Star Wars Book Recommendations & Star Wars Reads Day

Since yesterday was Star Wars Day (May the 4th Be With You!) and my daughter loves both reading and Star Wars, I wanted to share some of her favorite Star Wars themed books.

Additionally, it is time to mark your calendar for Star Wars Reads Day which happens each October. The 2014 event will be October 11, 2014. We have loved our experiences at our local Star Wars Reads Day.

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This morning I met my daughter with news of Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus the sixth book in the Origami Yoda series which will be released in August. Unfortunately it is the last book in the series. My daughter absolutely loves the Origami Yoda series of books and is constantly reading them. I am very glad that we purchased them instead of ordering them from the library. The first four books (The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Darth Paper Strikes Back, The Secret of the Fortune Wookie, and The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppet) are available in the Origami Yoda Files: Boxed Set. The fifth book, Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue is available individually. There is also Art2-D2's Guide to Folding and Doodling: An Origami Yoda Activity Book an activity book.

Jeffrey Brown's books which portray Vader as a father to a young Luke and Leia have also been a huge hit in this house. Several friends have gone out and purchased their own copies of Darth Vader and Son and Vader's Little Princess. The next book in the series, Goodnight Darth Vader, will be released in July. She has also enjoyed his Star Wars: Jedi Academy book and is excited for the sequel Star Wars: Jedi Academy #2 which also comes out in July.

Star Wars Reads Day

My daughter is a HUGE Star Wars fan. She could spend hours pouring over Star Wars Books - mostly the encyclopedias but also loves Darth Vader and Son and  Every book she has checked out from the school library this year has been a Star Wars Book. She is also planning to dress as Princess Leia for Halloween.

The Second Annual Star Wars Reads Day is next weekend, Saturday, October 5. We have several participating locations in our area, including our Barnes & Noble which is a premier event with author events. Last year, my daughter and I attended the festivities at our library since it seemed to have more events for children.

Select events around the country (and outside the US as well) can be found in a PDF on the Star Wars Reads website. However, locations can host events without registering, so not all locations will be listed. My library is not on the official list, yet is hosting an event. I suggest checking with your local library or bookstore (especially Barnes and Noble or Books-a-Million).

Check out this video promoting Star Wars Reads Day:




If you can't attend, there are activities (B&W version)  that you can print out on the Star Wars Reads Day website that you can do at home.

Ad:

Youth Book Deals - Howl's Moving Castle & Magician's Elephant

Kindle books can be read on any Kindle device. There are Kindle reading apps for smart phones, tablets, and your computer. I have found that ebooks are great for my daughter while traveling since I just need to bring the reader and not a heavy stack of books.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and am compensated for sales through Amazon links. I appreciate your support of my blog by shopping through my links. Prices are accurate at the time of publication. Amazon prices can and do change frequently, so please verify before purchase

Amazon's Gold Box Deal of the Day for Saturday, August 24 is 65 Kindle Books for $2.99 or less. There are several books for elementary and middle school children on the list. I already shared the deal on The Lightning Thief from the Percy Jackson series which is recommended for middle school readers. I found two books for late elementary readers (grades 3 & up) on the list.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is being offered for $1.99. From the book description on Amazon:

Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.

I have heard of Howl's Moving Castle, but don't know much beyond that. Amazon recommends the book for children 8 and up at a third grade reading level or higher on . It is part of the Howl's Castle series of books. Through this deal it is $1.99.

The other book on the list is The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo for $0.99. Unlike Howl's Moving Castle, I had not previously heard of this book. Here is the book's description:

What if? Why not? Could it be? When a fortune teller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchenne knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortune teller's mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead you there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it's true. With atmospheric illustrations by fine artist Yoko Tanaka, here is a dreamlike and captivating tale that could only be told by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo. In this timeless fable, she evokes the largest of themes - hope and belonging, desire and compassion - with the lightness of a magician's touch.

Happy Reading!

Get a Scaredy Squirrel e-Book for FREE

My daughter has learned about the Scaredy Squirrel series of books by Melanie Watt at school. This summer when she finished her summer reading program at the library, she selected a Scaredy Squirrely book as her reward. I tried to dissuade her from the choice since the book is well below her reading level. However, in the end I realized she might as well select it since I certainly wouldn't spend money on the book.

