“Heroes” by Alan Gratz explores the horrific attack on Pearl Harbor, the aftermath and what friendship and courage really mean. (Courtesy of Scholastic)
Summer is the perfect time to get lost in terrific books that readers/listeners won’t want to put down. Steer kids away from their screens and toward books that are packed with good stuff. That is time well-spent.
Books to borrow
The following book is available at many public libraries.
“The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame, abridged and illustrated by Inga Moore, Candlewick Press, 182 pages
Read aloud: age 4 – 10.
Read yourself: age 8 – 12.
Just pouring over the lavish, enchanting illustrations in this volume is pure pleasure in itself. Add to that the nine fun adventures found in “The Wind in the Willows,” and you’ve got non-stop magical entertainment.
Enter Grahame’s world of distinctive, loveable characters — the ever-pleasant Mole, his neighborly friend Water Rat, friendly Badger and the spirited Mr. Toad as they enjoy one memorable adventure after another.
First published in 1908, this carefully abridged edition is exquisite throughout all 182 pages. Incidentally, “The Wind in the Willows” has been published several times over by various publishing companies, so if your library doesn’t have this particular edition, don’t sweat it. In all likelihood, they’ll have an edition by another publisher, and these wonderful stories are worth reading no matter what edition you can get your hands on.
Librarian’s choice
Library: Kutztown Community Library, 70 Bieber Alley, Kutztown
Library director: Janet Yost
Assistant director: Jackee Sharayko
Youth librarian: Tara Sanders
Choices this week: “To the Sea” by Cale Atkinson; “The Hollow Boy” by Jonathan Stroud; “The Plan” by Alison Paul
Books to buy
The following books are available at favorite bookstores.
“Heroes” by Alan Gratz, Scholastic, 2024, 272 pages, $18.99 hardcover
Read aloud: age 8 – 12.
Read yourself: age 8 – 12.
On Dec. 6, 1941, best friends Frank and Stanley were heading home from baseball practice across Pearl Harbor in their little aluminum motorboat. As usual, they were discussing their latest comic book story ideas for their superhero.
The two had a lot in common, lived next door to one another, and both of their fathers were stationed at the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. Although World War II was raging overseas, America hadn’t entered the war, and life in Hawaii was peaceful.
The following morning, Frank and Stanley were invited to tour the battleship Utah. Just moments after boarding the ship, dozens of planes approached from the northwest and proceeded to drop countless bombs, torpedoes and an endless barrage of bullets. The unimaginable was happening — Japan was attacking America.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor was supposed to be an impenetrable fortress to protect Hawaii. Instead, the Utah was sinking, and Frank and Stanley had to find a way to quickly get off the ship. And while that would take extreme measures of courage, what followed was even more precarious, as the boys would attempt to navigate through Pearl Harbor amid the constant onslaught of enemy attacks and return safely to land.
As they soon realized, land wasn’t the safe haven they hoped for. And to make matters worse, Stanley, as a Japanese American, was looked upon as the enemy. With their world turned upside down, Frank and Stanley wondered if their lives and friendship would ever be the same.
Thoroughly engrossing at every turn, “Heroes” explores the horrific attack on Pearl Harbor, the aftermath and what friendship and courage really mean.
“The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice” by Rachel Chivers Khoo, illustrated by Rachel Sanson, Candlewick, 2024, 240 pages, $16.99 hardcover
Read aloud: 7 – 10.
Read yourself: age 8 – 10.
Ten-year-old Felix used to spend a lot of time with his older sister. But now that she was in college, the seven-year age gap seemed huge, and Felix realized Rebecca was more interested in spending time with her friends than with him.
Walking home, Felix came to the market square of Whittlestone and the penny fountain that stood in the center. Felix had never considered making a wish, but that evening felt different, and he knew exactly what his wish would be — for his sister to like him again.
After tossing his penny into the fountain, Felix noticed a small man standing on the wall of the fountain. The man was shocked that Felix could see him, explaining that he was typically invisible, and as the town’s wishkeeper, it was best no one noticed him and his work of collecting wishes and granting them.
The man felt their meeting was fate, and that his own wish had finally come true — to find an apprentice — and offered Felix the job.
Accepting the offer, Felix quickly understood that the wishes of Whittlestone were piled sky-high. Even worse was the real threat of the wolf-man that appeared to Felix in a recurring nightmare and whose mission was to snatch all the wishes in town and destroy them. The only thing that could defeat a wishsnatcher was hope, bravery and optimism. Was Felix up to the task?
Magical in every regard, “The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice” is guaranteed to have readers/listeners glued to every page of this remarkable novel.
Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and lectures on children’s literature. She can be reached at kendal.rautzhan27@gmail.com.
