Believe it or not, the author of this week’s mystery book series dreamed up his three main characters when he was in kindergarten! It took quite a few more years before the rest of the world could meet them, but now anyone can see their adventures in the published graphic novels — and sometime in the future, movie-goers will hang out with them in theaters too.

In the meantime, check out our video introduction to this trio of unlikely heroes. And afterwards, send in your guess for the series. We’ll name the first person to get it right in our next podcast!

Kids: Ask your parents or teachers for approval before you submit anything to us, and read our Privacy Policy Statement.

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My Mystery Book Theater Guess:

Drinks that let you fly. Applesauce that melts snow. Sushi made of candy. And foreign wax apples. Believe it or not, only two out of these four tasty treats are from books featured in our latest podcast, all about books involving food! Yes, that means the other two are for real! Which ones are which? You’ll just have to listen to find out:

Part 1: Oompa loompa doopity doo, we’ve got a mystery book for you!
  (6:22)
Download the MP3 (3 MB)

Part 2: Take a bite outta our food book picks, plus one from you — The Chocolate Touch, Blue Moose, and This Book Is Not Good For You
  (6:17)
Download the MP3 (2.9 MB)

And don’t forget: our themes are now two weeks long, and our new topic is… graphic novels and hybrid books! So send us a review of your favorite visual read, tell us what book/movie/song/TV show you would want to see as a graphic novel, and check out these gorgeous graphic novels and hybrid books. Next week, we’ll post a Graphic Novel Mystery Book Theater, and then we’ll connect the dots with a podcast on March 16th! (Get it, we’ll connect the dots to make a picture? Because our theme is graphic novels? Nevermind…)

— Nancy and Karen

Please don't send us any personal information such as your last name, address, or phone number. Read our Terms of Submission below before you submit your article.

Kids: Ask your parents or teachers for approval before you submit anything to us, and read our Privacy Policy Statement.

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Book Title:

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My Book Review:

Give it a rating: 11.522.533.544.55 out of 5 stars.

Terms of Submission
Before being published, your submission will be reviewed. It will be checked to see that it does not contain any inappropriate language or personal information. By sending us your submission, you are giving Kidsmomo permission to edit, promote, and put it up on our site and/or read it in its entirety in our podcast. However, because lots of kids send us submissions, we won't be able to publish all of the submissions that we receive. Also, it's really important to send us only your own writing and not anything that you copied from somewhere else. Thank you.

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!

Please don't send us any personal information such as your last name, address, or phone number. Read our Terms of Submission below before you submit your article.

Kids: Ask your parents or teachers for approval before you submit anything to us, and read our Privacy Policy Statement.

Your First Name ONLY:

Your Age: State: ---AlabamaAlaskaAmerican SamoaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNorthern Marianas IslandsOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaVirgin IslandsWashingtoWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingOTHER

Book Title:

Author:

My Book Review:

Give it a rating: 11.522.533.544.55 out of 5 stars.

Terms of Submission
Before being published, your submission will be reviewed. It will be checked to see that it does not contain any inappropriate language or personal information. By sending us your submission, you are giving Kidsmomo permission to edit, promote, and put it up on our site and/or read it in its entirety in our podcast. However, because lots of kids send us submissions, we won't be able to publish all of the submissions that we receive. Also, it's really important to send us only your own writing and not anything that you copied from somewhere else. Thank you.

Are you constantly craving dessert? Do you have a sweet tooth? Does your mouth water at the mere mention of… SUGAR? Then chances are, you’ve already devoured this week’s mystery book. But you’ve never seen it like this — re-imagined as a television infomercial!

So watch the video, and then send in your guess of what book it’s from. We’ll name the first person to get it right in our next podcast!

UPDATE 3/2/10: Wanna know the book? Listen for the answer in our “Get In My Belly” Podcast, all about books involving food.

First romance, lifelong romance, even anti-romance — we’ve got it all in our latest podcast, all about (you guessed it!) books involving romance. PLUS, how Nancy informed boys she liked them as a kid, and why Karen is single (according to her, at least).

So whether or not you caught the love bug yourself this Valentine’s Day, you can always cuddle up with our podcast:

Part 1: Stargirl hearts Leo, and we reveal our literary crushes
  (8:03)
Download the MP3 (3.7 MB)

Part 2: Flipped, Allie Finkle #3, and The Tale of Despereaux — our romance book picks, plus one from you
  (7:07)
Download the MP3 (3.3 MB)

And in case you missed it, we’ve also got a very BIG announcement: Up until now, we’ve focused on one theme per week. But we’ve heard from the masses (that’s you!) that one week is just not enough to really get into a theme. So from now on, all our themes will be two weeks long. Starting… NOW!

And don’t forget: our next theme is food! (Nom nom nom…) So check out these delicious books involving food and watch this Mystery Book Theater that will definitely get your stomach rumbling!

— Nancy and Karen

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.

We’re no ESPN commentators, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a good sports book every now and then. From soccer to baseball to football — even sled dog racing! — our latest podcast covers them all.

So grab your cleats/mitt/helmet/bobsled and take a listen:

Part 1: Sports memories from us and Avi!
  (8:11)
Download the MP3 (7.5 MB)

Part 2: In the outfield, over hill, and on the gridiron — our sports book picks, plus one from you
  (4:59)
Download the MP3 (4.6 MB)

And don’t forget: in honor of Valentine’s Day, our next theme is romance! So watch our latest Mystery Book Theater video and check out these books involving romance that’ll make you swoon — in a good way.
— Nancy and Karen

PS – In Part 1 of the podcast, Karen mentions her favorite scuba diving experience and Nancy mentions an embarrassing snowboarding moment. Here’s digital proof of both (in the video, Nancy’s the one in white):

Imagine you’re just a regular high school guy, going about your normal life. And then one day, a new girl shows up at school. She dresses strange, she plays the ukulele, she serenades people in the cafeteria — and she’s crushing on you. Welcome to Leo’s experience in this week’s mystery book.

Watch the video, and then send in your guess of what book it’s from. We’ll name the first person to get it right in our next podcast!

UPDATE 2/16/10: Wanna know the book? Listen for the answer in our “All You Need Is Love” Podcast, all about books involving romance.

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!).

What happens when you take a group of kids who hate sports, and you force them to play soccer against actual teams from other schools? Disaster, that’s what.

Watch the video for this week’s mystery book to see how their first game unfolds, and then send in your guess of what book it’s from. We’ll name the first person to get it right in our next podcast!

UPDATE 2/9/10: Wanna know the book? Listen for the answer in our “We Are THE CHAMPIONS!” Podcast, all about sports books.