Beauty & the Beast: A Pop-Up Book of the Classic Fairy Tale

Written by: Robert Sabuda

First line: There once lived a rich and kind merchant who had six children: three boys and three girls.

Why you should read this book: This insanely impressive pop-up book was clearly a labor of love, with enormous and elaborate three-dimensional illustrations, numerous smaller pop-up pages on each of the big pages, and surprising motion for paper cut-outs: we literally see actions such as Beauty turning the corner as she explores Beast's castle, the magic mirror revealing the scene back home, and the Beast's miraculous transformation. The story recounted is the traditional tale, unblemished by any attempt to update or add a modern message to the text, and balances nicely with the intricacy of the visual aspects of this book. Children will be fascinated by the stunning detail and wish to linger and explore every pop-up.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Children will be fascinated by the stunning details and wish to linger and explore every pop-up, but that doesn't mean that children should be allowed to touch this book, which probably wouldn't last five minutes in the hands of the average inquisitive child.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Written by: Tom Angleberger

First line: The big question: Is origami Yoda real?

Why you should read this book: Tommy and his friends might not be the coolest kids in middle school, but they're working on at least trying to look cool, unlike Dwight, who picks his nose, wears the same shirt for a month, and has lately taken to wearing an origami puppet of Jedi Master Yoda on his finger, through which mouthpiece he offers the wisdom of the ages in a bad approximation of a Yoga voice. The thing is, even though Dwight is a lost cause, Origami Yoda has some brilliant things to say on the subject of boy/girl interaction, repairing the mistakes of the past, and why modern kids should learn the hottest dance craze of the 1960s. Tommy, confused as to whether he should accept Origami Yoga's advice, compiles firsthand accounts from the kids in his class detailing the results of their interaction with Origami Yoda, and tries to analyze them scientifically.

Why you shouldn't read this book: No patience for the shenanigans of Asperger's kids.

Under a Lucky Star

Written by: Roy Chapman Andrews

First line: Often I have had to sit on a lecture platform when I was going to speak, and listen to a long introduction.

Why you should read this book: Roy Chapman Andrews, often cited as the real-life inspiration for the character of Indiana Jones, was a lifelong adventure junkie who channeled his love of the outdoors and overall affability into a career as a world explorer who increased the world's knowledge base, particularly in the areas of cetology, Asian biology, and paleontology. Dodging bullets, combating seasickness and dangerous weather, navigating the intricacies of New York society and Chinese bureaucracy with cool competence, he planned and executed expeditions to travel where no white man had ever set food, bringing back the treasures of the natural world for his beloved American Museum of Natural History in New York, where he paused just long enough to write down his findings and raise funds for his next trek into the unknown. His descriptions of the animals he stalks, the people he encounters, and the ways he narrowly escapes death, time and again, make for an enchanting story.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Andrews was a man of his time, writing in the midst of World War II, which means that he has some decidedly racist things to say about the Japanese people, and also that his method of scientific investigation involves shooting thousands and thousands of animals, including endangered and cuddly ones, and that sometimes he just shoots things for fun.

Possessing the Secret of Joy

Written by: Alice Walker

First line: I did not realize for a long time that I was dead.

Why you should read this book: Tashi, sometimes known as Evelyn, is an Olinkan girl who marries an American missionary boy and straddles the two continents with difficulty, for Tashi carries with her always taboo knowledge that cannot be discussed: the pain of "bathing," or female circumcision, which killed her beloved sister, and deadens her own soul, but without which she believed she could never be accepted as a woman among her own people. Told in a series of very short vignettes narrated by Tashi, her friends, her family, and those people whose love touches her life, this story is a powerful revelation about misogyny and strength, mythology and reality. In dissecting Tashi's journey, Walker opens the reader's eyes to ways in which unexamined beliefs can crush a society, even as individuals embrace as inevitable the terrible outcomes of their choices.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're still angry over the loss of your foreskin.

The Search for the Ten-Winged Dragon

Written by: Jean Karl

First line: Once in a time that both was and was not, there lived a boy named Tobias Cummings.

