The Dragonsitter – by Josh Lacey (2015)

I’m always on the lookout for a story to read aloud to my grandson. This book is perfect for elementary-school kids. It’s the tale of a boy named Eddie who agrees to take care of his Uncle Morton’s dragon while he’s off on vacation. Taking care of Ziggy turns out to be way more difficult than anyone would think. Even with Eddie’s mom and little sister Emily helping, taking care of the dragon is just one disaster after another!

The book is written as a series of emails between Eddie and his Uncle Morton. Actually, most of the emails are from Eddie, who is frustrated at the lack of response to his questions. Uncle Morton is like an absent-minded professor who constantly gets side-tracked.

The Littlest Leaguer – by Syd Hoff (1976)

I stumbled across this little gem of a children’s book at a thrift store. The author’s name was familiar. Syd Hoff had written “Danny And The Dinosaur” and “Sammy The Seal”, plus dozens of other books for young readers. But this story was new to me. So I bought it and took it home to read.

The story is simple, but one that most kids can relate to. The main character, Harold, is the smallest kid on the neighborhood baseball team. He’s not very good at the game, and spends most of his time sitting on the sidelines. His fellow players don’t think he belongs on the team.