The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak
Narrated by Allan Corduner
552 pages

This is an incredible novel about a German girl living in Nazi Germany during World War II.  This novel, narrated by Death, tells how Liesel became a book thief.  This is the story of Liesel, the people she loves, and the negative impact of the Nazis.  This is an incredibly sad and moving tale.  Be prepared to cry.

I loved this book.  This is a great book for teens and adults.  However, I would not necessarily recommend this one for pre-teens because there is a fair amount of cursing in both German and English in this book.  If cursing is not an issue, this is a great read.

The Pirate of Kindergarten

The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon; illustrated by Lynne Avril.

Ginny loved reading, but she saw

"twice as many

2s like swans

and 3s like Bs

and bigbellied 6s

as the other kids saw."

After vision day, Ginny becomes a Kindergarten Pirate who excels at everything.

A wonderful story to help children with reading or vision challenges feel more comfortable with their differences and to help children understand that differences don't make others stupid or bad.