Moving Day - 6 Sensational Picture Books to Help Kids Adjust to a Move

A few weeks ago, a friend contacted us asking about our favorite titles about moving to a new home. Honestly, I was stumped for a minute. Aside from Judith Viorst's classic Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move (my love for Alexander could take up a whole post all on its own), I couldn't think of a single one. We haven't had occasion to seek this topic out yet with Sprout, so off to the library catalog I went to search for some titles. In short order I had a big ol' stack, all of which we read as a family.

And without further ado, here are our favorites!

First up is Bandit, written by Karen Rostoker-Gruber and illustrated by Vincent Nguyen. The main character in this title is a somewhat snarky housecat, Bandit, who is shocked when movers show up and then he's taken to a new house. No way is Bandit taking that lying down, so he high-tails it to his old place, but someone else is already there. Fortunately his owner shows up to claim him, and Bandit discovers that the new place is just fine - with all his things in it! The retro illustrations and comic-inspired format make this lots of fun, and kids will identify with Bandit's feelings when a move seems to come up out of nowhere.

In a similar vein, Jessica Harper's I Like Where I Am is also about a boy who isn't thrilled to be moving house. "I've got trouble," he tells us, "I've got BIG TROUBLE." And it certainly seems that he does, because he's got to leave behind his house, his room, and even his friends to move to a place called Little Rock. But the narrator eventually changes his tune, because in Little Rock, he not only finds a new friend (with a swimming pool!), he also gets his own kitten. G. Brian Karas illustrated this spunky title, and as usual he mixes in a nice bit of diversity, a clear bonus in our book.

Apprehension about a new place is a familiar theme in Anika and Christopher Denise's Bella and Stella Come Home. Bella and her stuffed elephant Stella enjoy a relationship similar to that of Calvin and Hobbes, where Stella is alive, but only to her owner. Bella's glad to have her friend along to explore the new house, where everything seems just wrong, from the color of the kitchen to the lack of a tree in the back yard. Resigned to their fate, the friends settle in for the night - and in the morning, with all their toys and furniture around, things start looking up. The soothing text pairs nicely with the soft palette and cozy pictures - a great choice for bedtime, even if you're not moving house.

Sprout was especially excited about this next pick, A Brave Spaceboy by Dana Kessimakis Smith, with pictures by Laura Freeman. He had really enjoyed the pair's other title, A Wild Cowboy, and I love that these books both feature a multiracial family (African American and Asian American). The moving theme in this title is conveyed very subtly, almost entirely through the pictures, while the text centers around space exploration. That makes for a great opportunity to talk about words and images working together to tell a story. As with their other outing, this one is colorful and high energy, a great book for emphasizing the fun part of moving to a new place.

For another series title, we also read Niki Daly's Where's Jamela?, a book set in South Africa and featuring Daly's recurring character. The vivacious Jamela is not so thrilled about her Mama getting a new job, which means moving to a new place. Everything about their old place is just right, from the smell of cooking to the familiar neighbors nearby. So Jamela does what any sensible girl would - she hides out in a moving box! Naturally that causes quite the ruckus, but it all ends well in Daly's capable hands. This title fairly bursts with life, and readers will love seeing Jamela settle in to what will, we know, be a great place to live.

The last title in our list is a quieter one, perfect for winding down the evening or bringing a thoughtful tone to a  story session. Clancy & Millie and the Very Fine House, by Libby Gleeson, echoes the tone of many other titles. Clancy's not happy about his new home, which seems all wrong to him, though his parents love it. Depressed about the whole situation, he ventures outside, where the huge stack of moving boxes towers to the sky. As Clancy begins to explore, he meets Millie, whose idea of fun is much the same as Clancy's, and the two happily build cardboard trains and crazy houses. And then, suddenly, the house that wasn't so terrific, seems great after all. I love the sketchy quality of Freya Blackwood's illustrations, as well as her deft portrayal of Clancy's eye-view of the first very-wrong, then very-fine house he now calls home.

With these titles, the intense emotions that can arise due to a move are explored through humor, sensitivity and lots of great pictures. Whether you're planning a move or simply want a moving reading experience, add these titles to your library list today!

30 Days of Picture Books - Roly Poly Pangolin by Anna Dewdney

It's Day 28 of Picture Book Month! Today I'm thinking about fears. This might seem like an odd topic when it relates to picture books, but some of the best picture books have really scary bits in them, and that's handled to various degrees by the kids who read them. Honestly, I find it's usually parents who have more issues with creepy parts of kids books, because they aren't sure how their little darling is going to handle it (and often kids are more okay with it than their parents are.)

But that's not really what I mean - in this instance I'm talking less about monsters and more about the kind of fear that's more intimidation, a fear of things or places that others are just fine with. Children's lit is full of examples where protagonists confronted something they were daunted by, and found a way to deal with it. While that might seem repetitious, it's important that kids see plenty of examples of friends, even fictional ones, who face their fears head on. That way we give them tools and strategies when they face their own trepidations, which they're bound to do.

Today's pick is one Sprout chose, and I think he likes it because the character is scared of new things, which Sprout himself tends to be. You're probably familiar with Anna Dewdney from her Llama Llama books (we find them deeply adorable), and that's why we initially checked out Roly Poly Pangolin, which Dewdney wrote and illustrated. A pangolin, if you don't know it, is an oddball little critter found in Africa and parts of Asia. Pangolins are covered in scales, which they use as a defense when they are scared - they roll into a ball so whatever threatens them is faced by their armor. Between that and the fact that they eat bugs (they have no teeth), Sprout finds them "weird and cool".

