You Need to Read: Rudolph

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer is one of our favorite Christmas icons. He was always judged for his shiny nose and then had the chance to prove himself when he leads Santa's sleigh through a foggy night. Here are some books that I think Rudolph would love to read!

12 Hacks to Beat Bullying
By Honor Head
New York: Enslow Publishing, 2023. Informational. 32 pages.

This is a short but effective book about what to do if you are being bullied. The hacks help with things like frenemies, cyber bullying, and peer pressure. Rudolph could definitely take a few of these tips to combat the bullying from all the other reindeer.

Cloud Chaser
Written by Anne-Fleur Drillon
Illustrated by Eric Purbaret
Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books, Inc, 2018. Picture Book.

Emery has always dreamed of flying and one day, when she meets the mysterious man who moved in next door, she finally gets her chance. The two work together to build a flying machine. As a frequent flyer, Rudolph would probably be tickled to hear how two people worked so hard to fly.

Tiny Reindeer
By Chris Naylor-Ballesteros
Toronto: Tundra Books, 2021. Picture Book.

This tiny reindeer is more important than he appears. I'm sure Rudolph has felt that he didn't belong once or twice. In this picture book, Rudolph would relate to the feeling of proving himself in a very similar experience to his.

Feel the Fog

By April Pulley Sayre
New York: Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, 2020. Informational.

This is a beautiful and photographic picture book about how fog is formed and how it affects the world. The poetic words on each page romantacize the different aspects of this type of weather. I think Rudolph would be fascinated to learn about the weather that gave him his big break.

Comments

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

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