Read these fun books with good messages | Fun

Do your children complain that they are bored? To read books. Stories are a great way to pass the time, spark your imagination and provide new ways of looking at things.

Check out the books below that can be ordered online and delivered to your home. Be sure to check what your library system can offer for free online.

This is a strange time for all of us, but it may not be time for children (or you) to run out of books to read. Make a plan and start today.

Lending books

The following book is available in many public libraries.

Norton Juster’s “Phantom Billing House”, illustrated by Jules Feiffer, Knopf, 279 pages

Read aloud: ages 9 and up.

Read Yourself: Ages 9+.

Milo is the type of boy who doesn’t pay much attention to anything else. As for him, “I have nothing to do, I don’t care to go anywhere, and there is hardly anything worth seeing.”

One afternoon, Milo receives a huge package containing parts to construct his own original Toppic for the Turnpike. There is nothing better to do, Milo assembles his toll booth, gets in his little electric car and sets out on what will be a life-changing adventure.

Milo finds himself on a bizarre, important quest where he finds weird places and characters, many of which are ironic yet logical. With the help of a helper and fighting a villain, Milo accomplishes much more than he ever thought possible and returns home to a completely changed person.

Hilarious illustrations perfectly complement this classic story. “The Phantom Tollbooth” is very inventive, warm and brimming with wisdom and wit, humor, fiction and skillful wordplay that will provide hours of fun, introspective thoughts and encourage a broader way of looking at life.

Choosing a Librarian

Library: Public Library Sinking Spring, 3940 Penn Ave., Spring Break

Open 24/7 online

Library Director: John Nelka

Youth Services Library: Christine Weida

This Week’s Choices: “John, Paul, George, and Ben” Lane Smith; “Sylvester and the Magic Gravel,” by William Steig; “Shiloh” by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Books to buy

The following books are available at your favorite bookstores.

“The Cool Bean” by Jory John, illustrated by Pete Oswald, Harper, 2019, 36 pages, hardcover $ 18.99

Read aloud: ages 4 – 8.

Read Yourself: 7 – 8.

Everyone knew three cool beans; they were the sweetest, most popular beans at Beanside Elementary School. Not so long ago, cold beans hung out with other grains, which wasn’t cool, and at the time, their differences didn’t seem to matter. But recently, cold beans have come together quite a bit, and unhilled beans have been tossed aside.

Uncooled beans tried to get cooler, wearing sunglasses (which were too big), pawing his back (but with too much ass) and trying to walk in a cool way (which turned out not to be cool at all). Uncool beans have become obvious that will never be cool.

Determined by his fate, the uncooled beans generally kept to themselves. But one day a series of catastrophic events happened to cool the beans, and to his surprise, cool beans kindly came to his aid. Little by little, the low-fat beans and cold beans began to socialize again, and the un-cooled beans realized that cooling had nothing to do with how you look; being kind was a way to be cool.

Funny, charming and firmly promoting the important message that it’s cool to be kind, “The Cool Bean” is a really cool book.

“Rover throws a party” by Kristin L. Gray, illustrated by Scott Magoon by Alfred A. Knopf, 2020, 36 pages, hardcover $ 17.99

Read aloud: ages 7 – 9.

Read Yourself: Ages 7-9.

Another hectic, fascinating day on Mars, with NASA’s Curiosity rover working hard to collect soil samples, climb mountains, take photos, and transfer information back to Earth’s headquarters. A lot of obstacles can be countered on Mars, such as huge storms and dust. But curiosity is ready to drive away storms and stay safe.

Curiosity is also occupied by forwarding invitations to her birthday party. The problem is that curiosity seems to be the only one on the planet. What kind of birthday party will Curiosity actually have? As it turns out, quite a fever, including curiosity singing “Happy Birthday,” which NASA programmed to Curiosity to make its one-year anniversary celebration on Mars August 5, 2013.

Fiction, and a partial fact, “Rover throws a party” is a fun and entertaining story that also contains scientific story data that will surely enchant and educate readers, young and old alike.

Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and teaches on children’s literature. It can be reached [email protected] and [email protected]