Kids Life

While the jury is still out on how technology affects social skills, one thing is undeniable: being social is a crucial life skill for expressing what you mean and building relationships with others. After all, without strong social skills, you’d often get misunderstood, miss out on making great friends, and prevent others from realizing how awesome you truly are! Here is the good news: Communication skills are a learned skill that can be taught, practiced, and mastered.

Twelve-year-old Trace Reynolds has always looked up to his brother, mostly because Will, who's five years older, has never looked down on him. It was Will who taught Trace to ride a bike, would watch sports on TV with him, and cheer him on at Little League. But when Will was knocked out cold during a football game, resulting in a brain injury - everything changed. Now, 17 months later, their family is still living under the weight of "the incident" that left Will with a facial tic, depression, and an anger he cannot always control, culminating in their parents' divorce.

Ophelia was in the first grade. She didn’t like hugs. When her classmates tried to hug her, she said, “Don’t hug me!” So, her classmates didn’t hug her. She wriggled out of mommy’s arms when mom hugged her. However, she changed after seeing Fred, a cute goblin. What does Fred do with her? How did Fred change her? Let's listen to this audiobook to find out the answer.

Gregory giraffe is the child who loves to play with his friends…but what happens when he finds himself misfit among his friends?

It's the start of a new school year at Honeycutt Elementary and that means one thing: student council elections! Best friends, Ben and Janet are determined not to let mean girl Amy Lou Bonnerman win for the fourth year in a row, but when they both decide to run against her, they become rivals! At first, it's all funny posters, free candy, and pie-in-the-sky ideas for how to make the school a better place. But before long, the campaign turns sour—with mean rumors, dirty tricks, hurt feelings, and even sabotage! Ben and Janet’s legendary friendship is put to the test.

Q: Who wants their five star funny story included in Oakfield School's story book? A: Everyone! But what will Tom write about? Inspiration strikes when he looks at his excellent collection of odd objects and remembers the funny stories behind each one. Starting with Great Great Aunt Aggie's fake bird hat, the weird stone with a hole and his very special doodle pen. Marcus wants to write about Tom (which is annoying), Amy's got a funny poem and Norman's story is all about...cheese. But Mr Fullerman can only choose the five star stories – will Tom get his work in on time?

Twelve-year-old Daniel, the new kid in town, soon learns the truth about his nice - but odd - new friends: one can fly, another can turn invisible, yet another controls electricity. Incredible. The superkids use their powers to secretly do good in the town, but they’re haunted by the fact that the moment they turn thirteen, their abilities will disappear - along with any memory that they ever had them. Is a memory-stealing supervillain sapping their powers?

With Listen Like an Elephant, kids learn to slow down, listen to the world around them, and focus their minds - no matter how messy life becomes. Best of all, the exercise can be done anywhere: in the backseat of a car, at home, or even at their desk at school. Written by Kira Willey, winner of a Parents' Choice Gold Award, this series (also including Breathe Like a Bear and Bunny Breaths) is the first of its kind and is the perfect tool to help children and parents develop a fun and consistent mindfulness practice.

There is a knock at the door late at night. You answer it to find two small children standing there. You are suddenly filled with an inexplicable fear. "Let us in", they say. "We need to use the phone". It is at that point that the fear turns to utter dread as you see that these kids have completely black eyes.

Discover the secret life of trees with this nature and science book for kids: Can You Hear the Trees Talking? shares the mysteries and magic of the forest with young listeners, revealing what trees feel, how they communicate, and the ways trees take care of their families. The author of The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben, tells kids about the forest internet, aphids who keep ants as pets, nature’s water filters, and more fascinating things that happen under the canopy.

When Mia arrives at her new school, her motto is to be open and friendly with everyone. However, not everyone at Park Street School believes in mixing with different groups of friends. When the Popular Girls Club takes interest in Mia's awesome fashion style and wants to recruit her, Mia has to decide between them and her great new Cupcake Club friends. It's like choosing between her divorced mom and dad and her old house and new house. Is it always going to be Mia in the middle, or can she mix it up?

In today's fast and techy world, we sometimes forget the simple (but very important!) stuff. That's why this book is here to teach our young ones what matters most. Whether it's standing up to school bullies or acing all their school exams, this book's got it covered.

In Ginger Kid, popular comedian Steve Hofstetter grapples with life after seventh grade...when his world fell apart. Formatted as a series of personal essays, Steve walks his listeners through awkward early dating, family turbulence, and the revenge of the bullied nerds. This YA nonfiction is sure to be the beloved next volume for the first generation of Wimpy Kid fans who are all grown up and ready for a new misfit hero.

Meet Marvin, a lovable monster with a 15-string baby fang guitar, a rambunctious case of ADHD, and a diary to record it all. His teachers scold him, his parents don't know what to do with him, and his sister is convinced he was raised by triple-tailed monkeys. In short, Marvin's life is feeling out of control until a secret formula changes everything.

When Jessie and her friends decide to go camping as part of the Weekend in the Woods event, it doesn't take long for them to start discovering strange clues that could have something to do with a hiker who went missing years ago. Soon after they begin their investigation, they start receiving threatening messages from someone who wants them out of the woods―immediately. Could someone be trying to cover up what really happened to the missing hiker? It's up to Jessie to dig up the truth.

After knowing friends with anorexia and being baffled by their behavior, Laura Moisin suddenly found herself prone to the same disease - not eating at all and going weeks at a time consuming nothing but water and the occasional black coffee. Deceiving therapists by misleading them with symptoms of depression, her anorexia is prolonged, and her health deteriorates rapidly.

A small village in the wilds of Northumberland is rocked by the disappearance of 12-year-old Tammy. With his friend Iggy and the mysterious Hellyann, Ethan teams up with a spaceship called Philip, and Suzy the trained chicken, for a nail-biting chase to get his sister back.

This book spotlights female scientist Temple Grandin, whose experience being on the autism spectrum has informed her advocacy and her work as an animal behaviorist. Temple Grandin's pride in being different and how it shaped her world is celebrated in this biography.

The follow-up to Ben Brooks' New York Times best-selling Stories for Boys Who Dare to Be Different, this book offers more extraordinary true stories of amazing people who broke the mold and changed the world for the better. The resulting message? Be yourself, and your dreams might come true.

Arguments rage. Mental health suffers. Children need to be resilient, and when they develop this ability and make wise choices, it becomes part of their character. Furthermore, they need parents who help them to learn from negative experiences and who allow them a certain measure of struggle.