Dewdney cleverly turns the pangolin's defense system into a plot point. Our little friend Roly Poly doesn't like new things. He doesn't want to eat yucky bugs, he doesn't want to play with a friendly monkey, and he definitely doesn't want to find out what's making that scary noise in the forest. In running away from the noise, Roly Poly trips and stumbles into a ball, where he's most comfortable. But then Roly Poly decides to open his eyes just a bit, and what he finds is someone who's just like him!

As always, Dewdney's text is readable and relatable for even the youngest listeners, who will identify with Roly Poly's reluctance to try new things. And her art makes these strange little guys seem so appealing. Now we want to meet one in person! I can see a report on the pangolin coming up somewhere in our academic future. . . but in the meantime, we're thrilled to see yet another strong literary example of a character confronting his fears and coming out much the better for it.

Roly Poly Pangolin by Anna Dewdney, published by Viking

Picture Book Review - My Mei Mei by Ed Young

When you're preparing to add a member to your family through adoption, there's a lot of getting ready to do. Preparing a room, checking out daycares or schools, babyproofing (or big kid-proofing), picking a pediatrician -- there are a million little details. If you have other children in the home, a big part of the preparations is explaining the adoption process, and what it will feel like when their new sibling joins the household.

Luckily there are a lot of great picture books to facilitate these discussions, and My Mei Mei by Ed Young is one of them. Young, himself an adoptive dad, was motivated to write and illustrate this picture book through his own experience adding a second daughter from China. Young's firsthand knowledge of this situation shines through on every page.

Antonia desperately wants a mei mei (little sister) to play and share secrets with. She plays at being jieh-jieh (big sister) and she just knows she'll be a really good one. And then the day finally arrives, and the family travels to China to bring Mei Mei home. Antonia is so excited! But Mei Mei turns out to be nothing like Antonia thinks she would be, and soon jealousy is creeping in. Will the sisters ever get used to each other? Will Antonia like being a big sister after all?

Young is not only an adoptive dad, he's also a Caldecott medalist, and his talents bring this very personal story to life. The colors he uses are vibrant and vivid, emphasizing the emotional journey that all the family members move through. And as the girls' relationship changes, so does the perspective, and soon the two are totally intertwined.

Whether you're bringing home a child through international adoption, foster care, or having a birth child, there's a lot here to help ease the transition from only child to older sibling. Sharing Young's gentle tale as a family is an excellent way to open a discussion about life changes or to remember another child's adoption story. A beautiful book, beautifully told!

Chapter Book Review - Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman

Sleepaway camp.

Those two words conjure up lots of images for most of us: bunkmates, roasting marshmallows, inane camp songs, canoeing, dubious arts-and-crafts projects, even more dubious camp food. Add in enrichment classes (mainly math and science), learning twenty digits of pi, and an all-camp Jeopardy! tournament and you have Gabe's best summer yet -- six weeks at the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment.

Gabe's never really thought of himself as a geek before. He just enjoys learning, has insatiable curiosity and never met a book he didn't want to crack open. His friends are all the same, and they love their classwork in the Gifted program at school. But now Gabe's dad is getting remarried, and Gabe will finally have a brother. Suddenly Gabe is considering his own life through Zack's eyes, and he's not sure about what he sees. Will Zack think Gabe's interests are cool or impossibly nerdy?

Just in case, Gabe's not telling Zack that the sleepaway camp he's headed for is SCGE. Instead, Gabe describes for Zack the "normal" things he and his friends do at camp. Meanwhile, Gabe's compiling a logic proof determined to settle the question once and for all: is Gabe nerdy, or not?

With Nerd Camp, Elissa Brent Weissman taps into the ongoing struggle many kids have with being accepted by their peers. Geek may be chic in popular culture (The Big Bang Theory, Chuck and other TV shows prove that), but what about in middle school? It can still be very tough to swim against the tide for kids who don't have support from friends, family or peers. Gabe's the kind of kid that has always been true to himself, but when faced with the notion that he might be somehow deficient, he begins to question that self-loyalty. It's only through a summer of scavenger hunts, rocket science and a whole lot of math equations that Gabe begins to see that being who you are is the first step on the road to true contentment.

Weissman weaves a good deal of smart-kid stuff into the plot of Nerd Camp, but strikes a good balance. There's action, comedy and enough gross-out humor to keep boys (and girls) turning pages The plot's never inaccessible, and Gabe remains an "everykid" despite his above-average intelligence. More importantly, she never disparages Gabe or his friends for the things they are interested in, whether that's poetry writing or logical reasoning. And the ending is just right, not too perfect or neatly wrapped up -- believable, which I think is incredibly important for books like this one.

Bottom line: Nerd Camp is a fast, funny read about the kind of kiddo we hope Sprout turns out to be: geek at heart!

Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman
Ages 8-12
Source: Library
Sample quote: "It was a story that would go down in camp history. But when Gabe settled into his bed and took out his notepad before lights out, he realized that, once again, it wasn't one that he could tell to Zack. Despite all the cool stuff that was filling up the first column, there were just as many condemning things filling up the second."
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