Charlie Bumpers vs. the Teacher of the Year
by Bill Harley
illustrated by Adam Gustavson

Shortly before school starts, Charlie Bumpers learns that he will be in Mrs. Burke’s class. It doesn’t matter that she’s been named Teacher of the Year. He’s still afraid of her. Last year when he was horsing around in the hall, he accidentally hit her in the head with his sneaker (don’t ask). The exasperated teacher declared that if anything like that ever happened again, Charlie would be banned from recess forever. How will he survive a year under a teacher who is just waiting for him to make another stupid mistake? This fun series for young readers from Grammy Award-winning author Bill Harley uses humor to illuminate important values such as learning to live together as a family and making the best of a bad situation.

For more on this series, visit the Charlie Bumpers series page:

Nina Soni, Former Best Friend
by Kashmira Sheth
illustrated by Jenn Kocsmiersky

Nina tried as hard as she could, but still somehow she forgot about her school project. Fortunately, a class lesson about Alexander Fleming suggests how she might make a great discovery—and thus a great project! But with little sister Kavita’s birthday party right around the corner, and her longtime friendship with Jay on the rocks, Nina has a lot to keep track of. Readers are sure to relate to author Kashmira Sheth’s endearing Nina Soni and her slightly scatter-brained efforts to manage her life with lists, definitions, and real-life math problems.

Check out the rest of the Nina Soni series here:

Going Down Home with Daddy
Written by Kelly Starling Lyons
Illustrated by Daniel Minter

Down home is Granny’s house. It’s where Lil Alan and his parents and sister will join great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to hear stories of their ancestors and visit the land that has meant so much to all of them. And down home is where all of the children will find their special way to pay tribute to family history.

Kelly Starling Lyons’ eloquent text and Daniel Minter’s stunning illustrations create a rich and moving celebration of history, culture, and ritual that explores the power of family traditions, just in time for holiday celebrations with extended family.

Buy Going Down Home with Daddy through your local bookstore, Barnes & Noble, or on Amazon.

My Dadima Wears a Sari
Written by Kashmira Sheth
Illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi

Every day, Rupa’s grandmother wears a beautiful sari around the house and around the town. Some are made of cotton and some are made of fine silk. Each is brightly colored and very beautiful. Dadima shares with her granddaughter all the wonderful things that saris can do, and soon Rupa’s imagination is sparked as she envisions saris protecting her in the scary Gir jungle, bandaging up an injured knee, and holding a special secret for her and Dadima to share.

Author Kashmira Sheth provides young readers with a unique view of Indian culture and tradition, and illustrator Yoshiko Jaeggi’s fanciful watercolor illustrations capture the extraordinary bond that unites families across generations despite cultural differences.

Buy My Dadima Wears a Sari through your local bookstore, Barnes & Noble, or on Amazon.

Saturdays and Teacakes
Written by Lester L. Laminack
Illustrated by Chris Soentpiet

“When I was nine or ten years old I couldn’t wait for Saturdays.”

In this poetic memory, a young boy rides his bicycle every Saturday up and down country roads past farms, a graveyard, and a filling station, until he reaches his beloved Mammaw’s house. He helps her make teacakes from scratch, breaking the eggs and stirring the batter. But the best part, he remembers, is eating the hot, sweet cakes fresh from the oven.

Lester Laminack’s richly detailed prose perfectly portrays the special relationship of a young boy and his grandmother and the tender simplicity of their weekly tradition. Award-winning illustrator Chris Soentpiet’s images beautifully capture the simplicity of an earlier time.

Buy Saturdays and Teacakes through your local bookstore, Barnes & Noble, or on Amazon.

Charlie Bumpers vs. the Perfect Little Turkey
Written by Bill Harley
Illustrated by Adam Gustavson

It’s Thanksgiving in the Bumpers’ household and Charlie has to be the perfect host to his annoying little cousin, Chip. Chip makes everything hard for Charlie―gets him in trouble, ruins his things, and generally makes a nuisance of himself. On top of that, for homework, Mrs. Burke has assigned Charlie the task of writing what a family is to him. How will Charlie be able to see past his “turkey” of a cousin to understand the real meaning of family?

Grammy Award-winning author Bill Harley continues his fun series for young readers using humor to get across some important values such as learning to appreciate family no matter what and making the best of a bad situation. For more on this series, visit the Charlie Bumpers website.

