books Archives | Page 2 of 2

February 13, 2019 by Elena Epstein

At NAPPA Awards we are passionate about books and reading, which is why we are super excited about our latest winners. Each one of these books is special in its own way and all would make a great addition to your family book collection.

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

In spare, lyrical verse and vibrant images for which she has become legendary, Yuyi Morales has created a picture book memoir and a testament to the journey that she and her son took together from Mexico to the San Francisco Bay Area. Dreamers is a beautiful and powerful story that celebrates the gifts that all immigrants bring with them crossing the border into a new country. $18.99, ages 4-8

News from Me, Lucy McGee

When the coolest girl in the class invites you to her exclusive after-school club, how can you say no? Soon Lucy McGee realizes she’s been tricked into becoming mean girl Scarlett Tandy’s errand girl. Things get complicated as she tries to balance school, friends, frenemies, songwriting and family expectations. News from Me, Lucy McGee by Mary Amato and illustrated by Jessica Meserve, is a new chapter book series featuring a spunky heroine who matches wits with a mean girl and learns you can’t lose sight of what’s important. $15.99, ages: 7 -10.

Noodleheads Find Something Fishy

Although Mac and Mac are as hollow-headed as, well, noodles, they’re always coming up with brilliant schemes, but kids can use their own noodles to see where the brothers’ ideas go wrong. Noodleheads Find Something Fishy by Tedd Arnold and Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss is a graphic novel, perfect for comic fans and reluctant readers. It offers short, funny chapters following Mac and Mac through ridiculous adventures. This series rooted in world folklore and traditional tales of fools is full of wordplay, jokes and slapstick humor. $15.99, ages: 6-9.

When The Cousins Came

Inspired by the author’s own large, diverse family, When the Cousins Came, by Katie Yamasaki, is a sensitive story about insecurity, hosting and friendship. Katie Yamasaki’s picture book, paired with bright mixed-media art, reminds children that negative thoughts and anxiety over exclusion don’t always translate to reality, and that even when plans go wrong you can still have a good time together. $17.99, ages 4-8.

#booknook #nappaawards #playlearnconnect #welovebooks #read #kids #parenting #books

January 15, 2019 by Elena Epstein

Our latest NAPPA Award-winning books bring a sense of whimsy and promote well-being. Pick up a copy to enjoy with your family.

Claire Lost Her Bear at the World’s Fair and Benny Bear Book and Stuffed Toy Bundle

Go on a retro adventure with Claire and her special bear, Benny. You’ll learn lots of interesting facts about the World’s Fair and enjoy a sweet story about relationships and kindness. When Claire loses her favorite bear at the 1964 World’s Fair, she finds out what truly matters in life. $34.95, ages 2+.

Buckets, Dippers, and Lids: Secrets to Your Happiness

Take the concept of bucket filling further by adding the idea that we also have an invisible lid that is used to protect and keep the happiness inside our bucket. This concrete concept helps all ages grow in understanding, kindness, self-control, resilience, empathy and forgiveness. $10.95, ages 7+

The Princess and the Pickup Truck

This is a book for princesses who wear hiking boots and walk around with their hair in a mess, and princes who drive pickup trucks. This Appalachian retelling of The Princess and the Pea is written by PEN Award winning author Bil Lepp, with bright and eclectic illustrations by Lottie Looney. A perfect book for your rough and tumble royalty.$15.95, ages 5-10

For more award-winning books, visit our Book Nook!

#books #WeLoveReading #ReadWithYourKids

December 17, 2018 by

Partner Content: From our Friends at American Psychological Association

This holiday season, give a gift that keeps on giving. Engage your favorite young reader with books by Magination Press, the children’s book imprint of the American Psychological Association, and help us support schools and communities in need!

Explore fun, colorful books in our Social Emotional Learning Collection, developed to enhance both reading skills and healthy emotional development of young readers, and donate a book to Reading Is Fundamental, the leading children’s literacy nonprofit in the United States.

Each donation will enable RIF to send Magination Press books to schools and communities around the nation. Together, we can make sure that all kids can reach their full potential!

December 10, 2018 by Makenna Sievertson

Make reading your kid’s favorite pastime with these NAPPA winners!

Sesame Street: Another Monster at the End of This Book: An Interactive Adventure

Who can resist a Sesame Street book, especially one that’s interactive! In this adorable story, Grover tries everything to keep Elmo from turning another page and reaching the monster at the end of the book. With lift-the-flaps, sliders, and pop-up elements that kids will delight in, Another Monster at the End of this Book is sure to be your family’s new story time favorite. $14.99, ages: 3 – 5

Happy Papas – Picture Book

Happy Papas is a beautiful read-aloud that celebrates the wonder of fatherhood, exploring how both animal and human fathers shelter, nurture, and interact with their little ones over the course of a day. From ocean to sky and savanna to jungle, Happy Papas speaks to the universal joys of fatherly love. $14.95, ages: 2 – 4

Growing Friendships: A Kids’ Guide to Making and Keeping Friends

Growing Friendships is a funny and practical book that helps children build the friendships they crave. It’s filled with cartoons showing common friendship challenges and research-based solutions, plus silly cat and dog characters who make goofy suggestions such as: “He should sniff their butts!”

