by Carolyn | Adventure, Fantasy, Imagination, Magical Realism, Middle School, Middle-grade, Recommendations
When your daughter hands you a book and tells you it’s the best book she’s read in a while, you read it! A Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay is a fantastical story set in the real world with compelling characters and vivid writing. The Story Living in a...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Fantasy, Older Elementary, Picture Books, Read Alouds, Recommendations
I read lots of picture books that retell or mash up fairy tale, but it’s wonderful to find a fairy tale that feels brand new. The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess by Tom Gauld combines a classic style with more modern sensibilities (read: no wolves or...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Fantasy, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Middle-grade, Older Elementary, Read Alouds, Recommendations
If you love fairytales, I have a wonderful book for you. Otto Tattercoat and the Forest of Lost Things by Matilda Woods is a beautiful fairytale about friendship that touches on complex moral themes. The Story When Otto’s mother disappears in their new, freezing...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Character Training, Cultural Diversity, Fantasy, Highschool, Recommendations, Young Adult
The Sunlit Lands Series by Matt Mikalatos is my top pick for kids who have grown up reading The Chronicles of Narnia, The Wingfeather Saga, and The Green Ember Series and are now ready to dive into young adult. These books contain the same kind of deeply true and...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Chapter Books, Early Readers, Fantasy, For fun, Imagination, Older Elementary, Recommendations
When a favorite author like Jonathan Auxier breaks into a new genre or age group, I’m happy to follow. The Fabled Stables: Willa the Wisp introduces chapter book readers to Auxier’s imaginative worlds in an easier to read, beautifully illustrated format....
by Carolyn | Character Training, Fantasy, Imagination, Older Elementary, Parenting, Picture Books, Preschool, Read Alouds, Recommendations
Julia’s House Moves On by Ben Hatke is a beautiful picture book about not having it all together. Because none of us do, really. And sometimes it takes a book like this to help us, and our kids, take a deep breath and remember that our plans may not work out,...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Fantasy, Highschool, Spiritual Allegory, Young Adult
Young Adult fiction can be a hard category to navigate as a parent. YA often contains dark themes and content that young teens especially may not be ready to read. That’s why I’m so pleased when I find books like The Winter King that both my teens and I...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Biography, Book Lists, Fantasy, For fun, Imagination, Nonfiction, Parenting, Picture Books, Preschool, Read Alouds, Recommendations
Balloons are happy, right? They just make you smile, especially if you are a kid. So you might be surprised to learn that many of these picture books about balloons deal with hard topics like negative thoughts, Alzheimer’s, or depression. But don’t worry....
by Carolyn | Classics, Cultural Diversity, Education, Fantasy, For fun, Girls, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Magical Realism, Middle School, Middle-grade, Mystery, Nature, Older Elementary, Recommendations
A real-world middle-grade fantasy built around the plot of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Yes please! Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca is a magical story about a young baker and her family. The Story Eleven-year-old Mimi Mackson is the...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Fantasy, Highschool, Magical Realism, Mystery, Young Adult
When I found out a friend I had met at Hutchmoot–a conference about faith in the arts–had written a book, I was curious to read it. I didn’t expect to get swept away in a compelling, beautiful written story. But that’s exactly what happened...
