Extreme Book Nerd

Our oldest son (age 11), just earned a new hoodie sweatshirt by completing a library-sponsored “Extreme Book Nerd” challenge. He read 25 books (each at least 100 pages) in specific categories. I’m one proud book-loving mama!

We’re very conservative when it comes to selecting reading material and usually avoid things like graphic violence, ghosts, witches, occult, sexual content, etc… etc…

Here’s a list of fairly clean and wholesome books we found for each category in the challenge:

1. Animal main character: “The Mouse and the Motorcycle” by Beverly Cleary (176 pgs)
2. Paperback book: “Stormy, Misty’s Foal” by Marguerite Henry (224 pgs)
3. With a teacher in in: “Justin Morgan Had a Horse” by Marguerite Henry (176 pgs)
4. You’ve never read before: “Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers” by Ralph Moody (262 pgs)
5. By an author with the same first initial as you: “How’s Inky?” by Sam Campbell (127 pgs)
6. With a one-word title: “Ribsy” by Beverly Cleary (240 pgs)
7. From a library display: “Homer on the Case” by Henry Cole (171 pgs)
8. Graphic novel: “Science Comics: Cars: Engines That Move You” by Dan Zettwoch (128 pgs)
9. One of your friends likes: “Because of Winn-Dixie” by Kate DiCamillo (192 pgs)
10. You have at home: “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” by Robert O’Brien (240 pgs)
11. With a main character that is not the same gender as you: “A Little Princess” by Frances Burnett (244 pgs)
12. Takes place during a war: “Ranger in Time: D-Day: Battle on the Beach” by Kate Messner (145 pgs)
13. Two books by the same author: “Cul-de-Sac Kids: Collection One: books 1-6” by Beverly Lewis (352 pgs)
14. Two books by the same author: “Cul-de-Sac Kids: Collection Two: Books 7-12” by Beverly Lewis (352 pgs)
15. Published in 2020: “Science Comics: Crows: Genius Birds” by Kyla Vanderklugt (128 pgs)
16. With a body of water in in: “Sea Star” by Marguerite Henry (176 pgs)
17. With a number in the title: “Ramona Quimby, Age 8” by Beverly Cleary (179 pgs)
18. Audiobook: “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl (192 pgs)
19. With a green cover: Cul-de-Sac Kids Collection Four: Books 19-24 by Beverly Lewis (368 pgs)
20. Recommended by an IFPL librarian: “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame (we’re currently listening to this on Audible)
21. With a face on the cover: “Caddie Woodlawn” by Carol Ryrie Brink (288 pgs)
22. Pura Belpré Winner: “Enchanted Air” by Margarita Engle (192)
23. From the 398 section in nonfiction: “Aesop’s Fables” Illustrated by Charles Santore (50 pgs) and “The Classic Treasury of Aesop’s Fables” Illustrated by Don Daily (54 pgs)
24. Biography or autobiography: “Kid Innovators: True Tales of Childhood from Inventors and Trailblazers” by Robin Stevenson (208 pgs)
25. About sports or with sports in it: “Kid Athletes: True Tales of Childhood from Sports Legends” by David Stabler (208 pgs)
26. Wild card: Mystery: “Ranger in Time: Night of Soldiers and Spies” by Kate Messner (143 pgs)

📚 Have you read any of the books on the list?

📚 If so, which was your favorite?

Happy reading friends!