This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Itsy Mitsy, Awesome Athletes and a Sidekick

Itsy Mitsy runs away, a few Amazing Athletes and a superhero Sidekick are featured in this week's youth collection book reviews!

This week's book reviews were inspired by items we've recently added to the collection. Give the new stuff a try!

Itsy Mitsy Runs Away by Elanna Allen (picture book)

Okay, what child hasn’t struggled with bedtime? (And as a direct result, what parent hasn’t.) Parents’ reactions tend to come in two forms: frustration or amusement at the child’s ridiculous attempts at staying up later. Itsy Mitsy’s dad follows the latter. After Mitsy declares she won’t go to bed, and will instead run away from home, Dad watches, amused, and encouragingly adds "peanut gallery" packing tips like, Good thinking, did you remember…? It starts out realistically with remembering things like her stuffed animal, but ends up with Itsy Mitsy needing to pack up her whole house (which she does… on her little wagon). Kids will find Itsy Mitsy hilarious, and may or may not see their own attempts in new light. You’ll have to check out the book to see the twist of how it ends, but it’s a clever, not-so-serious take on the ever un-popular bedtime. With great illustrations and Mitsy’s truly “itsy” size, kids will get a laugh out of her ridiculous attempts at packing… and parents will relate to Dad’s amusement!

Find out what's happening in Lower Macungiewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Amazing Athletes by Jeff Savage (Juvenile)

I’m kind of proud of this update to our sports/biography collection and the “series” covers a lot of ground… athletes, male and some female, from a range of sports are covered. A lot of kids were coming in for biographies and, I have to admit, I don’t like purchasing bios on whoever’s-got-the-latest-15-minutes-of-fame if, 6 months from now, no one remembers their name. (For example, I know all the kids love him, but I didn’t break down and order a Justin Bieber biography until my boss left me a note that said “Justin Bieber bio—BUY ONE!” ;) ) So back to the Amazing Athletes books… we tested out interest in the “sports biography” format with Michael Phelps (it was just after the Olympics) and Ryan Howard, We just recently added LeBron James, Michael Vick, David Beckham, Roy Halladay. For the girls, we have Danica Patrick and Annika Sorenstam. There aren’t as many female athletes in the series, but maybe that will change. Because, as I mentioned, they’re more a “sports biography” (meaning they mainly cover the sports career and don’t cover the athlete’s whole life), they might not work for a biography school assignment. But lots of pictures and a great short little overviews, perfect for a younger fan or one who can’t get enough of their favorite.

Find out what's happening in Lower Macungiewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sidekicks by Jack Ferraiolo (young adult)

In a world that’s always about superheroes, it’s nice every once and a while for the sidekick to get some attention. Middle schooler Scott Hutchinson, a.k.a. Bright Boy. He’s super-fast and super-strong, fighting alongside superhero Phantom Justice. Throw into the normal middle school drama an embarrassing situation with too-tight tights and doubts about PJ’s goodness, Bright Boy’s has to do a little growing up. Sidekicks got starred reviews in all the professional journals, but it’s also getting thumbs up from teenage boys because of its quick pace, use of comic style illustrations… and of course, the superhero thing, which it tongue-in-cheek teases. Something to appeal to those reluctant reader teenage boys!

So stop in and check some of these out!

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Lower Macungie