A Sweet Read for Kids

When I found out that one of my favorite books was about to have a sequel published, well that made the book I was going to highlight for Flashback Friday an easy pick!  Make sure you get The Candymakers into the hands of your kids.  It is full of fun, mystery, action and candy!  I really can't give you a better pick.  And with the sequel The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase on the horizon there is even more to love.

Of course I also have to leave you with a summer reading tip!  Don't think reading means a novel!  For kids reading can be a joke book, a handbook or even a magazine.  My son loves Sports Illustrated Kids and my daughter can't wait for American Girl or Teen Vogue.  Don't get me started on the amount of knock knock jokes that have been read to me over the years!  Just remember that reading is reading, no matter what form it takes.

Don't forget to follow One Great Book on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or by email so that you don't miss the latest installments of some great series.  Not all my picks are this sweet, but they are guaranteed to please!

Title:            The Candymakers

Author:        Wendy Mass

Target:         Grades 4-7

I really had a hard time putting this book down.  I was surprised how well written it was.  It started off very much like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Four kids are selected to participate in a candy making competition and are allowed into a chocolate factory that was closed to visitors long ago.  However, this is where the similarity ends.

The fun of this book is that the story is told in five parts, the first four are from the perspective of each of the participants.  You see the story from the first child’s perspective, and then low and behold, when you get to the next child, your perception of the events are thrown on their head.  I loved it each time my son got to a new revelation, he looked up at me just as amazed as I had been.  The story gets richer and more interesting with each child’s version. 

I will say that some of the scenarios are bit far fetched, but it is a children’s book, set in a candy factory for goodness sake, so I will certainly allow the author the whimsy that the books subject conjures up.  Once I was into this story, I found it difficult to stop reading (kind of like a bag of M&Ms, you can't take just one handful), which I think is the best kind of recommendation!

To purchase this book:

Click on the following link to connect to Amazon: The Candymakers.  A portion of each purchase will go back to support this blog at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support.