Are You My Mother? (Hardcover)
by P.D. Eastman
ISBN: 0394800184

Price: USD 8.99
654 used & new available from USD 0.10

When a mother bird leaves her egg to look for some food, the baby bird hatches and goes on a search to find his mother, even though he doesn’t know what she looks like. He meets a kitten, then a hen, a dog, a cow, a car, a boat, an airplane, and a big thing. But where is his mother?

This book is fun to read aloud but is also good for beginning readers. A five-star picture book.

Elmer and the Dragon (My Father’s Dragon) (Paperback)
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
ISBN: 0394890493

Price: USD 7.99
114 used & new available from USD 0.10

After rescuing the baby dragon from Wild Island, Elmer starts his journey home. The dragon is happy to fly Elmer home, but a storm at sea lands them both on an island populated only by canaries. While there, Elmer learns something terrible: the king canary is dying of curiosity about a secret and the other canaries are curious to know what the secret is. Elmer knows that the only way to cure the canaries is to have the king tell his secret. But is the king willing?

Elmer and the Dragon picks up where My Father’s Dragon leaves off. In fact, all three books in the series could be combined into one book. Though this book is geared toward younger readers, it makes a fun quick read for the older audience.

Kneeknock Rise (Paperback)
by Natalie Babbitt
ISBN: 0312370091

Price: USD 6.99
44 used & new available from USD 2.25

The small village of Instep lies at the foot of Kneeknock Rise. All of the villagers are frightened of a monster that they call the Megrimum, which lives on the rise and howls every time it rains. But the villagers are also proud of the monster, so they have a fair every year to show off the monster. One year, young Egan comes to visit his aunt and uncle at fair time, and his cousin dares him to climb Kneeknock Rise. Is the Megrimum really up there?

Although this story is quite predictable (you probably know how it ends), it is also enjoyable enough to read while waiting for the next book blockbuster. Babbitt spins a tale that will delight readers, which should influence them to read one of her better stories.

Eulalia! (Redwall) (Hardcover)
by Brian Jacques
ISBN: 0399242090

Price: USD 12.36
76 used & new available from USD 2.95

The Searat captain Vizka Longtooth captures a young badger, which he decides to tame. But Gorath (the badger) is angry at the rats for killing his grandparents, and he plans to escape as soon as he can. Meanwhile, badger lord Asheye has a dream, telling him that Salamandastron’s new badger ruler will be found defending Redwall Abbey. He sends out perilous hare Mad Maudie to find the badger and bring him back. If that wasn’t complicated enough, Redwall Abbey has also banished a young hedgehog thief, telling him not to come back for a whole season. The resulting tale does indeed end up making sense in true Redwall fashion.

Doing a review of a Redwall book is always a challenge. I have read all eighteen books before this one, and I already have a favorite picked out. That being said, Eulalia! certainly meets expectations. The characters are just as memorable as always, the story just as complicated, and the ending just as satisfying.

Island of the Blue Dolphins (Paperback)
by Scott O’Dell
ISBN: 0440439884

Price: USD 6.99
401 used & new available from USD 0.10

After Karana’s tribe is decimated by greedy otter hunters, they leave the Island of the Blue Dolphins on a ship. Karana, however, is left behind while chasing after her younger brother. The rest of the story is about her struggle for survival as she looks for a way to escape and join her tribe.

The author’s note in the back of this book tells the true story of Karana, a woman who arrived at a mission in California and befriended a priest there shortly before her death. Scott O’Dell states that little is known of her story, and that it intrigued him enough to write one. While well-written and very enjoyable, Island of the Blue Dolphins doesn’t strike me as Scott O’Dell’s best work, nor as his worst. Zia is the sequel.

Reasons and Raisins (School & Library Binding)
by Josephine H. Aldridge
ISBN: 0395276896

Price: —
7 used & new available from USD 2.00

“Don’t eat the raisins,” says Little Fox’s mother. She wants to make pudding for dinner. But Little Fox disobeys and takes the raisins on his bike. And so begins a series of events with several people who have reasons for what they do.

