Before your child enters their next grade level, it would be wonderful for them to read the following great books that have made a splash in the literary world in 2015.

For lower Elementary Students who love art, I highly recommend the following delightful picture books. The Noisy Paint Box earned Caldecott Honor at this year’s American Library Association Awards and is a beautifully illustrated book by Barb Rosenstock and Mary GrandPre sharing the story of abstract artist Vasily Kandinsky. Also earning an Honor nod was the incredible Frida, by Yuri Morales, to learn more, and drop your jaw in awe, over the making of this book, check out this clip on Vimeo. Finally, a third book for aspiring artists is my favourite, The Iridescence of Birds: A book about Henri Matisse. It is so divine, I want to jump in the pages of this book and hug Henri’s mother for encouraging her child to experiment and find so much joy in his art. Bravo to Patricia MacLachlan and illustrator Hadley Cooper.

For older students, 4th, 5th and above, I’d love to see you read the whole Joey Pigza series, by Jack Gantos. Jack won the Newbery Award for Dead End in Norvelt in 2012
and children may also know his successful Rotten Ralph books. However it is the Joey Pigza series, started in 1998, that I’ve enjoyed the most; and students should also be impressed
that this series has taken almost 20 years to come to it’s climax, with the fifth and final book, The Key that Swallowed Joey Pigza being released just this year. Focusing on the main character Joey as he, and those around him, come to terms with his learning style, unique perspective on life and often humorous, yet bittersweet adventures, children and adults alike will find something to learn from Joey.