Buy Charlie Bumpers vs. the Perfect Little Turkey through your local bookstore, Barnes & Noble, or on Amazon.

Speed Demon
by Fred Bowen

Mr. Penguin and the Fortress of Secrets
by Alex T. Smith

To celebrate the closing of Charlie Bumpers’s 4th grade year that comes with the release of the final book in the series, Charlie Bumpers vs. the End of the Year, we’re giving everyone a peek inside Charlie Bumpers’ “yearbook.” Hear from some of Charlie’s biggest fans and greatest friends through the years!

Sue Poduska, Grade Reading

Charlie,

It’s been a great year with you, Tommy, and Hector. You never take the easy way out, even though you think you’re doing the right thing. Seems there’s a right way to do things, a wrong way, and a Charlie way. Sorry the adults in your world tend to go into emergency mode. But at least your big brother watches out for you. Just learn to ignore your little sister. Have a wonderful summer and a great fifth grade.

Your friend,
Sue

Laura Palermo, Education and Library Sales at Peachtree

You’re a good friend (and a really nice gnome!), Charlie Bumpers! I’ll never forget you.

Karen Yingling, Ms. Yingling Reads

Dear Charlie,

Fourth grade has been a challenging year for you, but you have made it through with good humor, and I am glad that you shared your exploits with me. After the shoe throwing incidents at the beginning of the year, it was great to see you do such an impressive job with your role as a gnome in the school play. It was also good to see that your soccer team had a successful season– I think I still have a candy bar in my freezer from your fundraising efforts. I hope that things are looking up for your family with your father’s new job, and that your cousin Chip has not thrown up any more Swedish fish at your house!

Fifth grade will be another adventure for you, even though I know you will miss Hector very much. I will look forward to having your sister Squid in a few years, and I hope that you take sure you take Ginger for some nice, long walks this summer.

Best Wishes,

Ms. Yingling

Kate Unger, Mom’s Radius

My son and I love this series. I love how funny the Charlie books are. And I enjoy how they address real-life problems that kids face. It gave us great things to discuss while we were reading the books.

Vicky Holifield, Charlie Bumpers Editor at Peachtree

Dear Charlie,

Holy moly! What fun it was to relive the fourth grade with you! Thanks for all the stupific memories from the year: your incredible rabid bat Halloween costume, your brother Matt’s terrifying stories of the Long-Fingered Man, all those wacky adventures with your best friends Tommy and Hector, the narrow escape from the Jerzollies of Darkness, Mrs. Burke’s POWerful finger-snaps, and even the Squid’s annoying first-grade songs!

And will I ever forget your kindness toward others (especially Hector), your admirable (though sometimes a bit misguided) attempts to make the best of a disastrophe, your enthusiastic spirit, and your honest wish to do the right thing? To quote your favorite superhero Buck Meson: I DON’T THINK SO!!

Your biggest fan,

Vicky

Leave your yearbook note to Charlie (or author Bill Harley) in the comments below, and we’ll share them as we reminisce and celebrate Charlie all week!

Charlie Bumpers vs. the End of the Year
Written by Bill Harley and illustrated by Adam Gustavson

It’s the end of an era! Since its debut, the Charlie Bumpers series, written by Grammy-Award-winning author Bill Harley, has been praised as “fast-paced” and “enjoyable,” with “naturally funny moments” (School Library Journal). Charlie Bumpers vs. the End of the Year ends the series on a high, warm-hearted note, celebrating friends and family, and making the best of a bad situation.

When Charlie learns that Hector’s family is moving back to Chile at the end of the year, he is crushed. With Tommy’s help, he immediately starts cooking up schemes to keep Hector here, including a campaign to get him selected as next year’s School Ambassador. (Surely Hector will have to stay, Charlie reasons, if he has such an important job.) As usual, Charlie’s schemes lead to one near-disaster after another.

But moving away from his friends turns out to be the least of Hector’s problems. Three mean boys have targeted him for bullying and are making his life miserable. Hector wants to solve the problem by himself, but Charlie and Tommy see that he needs help. They start a campaign to save Hector and to defeat “The Jerzollies of Darkness.”

