Series Books continued

Hello,
I’m sorry I missed last week’s post. I was home ill. However, this week I want to continue the series post I started two weeks ago.

Vet Volunteers is a series by Laurie Halse Anderson and published by Scholastic. At this point, there are about ten in the series, but it appears that more are being written. Animal lovers will enjoy reading about the different animals that are helped by the vets and young people.

American Girl has a number of series put out. Most people are aware of the different dolls and the books that go with the dolls. Meet Samantha, Meet Kirsten, Meet, Molly, Meet Josefina, Meet Felicity, and so on. Others are being written about girls in modern times, as well. You can promote these books by having a display of the dolls and the books that go with each doll. I would venture a guess that you have students with a doll who would be happy to let you use the doll for display. I am fortunate to have a display cabinet that locks and have done this in our school.

Other series books by American Girl are Girls of Many Lands and History Mysteries. These are not as well known as the one listed above and that could be because no dolls are associated with the books.

Matt Christopher writes books about sports. They are appropriate for students in grades 4 – 6 although older students may enjoy them also. The books don’t take a character and continue through the series, but each book can stand alone.

Guide magazine has published a number of books compiling popular stories from Guide. Guide’s Greatest Stories and other titles can be found at the Adventist Book Center. Watch for the camp meeting sales coming soon. That is a great time to get these.

The Dear America series by Scholastic is written in diary format and there are many of these available. These books take a particular event in history and write a fictional diary of a young person who would have lived at that time. At the end of each book there are a few pages of historical facts, photos, and other primary sources about the historical event. There are some differences in the series. Dear America is a diary about a girl, My Name is America is a journal written by a boy, and My America is written for younger readers. Scholastic also has The Royal Diaries written by a royal queen or princess, and there is even a Dear Canada set.

A series similar to Dear America is the Sisters in Time published by Barbour Publishing. These are stories about historical events, but not written in diary format. Barbour Publishing is a Christian publisher and these books have a Christian focus to the story.

Nancy Levene has written a series about a girl named Alex. These books are published by Chariot Victor Publishing which is a Christian publisher. Each book has a theme and the titles are ones that may make you hungry. French Fry Forgiveness, Hot Chocolate Friendship, Mint Cookie Miracles, Peanut Butter and Jelly Secrets, and so on. This series is intended for students in third or fourth grade. The books are chapter books and contain about 115 pages each.

Hank the Cowdog is a series that appeals to kids of all ages. John Erickson lives in the panhandle of Texas. Many years ago the Fort Worth Star Telegram published Hank the Cowdog as a serial story in the paper. I bought a classroom set of the story chapter by chapter and we read it in class. My third graders enjoyed the story, but some of the words were a little difficult for many of them so we read it aloud. All of the books have been made into audio books for family enjoyment.

Herbie Jones was written by Suzy Kline for her third graders. They loved Herbie and his antics so much she wrote a few more. One of my favorite stories is when Herbie gave a can of salmon to a girl for her birthday. If you read only one or two chapters to your students, they will be hooked and want to read more for themselves.

Sara Pennypacker is the author of Clementine and other books about Clementine. Clementine is described as being a combination of Ramona Quimby and Junie B. Jones and the scrapes she gets into delight the hearts of most third graders.

Older series that remain enjoyable and timeless are the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald, and Henry Reed by Keith Robertson. The Little House books are always in print, The Great Brain is still in print, but Henry Reed is out of print. I enjoyed the Henry Reed books so much I located used copies to put in the library. Read one and see if you agree.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your week. Next week I will be in Orlando at the International Reading Convention looking for brand new titles to share with you.
Audrey