Sweet, pastel-shaded shorts. Bold, colorful, action-packed adventures. Dark, spooky tales. Even adaptations of favorite books. These may sound like film genres, but movies aren’t the only way to visually escape into a story… Feast your eyes on graphic novels!

We’ve picked a few (in no particular order) — plus some “hybrid books,” which are told in alternating illustrations and text:

Graphic Novels:

1. Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale (Karen’s pick)
2. Robot Dreams by Sara Varon (Nancy’s pick)
3. The Baby-Sitter’s Club series (graphic novel version), written by Ann M. Martin and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier
4. Artemis Fowl series (graphic novel version), written by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, art by Giovanni Rigano, color by Paolo Lamann
5. Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi
6. Magic Pickle series by Scott Morse
7. Coraline (graphic novel version of Neil Gaiman’s original) adapted by Craig Russell
8. Into The Volcano by Don Wood
9. Amelia Rules! series by Jimmy Gownley
10. Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom by Eric Wight
11. Mail Order Ninja by Joshua Elder
12. Owly series by Andy Runton

Hybrid Books:

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
2. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
3. Dear Dumb Diary series by Jim Benton
4. Adventures in Cartooning by James Sturm
5. Amelia’s Notebook series and Max Disaster series, both by Marissa Moss

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite graphic novel or hybrid book! We’ll feature the best kid-submitted reviews in our next podcast!

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Take 1 part mouth-watering food descriptions, stir in 2 parts compelling story-telling, and let simmer. What do you get? Some delicious books involving food (in no particular order):

1. Blue Moose by Daniel Pinkwater (Karen’s pick)
2. The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling (Nancy’s pick)
3. Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath
4. Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech
5. Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith
6. This Book Is Not Good for You by Pseudonymous Bosch
7. Dish series by Diane Muldrow
8. Madame Pamplemousse and Her Incredible Edibles by Rupert Kingfisher
9. My Chocolate Year by Charlotte Herman
10. The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite book involving food!

UPDATE 3/2/10: We revealed the answer to our Food Mystery Book Theater in the “Get In My Belly” Podcast, so take a listen if you want to know the answer. Or just tune in if you want to hear Karen all but sing (yes, sing) about food.

The first Brixton Brothers book: The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity

Back when our theme was mystery books, my favorite kid detective was Encyclopedia Brown. But now there’s a new school-aged private eye in town — meet Steve Brixton, of the Brixton Brothers series by Mac Barnett.

Steve loves reading an old series about two kid detectives, kind of like the Hardy Boys. As he reads the books, Steve dreams about one day solving crimes himself. And then one day, he does end up in the middle of a mystery — as the prime suspect!

To clear his name and uncover the truth, Steve has to dodge the police, infiltrate a criminal hotspot, escape a kidnapping by a bad guy, and escape a kidnapping by the good guys — which is WAY more than Encyclopedia Brown ever did.

Author Mac Barnett -- Isn't he a cutie? Shh, don't tell him I said that...

I just finished the first Brixton Brothers book, and I’m really looking forward to the next one. Unfortunately, I can’t find any information about when it’s coming out! So for now, I’ve just been reading this hilarious Q&A with the author, Mac Barnett.

For example:

Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Walking my little brother’s poodle

and:

Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Walking my little brother’s golden retriever

Intrigued? You can get a sneak preview of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 online! Check ‘em out and leave me a comment with your thoughts.

— Karen

To: Kidsmomo Reader
From: Your Secret Admirers

Will you be our Valentine?

We’ve gathered up this list of books involving romance to show how much we love you. Some are focused on budding relationships, and others just happen to feature couples we like — but all of them are 100% Cupid-approved. So here they are (in no particular order):

(By the way, your flowers and chocolate are in the mail.)

1. Best Friends and Drama Queens (Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls, Book #3) by Meg Cabot (Karen’s pick)
2. Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen (Nancy’s pick)
3. Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech
4. Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time by Lisa Yee
5. Kiss Me Tomorrow by Susan Shreve
6. Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
7. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
8. Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
9. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
10. Romeo and Juliet — Together (And Alive!) at Last by Avi
11. Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
12. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
13. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley
14. Which Witch by Eva Ibbotson

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite book involving romance!

