Reader's Advisory for Children : Suggested Reading For Boys

As the sun sets behind the big construction site, all the hardworking trucks get ready to say goodnight. One by one, Crane Truck, Cement Mixer, Dump Truck, Bulldozer, and Excavator finish their work and lie down to rest—so they'll be ready for another day of rough and tough construction play! With irresistible artwork by best-selling illustrator Tom Lichtenheld and sweet, rhyming text, this book will have truck lovers of all ages begging for more.

Bulldozers! Excavators! Dump trucks! All of the very biggest trucks are in here! This book offers an up-close look at ten amazing machines that dig, scoop, lift, and more. Toddlers will also learn the words for all of the very important parts that help the big trucks and diggers go.

William is getting ready for his bath when the faucet breaks, sending him and his tub surfing through the building! On his wet ride, he collects a strange fleet in his wake -- from Uncle Nash, who sits in the trash, to Little Dottie, who sails the potty. Who will William carry off next? Bath-lovers and bath-haters alike will want to know! "Full of amusing detail that will keep young readers coming back again and again." -- School Library Journal

Young children will delight in repeating the refrain "OH, NO!" as one animal after another falls into a deep, deep hole in this lively read-aloud. This simple and irresistible picture book by hugely popular picture book creators Candace Fleming and Caldecott medalist Eric Rohmann feels like a classic-in-the-making. Fans of Rohmann's Caldecott Medal -winning My Friend Rabbit, will be thrilled to see a new book created in the same expressive and comical style.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O! And on that farm he had . . . a dragon? The animals aren#146;t happy that there#146;s a dragon on the farm. But Old MacDonald likes his dragon . . . until it starts swallowing up the animals! Can Old MacDonald save his farm before it#146;s too late? Find out in this silly adaptation of the popular song.

A #1 New York Times Bestseller This irresistible sequel to the New York Times bestselling How Rocket Learned to Read is "a perfect choice to inspire new readers and writers," according to a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. Rocket loves books and he wants to make his own, but he can't think of a story. Encouraged by the little yellow bird to look closely at the world around him for inspiration, Rocket sets out on a journey. Along the way he discovers small details that he has never noticed before, a timid baby owl who becomes his friend, and an idea for a story. This book is sure to appeal to kids, parents, teachers, and librarians. From the Hardcover edition.

Get ready for giggles and ghouls in this celebration of hard-working mommies who also happen to be mummies. Here you'll find a doctor mum curing raspy spooks with coffin syrup and a fang-filling dentist completely wrapped up in her dangerous work. You'll also meet a librarian mummy who has her hands full with book worms, a writer mum conjuring spells for readers, and many others. With visual and verbal puns galore, this scream of a book helps illuminate the mysterious world where so many mommies disappear every day - and may also explain why some of them come home slightly unravelled.

Watch out, Junie, there's a new kid on the block! It's Freddy Thresher, a first grader who knows it's a jungle out there. A new chapter book series written by an elementary teacher who's seen it all! Freddy Thresher has a problem: a really, really, big problem. He's the only one in his class who hasn't lost a tooth! All of the other students in Mrs. Wushy's first grade have signed their names on the Big Tooth, and Freddy's determined to get his name on it, too. So when Max "The Meanie" Sellars calls Freddy a baby, Freddy decides he's going to lose that tooth one way or another, even if it means getting punched in the face at recess, or even bigger trouble, with Mom!

We are celebrating by bringing full color to the Cretaceous period—full-color art that is! This jacketed hardcover edition boasts new artwork, plus extras, like an interview between the creators, a letter from Mary Pope Osborne, and up-to-date dinosaur info! Join Jack and Annie as they travel back to the time of dinosaurs where they encounter all sorts of dinos from the terrifying T-Rex to the crowd-pleasing Triceratops—and start on a life-time of adventures with new readers.

This special 8 1/2th Anniversary Edition of the book that started the Captain Underpants craze features a lenticular paper-over-board cover and a top-secret bound-in component! When Dav Pilkey began drawing pictures of an underwear-clad, wedgie-giving superhero as a second grader, his teacher said, "You'd better start taking life more seriously, because you can't spend the rest of your days making silly books!" Luckily for us, Dav didn't listen, and Captain Underpants was born. Now, kids everywhere can enjoy this special edition of the book that started it all - with an awesome lenticular cover and a super-cool value-added component that's so amazing, so fun, and so top-secret that you'll just have to buy it to find out!

This is the story of Ricky Ricotta, a lonely little mouse that befriends a giant robot, takes on the school bullies, and saves the city from an evil rat scientist#151;Dr. Stinky McNasty!

Henry is horrid. Everybody thinks so. He throws food. His favorite pastime is tormenting his brother, Perfect Peter. Moody Margaret is the only friend who can stand up to him. His own parents pretend not to know him! He destroys his class's dance recital, feeds his little brother disgusting glop, and commits many more frighteningly funny acts. . . .