Why you should read this book: It would be a fairy tale if it wasn't so realistic. The story of an apprentice in a toy shop who wishes to build his own wind-up tin drummers and wooden ducks with wheels, this book discusses the birth of imagination in the literal thinker. Determined to discover the ten-winged dragon without which his master says no one can make a toy, the boy learns to see magic in everything and open his mind to the possibilities of the world around him.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You flunked the Rorschach test.

Larry Marder's Beanworld (Book 3): Remember Here When You Are There

Written by: Larry Marder

First line: Mr. Spook and the Chow Sol'jer Army return to the Beanworld by way of the Proverbial Sandy Beach.

Why you should read this book: Wahoolazooma! The Beans are back, and their quest for understanding proceeds apace: Beanish deepens his relationship of Dreamishness, Mr. Spook, the rapidly maturing Pod'l'pool Cuties explore the world and develop their talents, and Heyoka, the upside down and backward Bean who has set forth to learn more about the outside world, returns with greater understanding. There are new inventions, an elusive notworm, and some necessary fighting, singing, and dancing. Marder's afterword explains that that this edition concludes the first quarter of a twelve-book story arc, and seems to anticipate a more hasty delivery of the next installment.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're sure the truth resides in your own back yard.

Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 4: The Siege

Written by: Kathryn Lasky

First line: Sparks flew off his beak as the owl, mad with rage, careened through the night sky.

Why you should read this book: The stakes have been raised as Metal Beak, revealed as Soren's brother, Kludd, further reveals the depths of his evil and depravity, along with his utter hatred for his brother. Meanwhile, Soren and his chaw of chaws have been entrusted with a terrifying and important mission: to return to St. Aggie's as undercover agents and determine whether the academy has been infiltrated by the Pure Ones. War between the Guardians and the Pure Ones is imminent, and the Pure Ones have on their side greater numbers, superior weaponry, and a fierce rage that drives them onward toward genocide.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're a double agent.

Aunt Clara Brown: Official Pioneer

Written by Linda Lowery

First line: Clara Brown made her way past barrels of dried fish.

Why you should read this book: A former slave who bought her own freedom with her own money, Clara Brown never forgot the daughter who she saw sold away from her when the little girl was only ten, and in 1959, Brown goes all the way to Colorado to search for her child. Overcoming racism and the rigors of the frontier, she becomes a wealthy woman who spends most of her fortune helping former slaves build new lives after the Civil War. Shortly before her death, she is reunited with her adult daughter, for a satisfying conclusion to this easy-to-read biography for children.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You give up easily.

The Prince of the Dolomites

Written by: Tomie De Paola

First line: “He’s coming, he’s coming,” the boy shouted as he ran through the streets of the little Italian village.

Why you should read this book: Complete with all the warmth of De Paola’s familiar illustrations, this story tells of the Prince of the Dolomites, who has the misfortune of falling in love with the Moon King’s youngest daughter. He pines for his unattainable princess so long that his people begin to fear him, until an act of kindness to a band of wandering, nature-loving dwarves—Salvani—actually gets him in with his beloved, who he is able to bring back to earth as his wife, but the princess missing the blazing whiteness of her home, and becomes sick with longing, until the Salvani find the solution. This lovely folktale explains the origins of the unusual color of Italy’s Dolomite Mountains along with the lovely, white edelweiss flower.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: Don't believe in love. Or anything, really.

Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 3: The Rescue

Written by: Kathryn Lasky

First line: The tail of the comet slashed the dawn and in the red light of the rising sun, for a brief instant, it seemed as if the comet was bleeding across the sky.

Why you should read this book: The game is afoot as Soren and company take a note from Harry Potter and begin sneaking out from Ga'Hoole to take on the missions the adult owls are too reluctant or befuddled to organize. Ezylryb, Soren's favorite teacher, has been missing for months, and Soren and his friends are determined to track him down while they learn more about all the secrets being kept from them. At last, the young owls are to become brave doers of great deeds, and, along the way, will penetrate the veil between this world and the next, discover the hidden past, and unmask their greatest enemy.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're trapped in the devil's triangle.