“Narrated in a balance of warmhearted insight and wacky naiveté, Charlie’s life will resonate with readers trying to navigate the simple but realistic perils of elementary school. Making friends, getting along with siblings, avoiding trouble at school—these situations matter to young readers, and Harley captures these emotions with a light and humorous touch.” —Kirkus Reviews

Check out the whole Charlie Bumpers series here, and don’t miss the free, downloadable series poster! Read an excerpt of Charlie Bumpers vs. the End of the Year and hear Bill Harley’s song for the last book of the series. There also a teacher’s guide available (for this book and all the rest of the books in the series).

Sign Charlie Bumpers’ yearbook! If you’re a fan of Charlie Bumpers and want to share your favorite moments with Bill Harley’s fun and wacky books, comment below with your “good-bye.” We’ll be sharing everyone’s good-bye messages to Charlie as we reflect on the end of this wonderful series.

Get your copy of Charlie Bumpers vs. the End of the Year on Amazon or at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble!

New Board Books

Spirited, rhyming text and colorful, graphic art reveal an energetic cast of babies having an action-packed day of play in the park on a cheerful spring day. The Babies in the Park series by Kathryn O. Galbraith and Adela Pons has two new titles coming in March.

Featuring diverse characters and highlighting early concepts like shapes and repetition, books in the Babies in the Park series encourage an appreciation of nature and outdoor imaginative play. Spring Babies and Summer Babies will be the last two books in the Babies in the Park series.

New Picture Books

From an award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson and award-winning illustrator Don Tate, this first-ever picture book biography of Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black History Month, emphasizes the importance of pursuing curiosity and encouraging a hunger for knowledge of stories and histories that have not been told.

In this companion to the award-winning Madeline Finn and the Library Dog, author-illustrator Lisa Papp offers a heartwarming exploration of life in an animal shelter in this inspiring and endearing book for young readers eager to help their communities.

In this rich and moving celebration of history, culture, and ritual, Kelly Starling Lyon’s eloquent text explores the power of family traditions. Stunning illustrations by Coretta Scott King Honor-winner Daniel Minter reveal the motion and connections in a large, multi-generational family.

This dashing picture book biography from author Lori Mortensen and illustrator Kristy Caldwell about the first female member of the Royal Geographic Society takes readers around the world with the daring Isabella Bird, a nineteenth-century female explorer and best-selling travel writer.

Now available in Spanish, this beginner’s guide offers a first glimpse into the diverse and natural world of mammals. This addition to the acclaimed About… series is the first Spanish-only edition, and is also available in English and bilingual editions.

The second Spanish-only edition in the About… series is another beginner’s guide that offers a first glimpse into the natural world of birds.

New Illustrated Chapter Book

The fifth book in the Geisel Honor Award-winning King & Kayla series is here! King, Kayla, and Grandma find a dog who has lost his human family. Can they figure out who he is and where his family is? Dori Hillestad Butler and illustrator Nancy Meyers use simple, straightforward language and great verbal and visual humor in this series that is perfect for newly independent readers.

New Middle Grade Books

Explore the fascinating world of superlative birds―from the bee hummingbird, the tiniest bird in the world, to the peregrine falcon, the fastest creature on Earth. Witty drawings by Robert Meganck add another layer of fun to author Leslie Bulion‘s humorous and informative gallery of the world’s most accomplished birds.

From Alex T. Smith, the author-illustrator of the popular Claude series, this quirky and hilarious page-turner is sure to thrill young readers looking for a good adventure.

In this latest installment to the fun series for young readers from Grammy Award-winning author Bill Harley, Charlie is cooking up some wacky plans to keep his friend Hector from returning to Chile, but when he learns that some classmates are bullying Hector, he turns all his energy to solving that problem.

Pre-order these titles at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble. 

Career week is coming up for Mrs. Burke’s fourth grade class, and when his classmates brag about their own parents’ jobs, Charlie’s mouth gets ahead of him. Before he knows it, Charlie’s class thinks his dad will not only bring free calculators for everyone for Career Week, but that he is also president of the whole company! The downside? Charlie hasn’t even asked his father about coming in for Career Week. And to make matters worse, just before the big event Charlie’s dad loses his job. How will Charlie get out of this one?

Featuring endearing characters and relatable situations, this fun Parents’ Choice Recommended series illuminates the importance of learning to live together as a family as well as making the best of a bad situation.

