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/ . / B O O K S ➻ ) & , ( ) A G E S % , + Amelia Rules by Jimmy Gownley ➸ If your kid likes really really crazy boy characters, get these books. They're starring Pajama Man, Reggie, Kyle, Ed, and a little girl named Amelia who just moved into a new town. Her parents are divorced, and she lives with her aunt and her mom. Her aunt is a rock star. Boys and girls will like it. On a scale of 1 to 10? 10. –Phoebe Parent note: There are a few references—and a game of spin the bottle, where Amelia wants to shake hands instead of kiss—that you might want to know about. Matilda by Roald Dahl ➸ Matilda's a little girl who loves to read books, but her father and mother don't want her to read books. They want her to watch TV allllllllll the time. But one day, she feels like, 'I want to go to school.' So her mom drops her oZ at this school, and then she meets a girl who tells her about the principal [scary voice] Mrs. Trunchbull! She's a really really mean person, and she talks in a really mean way. I can't describe it. Mrs. Trunchbull's daughter is Mrs. Honey, but you only find that out at the end. Don't write that, daddy! You'll ruin it! This book is about how Matilda has a hard life, but is an amazingly smart girl. It's for people who are interested in reading. I don't even want to talk about the movie. –Abby Baby Mouse by Jennifer Holm ➸ Funny! Baby Mouse likes pink and hearts. She has every- thing in the shape of a heart. She has a clock that's in the shape of a heart. But she hates dodge ball. She hates fractions. And her best friend is Wilson the weasel because she's a mouse. She wants to be the queen of the world. It's silly and Baby Mouse always says "Typical." –Phoebe 47 A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears by Jules Fei9er ➸ You already know how we feel about Jules FeiZer in our house (see #27). In addition to being an iconic New Yorker cartoonist and the man who kicked oZ our daughter's comic book obsession, he also happens to be the author of some really memorable chapter books. Chief among them: the exquisitely- titled Barrel of Laughs, the plot of which is too unconventional and playful to explain here. (The reader is part of the narrative, I'll just say that much.) This one breaks open, for young readers, the endless possibilities of storytelling. –Andy 52 51 54 48 53 49 50 Tales of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo ➸ This is one of my most favorite books. It's...sort of like a sad and happy book at the same time. I'd call it adventur- ish—but it makes you think, too. The plot is complicated. It's about a mouse who's, like, diZerent from all the oth- ers—his name is Desperaux. He's diZerent because he's not afraid of anything and he can read. One day, Desperaux talks to a human—the penalty for that is death in mice laws. So he's lowered down to the rats— that's what happens when you do something like that, and the rats eat you. They're scary. I don't want to give it away. Haven't I given you enough? Put it this way: it's a good end- ing. The book is better than the movie, and that's saying something because that movie is good. –Phoebe Glister by Andi Watson ➸ This book is really hard to describe. It's a graphic novel about a troll and a little girl who lives in a house. The house runs away and gets a diZerent room every single day. The bird poops on a guy's head. I don't know. It's kind of complicated to read at first, but you get used to it. It's not scary, just a teensy bit sad. Tomboys would like this. On a scale of 1 to 10? 10. –Phoebe Laika by Nick Abadzis ➸ Sad, very sad at the end. It's about a dog who goes through a lot of trouble and has mean owners but also finds puppy families and lives with them. One day, a dog catcher catches her and she goes to this place where they send dogs up in space to test the very first Russians to go up into space. The grown-up girl really likes Laika and she doesn't want her to go up into space, and she cries when Laika goes. It's how we treat dogs and how they should be treated a lot better, cause we treat them like barking babies. –Phoebe Bone by Je9 Smith ➸ Bone is about three bones who are alive—and no, they don't look like those doggie bones. They have eyes and mouths and they walk into a desert, and then a locust swarm separates them. Then one of the bones wanders into a valley and finds a girl who helps them. It's funny because the other bone is named Pho- ney and he's tromping in the mud and he eats a stick. Hee hee hee. That's good. The art is very detailed. Watch out for the mean guy, the Lord of Locusts. –Phoebe Parent note: The depth of imagination here is aston- ishing. These books — nine volumes plus a prequel (see #55) — occupied Phoebe for a good three months. Adults will like them, too. 14

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