Summer is the perfect time for kids to immerse themselves in reading U.S. Bank employees are teaming up with us to promote summer reading! Employees shared some of their top children’s book recommendations for kids age 6-8.
Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene
Review by Lauren Mcconnell
The Nancy Drew series is a great collection for young girls. They are captivating and interesting stories following Nancy Drew and her friends as they travel and solve mysteries. Each book has a unique story, usually with reoccurring characters, which presents a new problem Nancy must solve. These stories are great for young girls to be able to see a smart young girl like Nancy piecing together clues and getting to the bottom of a case. These are an easy read, but all the while still captivating and sure to draw in the reader.
SumoKitty by David Biedrzycki
Review by Dhyani Archana
A stray kitty is taken into a sumo training academy for chasing off mice. He gets rewarded with food, shelter, and love from the big human sumo wrestlers. However, he’s so good at chasing off mice that he starts to slow down because he keeps getting rewarded with food. The kitty then realizes that if he’s eating like a sumo wrestler, he must train like one too! After hours of training and eating with the help of his human buddies, the kitty becomes Sumo Kitty! Learn about the art of sumo wrestling, Japanese culture, and how Sumo Kitty became the best sumo wrestler in Japan with a hilarious storyline and bright illustrations. This encouraging and heartwarming story was inspired by a Japanese saying, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight”.
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
Review by Jennifer Claerbaut
When I was little this was my favorite book. The book itself is very well written. It is creative and unusual. It gets the point across that it is okay to be different and you should do what brings you joy. The illustrations are beautiful. Each one is tailed with bright colors and fantastic detail. I love the story and pictures, but my favorite thing about this book is the memories that come with it. My mom would read me a bedtime story every night and time after time I would request this one.
We did a couple of activities related to this book that I would recommend to families. The first one is cooking lima beans together to eat while reading the book. This gets kids engaged in cooking and interested in new vegetables. You can even substitute different vegetables each time to get kids to try new things. Another activity you can do is let kids paint a picture of a person based on items in the room. In the book, she starts turning into things around her, so this is a great activity! It lets kids be creative and conscious of their surroundings. This could also be done with crayons or markers to reduce the mess.