For more Charlie Bumpers, you can watch the trailer, download the series poster, or check out the Teacher’s Guide. You can also enter to win one of five copies of Charlie Bumpers vs. His Big Blabby Mouth, with the audiobook included, if you retweet the back-to-school Charlie Bumpers polls on our Twitter!*

Don’t miss out on this new story, released this September. You can find Charlie and his antics at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble!

In this bilingual addition to the acclaimed About… series, educator and author Cathryn Sill presents the basic characteristics of what fish are. With beautifully detailed, realistic paintings, noted wildlife illustrator John Sill introduces readers to the diversity of the fish population, from an Arctic char to a Porcupine fish.

Kyle Mewburn’s story of an overly affectionate aunt will resonate with readers, who will instantly recognize the bond of love that unites the two characters. Ali Teo and John O’Reilly’s colorful and quirky illustrations, which combine freehand drawing and photographic collage, exaggerate the humor of the story.

Believarexic

by J.J. Johnson

Jennifer can’t go on like this—binging, purging, starving, and all while trying to appear like she’s got it all together. But when she finally confesses her secret to her parents and is hospitalized at the Samuel Tuke Center, her journey is only beginning. Using her trademark dark humor and powerful emotion, J. J. Johnson tells an inspiring story based on her own experience when she was hospitalized for an eating disorder as a teenager. 

Read an Excerpt.

“Compelling and authentic, this story is impossible to put down… Perfect for fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls (2009), Believarexic is a raw, memorable reading experience.” ―Booklist, STARRED REVIEW


Find these titles this fall at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble. Check out our “New Season, New List” post to see our newest hardcovers for the Fall 2017 season!

Gabe is a reading rebel whose story we had to share. Gabe has been a reader from the moment he could read on his own. In late kindergarten, he began reading books meant for grade levels three and four years ahead of him. Specifically, he began reading Charlie Bumpers.

Once Gabe had read through a few of Charlie’s stories himself, he began sharing them with his friends. On the bus to school one day, Gabe was once again urging his friends to read Charlie Bumpers when a rather unfortunate thing happened. Gabe’s friend got carsick from reading on the bus! Reading was banned thenceforth to Gabe’s dismay. (Like we said—reading rebel).

Since then, Gabe has continued to read, despite the bus ban, and is now inspiring the reading life of his little brother! We’ll let Gabe do some of the talking now, but we wanted you to have that introduction first.

Let us know if you have reading rebels in your life! We’d love to share their stories and hear how reading has impacted them.

In Charlie Bumpers vs. the Perfect Little Turkey—the fourth installment of Bill Harley’s Charlie Bumpers series—middle-schooler Charlie should be spending his Thanksgiving break without a care in the world, watching superheroes on TV. Instead, Charlie has to deal with not only his stubborn big brother and his bothersome little sister, aka the Squid, but also the 10 people invited to dinner, including his annoying “turkey” of a cousin, Chip. On top of that, he has homework to do: a paper about his definition of family. But this Thanksgiving, Charlie gets into all sorts of trouble while ultimately learning how cool it is to have your family by your side.

Want to see what mess Charlie gets into this Thanksgiving? Check out Charlie Bumpers vs. the Perfect Little Turkey at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble. It’s a book the whole family will enjoy!

Speaking of family, Charlie and his family recommend creating these awesome crafts and crazy cool experiments together this Thanksgiving.

Via: http://lizoncall.com/

You can’t let this Thanksgiving pass without making the classic turkey craft. All you need is colorful construction paper, empty toilet paper rolls, scissors, and some glue. With these ingredients, you can make some creative and unique place settings for your dinner table. You can find the step by step guide at Liz on Call.

This experiment will make your family fun time rocket sky high! With parental supervision, kids can build their rocket out of a soda bottle and some cardboard, and use a pump to create water pressure, just like Charlie, Chip, and Uncle Ron. The water pressure will send the rocket soaring! To get the complete directions and learn the science behind it all, head on over to Science Sparks.

Via: livewellforless.sainsburys.co.uk

To avoid a similar fiasco like Charlie Bumpers’, this indoor rocket can get anyone’s imagination fired up, without destroying the living room or your Thanksgiving feast. Using a soda bottle, paint, and a few other items you can find around the house, building this rocket is all about creativity, and it’s a creation you are going to want to keep for years to come. Find everything you need at Sainsberry’s Live Well For Less.

What’s your favorite part about Thanksgiving? Do you have any special crafts you like to do with the family over the holiday? We can’t wait to hear!