Disclaimer: I am an iTunes Affiliate and Amazon Associate and am compensated for sales through iTunes & Amazon links. I appreciate your support of my blog by shopping through my links.

This week Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach is available as an electronic book for FREE.

The book is available in:

• iBooks for iOS devices
• Kindle Book Store for Kindle devices or in the app on other devices

See other Scaredy Squirrel Books on Kindle or iTunes.

Kids Kindle Books for $1

Even if you don't have a Kindle, Kindle books can be read on a smart phone, tablet, or a computer.  It can be convenient to have these on your phone to entertain your young child. It is also a light, compact way to bring bedtime stories on vacation with you.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and am compensated for sales through Amazon links. I appreciate your support of my blog by shopping through my links. 

Amazon currently has several kids Kindle books on sale for $1. The sale is valid through July 31, 2013.

A few travel and bedtime related books:

• My First Airplane Ride - a great book if you are embarking on your child's first flight
• Shells! Shells! Shells! - Great for a beach vacation
  
• Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep!
• How Do You Sleep?
  

And for tweens, there is Zombie Town by R.L. Stine and Witch Dreams.

Another great source of eBooks is your local library. I have frequently checked out ebooks for myself and my daughter for both our Nook and our Kindle.

Family Reading Time

My daughter loves to read and is a fairly advanced reader for her age. She was reading Magic Tree House books out loud to me by the time she started Kindergarten. We used to read nightly at bedtime, but when she started school we never seemed to have enough time. She was always looking at books, so I never worried about the reading time. However, in February I noticed that she was not reading stories. She loves the Fact Trackers that accompany many Magic Treehouse books. She also loves reading the Star Wars reference books - Visual Dictionaries, Character Encyclopedias, etc. But, she was never reading chapter books. She was reading books that she could flip through and read a page that interested her, but she was not reading a book start to finish.

Over her mid-winter break in February, I instituted a "Family Reading Time" of 15-20 minutes per day. We both go into the reading room and each read a book. I do require her book to be a book with a story and not a research guide. I am an ebook reader and usually use my phone instead of my Kindle. However, I try to remember to have my Kindle charged and available to use during reading time so I am not distracted by e-mails, texts, Facebook, etc. We also retreat to our "reading room", a sitting room off of the master bedroom. Having a dedicated reading area also cuts down on the distractions.

Family Reading Time is going well. She is engaged in her books and we have even started reading a book together at bedtime that is a little too difficult for her to read on her own during family reading time. Last week she spent an afternoon with her grandparents after school and insisted on bringing a book and doing Family Reading Time with Grandma. We did skip Family Reading Time when we were on vacation and we have skipped an occasional day when we are too busy. But, overall we are doing much more reading. My daughter is still doing her reading of the "fact books", but is also reading chapter books.

What about your house? How do you encourage Family Reading Time?

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and am compensated for sales through Amazon links. I appreciate your support of my blog by shopping through my links.

Discovering Reading

My daughter is learning to read. For a couple of years, she has been great at picking out store and brand names. She has also learned her name and can pick it out among the variations.

But, she is starting to recognize sight words. She surprised me two weeks ago by knowing how to read her colors. She brought me a color by number page in a coloring book and crayons. I figured I'd color a line under each word so she could do it independently. As I look at it she says, 4 is pink. With some encouragement she recognized red, blue, orange, green, and yellow as well.

It is a tough road, because she has a wonderful memory and can remember a story the second time you read it which means I'm constantly searching for new reading material.

Last year for Christmas, my mother-in-law got her a subscription to Highlights High Five Magazine. Each month she gets a new issue. Each issue has stories, hidden pictures, a recipe, silly pictures, a game, and more. For the beginning of the year, she was not too interested in the magazine, but lately has been devouring them. Yesterday, she was searching each magazine to check out the recipe and decide if she liked it. We made peanut-butter honey dip for bananas yesterday.

We were just reading a story and she wants to read it, but she also keeps looking to the pictures to figure out the words. I'll point to a word & ask her what it says and she moves her eyes up to look at the picture. She is starting to figure out to at least look at the first letter to match the picture with a letter.

I am also figuring out, that we need to carve reading into some part of the day other than nap or bedtime. At those times, she tells me she is too tired & I should just read it.