Becca Posted by Becca
Categories: Fiction, Picture Books, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Animals, Deer, Good Read Aloud, Russell E. Erickson, Toads, Warton and Morton, Wildcats, Woodrats
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Warton and the Traders (Paperback)
by Russell E. Erickson
ISBN: 0440494109
Price: —
8 used & new available from USD 0.99
Warton sets off once again to visit his Aunt Toolia, this time to deliver some canned goods. On the way, he meets two woodrats and helps them escape from a wildcat. The woodrats tell Warton that they live in The Bogs and that the wildcat had been plaguing their colony for several days. When he arrives at his aunt’s house, Warton finds that Aunt Toolia has been missing for some time and, with the help of a whippoorwill, finds her in the the dangerous Bogs caring for an injured fawn. Knowing that two small toads cannot possibly cart enough food for such a large animal, Warton leaves to locate the colony of woodrats and enlist their help. But the woodrats insist that everything be a trade, and Warton has nothing to offer in return for their help in feeding the fawn—unless he can find some way to get rid of the wildcat.
Warton and the Traders is perfect for younger readers who want more than a short picture book, but it is written in a way that appeals to the older crowd as well. The story is well-told, amusing and has no objectionable material. Warton and the Traders is part of a series about Warton and Morton, the first being A Toad for Tuesday, with the others following in no particular order.
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Jordan Posted by Jordan
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Arthur Ransome, Good Read Aloud, imagination, islands, sailing, Seafaring, Swallows and Amazons, vacation
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The Swallows and Amazons return for another imaginative adventure! This time the Swallows’ youngest sister Bridget comes along on an exploring and mapping expedition as the children are “marooned” by their parents on the islands of Secret Water. However, mapmaking is threatened by war when the Eels, a “savage tribe” of four other children camping on one of the other islands, want the islands to themselves and attempt to drive the Swallows and Amazons away.
Let’s deal with my one problem with this book first. The “savage tribe” of Eels imaginatively goes the whole nine yards into playing savages, including a pretend human sacrifice to the Great Eel and a very un-pretend blood brotherhood ritual. Anybody with a sense of humor will find these parts funny, but some might consider them a bad influence. I’m in the former camp, so with that out of the way, let me tell you what I like about Secret Water.
It’s a charming, witty, exciting story full of lots of imagination and humor. Adventure? Plenty. Marooned explorers, unexplored islands, attacks from savages, and thrilling escapes. There’s something here for everybody, and you can’t help but wish that you were inside this story.
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Becca Posted by Becca
Categories: Fiction, Picture Books, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Animals, Easy Read, Geese, Good Read Aloud, Quick Read, Roger Duvoisin
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Petunia (Hardcover)
by Roger Duvoisin
ISBN: 0394808657
Price: USD 11.55
88 used & new available from USD 0.10
One day, Petunia, the silly goose, finds a book lying on the ground. Petunia has heard the farmer say that those who own books and love them will be wise, so she keeps the book, believing that she will no longer be a silly goose. With her new-found wisdom, Petunia feels that she is qualified to give advice to the rest of the farm animals but, since she has never read the book, her advice has disastrous (and explosive) results.
Petunia is a silly story with a moral. Although the moral is a little too obvious, the rest of the book comes across well, is very enjoyable, and makes a good start to a small series featuring the silly goose.
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Rebekah Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, E. B. White, Good Read Aloud
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Stuart Little (Paperback)
by E. B. White
ISBN: 0064400565
Price: USD 5.99
636 used & new available from USD 0.10
Of all strange things that have ever happened, a mouse being born into a human family is one of them. Perhaps Stuart wasn’t really a mouse, but he certainly looked like one, and he caused a fair amount of worry to his parents, who were forever fearful of losing him. An adventurous mouse at heart, Stuart did many exciting things such as sailing in a boat on Central Park Pond and climbing down the bathtub drain after his mother’s ring. One day a brown bird named Margalo came to stay with the family for a while, and she and Stuart became good friends. Imagine Stuart’s grief when, one morning, upon waking up, he discovered that Margalo had vanished. Determined to find her again, Stuart sets out to seek his fortune and his friend.
It’s interesting how much the camp is divided over this book. Some people love it, and others find it bizarre. I enjoy it, and find Stuart’s adventures to be very amusing. That’s pretty much what the book is: a collection of Stuart’s adventures with little or no reason to move from one to other except as they happen. Charming, in many respects, and witty in all the others.
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Jordan Posted by Jordan
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Barbara Robinson, Christmas, Funny, Good Read Aloud, pageant, play, Quick Read
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The Herdman kids are the most rotten children ever. They’re so rotten that when they come to church in the hopes of free dessert, nobody expects them to want to stay. But the biggest surprise comes when the six Herdmans decide they want to star in the Christmas Pageant — with hilarious and heartwarming results.
I’ve grown up with this short book. Every year, I revisit it and find it better than I remembered. Up until the last chapter, the laughs come fast and furious as the Herdmans get a crash course in the Christmas story, but the final chapter is the gem where the true meaning of Christmas shines through.
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