$15.99, ages: 6 – 12

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Time Warp

If your kids love trivia, they will enjoy Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Time Warp. It’s unlike any other trivia book for kids. The book is packed with comparisons across time that will amaze and delight ages 7 and up. Filled with fun and colorful illustrations, the all new, all true facts include things like “Beijing, China had existed for 300 years by the time Ancient Rome was founded; ” The Stegosaurus and the T. rex never coexisted. They were separated by about 85 million years;” and “Pocahontas was born in 1596, one year before Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was published.” $16.99, ages: 7+

Photo Puzzlemania! (Highlights Photo Puzzlemania Activity Books)

Photo Puzzlemania is hours of challenging fun for the whole family! This innovative book is created by the puzzling experts at Highlights. Every puzzle is designed from intricate, full-color photographs. Kids will love searching photos to find the hidden objects in these unique photo Hidden Pictures puzzles. Other favorite Highlights puzzle types, like Double Checks, matching, and mazes take on a whole new life when they’re created from photographic images. $12.99, ages: 6+

Unusual Animals A-Z

Unusual Animals A-Z is quirky, imaginative, educational and just plain fun. Whether it’s Andre the aardvark or Zena the zorilla, each of these twenty-six unusual animals is introduced to the reader with a colorful watercolor painting and a factual characteristic. While Bernie the bearded dragon likes to bask in the sun, Morris the manatee uses his small front flippers and massive body to surf through the waves. Each animal has the same lettered name and when the reader reaches the end, he has twenty-six chances to come up with one of his own. $15.95, ages: 3 – 7

Reindeer In Here

Make a new Christmas friend this holiday season with Reindeer In Here. This cute furry friend comes with a story book to encourage children to celebrate their unique selves. As kids take their reindeer friend on daily adventures, encourage them to appreciate the different characteristics around them and appreciate the incredible diversity of our world. As your child’s bond with Reindeer grows throughout December, your child will learn how a “misfit” North Pole reindeer came up with the genius idea to come to their house to discover what makes each child different. $29.99, for the entire family

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Wacky 123!

Your kids will have fun practicing their counting with these silly and strange animals from Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Wacky 123! Features numbers 1 through 12 in kid-friendly scenes and colorful and engaging illustrations by Ripley’s cartoonists.
Written at an age-appropriate level with high-frequency words. $6.99, ages: 0 – 5

Lobsters Are Red! But Sometimes They’re Not!

Your kids will enjoy learning their colors with this fun book from Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Lobsters Are Red, But Sometimes They’re Not! teaches colors with easy-to-understand, real-life examples and dynamic and engaging illustrations by Ripley’s cartoonists. Written at an age-appropriate level with repeating lines that immediately lets kids feel that they know the story. A fun way to learn colors. $6.99, ages: 0 – 5

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! ODDphabet

Learn the alphabet with this crazy A to Z animal bunch from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!. ODDphabet is filled with whimsical creatures and fun rhymes perfect for young readers. Engaging illustrations by Ripley’s cartoonists. Here’s a fun sample: “W is for weasel, Who was on the ground, He hopped on a woodpecker, Now he flies around!” $6.99, ages: 0 – 5

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! It’s a Circle: But Not Just a Circle!

It’s a Circle: But Not Just a Circle! brings shapes alive for young readers. From Ripley’s Believe It or Not! this colorful board book teaches kids about circles, squares, triangles and other shapes with easy-to-understand and real-life examples. Engaging illustrations by Ripley’s cartoonist. $6.99, ages: 0 – 5

Ripley’s Fun Facts & Silly Stories: PLAY IT LOUD!

From Ripley’s Believe It or Not! comes all-new stories, facts, and feats just right for ages 7 to 10. Fun Facts & Silly Stories PLAY IT LOUD! is filled with word games, photo puzzles, trivia and much more. Stunning photos and colorful pages will keep kids engaged for hours. $16.95, ages: 7 – 10

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! A Century of Strange!

Did you know you could get a spaghetti donut in Brooklyn, New York? This and hundreds of other fun and strange facts fill the colorful pages of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! A Century of Strange! This new edition of the bestselling series features over 1,200 amazing stories from around the world. Compelling photos, including exclusive images not found anywhere else. Perfect for curious kids and their parents! $28.95, ages: 10+

Our American Presidents – Their Lives and Legacies

Our American Presidents: Their Lives and Legacies gives readers a concise look into all 44 Presidents of the United States. The book is easy to read and includes a listing of cabinet members from each presidency. Kids and parents will enjoy learning little known facts, the truth about many “presidential myths” and getting a glimpse into the presidents’ personal lives. $29.95, for the entire family and students!