UPDATE 2/16/10: We revealed the answer to our Romance Mystery Book Theater in the “All You Need Is Love” Podcast, so take a listen if you want to know the answer. Or just tune in if you want to hear how Nancy used to behave around boys she liked (OMG, soooooo embarrassing!).

Erm... anyone else think that cat is gigantic?

So, I know our Time Travel theme ended earlier this week, but I hope it’s not too late to tell you guys about one of my favorite books, Yesterday’s Doll by Cora Taylor.

(Once Karen shares with me her secret of how to travel through time, I’ll make sure to mention it in the podcast. For now, this blog entry will have to do.)

In Yesterday’s Doll, while main character, Meg* recovers from an illness, she’s given an old-fashioned doll that’s been in her family for generations. And whenever she falls asleep holding the doll, she dreams that she’s Morag, a girl traveling across the Canadian prairie in a covered wagon… decades ago! Slowly, Meg/Morag discovers why she’s being pulled to the past by this mysterious doll.

By the way — unfortunately, this book’s publisher is not printing new copies any more, so it might be kind of hard to find (I’d lend you a my copy, but… I like it.) So look for it in libraries or ask your parents to track it down… it’s a must-read!

— Nancy

* Um, do you get a Time Travel Card once you’re named Meg or something? WHY WAS I NAMED NANCY? … WHY?!

February is a month full of holidays — you’ve got Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, and the Lunar New Year. But let’s not forget the all-important holiday that just happened a couple days ago: that’s right, people, Tuesday was Groundhog Day.

Personally, I don’t have much faith in a groundhog’s weather predictions, but I do love the old movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray. You’ve probably never seen it because you’re not as ancient as I am (the film came out in 1993), but the basic premise is that Bill Murray’s character is forced to live the same day (Groundhog Day, obvi) over and over again until he can figure out how to escape the loop.

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

It’s a hilarious movie, but it’s rated PG. So if your parents guide you not to watch it, I’ve got the perfect book equivalent for you: 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass! In the book, Amanda is forced to live the same day (her birthday, obvi) over and over again until she can figure out how to escape the loop.

Unfortunately for Amanda, it’s a pretty miserable birthday — the first since a huge fight with her former best friend, Leo (who just happens to have the same birthday). How will Amanda finally make it to the next day? And could Leo be in on this weirdness too? To find out, read the book! (And if you like it, why not get into the spirit and read it over again once you’re done?)

Or if you’ve already read 11 Birthdays, leave me a comment with your take!

— Karen

With the Super Bowl right around the corner, we figured we should stock up on some sports books in addition to the snack food and soda. And no, these aren’t all about football. Actually, these picks cover a range of athletics, from hockey to wrestling to synchronized swimming! (Yeah, you heard us — synchronized swimming!)

Consider these the MVPs of the sports book world (not necessarily in medal order):

Fiction:

1. Out Standing In My Field by Patrick Jennings (Karen’s pick)
2. Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner (Nancy’s pick)
3. Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica
4. Baseball Card Adventures series by Dan Gutman
5. There’s a Girl in my Hammerlock by Jerry Spinelli
6. Football Hero by Tim Green
7. Summerland by Michael Chabon
8. The Kid Who Only Hit Homers by Matt Christopher
9. The Melting of Maggie Bean by Tricia Rayburn
10. The Boy Who Saved Baseball by John H. Ritter
11. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
12. My Thirteenth Season by Kristi Roberts
13. Surfer Dog by Elizabeth Spurr
14. The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane
15. Bat 6 by Virginia Euwer Wolff
16. Skating Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
17. Skinnybones by Barbara Park

Nonfiction:

1. Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics written by Sue Macy, photos by Peggy Fleming
2. How Hockey Works by Keltie Thomas
3. The Greatest: Muhammad Ali by Walter Dean Myers
4. Nascar (DK Eyewitness Books) by James Buckley
5. The Greatest Moments in Sports by Len Berman
6. Sports Illustrated Kids Year In Sports 2009

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite sports book!

