Beagle Books Newsletter

Youth Yak

The Giver Is coming
to the big screen!

Lois Lowry’s classic young adult novel, The Giver, will be released as a movie on August 5. That gives you plenty of time to read or re-read the book first. Check out the movie trailer:

The Best of the Winners

New staff member Emily recently read the Newbery and Caldecott Aware winning books for 2014. Here are her favorites:

Flora & Ulysses
by Kate Di Camillo

Di Camillo has done it again, capturing the young at heart with her eccentric and endearing characters, this time a squirrel and a vacuum cleaner. It’s a super hero story, starting with a tragic accident which leaves the squirrel to save the day. Following the adventures of Flora and Ulysses will keep you laughing out loud!

Locomotive
by Brian Floca

This picture book provides a breathtaking look at a family’s 1869 journey from Omaha to Sacramento via the newly completed Transcontinental Railroad. Floca uses beautiful illustrations to help capture the journey and the feelings of those aboard. You needn’t be a train enthusiast to enjoy this book. The widescreen pictures of the train chugging across the Great Plains helps the reader feel the sweat and ingenuity of locomotive during the earliest days of America’s railroads. This is a great read aloud for many age levels.

Here I am
by Patti Kim

Wordless picture books have been on the rise in children’s literature and this one makes you ponder questions such as: where am I, who am I, and is there happiness out there for me? The book follows the journey of a young boy immigrating to New York City while clutching a red seed. The seed is a metaphor for his frustrations and confusion as he adapts to a new way of life. This book will be a great addition to upper elementary school classrooms and provides a contemporary story of immigration. It truly gets to the heart of what it means to immigrate to America today.

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