For more great books, click HERE!

December 10, 2018 by Page Street Publishing

Partner Content: From our Friends at Page Street Publishing

Gift Ideas for the Kid Scientist on Your List

If you have a kid on your nice list who loves to build and create, we have the perfect gifts!

Genius LEGO Inventions

Use science and engineering to transform your bin of LEGO® bricks into amazing, movable toys, machines and gadgets. Bestselling author Sarah Dees is back with an all-new collection of projects featuring ingenious designs and simple scientific principles that real engineers use every day. Make yourself a robot pal whose legs move as he rolls along, or a drummer who really plays the drums. Build a wind-up car complete with a flywheel that’ll send your minifigures zooming. Or challenge your friends to a game of pinball on a LEGO® pinball machine you built from scratch. Each project is cooler than the next! For more info, click HERE!

101 Kids Activities That Are the Ooey, Gooey-est Ever!

Let your creativity and your imagination soar with these colorful, crazy-fun recipes for slime, dough, clay, foam, mud and more. From the bestselling authors of 101 Kids Activities, 101 Coolest Simple Science Experiments and Adorkable Bubble Bath Crafts, this book is full of exciting and fantastical recipes that include tips on the science behind the goo, so you can learn too! Create amazing concoctions like Fake Snow, Color-Changing Slime and Glow-in-the-Dark Dough. With 101 super cool activities (that are also super easy to clean up), you can try them all! For more information, click HERE!

Fun with LEGO Inventions

Ooey Gooey Fun

November 26, 2018 by Makenna Sievertson

We were lucky enough to speak with Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore, a child psychologist and author of several books. Her most recent work, “Growing Friendships: A Kids’ Guide to Making and Keeping Friends”, is a refreshingly humorous look into the complicated realm of children’s friendships.

What inspired you to write “Growing Friendships”?

I am a clinical psychologist and mom of four. Both personally and professionally, children’s friendships are deeply important. Just about every child will struggle socially at some point, and it’s important to understand this is part of growing up. I wanted to help parents and children navigate these obstacles in a light, funny and informative way.

What are some of the common obstacles kids face when developing friendships?

We need to be able to flexibly adjust our behavior to the social situation. There are five fundamental skills outlined in the book; reaching out to make friends, stepping back to keep friends, blending in to join friends, speaking up to share with friends, and letting go to accept friends. It’s important for parents to know that friendship problems are very common. It’s important as parents to navigate, not dismiss their friendship struggles. If you want your child to be more engaged and less likely to be bullied, help them make friends. It’s often good to help kids have multiple groups of friends, as when you have difficulties with one you can find comfort in the other. Also, given the number of friendship breakups, if your child has other friends as well it makes it easier to weather those. Encourage them to have a bus stop friend, a math friend, and a soccer friend. All of these friendships have value and greatly enrich their lives.

What can parents do if their child is having trouble making friends?

Offer empathy; as support and acceptance at home is very important. Give them a little extra loving and see if you can figure out exactly what happened. If your child comes home and said another child kicked his chair, it might take some questioning to figure out he also asked her to move out of his way ten times. It helps get a sense of what’s going on, especially if it’s a repeated pattern. From short-lived toddler friendships to the more intimate relationships of teens, it’s about teaching them perspective. Play The Maybe Game, and try thinking of possible explanations for other kids’ behavior other than they were just trying to be mean. By helping children get a glimpse of reasoning, we can do a lot about helping kids problem solve.

How do parents know when kids are testing out their newfound social skills or just being mean and taking part in bullying?

Bullying is a deliberate act of meanness directed towards a targeted child, and there is usually a power difference meaner, older, stronger, tougher, or more popular. I do think there is an important distinction between bullying and ordinary meanness, and true bullying usually requires adult intervention. This doesn’t mean you need to overreact to ordinary bumps in the road. Our first instinct is to leap into solve it for our kids, but friendship struggles are something that helps children become stronger. We don’t become masters of social situations at 9-years-old, its a lifelong learning process.

If a child is being bullied, how do parent’s approach the issue? Do they call the other parent or talk to the teacher?

It’s usually not a good idea to call the other parent, everyone is going to feel fiercely protective of their own child. The best course of action is to talk to the teacher, and find out what they see. Having a teacher keep a closer eye on the problems can usually settle it down. No child ever deserves to be bullied, and we want to address the behavior directly. We also want to find ways on a practical level that will keep the child from being targeted. Stay around their friends at recess or stand close to a teacher. They can also loudly point out ‘that was a mean thing to say’, which will direct the attention off of them and onto the child responsible for the bullying.