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite sports book!

UPDATE 2/9/10: We revealed the answer to our Sports Mystery Book Theater in the “We Are THE CHAMPIONS!” Podcast, so take a listen if you want to know the answer. Or just tune in if you want to hear about Karen’s ridiculous sports injury.

Guess what happens when I have a lot of spare index cards, markers, and a circular stencil? That’s right, folks! I’ll be continuing my crazed overlapping circle drawings today:

Fun Owl Fact: Their eyeballs are fixed in their sockets, which is why they've evolved to be able to turn their heads all the way around.

I probably thought of this because of D (above). *Hooo... Hoooo...*

It's not just the difference in species of bird (swans and pheasants)... Pick up the books and find out!

And magic, of course. Hagrid is also much less delicate with his pink umbrella.

The main characters being Bone and Squirrel -- not to be confused with an actual bone and squirrel. Hey! Bone and RIBsy... Darn, I wish I caught that earlier.

Submit your book Venn diagram in the comments!

— Nancy

Yes, the Golden Globes were on Sunday, but who cares about the glitz and glamor of Hollywood? I’m talking about the American Library Association’s annual awards that went out on Monday — including the Newbery Medal.

The Newbery Medal is like the holy grail for children’s book writers. Or if you’re not an Indiana Jones fan, then think of it like the MVP award for the best kids’ book author of the year. Or if you’re not into sports, you can consider it like the Blue Ribbon for, well, for anything that’s super competitive. In other words, the Newbery Medal is a really, really cool thing to get.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

And this year, the Newbery went to… [drumroll, please]… When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead! If you missed my previous blog post about the book, then you missed out on an excellent piece of writing. Whoops, I should probably be celebrating Rebecca Stead, not congratulating myself. So here’s a little rundown of When You Reach Me:

Imagine you’re just going about your life — going to school, hanging out with your best friend, spending time with your mom and her boyfriend — and then all of a sudden you get a message from the future. WHA?! Personally, I’d freak out and hide under my bed covers for a while. But not Miranda, the protagonist in When You Reach Me. And that’s good, because it makes for a much more interesting book!

So if you want to see who won the kidlit world’s version of the Heisman Trophy, check out When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.

And then try out this year’s Newbery Honor books (aka, the runners-up):

• Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose — about a key leader in the Montgomery bus boycott
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly — about an 11-year-old struggling to stay true to herself in the face of her mother’s expectations
• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin — about a girl’s magical journey to change her family’s fortunes
• The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick — about a 12-year-old orphan’s (surprisingly funny) adventures during the Civil War

Oh, man, I’m never going to make a dent in my To Be Read list, am I?!

— Karen

News reporters like to focus on the divide between Republicans and Democrats, but here at Kidsmomo we know better — the real fight is between dog people and cat-lovers. You know what we’re talking about!

To avoid that issue, this week we’re focusing on animals other than cats and dogs. So get all your shots, and then check out these books about unusual animals (in no particular order):

1. Hoot by Carl Hiaasen (Karen’s pick)
2. The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden (Nancy’s pick)
3. Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
4. The Tiger Rising by Kate DicCamillo
5. Wringer by Jerry Spinelli
6. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
7. Rascal by Sterling North
8. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
9. Akimbo and the Lions by Alexander McCall Smith
10. Esio Trot by Roald Dahl
11. White Fang by Jack London
12. Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite book about an unusual animal!

UPDATE 1/26/10: We revealed the answer to our Unusual Animals Mystery Book Theater in the “Rabbits and Crickets and Owls – Oh My!” Podcast, so take a listen if you want to know the answer. Or just tune in if you want to hear Karen mispronounce the word “burrowing” about 17 times. Well, maybe only seven times. But it’s still hilariously awkward…