Divit’s list of “Super 30 cool books” – apt for 6-9 year olds. Our entry for #kbcBookBingoSr
- A Mystery/Adventure Book: A to Z Mysteries- The Zombie Zone by Ron Roy and John Steven Gurney
We love spooky and scary stories. A gripping story of three kids who venture out to find out the mystery behind missing dead bodies. While everyone feels there are zombies doing all the digging up, Ruth Rose, Dink and Josh don’t feel that is right and are determined to find out the real culprits. The ending is very exciting and totally a hit! We’ll be looking forward to adding more books from the A to Z Mysteries series.
2. Short Stories: Tales of Tricks and Treats by Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton is one of our favourite authors. And we like all things magical. This is a lovely collection of 30 short stories of elves, pixies and witches. One story a night is what we did with this superb collection by Enid Blyton.
3. A Book that’s also a Movie/ TV Show: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J K Rowling
This book of Harry Potter officially made us a Potterhead. From having that magic wand to trying out new potions we have done it all. Hogwarts is a fun place to be and we really wanted to study wizardry and witchcraft like our friend Harry. While we read the Harry Potter we also appreciated the efforts taken by the author and her struggle to finally see the book in print. It took her 7 years to write this one and it is worth every bit. The movie based on this book was enjoyed with the book in hand and popcorn in a tub!
4. A Book on the environment: Zayn and Zoey The Water Cycle
Zayn and Zoey books are so beautiful with simple text with very self-explanatory illustrations! We have been very curious to know how rain is formed and the concept has been very beautifully explained in this book. This one on water cycle was a wonderful read to understand how what goes always comes back! There are many in this series to explain the concepts in a simple way to kids.
5. An inspiring book: Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave by Jessica Hische
This lovely book was suggested by this group itself. A simple book but powerful beyond words. I can’t put in words how much we have loved reading each page in this book. And we have read it over and over again because you just can’t get enough of this. At one point when Divit was pretty demotivated, this book uplifted his spirits and most importantly made him happy.
“I won’t be scared, but if I am, I know that I have you” has stayed with us.
A must have for each one of us, starting 5 years onwards.
ADDED BY ASHA: TOMORROW I’LL BE KIND is the other book by this award winning lettering artist-author.
6. A Graphic Novel/A comic Book: Kung Pow Chicken by Cyndi Marko
Again recommended by a lovely parent here at Kbc. Oh, what a hilarious book! It will leave you cracking and splitting. Who doesn’t like superpowers and when it’s a chicken with superpowers the fun begins. We have three from this series and we had a laugh riot reading them.
Divit says Kpc rocks just like Kbc!
We grabbed this book (and a whole loot) from the scholastic sale – you can order it from this special kbc-scholastic link.
7. A Book with a female protagonist: She Can You Can By Garima Kushwala, illustrated by Anastasia Damani
Well this is going to be really interesting! Divit is at that age when all things girly sound a bit silly. When I got this book, the first thing Divit said was Mumma see it can also be read as “Can She? Can You?”. And then he quietly picked it up and started reading and gradually warmed up to it. How can you not, when you get to know about such awesome women who have dared to go against all odds and been victorious. An excellent book for all young and old people out there to know.. Yes! We all can!
8. A Non-fiction/Biography: Little People Big Dreams – Mother Teresa by M Isabel Sanchez Vegara, illustrated by Natascha Rosenberg
Divit was honestly not much into biographies till we found this book. Growing up in Kolkata we always heard so much about Mother Teresa and the missionaries of charity. When I came across this book in our Kbc group I knew Divit should start his journey of reading biographies with this one.
The book talks about her childhood and how she always loved helping others. The biggest joy is in the joy of giving! We really enjoyed knowing about this angel of peace and love.
The Little People Big Dreams Series has many exciting biographies that would interest 4-7 year olds.
Little People, Big Dreams: Mahatma Gandhi gets ordered often.
9. A Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book: Enid Blyton – The Faraway Tree Series
Another lovely series by Enid Blyton. Who knew that trees talk in their own ”Wisha-wisha-wisha” language. With Joe, Beth and Frannie we stepped into the enchanted wood and met the faraway tree. What fun it was to read about strange and funny lands that come each time on top of the tree. The adventures the kids had with their friends – Silky and Moon face from the enchanted wood and faraway tree has been so enthralling! We thoroughly enjoyed the land of fantasies!