How can parents open up the conversation to empathy and communication when teaching their children about relationships?

I think we can do it all the time. We can do it whether we’re talking about our own experiences, or we can do it in the context of movies, books, TV shows. In Growing Friendships, we wanted to have a light hand here, which is why we deliberately made it funny. The best way to use this book is to read it with your child. Ask questions like: Do you know anyone like that? What would you do in this situation? How would you react to someone being mean? Connect with your child, and bring the information home. The number one response I get to this book is ‘I wish I had this when I was a kid’. It’s important to recognize these skills apply to adults too, as our social skills are ever growing.

What is the best piece of friendship advice you ever received?

“Kindness is the key to friendship.” There this magnet myth surrounding friendship, that children need to be able to draw friends to them. The difficulty is nobody wants to be the steel. Those aren’t friends, those are fans. My family moved across the country and overseas when I was growing up, so I learned to make friends across new schools and new cultures. I think I learned to focus outward, and if the other person feels good in your company, that’s the most important thing.

August 1, 2018 by

A good book can touch our hearts for years to come. Taking us to magical worlds of wonder, teaching us valuable life lessons, and bringing us on adventures are just a few reasons we should all take time to bring out our inner bookworm. These recent NAPPA winners will help make reading your child’s new favorite hobby!

You’re My Little Cuddle Bug

Celebrate your little cuddle bug with this sweet and colorful rhyming board book, sure to become one of your family’s favorites! With chunky pages for little hands and die-cut cuddle bugs to add depth and interest, children will love the interactive features alongside the story in You’re My Little Cuddle Bug.
$8.99
For Kids 0-3

Bone Collection: Animals

From gorillas to kangaroos, get ready to explore the insides of some of your favorite animals and the specialized body parts that help these animals thrive in their habitats. Bone Collection: Animals features dozens of animals with detailed illustrations of their skeletons and information about how their bodies help them move, hunt, and avoid predators. After reading about animals on land, in the water, and in the sky, kids can build an elephant and a crocodile model. This is a fantastic book for your curious kids. Parents will enjoy it too!
$18.99
For kids 7+

My Illustrated Classics Collection

Featuring six beloved abridged classic tales, each with its own modern illustration style, My Illustrated Classics Collection is the perfect read-aloud choice for bedtime. This stunning edition features a beautiful cut out cover and ribbon bookmark, making it a special gift choice. The collection includes shortened versions of Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Black Beauty, The Wind in the Willows, and Treasure Island. A perfect addition to any home library.
$14.99
For kids 3+

Bee Still: An Invitation to Meditation

Bentley is a lovable honeybee who does not participate in the frantic buzzing of other bees. Instead, he uses meditation to help calm himself and find inner peace. Soon the rest of the forest animals are joining along with Bentley as they sit, breathe, and “bee” still! A “Note to Parents and Caregivers” is included with information on how to teach children to practice meditation and its benefits.
$16.95
For kids 4-8

Sewing the Rainbow: A Story About Gilbert Baker

Sewing the Rainbow is the powerful story of Gilbert Baker and the creation of the rainbow flag. This book takes readers from Gilbert’s childhood in a small town in Kansas, to his historic artistic career in San Francisco. Includes a “Note to Parents and Caregivers” with more about Gilbert and the flag’s history.
$16.95
For kids 4-8

Marvelous Maravilloso: Me and My Beautiful Family

Marvelous Maravilloso is a story from the point of view of a young interracial child about what color means within the dynamics of race, ethnicity, and culture. This sweet, simple story is a wonderful celebration of diversity as it discusses the colors of the world and the colors of the people in a family—all of which make the world beautiful and unique.
$16.95
For kids 4-8

Eppie the Elephant (Who Was Allergic to Peanuts)

It’s the first day of school for Eppie the Elephant, and she’s a bit nervous about one thing: that her new classmates won’t understand her nut allergy. Like many kids today, this fun-loving elephant can’t partake in peanuts, pecans, or pistachios and has to be careful about what she eats. Eppie makes fast friends with Allie the alligator and Pearl the squirrel, but when Eppie’s allergy is explained at lunch, will her friends still stand by her side? Readers of all ages will relate to this heartwarming, lyrical story of understanding and acceptance.
$17.99
For kids 6-8

Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice

Something Happened in Our Town describes a traumatic event—a police shooting—from the perspective of a White family and an African American family. This story provides an excellent platform for discussing social justice and race relations with children. Includes a “Note to Parents and Caregivers” with other helpful resources.
$16.99
For kids 4-8

Happy Reading! And remember to PlayLearnConnect with NAPPA Awards!