Have you ever had trouble choosing suitable books for your children? Here we introduce three books that will make your children look forward to bedtime.

Alone

One day, Maddie decides to stay at her grandparents’ empty apartment alone without telling her parents. However, an unexpected middle-of-the-night evacuation (撤离) leaves her completely alone in Colorado town, without power or any way to communicate with her loved ones. With only the neighbor’s dog by her side, Maddie spends the next three years fighting against bad weather, hunger, wild dogs and loneliness. (Ages 10-up)

Time for Kenny

It describes a day in a kid’s life. Painted in the artist’s characteristically loose, rounded line, brown-skinned Kenny is first seen playing thoughtfully with a large toy bus. “It’s time for Kenny to get dressed for the day,” the narrator announces. Can Kenny wear his father’s shirt or his mother’s shoes? No. His parents smile as he tries them on, and admire him once he’s properly dresses. Such a small, everyday event conveys that Kenny is an innocent child cherished by his family. (Ages 4-up)

The Animal Rescue Agency #1: Case File: Little Claws

In the story, Esquire, a fox, and Mr. Pepper, an elderly rooster, set out to save Little Claws，a young polar bear. Because a villainous (邪恶的) fur-wearing animal dealer planned to sell the baby bear to a Florida zoo. Living up to their motto — “To each animal, it has the right to live its natural life”, the team prevented the dealer’s plan and took the risk of setting all the Arctic animals in a house free. It provides a light-hearted read with environmental conservation at its core. (Ages 8-12)

Elizabeth Mitchell’s new “Liberty’s Torch” is the fascinating story of how the Statue of Liberty came to be. The Statue of Liberty’s rough history is explored in “Liberty’s Torch”.

Frederic Auguste Bartholdi is an all-but-forgotten figure in American history. He was, however, responsible for one of the most enduring symbols of the United States: the Statue of Liberty. A Frenchman from Alsace, he designed and built the Statue of Liberty which stood on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor. How this statue came to be is the fascinating subject of Elizabeth Michell’s new book “Liberty’s Torch”.

The power of Mitchell’s narrative is convincing (令人信服的). We recognize the Statue of Liberty now as a symbol of hope and opportunity for a nation of immigrants. At the time, though, people could not see that — nor did they even imagine that. Instead, the construction of the statue was born of one man’s desire to set up a great monument.

For this reason, perhaps, “Liberty’s Torch” relies on Bartholdi as the connecting thread. Bartholdi went to Egypt to make photographic copies of the main monuments. On the boat, Bartholdi met and began a lifelong relationship with Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man who would build the Suez Canal. Maybe it was this friendship, or maybe it was seeing Egypt’s huge monuments, but finally the trip inspired Bartholdi’s dream to create the largest statue ever built. Failure to bring this to completion in Egypt, followed by his exile (流放) from Paris, led Bartholdi to sail to America.

By explaining the Statue of Liberty’s hard history and showing Bartholdi’s brave spirit, Mitchell has done a great service.

You can take fish oil supplements or you can invest in a language class, puzzle books, or a few hours of exercise every week. There are countless methods to improve your memory. 【小题1】

Why can such an ordinary activity improve your brain？【小题2】“Typically, when you read, you have more time to think,” says Maryanne Wolf, director of the UCLA Center, “Reading gives you a unique pause button for comprehension and insight. By and large, with oral language — when you watch a film or listen to a tape — you don’t press pause.”

【小题3】 A small study at Emory University found that some of those benefits persisted for five days. “We call that a shadow activity, almost like a muscle memory,” says Gregory Berns, PhD, director at Emory.

What if you are a poor, or even a dyslexic reader who feels as if you’ll never be able to read enough to get these benefits?【小题4】 Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University studied children aged eight to ten who were below-average readers. One hundred hours of remedial reading classes significantly improved the quality of their brains’ white matter—the tissue that carries signals between areas of gray matter, where information is processed. 【小题5】

So turn off your phone and your computer, set aside a good hour or two — and just read.