Imagination Soup

1 week ago | imaginationsoup.net | Melissa Taylor

Recently, Flying Start Books sent me a box of 96 Red Rocket Readers, their Decodable Explorers reading program for new readers that has a scaffold approach aligned with The Science of Reading and Letters & Sounds. If you’re teaching someone to read, whether you’re a parent, teacher, or tutor, you’ll want to know about these readers!I consulted with my reading expert friend Dr. Marnie Ginsberg of Reading Simplified about the Red Rocket Readers since not all decodable books are created equal.

1 week ago | imaginationsoup.net | Melissa Taylor

I’m thrilled to tell you that the most recent batch of nonfiction children’s books are AMAZING! After my discouragement with the recent fictional picture books, I needed to see some great books. Which these are– and you will love sharing them with your readers. The Secret Power of Animals written by Soledad Romero Marino, illustrated by Sonia PulidaANIMALSIn this rhyming board book for preschoolers, you’ll read about animals with secrets powers.

2 weeks ago | imaginationsoup.net | Melissa Taylor

The summer camp experience can be a positive (or negative) coming-of-age experience with opportunities to become independent and grow by doing new things and make new friends. I went to band camp and church camp and dance camp…So many camps! While sleepaway camp wasn’t my favorite for a variety of reasons — homesickness and mean kids, to name a few, many kids look forward to their summer camps all year long.

2 weeks ago | imaginationsoup.net | Melissa Taylor

Some months have so many new and incredible new middle grade books. Like this month, May 2025! Get ready for heartwarming realistic stories, adventures in fantasy and magic, and graphic novels you won’t be able to put down. I love all these books but starred my absolute favorites. Also, I have more May books to read so if I like any of those, they will be on my June review roundup.

3 weeks ago | imaginationsoup.net | Melissa Taylor

I read over fifty fiction picture books this month and chose my top fourteen to share with you. (Some are from April, but most are from May.)Incidentally, this month’s selection of picture books prompted my rant about those other books on Instagram. I may write more extensively about this in the future. I simply do not understand why there are mediocre books that are not kid-friendly being published. However, there are always good ones, too. Here are this month’s picks.