So Misguided

Plain words, uncommon sense

Tag: kids books

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen | Book Review

May 7, 2025 /

The False Prince (The Ascendance series, Book 1) was introduced to me by my tween son. I love discovering books that I wouldn’t otherwise encounter, and this was a good find. I have since read the second book in the series, The Runaway King.

The False Prince opens with Sage, an orphan, being captured/bought by a noble named Bevin Conner. Sage isn’t the only orphan, there are four of them, and they soon find out that they have been selected due to their passing resemblance to the kingdom’s Prince Jaron, who hasn’t been seen for years and is believed to be dead at the hands of pirates. The rub is that the King, Queen, and the eldest son and heir to the throne have just died by poison. Conner believes that he can disguise and train one of the orphans to be the prince, and once the puppet prince on the throne then they will delegate Conner as steward and basically leader. Foolproof, right?

There are many plot twists in this novel and I do not want to give away too much of the story. What I can say is that only one orphan will make it to the throne and the others will be killed. The pressure is on for the boys to form alliances as a safety net yet they are still orphans used to fighting for their place so rivalries abound.

The Runaway King (Book 2) opens with the real Prince Jaron, recently crowned King, fighting off an assassination attempt. Apparently the pirates are not happy that they didn’t kill him the first time around. Jaron recklessly decides to infiltrate the pirates in order to suss out the traitor in his court.

The trilogy now has 5 books in this series.

My son is a fan of the Percy Jackson series, Harry Potter, and Keeper of the Lost Cities. The Ascendance series doesn’t have the fantasy and magic but it is otherwise a classic adventure with a strong, determined hero who faces physical and mental challenges, often aided by friends who he initially mistrusts. If you like a classic hero’s journey with rising tension and plot twists then this is for you.

Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

September 17, 2023 /

The book Bomb by Steve Sheinkin is an absolutely fascinating read about what was going on at Los Alamos during WWII and the mad race for physicists around the world to figure out atomic weapons. Oppenheimer is certainly a presence in the book, but where the film delves into the behind-the-scenes trial, this book digs into the many different personalities working on atomic energy. I wish I’d read this book before seeing the film.

If you like history and spy stories then this is for you. It’s billed for age 10-14 but don’t let that dissuade you. Sheinkin offers up a rich history lesson, in plain language, that is spine-tingling.

Check out the excerpt on the author’s website. Or just go buy the book (Amz).

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

January 18, 2022 /

A beloved classic that I failed to read sooner.

Meg, her twin brothers, and her baby brother Charles Wallace are desperate to hear news of their father. He’s disappeared and although Mother is keeping it together for the sake of the kids, they all know she’s upset.

The answers come on a dark and stormy night in the form of Calvin, the neighbour, and three witches (women? spirits?): Mrs Who, Mrs Which, and Mrs Whatsit.

Seems that father and mother have been experimenting with space and time travel, and the 3 Mrs’s are experts in it. They take Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace into another dimension to rescue the dad.

Perfect for fans of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz.

TD Grade One Book Giveaway Announced

July 3, 2019 /

To mark the end of Indigenous History Month, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre announced that this year’s selected title for the TD Grade One Book Giveaway is My Heart Fills With Happiness/sâkaskinêw nitêh miywêyihtamowin ohci by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Julie Flett and published by Orca Book Publishers.

This year has been declared the International Year of Indigenous Languages by the United Nations, and this special edition includes the text in Plains Cree, as well as English or French.

About the book: The sun on your face. The smell of warm bannock baking in the oven. Holding the hand of someone you love. What fills your heart with happiness? This beautiful board book, with illustrations from celebrated artist Julie Flett, serves as a reminder for little ones and adults alike to reflect on and cherish the moments in life that bring us joy.

About the program: The TD Grade One Book Giveaway program is funded by the TD Bank Group and has occurred annually since 2000. The chosen book is distributed to over 550,000 children all across Canada. For some kids, this will be the first book they own. And, this year CNIB is partnering with the organization to offer a braille version too.

Halloween Books for Kids (That Aren’t Too Scary)

October 29, 2018 /

Great spooky (but not too spooky) books for pre-school and kindergarten.

Looking for great Halloween books for a 5-year-old? Here are a few favourites in our house.

 

Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills

The Duck & Goose books are perfect for 2-5 year olds. The chunky board books offer funny little stories about the two friends. In Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin they are hunting high and low for a pumpkin, everywhere but the pumpkin patch. These are great to read at bedtime for little kids. And beginner readers will be able to sound out most of the words and can enjoy flipping the pages and understanding the story.

Pirate Pups!

Paw Patrol is unavoidable for this age. Although if you have tips on that, please share! Anyway, Pirate Pups!  is based on the Paw Patrol episode “Pups and the Pirate Treasure”. The pups and Cap’n Turbot discover a treasure map that leads them to the treasure of Captain Blackfur, a pirate pup. Cute, not scary. The story is about solving a puzzle and looking for clues. This one is harder for 5 year olds to read on their own because there’s lots of text and longer sentences. Howl for Halloween is another option. This is based on the episode where the pups are dressed up for Halloween and think Cap’n Turbot’s ship is haunted.

 

The Dark by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen

If your child is afraid of the dark, I’m not entirely sure this book will reassure them. But Laszlo stops being afraid of the dark at the end of the story. We have lots of books at our house about the dark, sounds in the night, who’s there … and we read them with the lights off and a flashlight. So if you want to up the spooky then that’s a fun way to read.

Pete the Cat by James Dean

Pete the Cat (or Pat le chat) is a fun lift the flap book for Halloween. Pete is trick-or-treating and deciding what’s scary or not scary. As you can imagine, it’s all not scary in the end. There’s a certain kindergarten obsession with Pete the Chat, and no shortage of books in this series, including more with Halloween themes.

Scooby-Doo

No shortage of Scooby Doo books! For pre-K and K, we have enjoyed the Level 2 readers. These versions use longer sentences than the Level 1, which focuses on sight words and things kids can sound out. There’s more to the story in the Level 2 books. And a huge fan favourite are the Choose Your Own adventure versions. I find the story lines can be very convoluted in the You Choose, but these are great books for Halloween, full of ghost stories, monsters, and mysteries solved!

National Geographic Kids: Creepy Crawly Collection

Four books in one. Frogs, Bats, Ants, and Snakes. These are slim volumes with great vocabulary words and interesting facts for curious kids. Even though the level 2 books offer longer sentences, they structure of the sentence is not too complex so new readers have to work hard but not too hard. Also there’s a vocabulary list at the beginning of the book so if you’re teaching kids to read, then you can start with spotting and sounding out a selection of words vs reading the full text. These books litter our house, and are loved by all of us. Did you know bats are not blind? In fact, they have excellent eyesight.

Amazing Minifigure Ultimate Sticker Collection by DK

DK has a ton of these cool reusable sticker books. Each two-page spread has a scene, some text, and then kids find the matching sticker at the back of the book and complete the picture.

The stickers come on and off easily so even kids with less dexterity and play easily. The matching the image and sticker is a good skills. And there are tons of extra stickers at the back in case a sticker tears or gets lost or given to a friend.

 

Halloween books—indeed all holiday books—are popular in my house so we tend to read these books all year round.

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