Examples: Who makes Twinkle Toes? What designer shoes are popular for the red bottoms? Converse are famous for what type of shoe? You can use pictures, word questions, etc. Put together a shoe identification contest – Shoes have logos and types and you could put together a fun contest (on paper, in a program, share via your social media) asking tweens to identify the various shoes. This series is, in fact, a great read a-loud and great for a mother/daughter bookclub or in the classroom. Note: There is also a recipe for Baked Alaska Brownies in The Mother Daughter Cookbook: Recipes to Nourish Relationships by Lynette Rohrer Shirk (published by Zest Books). Oh, and you can set up a decorating station or Top Chef like decorating contest by providing a variety of frostings and sprinkles. Bonus points if you have a crown shaped cookie cutter and make crown shaped brownies. Try putting together this best ever “Crownie” recipe from. This series is a great tie-in with this Teen Program in a Box: Once Upon a Time. Jones, Judy Moody, Clementine, and the authors Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume.

To be completely cliche, it is whimsical and enchanting while challenging middle grade readers to realize that self-reliance is a good goal. Whatever After: Fairest of All is one of my Tween’s favorite reads of 2012 and this sequel, If the Shoe Fits, does not disappoint. I personally don’t mind a little crunch in my crownie, but you must give me the edges thank you. And she does so while making us laugh at polka dot pajamas, made up words (how will she ever get herself out of this “relano” aka problem?), and a discussion as to whether or not we should put nuts in our crownies. Here, Cinderella is challenged to rescue herself and although she does so with the help of Abby and Jonah, she is forced to look at who she is, what she wants, and what she truly has to offer to the world.

But this series provides us with a touching look at siblings while challenging some of the classic fairy tale conventions that sometimes make us all uncomfortable. It would be easy to mistake the Whatever After series as a simple fun, silly romp through the world of fairy tales – and make no mistakes, it is fun and silly.

If the shoe fits book 2 sarah mlynowski