Bianca Schulze's Reading List

"It’s a bit of a profound story and it gives an understanding of just what hard work and perseverance can actually achieve for you. Also, how a moment in time can maybe be disappointing, but could actually turn into a lifetime of enjoyment. So, in the case of Because , had one little girl never made it to the orchestra concert, she may not have had a lifetime of music, which becomes a deep passion for her. For me, I love the overall feeling of knowing that one moment can change your life, depending on what you put into that moment and what you choose to take out of the moment. Then, on top of that, the illustrations are so lovely and it’s so well written and enjoyable. I read it to my four-year-old and my seven-year-old and each of them were equally captivated. I’m sure my 4-year old didn’t take away as much as my seven-year-old, but both of them really enjoyed it. There’s a musical background to it, starting with Ludwig (van Beethoven) writing his music. One man wrote beautiful music, that inspired the next man to create his own music, and that then inspired a group of musicians to start an orchestra, which then inspired other people to study music and then it led to a concert, where a little girl sat in a seat watching and listening. That moment inspired her for a lifelong love of music and then, at the end of the story, she encourages another child to enter the world of music. It’s almost like “This is the House that Jack Built”: it shows you the simple stepping stones of how one person’s actions can inspire another and so on. Yes. Most of the time picture books are for a pre-reader, but they’re also great for older readers tackling new topics. So if you were introducing a new topic to an older reader in a chapter book format with no pictures, it might feel overwhelming. So, I feel picture books are still great for the older readers, but ultimately, I would say the age range for Because is 4 to 8."

"Yes, and even three-year-olds would enjoy this one. I love the simplicity of the illustrations, combined with the simplicity of the words—and yet this book also has a really profound effect on you. It reminds you that it’s okay to feel sad and that if you actually take the time to sit with your feelings, then you have the time to release them and set them free. It doesn’t mean that they’ll never come back, and you may feel sad again tomorrow, but by sitting with your feelings and acknowledging them, then you can actually take the time to feel better. It’s so simply put and so accessible for kids. Sign up here for our newsletter featuring the best children’s and young adult books, as recommended by authors, teachers, librarians and, of course, kids. I think social and emotional intelligence is so important; we shouldn’t just gloss over feelings. It’s so easy to send a kid to their room and say, “You need to go calm down,” but if you take a moment to read this book with them, and let them know that actually sitting with your feelings and getting to know your feelings is helpful, I think the world will be a better place. There is no specific trigger. The story starts with, “Sometimes sadness arrives unexpectedly” and there’s this green blob guy at the door. Then the kid invites the sadness in, and they interact, and by the end sadness goes out the door. It’s just so simple and sweet, but really effective."

"What I loved about Coyote Sunrise was, first of all, just her as a character. She’s so confident and outgoing and sassy and smart and she loves to read. If you think of Hermione in the Harry Potter books, she’s different to her, but she’s one of those characters that you want your kids, if they could, to be like. She knows who she is and she knows what she wants and she goes for it. I loved that. In the book, you learn as you go along that her mother and two sisters have died in a car accident. That’s not in the story, but happens before. Since then, her and her dad have been living on a big, bright, yellow school bus, just driving around the United States from one campground to another. The dad is running from facing his fears—he should have read When Sadness is at Your Door . “It’s important to know that even if you think you’ve found the right book, if you’re halfway through it, or even a quarter of the way through it, and it doesn’t resonate, it’s okay to put it down” So, they’re moving around and it’s beautiful, they’re having a great time, but she starts to realize that she’s losing the memory of who her mother and her sisters were, and she doesn’t want to. They learn that a special memory box that she planted with her mom and her sisters, a few days before they died, is in a playground that is going to get pulled down. She knows she can’t get her dad to go back to the home, but she doesn’t want the memory box to get lost. She wants to go back and get it. So she has to trick her dad into driving back. Along the way, they pick up extra passengers, who also have places that they need to get to—they’re a diverse set of characters with different cultural backgrounds, and all really unique. A girl joins them on the bus who says she’s been kicked out of her house because she’s gay. It’s such a small part of the book, but it’s impactful. It turns out that she is actually a minor and has run away because of her parents’ response. She wasn’t actually kicked out. So that creates an important piece of drama for the story arc. There’s never a dull moment. There’s adventure, there’s inclusivity and there’s so much storytelling. Ultimately, it’s a reminder that every single person has their own special story and their own special things going on. You can’t run away from those things, and the sooner that you face them head-on, the sooner things will improve and get better. I just loved Coyote’s determination and the adventure and the message of acceptance. There’s a scene where they’re in a campground and she makes a friend for, literally, a couple of hours. The girl’s mom is asking Coyote questions and divulges how her mom and her sisters have died and then she points to the bus. And the mom asks, ‘Is that your dad?’ Then, when Coyote asks the girl to come to her school bus to see her books (they both enjoy reading), the mom says no. I felt, in that moment, that it’s so easy to judge somebody that’s scruffier than you. But Rodeo, her dad, is living the life he needs to live in that moment. He’s a great guy and yet this mother judged him based on one look. I feel the younger you learn that message, not to pass judgment based on one glance or two sentences, the better things will be."

"Eight and up. You could even do seven and up, depending on reading ability. At the beginning of Pie in the Sky , I wasn’t sure where it was going, but by the end I was sobbing. I realize that I’ve really picked some deep books here! It’s about two brothers. It never says exactly what country they’re from—I know the author was born in Indonesia, but grew up in Singapore—but they come to Australia. They don’t speak English, but they have to integrate. You learn that the reason they’ve come to Australia is because their parents had a wish for them to have a better life. But you know throughout that their Papa is not there. The brothers’ relationship is really funny. It reminded me of Judy Blume’s books Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing with the older brother and Fudge. They have this typical relationship that goes backwards and forwards, they fight, they call each other boogers, they tease each other, but you can tell there’s a little bit of a sadness there. “There truly is a book out there for every reader, if only you take the time to discover their interests and passions” The older brother particularly struggles, while his younger brother seems to be picking up English a lot more easily and making friends. The older brother just wants his Papa to be there. They come from a family of bakers, and baking becomes a really important part of how he gets through his days. Some super funny things happen but, ultimately, he starts to learn English through cookbooks that he gets from the library. His mom gets more and more frustrated with him, because they’re not supposed to bake when she’s not home, and a lot of drama starts unfolding. The reader begins to realize that the baking is him fighting his grief, because his dad is not coming, but has passed away. They are living the dream that his dad had, and he’s been struggling with that. Once his mom realizes that, she becomes a lot more accepting of the baking and they bond over it. It brings them all together. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . What I also thought about this book was that if you were an immigrant, then the story would really resonate with you. But if you’re not an immigrant, you’d also understand that these boys were having the same struggles that you have—plus the language barrier. Again, everybody’s just like you, everybody’s just like me, and the more we’re accepting and helpful the better off we’ll all be. If we could have helped this boy to learn English more quickly, he would have had a much easier time and made friends more quickly. Everybody would have been eating and enjoying cakes together a lot sooner, rather than waiting until the end. It’s highly illustrated throughout, which I like. The illustrations really help to highlight the more impactful moments. When they first arrive in Australia, everybody that’s speaking English has an alien head. Then, as he’s integrating, everybody who is speaking English has a regular head and he sees himself with an alien head. He’s gone from feeling self-assured to feeling like an alien on a foreign planet. And then, as it gets to the end, the alien heads disappear. It’s really unique and a really great book that bridges the gap between a regular chapter book and a graphic novel."