Three for third grade

Third grade is an exciting time for readers. It's the stage in which many children begin their foray into chapter books, or junior novels. Here are three great ones:

White, E. B., Garth Williams, and Edith Goodkind Rosenwald. Charlotte's Web. New York: Harper, 1952.

Even arachnophobes can't help but to fall in love with Charlotte the Spider.

Atwater, Richard, Atwater, Florence, and Lawson, Robert. Mr. Popper's Penguins. Little, Brown, 1938.

Mr. Popper the House Painter dreams of visiting the polar regions. His life changes when he writes a fan letter to Admiral Drake the Explorer and receives a live penguin in return.

Dahl, Roald, and Quentin Blake. The Twits. New York: Scholastic, 1980.

The twits are a miserable old married couple who play hilarious tricks on each other. They're kind of like the Lockhorns, only funnier. Much of the humor is geared for adults, but kids love it, too.

ps. You may also want to check out books by Beverly Cleary, Daniel Pinkwater, Patricia Reilly Giff, and Jon Scieszka.

I love elephants (and penguins, too!)

One of my wonderful blogging friends, Lilly, posted this incredible story about an unlikely friendship between an elephant and a dog:



(Elephants are such sensitive creatures. It breaks my heart that they are often victims of human cruelty: circuses.com.)

On a lighter note, here is another fascinating story about two animals in love: And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, with illustrations by Henry Cole.

Richardson, Justin, Peter Parnell, and Henry Cole. And Tango Makes Three. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2005.

Sadly, it is one of the most challenged books in America.