Our 9-year-old is one of the sharpest tools in the shed. Mother wit is not her strongest suit (we’re working on that), but she was blessed with a hefty bit of cognitive fire power.

I don’t just say that about all of my children. We tend to be very open and honest about gifts, talents, abilities, and how the Giver of all gifts does things the way He does for a reason. There’s a point to this particular line of thought, and it is wholly centered around books.

During our recent trip to the library, the kid surprised me by making a beeline for the picture book section. Since she has read chapter books alongside picture books from the time she was 6 or 7,  I figured she might find picture books less worthy of her time and attention. It turns out that a full school year of reading great literature, even though enjoying it,  gave her a craving for some light-hearted, brightly colored picture books.

After readng them to herself, and reading them with her 11-year-old sister, she wasn’t quite read to return them to the library until she’d had the pleasure of my voice reading them to her. I am very glad we took the time to do that, because these were all very enjoyable books:

• Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty is a about a curious kid whose scientific curiosity wreaks a lot of havoc,  but it’s a lot of fun.
• The Branch, by Mirelle Messier, is a cute book about a girl whose favorite branch from her favorite tree is felled in a storm and a kind man from her neighborhood helps her salvage what is left of it.
• Get on Your Bike, by Joukje Akveld is a book about friendship, conflict, bike exploration, and reconciliation.
• Ruby’s Chinese New Year by Vickie Lee tells the story of Ruby’s journey to take the Chinese New Year celebration to her grandma who is ill and cannot come to the celebration in person.
• Phoebe Sounds it Out, by Julie Zwilich. Phoebe, whose name isn’t spelled like it sounds, struggles to reconcile the rules of phonics with the way her name is spelled.

The fun thing about these books is that they were books I would never would have chosen on my own, since none of them meet the standard guidelines I tend to use when picking out children’s books.

The other interesting thing I noted was how often she gravitated towards boks with characters who looked like her. Although only two of the books listed here met that criteria, she looked at quite a few.

The lesson I took away from this excursion was that no matter how “advanced” kids are, they’re still kids, and they like kid things. Such as brightly colored picture books!