Jessica DeLing M.Ed., educational specialist at the Midtown office of Child and Family Development, is making a list of BOOKS and checking it twice.  

Here is one reading pick for boys and girls:

Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever is a series of children’s books written by actor Henry Winkler (the Fonz!) and Lin Oliver. The first book, Niagara Falls, or Does It? is hysterical.  The best part about this series is that Hank, the main character, struggles with school and difficulties with attention (he has terrible spelling, can never find his backpack, looses track of time, etc.). He relies on his friends to help him out but always feels that he is missing the mark. As the series progresses, he ends up completing an evaluation and gets additional support for his learning disabilities at school. All of this is very kid friendly and the story typically focuses on the adventure at hand while learning disability stuff seems to happen in the background.

Jessica finds that kids between 7 and 12 really like the series.

Want more?: Visit http://www.penguin.com/static/pages/youngreaders/children/features/hank_zipzer/ for audio books, games and activities

Follow Jessica’s blog over the next several weeks for more book picks and holiday gift ideas!