, the lights go out. How will Abi be able to prepare the Thukpa? Will they be able to serve all the friends and neighbors? Overall, a nice story about special needs, community, and sharing. And just to make it more interesting, there is a recipe for Thukpa at the end.
27. The most engaging activity book – BRILLIANT BRAIN ACTIVITY BOOK
When we travel, activity books have always saved the day. The brilliant brain series has 5 books and they have kept Atharva creatively engaged. This one has 333 activities from English, Maths, logical ability and Science and kept him occupied on our recent flight.
28. A book you gift often – HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY? BY MOLLY POTTER
This is one of our go-to gifts, and we gave it twice just last month.
I love this book so much because it is an extraordinary tool to help kids comprehend and cope with their feelings. The book has pictures of different feelings and their explanations, and it lets the kid describe what they are feeling and how to deal with them.
29. An early chapter book you enjoyed – MY LIFE IN PICTURES (BEA GARCIA) BY DEBORAH ZEMKE
Bea Garcia likes to draw pictures of everything in her life and keeps them in her journal, ‘My Life in Pictures’. This book catches a child’s creative mind with problems they can connect with, like losing a best friend and getting bullied.
Atharva loves doodling, and when we are transitioning into chapter books, I wanted one he could relate to. This has inspired him to make his own doodle diary.
30. A book you got from KBC recommendations – THE DAY YOU BEGIN BY JACQUELINE WOODSON
Angelina feels like an outsider in her class when everyone is sharing their stories from summer vacation, and she has spent her summer holidays at home reading stories. But only when she decides to share her story does the class open itself to make space for her.
“There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you until the day you begin to share your stories.”
This book has helped Atharva in many situations where he has felt out of place and uncomfortable in his surroundings and has realized that when he opens up and shares his stories, he is welcomed.
A thought-provoking book on how lovely it is to be unique and embrace it.
[Note from Team Kids Book Café: For your convenience, affiliate links (MARKED IN PINK) to some of the book titles & images have been added to enable you to buy the books from AMAZON, should you wish to! A very small amount of money comes to kidsbookcafe.com when you purchase a book via the amazon affiliate link provided (at absolutely no extra cost to you!). Do let us know if you need information about other children’s books by writing to asha@kidsbookcafe.com.]
