Middle Grade Books
Tween
On Family, Feelings, and Hot Fudge Sundaes: Jerry Spinelli On His Latest Book, The Warden’s Daughter
We were thrilled to chat with Jerry about the inspiration behind his new heartfelt book for middle graders, The Warden's Daughter, and what he hopes kids will take away from it.
Growing Reader
Tween
7of My Bad Habits — And Why I'm Amazed I Wrote a Book At All
Iva-Marie Palmer reveals the cover of her new middle grade novel, Gabby Garcia's Ultimate Playbook, which she started while pregnant with her second son and and eventually finished writing despite some (oh-so-relateable) bad habits.
Growing Reader
Tween
5 Favorite Female Sleuths from Middle Grade Mystery Books
I love middle grade mysteries and capers — they are the reason I fell in love with books. To celebrate the genre, and the lovely leading ladies within it, here are five of the most fantastic female sleuths in tween reads.
Baby & Toddler
Pre-K
Growing Reader
Tween
Teen
The Children’s Books We’ll Remember Most from 2016
As 2016 draws to a close, we asked the Brightly contributors, who spend so many of their days and nights surrounded by children’s books, to reflect back on the stories that stuck with them.
Growing Reader
Tween
Books That Help Kids Walk in Someone Else's Shoes
Kids highly recommend these books that build empathy and understanding of our diverse world by allowing readers to walk in someone else’s shoes for a while.
Growing Reader
Tween
How Fantasy Novels Help Kids Explore the Messiness of Real Life
In kids’ literature, fantasy is interpreted as a “safe zone” for young readers, where the author leaves the icky messiness of real life outside the wardrobe door. But not only is leaving out the icky messiness of real life unwise, it’s pretty much impossible. The icky messiness is what it’s all about.
Pre-K
Growing Reader
Tween
Helping Kids Think Like Writers: A Talk with Frindle Author Andrew Clements
Andrew Clements has dozens of titles to his name, from picture books to novels to early reader chapter books, including Frindle, a middle grade novel about the power of language and invention.
Growing Reader
Tween
Exploring Furthermore, Fantastical Worlds, and Fashion with Author Tahereh Mafi
Tahereh Mafi is the author of Furthermore, a spellbinding middle grade novel about two kids on an epic and magical adventure.
Tween
Teen
Marie Lu’s New Favorite YA and Middle Grade Reads
Bestselling author Marie Lu shares some of the new teen and middle grade books that she’s loving right now and thinks readers will too.
Tween
The Real Reason Why Kids Love Mystery Books So Much
I never really thought about why I liked mysteries as a kid so much until my readers began to pose the question to me. After much thought, this is what I came up with...
Growing Reader
Tween
7 of the Best Books About Bullying, According to Kids
Tweens highly recommend these books as being both engaging and providing practical lessons on dealing with bullies in everyday life.
Growing Reader
Tween
Great Minds Don’t Think Alike: The Real-Life Inspiration Behind Fish in a Tree
Lynda Mullaly Hunt shares the learning difficulties she faced as a young student and how she overcame the feeling that "the other kids were just better."