Here’s a great story to read aloud. Not only does it teach that people have reasons for what they do, it also shows that some people have a reason entirely different than the reason they tell. Young children will love the fun story line in Reasons and Raisins.

Pollyanna Grows Up (Puffin Classics) (Paperback)
by Eleanor H. Porter
ISBN: 0140367586

Price: USD 4.99
58 used & new available from USD 0.10

Nearly all healed from her automobile accident, Pollyanna is about thirteen now. Della Wetherby asks her to stay with Miss Wetherby’s sister, Mrs. Carew, while Aunt Polly and Dr. Chilton are in Germany. After some painful family experiences, including the loss of a nephew named Jamie, Mrs. Carew has shut herself into a gloomy, dark world. Pollyanna goes to Boston and cheers up Mrs. Carew before going with her aunt and uncle on another trip to Europe. During the six years abroad, however, Dr. Chilton dies and it seems as if there will be hard times ahead for the young woman who is still playing her Glad Game.

Whew. There’s a lot of plot to this book. Pollyanna Grows Up is a little more adult than the previous book, Pollyanna, as it focuses more on love and marriage. It’s a little funny because just about everybody thinks that the person they love loves somebody else. Anyway, there’s a subplot going on with the lost Jamie that I barely mentioned in the review. There’s a lot to this book and it might make for a long review if I tried to stuff it all into one. But although somewhat different from the first book, Pollyanna is still herself. I enjoyed this book. The plot, though perhaps a little predictable, ends well.

Watership Down: A Novel (Paperback)
by Richard Adams
ISBN: 0743277708

Price: USD 10.88
88 used & new available from USD 4.01

Warned by a prophetic rabbit named Fiver, Hazel leads a group of rabbits out of his doomed warren to start a new life. However, even though they make it away safely, it will take all of their cunning and skill to keep the new warren on Watership Down thriving. In order not to die off, a group of rabbits are sent to bring back does (female rabbits) from the nearby warren of Efrafa. But the Efrafens are tough, military rabbits, and only a cunning trick will bring the does back safely.

Wonderful! The story of Hazel, Fiver, and their friends is one you won’t forget easily. Every page is interesting and vividly real. My only problem was that the rabbits would sometimes speak in a special rabbit language, which required flipping to the glossary to find the meanings of words. But this minor detail is easily taken care of by the end of the book, because Watership Down is so long, you’ll probably have most of the rabbit language memorized by the final chapters. Great to read out loud, and a must-read by my standards!

The Sneetches and Other Stories (Hardcover)
by Dr. Seuss
ISBN: 0394800893

Price: USD 10.17
92 used & new available from USD 4.48

Four silly stories by Dr. Seuss about some rather interesting subjects.

The Sneetches, the title story, is about birds. Half have stars on their bellies, the other half don’t. The ones with the stars lord it over the ones without. One day, a man offers to add stars to those with none.

The Zax is a tale of two creatures who won’t budge from their tracks to let the other through.

Too Many Daves is a crazy poem about a woman who named all of her sons Dave.

Finally, What was I Scared of? tells the story of “a pair of walking green pants with nobody inside them.”

This is probably my favorite Seuss book. I’ve always loved The Sneetches, and Too Many Daves is a poem that I can partially recite. Anyway, some great stories.

Henry Reeds Journey (Paperback)
by Keith Robertson
ISBN: 0440435552

Price: —
30 used & new available from USD 0.10

Henry Reed is coming back to Grover’s Corner, but in a whole new way. Instead of flying directly to Grover’s Corner, he’s going to San Francisco, where his friend Midge’s family is. They all plan to drive back, across the continent back to New Jersey. But with Henry and Midge having a way of starting innocent accidents, and souvenirs for their travel museum piling up, Mr. Glass might not survive to drive them home!

Personally, this is my favorite Henry Reed book. Everywhere the car stops, Henry and Midge cause an accident or get pulled into something. From Midge starting a gold rush, to Henry saving a hotel swimming pool, Henry Reed’s Journey is a definite winner. Too bad it’s out of print.