NEVER mind those assigned reading lists: The best way to encourage young readers is by finding them books they want to read.
This fall is full of fresh prospects. Junie B. Jones, Barbara Park’s unflappable first-grader, returns in “Junie B.’s Essential Survival Guide to School,” where her “fun school supply” checklist includes fly swatters. Catch the Junie B. Jones Stupid Smelly Bus Tour, when it stops at the Bank Street Bookstore Sept. 23. For info, call 212-678-1654.
“Magic Tree House” fans should be out in force Thursday at 7 p.m. at the new Barnes & Noble at 150 E. 68th St., where Mary Pope Osborne signs copies of “Magic Tree House No. 42: A Good Night for Ghosts,” featuring a young Louis Armstrong.
Beloved author/illustrator Loren Long is back, too, this time with “Otis,” about a friendly little tractor with a big personality. And Jane Smiley’s readers will be pleased to know the “A Thousand Acres” author has written her first book for the age 10-and-up set, the horse tale “The Georges and the Jewels.” Here are a few other new titles to catch:
“PRINCESS HYACINTH (THE SURPRISING TALE OF A GIRL WHO FLOATED)” by Florence Parry Heide, illustrated by Lane Smith (ages 4 to 8)
Yes, another book for the legion of princess fans out there — only this one’s far from the Disney standard. Hyacinth’s a plucky girl with a problem: Unless she’s weighted down with diamonds and gold, she floats away. Incapable of joining others at play, “she sat at the window in her Royal Bathing Suit wearing a seat belt, looking at all the children having fun.” Enter a boy with a kite, and you’ve got an “Up” kind of fantasy. Who doesn’t dream of flying? Heide’s tart prose style gets the perfect liftoff from Smith’s droll drawings.
“HARRY and HORSIE” by Katie Van Camp, illustrated by Lincoln Agnew (ages 3-6)
This one comes with a star pedigree: The author was an au pair for David Letterman’s son, Harry. But this is no vanity kids-book project — it’s a delightful story with even more delightful illustrations. When young Harry can’t sleep, he and his toy pal Horsie get the Super Duper Bubble Blooper down from a shelf and blast away! The bubbles pick up Harry’s toys — including Horsie — and float away, all the way into outer space. After some cosmic adventures, the pair of pals are back in bed, fast asleep. Agnew’s art is wonderfully retro-modern — like what the future looked like in, say, comic books of the ’50s. And the kid, Harry — yes, he looks like his dad.
“MY ROTTEN LIFE: NATHAN ABERCROMBIE, ACCIDENTAL ZOMBIE” by David Lubar (ages 9-12)
You have to love a writer who can rhyme zombie in his title. Ten-year-old Nathan Abercrombie, who’s always picked last in gym, gets doused with an experimental liquid that’s meant to eliminate hurt feelings. Instead, it turns him into a zombie. Not that it’s all bad: He can stay up all night playing video games ’cause he doesn’t need sleep, and there’s no need to worry about the bully ’cause he doesn’t feel pain. Readers of Lubar’s “Hidden Talents” will enjoy his silly/funny style of storytelling, while Bela Lugosi and George Romero fans will enjoy the reference to Romero Community College.
“LEAVING THE BELLWEATHERS” by Kristin Clark Venuti (ages 8 to 12)
They’re billing this as “the Addams Family meets ‘Cheaper by the Dozen,’ ” and while the cast of characters are many and macabre, there’s a twist of Lemony Snicket here, too. This time, the “unfortunate events” are those borne by Tristan Benway, the put-upon servant of the eccentric Bellweather clan. They live in a lighthouse, where one boy collects endangered animals (“but only the sort who have the ability to poison, maim or kill people”) while his sister collects strays, both human and seal. Will Benway ever get away? The language is witty and enlightened — it wouldn’t hurt to have an 8-year-old looking up “epiphany.”