In this funny, uncannily wise portrait of the dynamics of a sixth-grade class and of the greatness that sometimes comes in unlikely packages, Dwight, a loser, talks to his classmates via an origami finger puppet of Yoda. If that weren’t strange enough, the puppet is uncannily wise and prescient. Origami Yoda predicts the date of a pop quiz, guesses who stole the classroom Shakespeare bust, and saves a classmate from popularity-crushing embarrassment with some well-timed advice. Dwight’s classmate Tommy wonders how Yoda can be so smart when Dwight himself is so clueless. With contributions from his puzzled classmates, he assembles the case file that forms this novel.   F&P Level: T F&P Genre: RF

View an excerpt fromTheodore Boone: Kid Lawyer. Visit www.theodoreboone.com for more. A perfect murder A faceless witness A lone courtroom champion knows the whole truth . . . and he’s only thirteen years old Meet Theodore Boone In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he’s only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he’s one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk—and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom. But Theo finds himself in court much sooner than expected. Because he knows so much—maybe too much—he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth. The stakes are high, but Theo won’t stop until justice is served. Brimming with the intrigue and suspense that made John Grisham a #1 international bestseller and the undisputed master of the legal thriller,Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyerwill keep readers guessing and pages turning. Watch a Video Classroom guide and other extras forTheodore Boone: Kid Lawyerby John Grisham Watch a Video

Boys don't keep diaries-or do they? The launch of an exciting and innovatively illustrated new series narrated by an unforgettable kid every family can relate to It's a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you're ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary. In book one of this debut series, Greg is happy to have Rowley, his sidekick, along for the ride. But when Rowley's star starts to rise, Greg tries to use his best friend's newfound popularity to his own advantage, kicking off a chain of events that will test their friendship in hilarious fashion. Author/illustrator Jeff Kinney recalls the growing pains of school life and introduces a new kind of hero who epitomizes the challenges of being a kid. As Greg says in his diary, "Just don't expect me to be all 'Dear Diary' this and 'Dear Diary' that." Luckily for us, what Greg Heffley says he won't do and what he actually does are two very different things. Since its launch in May 2004 on Funbrain.com, the Web version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been viewed by 20 million unique online readers. This year, it is averaging 70,000 readers a day. F&P level: T

From some of the biggest names in children's books, including Mac Barnett, Adam Rex, and David Yoo, comes a sidesplitting collection of short stories--the first in a new series of books from Scieszka's Guys Read library.

James Patterson's winning follow-up to the #1New York TimesbestsellerMiddle School, The Worst Years of My Life--which theLA Timescalled "a perfectly pitched novel"--is another riotous and heartwarming story about living large. After sixth grade, the veryworstyear of his life, Rafe Khatchadorian thinks he has it made in seventh grade. He's been accepted to art school in the big city and imagines a math-and-history-free fun zone.Wrong!It's more competitive than Rafe ever expected, and to score big in class, he needs to find a way to turn his boring life into the inspiration for a work of art. His method? Operation: Get a Life! Anything he's never done before, he's going to do it, from learning to play poker to going to a modern art museum. But when his newest mission uncovers secrets about the family Rafe's never known, he has to decide if he's ready to have his world turned upside down. (Includes over 100 illustrations.)

Big Nate is in a class by himself! But things don't always go your way just because you're awesome. Nate barely survives his dad's toxic oatmeal before rushing off to school—minus his lunch. He body slams the no-nonsense principal. He accidentally insults his least favorite teacher, the horrifying Mrs. Godfrey (aka Godzilla). And school has barely started! Nate keeps his cool. He knows he's destined for greatness. A fortune cookie told him so. For fans of the ever popular, ever hilarious Diary of a Wimpy Kid series: Get ready to meet Big Nate!

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently she’s his girlfriend Piper, his best friend is a kid named Leo, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids.” What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong. Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on? Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What’s troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god. Rick Riordan, the best-selling author of the Percy Jackson series, pumps up the action and suspense in The Lost Hero, the first book in The Heroes of Olympus series.  Fans of demi-gods, prophesies, and quests will be left breathless--and panting for Book Two.

Discover the original bone-chilling adventures that made Goosebumps one of the bestselling children's book series of all time! Something scary is happening in GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND, the all-new, all-terrifying series by R. L. Stine. Just how scary? You'll never know unless you crack open this classic prequel! Discover the fan-favorite thriller and chiller that first introduced the world to the wooden face of fear. The puppet who pulls all the strings. None other than Slappy the Dummy! Now with all-new bonus material revealing Slappy's secrets and more.

One of Horn Book's Best Fiction Books of 2011 Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six: The Young Pioneer is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism.A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience.A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings.But now that it is finally time to join the Young Pioneers, the day Sasha has awaited for so long, everything seems to go awry. He breaks a classmate's glasses with a snowball. He accidentally damages a bust of Stalin in the school hallway. And worst of all, his father, the best Communist he knows, was arrested just last night. This moving story of a ten-year-old boy's world shattering is masterful in its simplicity, powerful in its message, and heartbreaking in its plausibility.