Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I normally don’t review books that I’ve skimmed before handing down to my children–reading first and handing a book down isn’t quite the same thing–but I have to give a shout-out to Lenore Look’s Alvin Ho series. If you have an elementary-aged boy, you know how hard it is to find good books that appeal to boys but DON’T depend on bathroom humor; Alvin Ho, however, is a perfect example of boys’ literature done right. First of all, he’s hilarious. Secondly, we see his siblings through his eyes (not to mention the rest of his family). And thirdly through whatever number-ly, he’s a NOT white kid growing up in an area that’s positively crawling with colonial history, and the juxtaposition is fabulous. (Plus he struggles with anxiety, and I LOVE the way Look deals with it.) My son and I are both completely bummed that we’ve run out of new Alvin Ho books, so if you have a boy in elementary school and you’re looking for a worthwhile book to put into his hands, look no further.