Q&A with Our Youngest Book Reviewers

Bas Bleu‘s annual Book a Month packages deliver a year’s worth of wonderful reads to your door; simply choose from Bluestocking (a mix of fiction and nonfiction), Life Stories (biographies, memoirs, and histories), or Mysteries (whodunits, thrillers, and cozies). This year, we introduced a fourth package: Young Readers, for budding bibliophiles ages 9-12. To make sure we were choosing books that kids actually want to read, we recruited two young readers from the extended Bas Bleu family. Caroline (age 13) and Eliza (age 11) both contributed reviews to our Young Readers package. Recently, we sat down with them to get their opinions on books, the joy of reading, and life in general.

Bas Bleu: Of course, we have to start with the typical questions: What are some of your favorite books? Who is your favorite author? Why are they your favorites?

Caroline: A few of my favorite books are Because of Winn-Dixie, Echo, the Harry Potter Series, The Firm, Rogue Lawyer, Wonder, The Giver, and The Book Thief. I enjoy all of these books for different reasons, but they all leave a positive message, and are the kind of read where you just can’t stop.

Eliza: I like Raymie Nightingale and The One and Only Ivan. I like many of the books by Kate DiCamillo because they make me laugh but also make me sad and moved. Her books make me feel content after I read them, and that is a good feeling.

BB: When you’re not reading, what else do you like to do for fun?

C: When I am not reading I like to play soccer and tennis and run cross country. I also am a fan of playing the ukulele, and crafting up masterpieces.

E: I really like to play basketball and soccer, and learn at school.

BB: What was your favorite Young Readers Book a Month book that you read? What other books on the list would you like to read?

C: My favorite book from the list was It’s Like This, Cat and I would love to also read The Great Hibernation.

BB: What books would you like to recommend to us?  

C: Moon Over Manifest, When You Reach Me, The War that Saved My Life, Walk Two Moons, Because of Mr. Terupt, and The Running Dream.

E: I recommend Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff and the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan (those books are SO good!).

BB: Do you think you read more or less than your friends (and other kids at school)?  

E: I think I read about as much as my friends. I think most kids my age think reading is a good thing to do and most people like reading.

BB: Are there any books that you’ve read more than once? How were they different the second time through?

C: There are definitely books I have read more than once, some include the Harry Potter series, and the Percy Jackson series, Echo, and The Giver. The books have less of an element of surprise the second time around, but also I find that I pick up on new hints or instances if I have read a book more than once.

E: I’ve read a couple of books more than once. I don’t remember their names but I think they were pretty boring the second time because I knew how the book ends and who’s the bad guy/girl.

BB: If you could live inside the world of any book, which book would it be?

C: If I could live inside any book it would have to be the Harry Potter books. I don’t know who wouldn’t choose those books, living in a world with magical powers? Yes, please.

E: I would love to live in the book Wild Girl because it would be so fun to experience the main character’s life and her roller coaster of emotions.

BB: If you could have any book character as your best friend, who would it be?

C: I would have to take it back to books from when I was younger, I am gonna have to go with Ivy and Bean [from the children’s series by Annie Barrows].

E: In the Percy Jackson books I would love to have Annabeth Chase or Leo Valdez as my best friend, they seem so awesome.

BB: Imagine what the world might be like when you’re grown up…where do you think books will fit in?  

E: I think books will fit in a lot of places like in schools and colleges. I also think they will fit into just our daily lives because I don’t think certain things about our world will be that much different.

BB: Anything else you want to say?

C: Just that I am excited I got to do the review, and had fun telling y’all about my favorite books.

E: Nope.

BB: Thanks to Caroline and Eliza for all of their help selecting just the right books for our Young Readers Book a Month package. Happy reading, kids!