Survey of Dystopian Fiction

As identified in Scholastic's Trends in Children's Literature, dystopian novels for young people are all the rage at the moment. I wanted to introduce some quality titles within the genre that are worth checking out!

• The City of Ember (The Books of Ember) by Jeanne DuPrau - Set in a post-apocalyptic underground city, this book, the first in the series, tells the story of two children, and how they find a way out. The cliff hanger ending will likely leave you chomping at the bit to read the next book.
• The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series) by Suzanne Collins - The first book in this YA trilogy introduces us to Katniss Everdeen and the two young men who become her closest friends, helping each other to survive in the rough world of the Seam and in the brutal Hunger Games competition.
• The Giver (Giver Trilogy) by Lois Lowry - Can a world with happy families and no real pain really be such a bad thing? In The Giver a young boy discovers all of the depth of life the people of his community are missing out on, as well as their freedom to make choices for themselves. This is a contemporary classic.
• Matched (Matched Series) by Ally Condie - At 17 a young woman is matched to her best friend, literally, the boy next door, but when she discovers a mistake from the matching department a seed of doubt is sewn. Could she be happy with someone else? And what is she were free to choose?

If you like these, here are some other similar titles and series worth checking out: Ender's Game (The Ender Series) by Orson Scott Card, Life As We Knew It (Life As We Knew it Trilogy) by Susan Beth Pfeffer and Divergent (Divergent Trilogy) by Veronica Roth.

Here is a little sneak peak at the upcoming Hunger Games movie.

Girl Power!

There are a lot of princess books on the market right now. Not knocking some of these princess books, but not all girls are into pink frills and fanciness, yet are still girly-girls. (I'm one of these girls myself, if grown up, so I identify).The "Do Princesses...?" book series by Carmela LaVigna Coyle and illustrated by Mike and Carl Gordon is perfect for those girls who love princesses but also enjoy getting dirty and having adventures!

Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?
by Carmela LaVigna Coyle

Do Princesses Scrape Their Knees?
by Carmela LaVigna Coyle

Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs?
by Carmela LaVigna Coyle

Reading series books with characters that are familiar and that your child identifies with is a great way to promote the pre-reading skill of print motivation and encouraging the love of reading.

Life Lessons

When I was little my mom was pretty sneaky. I didn't really realize it at the time, at least not as much as I do now, but she would use books to teach us values and common sense. One of her favorite series to use was the now classic Berenstain Bears. When my baby brother was going to be born, we read Berenstain Bears, when she wanted to teach us about stranger danger, we read Berenstain Bears, when we were afraid of the dark, Berenstain Bears . . . they are still in publication and, in my opinion, as useful as ever when it comes to disseminating important information to children. They are entertaining and explain important topics in ways that kids understand. What follows is a list of some of my favorite titles, though there are many more:

• The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers
• The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners
• The Bird, The Bees and the Berenstain Bears
• The Berenstain Bears Think of Those in Need
• The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream
• The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies
• The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings
• The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food

Check out their home at PBS Kids!