Growing Bookworms Newsletter: October 19: The Boxcar Children, Device Limits + #Babymouse

Today, I will be sending out a new issue of the Growing Bookworms email newsletter. (If you would like to subscribe, you can find a sign-up form here.) The Growing Bookworms newsletter has refocused recently, and now contains content from my blog focused on growing joyful learners, including bookworms, mathematicians, and learners of all types. The newsletter is sent out every two to three weeks.

Newsletter Update:  In this issue I have four book reviews (picture book through illustrated chapter book), one post about my daughter's latest literacy milestone (becoming obsessed with the Lunch Lady series), and one post about the benefits I saw when my daughter spent a week without device time. I also have two posts with links that I shared recently on Twitter and one more in-depth post on recent joy of learning-related articles.

Reading Update: In the past two weeks I read three early chapter book to middle grade and five adult titles. I read/listened to: 

• Jennifer L. Holm (ill. Matthew Holm): Babymouse: Queen of the World. Random House. Graphic Novel. Completed October 13, 2016. This was a re-read for me and a first read-aloud to my daughter from what I'm sure is going to be a beloved series for her. 
• Aimee Carter: Simon Thorn and the Viper's Pit. Bloomsbury Kids USA. Middle Grade Fantasy. Completed October 16, 2016, print ARC. Review to come, closer to the February publication date. 
• Shannon Hale and Dean Hale (ill. LeUyen Pham): The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde. Bloomsbury Kids USA. Illustrated Early Chapter Book. Completed October 18, 2016. Read aloud to my daughter. 
• Daniel J. Levitin: A Field Guide to Lies. Dutton. Adult Nonfiction. Completed October 5, 2016, on Kindle. This was an interesting book about the ways that people can mislead with data and information, and giving advice for more critical information consumption. 
• Charlaine Harris: Grave Surprise (Harper Connelly, Book 2). Berkley. Adult Mystery. Completed October 7, 2016, on MP3. 
• Carol O'Connell: Blind Sight (Mallory). G.P. Putnam's Sons. Adult Mystery. Completed October 11, 2016, on Kindle. This was the first new Mallory book in a while, and I read it in pretty much a single sitting on a long plane ride - definitely intriguing. 
• William R. Forstchen: One Year After. Macmillan. Adult Thriller. Completed October 12, 2106, on MP3. This was the sequel to the post-apocalpyptic novel One Second After, in which a massive EMP takes down all US electronics and electricity. This sequel was more a cautionary tale about what type of people the larger society should put into power in order to rebuilt. I'm looking forward to the third book in this series, due out early next year. 
• Harlan Coben: Fool Me Once. Dutton. Adult Mystery/Thriller. Completed October 17, 2016, on MP3. This standalone mystery/thriller really kept me guessing. I also enjoyed seeing occasional nods to Coben's long-running Myron Bolitar series. 

I'm reading Paul Tobin's second Genius Factor book (due out after the first of the year), following How To Capture An Invisible Cat, which I adored. A blurb from my review of the first book is actually included on the ARC of the second, though I don't know that it will make it into the final copy. I was still quite pleased to see it. I'm listening to the latest in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad mysteries, The Trespasser. The books my husband and I have been reading to our daughter in 2016 can be found here. 

My daughter continues to dabble in reading the Magic Tree House books on her own, though she hasn't actually completed another title. She likes to organize the books according to which ones she has and hasn't read (or had read to her), and to read bits here and there. I also, thanks to a suggestion from Ami on my Lunch Lady post, picked up the first few Boxcar Children books for her. She's reading the first one, but I'm not sure that she's hooked yet. Time will tell... I would be happy for her to read books that are a little bit easier, to get more practice, but she's having none of it. What we really need are about 10 more Princess in Black books, immediately. But I realize that this is unrealistic. 

I've also noticed more and more that when I'm reading picture books to her, she wants to chime in and read parts of them herself. We read a book that had a "this plus this equals this" pattern repeated through the text, and she wanted me to read the first part, then read the second part herself, and have us chime in together on the "equals" part. Figuring out who is gong to read what slows us down a bit, but I love seeing her so engaged in the books. Recent picture books that she has particularly enjoyed include I Am A Story by Dan Yaccarino, The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett, Buddy for President by Hans Wilhelm, and Before Morning by Joyce Sidman. And, of course, Little Babymouse and the Christmas Cupcakes by Jenni Holm and Matt Holm, which she loved, loved, loved. She literally jumped for joy when I showed it to her. My husband and I had to read it to her back to back, so that we could both share in the love. 

I'm continuing to share all of my longer reads, as well as highlights from my picture book reads with my daughter, via the #BookADay hashtag on Twitter. Thanks for reading the newsletter, and for growing bookworms. 

© 2016 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.