Review Round-Up: Books for Beginning Readers, September 2015

Cybils News

If you enjoy these round-ups, or have been included in them, you probably have plenty of favorite titles in the easy reader and early chapter book categories. If you have discovered a new favorite since last October, please consider nominating it for Cybils. Nominations open on October 1st, and everyone is entitled to submit one nominee per category. To learn more about the types of books we're looking for in the Easy Reader/Early Chapter Book category, check out the official category description.

Also, please congratulate these lovely bloggers, who have been selected to judge the Easy Reader/Early Chapter Book Category this year:

Round 1:

• Katie Fitzgerald from Story Time Secrets
• Juliana Lee from Juliana Lee, Crafting Stories
• Susan Murray from From Tots to Teens
• Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom
• Jennifer Wharton from Jean Little Library

Round 2:

• Emily Andrus from Literary Hoots
• Freya Hooper from One Great Book
• Amy Johnson from Sunlit Pages
• Teri Lesesne from LSSL 585 Blog
• Kurt Stroh from Kids Talk Kid Lit

Now, on to the reviews!

Easy Readers

As so many blogs did over the summer, Jean Little Library weighed in on What This Story Needs is a Pig in a Wig. (Her verdict is similar to mine, though I have yet to write a review!)

Also getting attention from multiple blogs are new Toon Books, such as Written and Drawn by Henrietta by Liniers (reviewed both here and at Waking Brain Cells) and Flop to the Top by Eleanor Davis, reviewed at Books 4 Your Kids, as well as Bob Shea's latest,  Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret, which appeared at both Miss Mary Liberry and One Great Book this month.
Some blogs dug up some oldies but goodies this month as well. At Becky's Book Reviews, there is a review of Pizza Pat, originally published in 1999. Literary Hoots reviewed Eric Carle's Have You Seen My Cat? and in honor of Cybils, Family Bookshelf resurrected a 2010 easy reader nominee, Wolf Pie, for its Throwback Thursday Book Review.

Finally, Mom Read It rounds out the list with an easy reader non-fiction title: A Visit to the Library by Mary Lindeed.

Chapter Books

While the easy reader reviews were relatively few and far between this month, it seems like everyone has been reviewing beginning chapter books!

Scholastic's various Branches series have been popular. Literary Hoots reviewed Dragon Masters: Rise of the Earth Dragon, Great Kid Books reviewed the first two Owl Diaries titles, Mom Read It reviewed Olive & Beatrix: The Not-So Itty-Bitty Spiders, and Kids Book a Day reviewed Olive & Beatrix: The Not-So Itty-Bitty Spiders, and Silver Pony Ranch: Sparkling Jewel.

Also popular is Kate DiCamillo's second installment in her Tales from Deckawoo Drive series, Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon, which was reviewed by Books 4 Your Kids, Kids Book a Day, Randomly Reading, and Unleashing Readers. (In the same post Unleashing Readers also reviewed The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party, which appeared here at Story Time Secrets this month as well.)

The rest of the chapter book reviews I found this month can be read below: 

• Billie B. Brown series reviewed at The Lion is a Bookworm
• Charlie Bumpers vs. the Perfect Little Turkey, reviewed at Jen Robinson's Book Page
• Digby O'Day and the Great Diamond Robbery, reviewed at Books 4 Your Kids
• Dory and the Real True Friend, reviewed at Readerkidz
• Izzy Barr, Running Star, reviewed at Jean Little Library
• Justice League vs. Bizarro League, reviewed at Mom Read It
• Lego Elves: Quest for the Keys, reviewed at Mom Read It
• Lost in NYC, reviewed at From Tots to Teens
• Mrs. Noodlekugel and Four Blind Mice, reviewed at Books 4 Your Kids
• Mrs. Noodlekugel and Drooly the Bear, reviewed at Books 4 Your Kids
• My Pet Human, reviewed at Provo Library Children's Book Reviews
• Piper Green and the Fairy Tree reviewed at Kids Book a Day
• Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat, reviewed at Batch of Books
• Wild Water Magic, reviewed at Batch of Books

If you find a review I missed, let me know in comments, and I'll do my best to add it in. Thanks for visiting this month's round-up!