10. A Book by an author you have never read before: Lucky, it’s not Just A Christmas Story by Nalini Sorensen, illustrated by Shamika Chaves
We have found a new author through Kbc and it is such a delight to read Nalini Sorensen. This story is about Lucky who is the apple of eye of her family. Yes, Lucky is a not a human but our very friendly four legged friend. She is the one narrating the story and that makes it funny and enjoyable. Very simple language and totally relatable!
11. A funny Book: George’s Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl
We love love love Roald Dahl. He is so funny. And of all that we have, this one is our favourite.
George, in this story, decides to make a new medicine for his very mean, very horrible Grandma. Most grandmas are very nice but not George’s. She is wicked and cruel. Who knows! She might even be a witch! So, he decides to use all things handy and make a new medicine. The rule was simple-whether it is slimy, runny or gooey it goes in! And this rule is VERY IMPORTANT. Finally, when Grandma drinks the medicine, she goes…KABOOM! (Written by Divit).
12. A Book with a male protagonist: Jake’s Gigantic List by Ken Spillman, illustrated by Chris Nixon
Jake books have become our new favourite after Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Roald Dahl. Short stories but they all carry a beautiful lesson. This particular book is about Jake’s gigantic list of all the things he wants for his birthday.
Jake’s birthday is coming soon. While everyone thinks Jake has everything, he believes just the opposite. Well, he doesn’t have a pet crocodile or a robot who can clean his room or a friendly pirate! So, he starts making the gigantic list of all that he wants for his special day. His list has pretty much everything but no book. So his aunty decides to make him fall in love with books! And does she succeed?? Well…YES! And the gigantic list for next birthday is all about books he has read and books he would want to read. (Written by Divit)
13. A Classic: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
A forever classic about the adventures of Tom Sawyer is beautifully illustrated in this basic version that we have. Tom Sawyer who grew up without his parents, lived with his Aunty Polly and was always getting into troubles. It is a collection of 6 small adventures of Tom Sawyer and would absolutely be loved by beginners.
14. A Book by an Indian author: The Nose of all Noses by Meera Ganapathi, illustrated by Nancy Raj
Just like all Pratham books, this is a short and sweet story about Zahra and her Dadima who has the most unique, unusually large nose with a mole on top of it. And guess what! She can smell anything that others can’t with that humongous nose. Zahra also wants to learn and acquire that superpower to be able to smell anything just like Dadima. And thus starts the journey of Dadima and Zahra to learn how attars (the perfumes of today) are made. Dadima’s nose became nose of all noses after training with her father at his attar shop after all! Hummm Harr Hummmm!! Funny short story with very cute illustrations.
15. A Book that was was gifted to you: Shah Jahan and the Ruby Robber by Natasha Sharma
We were super happy to win this book from Asha aunty for a read aloud. And that makes this very special for us indeed. This is a lovely duckbill book about Shah Jahan and the mystery of the missing Timur Ruby! And when you end up finding a plum in place of the prestigious Ruby, you have a very unhappy and grumpy emperor. A great book to make the young minds inquisitive about the history of our country.
Here is the rest of the series
16. An informative Book: Wow Dinosaurs encyclopedia By dreamland publications
Dinosaurs is an obsession that started when Divit was around 2. Who knew there is a dinosaur with every English alphabet! While we have loads of books on dinosaurs, this one is very age appropriate with detailed facts, fully loaded with information and interesting facts about dinosaurs. Starts with the dinosaurs in Triassic period and moves to Jurassic period and then to Cretaceous period. And what is best is it comes with an augmented reality feature. So with the app you can feel the dinosaurs coming to life!
There are other books in this WOW ENCYCLOPEDIA AR SERIES BY DREAMLAND.
17. A Book by your Favourite author: Diary of a Wimpy Kid – The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
We love the bestselling author Jeff Kinney and his series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We read this particular one “Diary of a Wimpy Kid-The Last Straw” very recently which Divit kept down only after finishing it. A series that we read and re-read and still have that hearty laugh every time.
Greg’s dad is ALWAYS on his case about EXERCISE. Dad wants him to toughen up and enlist in other “manly” stuff like his boss, Mr Warren’s sons. But when Greg’s dad threatens to send him to military academy, he joins Boy Scouts to prove how MANLY he is.
Full of fun and hilarious anecdotes in this diary of Greg Heffley… NO JOURNAL actually, will keep you glued to the book till you finish it. I love all his books and they are just so much fun to read. (Written by Divit).
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