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Roadtrip Roundup 2: Another 14 great audiobooks for the road

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As the holiday season gets underway here in the US, many people hit the road for long stretches. Good audiobooks are essential companions on these trips.

My previous Roadtrip Roundup thas been the most popular post on Read, Kids, Read! to date. Here are another 14 audiobooks I am delighted to recommend. Some will make you laugh, some may make you cry. All will make the miles fly faster and enrich your time together with your kids. Read more…Roadtrip Roundup 2: Another 14 great audiobooks for the road

Book and audiobook review: The One and Only Ivan

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Title: The One and Only Ivan
Author: Katherine Applegate
Format: Single book, audiobook
Audiobook narrator: Adam Grupper
Audiobook length: 3hrs 46min
Age Group: 10+

There once was a 400lb western lowland gorilla named Ivan, who lived in a concrete cell in the middle of a shopping mall. For 27 years, he entertained shoppers and gawkers, but had no contact with others of his kind.

It is from these dire, real-life circumstances, that author Katherine Applegate spins a soaring and unforgettable tale. Read more…Book and audiobook review: The One and Only Ivan

Book review: Pax

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Title: Pax
Author: Sarah Pennypacker (author of acclaimed Clementine series)
Illustrator: Jon Klaassen (award-winning picture book author/illustrator of I Want My Hat Back)
Format: Single book
Age group: 9+

A mesmerizing book about the profound bond between a fox and a boy.

Peter is 7 years old when he finds an abandoned and starving fox kit in the woods nears home. Peter adopts the fox and names him Pax. The two form a deep connection, “two, but not two”. But the disease of war encroaches, and Peter’s angry and restless father has caught the bug. When he decides to enlist in the army, Pax and Peter are forcibly separated after more than 5 years at each other’s side. Read more…Book review: Pax

Meet Salva Dut, refugee, reformer

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These are troubled times. Turn on the news and our children are just as likely as we are to be barraged and confused by the turmoil around the world. The word refugee comes up often in this context, and raises many questions for kids: Who are refugees? How do they come to be in such a desperate state – displaced, on the run, seeking respite anywhere they can find it?

By telling the true story of Salva Dut, A Long Walk to Water presents parents and kids a chance to understand some of the forces and faces behind one particular refugee crisis. Read more…Meet Salva Dut, refugee, reformer

Headed toward family, hearth and home

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It’s Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and with that comes the onset of the holiday season. Maybe you’re driving to your parents’ right now for a Thanksgiving feast… maybe you will only be heading home in a few weeks for Christmas, Hannukah or the New Year. Perhaps you will travel by air or by sea, by road or by rail, or perhaps only by way of your dreams.

No matter what the mode, know that the journey home is a universal experience. It remains a powerful and persistent motif in all of literature, with children’s literature being no exception. Read more…Headed toward family, hearth and home