One morning Fern Arable, an eight year-old girl, learned her father was about to kill the runt of the new pig litter. She rushed to stop him and finally Mr. Arable agreed not to harm the pig. Mr. Arable gave the pig to Fern, and she eventually named him Wilbur. However, after a few weeks of happiness together, Mr. Arable told Fern that the pig would have to be sold. Wilbur was getting bigger, along with his appetite, and Mr. Arable wasn't willing to feed the pig any longer. So Fern sorrowfully sold Wilbur to her Uncle Zuckerman's farm nearby, where she could go and visit him. However, even with all Fern's visits, Wilbur became lonely. But a spider named Charlotte was ready to be his friend and would also try to save him from being killed and made into bacon and ham.

A great book. For those who don't like spiders, this book might help them feel a little more affectionate to the eight-legged insects. Maybe. No guarantees. And all readers should be prepared for a sad and perhaps unexpected part at the end. However, Templeton the rat is rather funny sometimes, and I really like the ending of this book.

In the first of four books in one, called The Bloodstone, Denise Wolff finds a rock in her uncle's attic and gives it as a birthday present to her friend Josh's spoiled brother Nathan, not knowing that placing the rock in moonlight sends a signal to a different dimension called Fayrah. Listro Q, a purple creature with mixed up talking; Aristophenix, a poet; and Samson the bug arrive from Fayrah and cross-dimensionalize Denise and Nathan to Fayrah for a visit, though it turns out to be more than just a friendly call.

The second book is called The Experiment, in which Denise and Josh cross-dimensionalize with the three creatures from Fayrah and eventually get to Biiq, the mathematical land, where Olga the computer awaits for Josh and the Machine for Denise. The Machine helps Denise understand how Imager could love the "Upside-Downers," the people on earth, and Olga to prove the presence of Imager.

The Whirlwind, the third book, is about how Josh is tricked by the Illusionist and Bobok, the villains who one or both appear in the first and second books, into going to the three levels of perfection. The third being the Sea of Justice, where, even after completing the first two levels, Josh would be destroyed.

And now for the final and fourth book, The Tablet. Disaster strikes when Denise finds the tablet after a dream sent by the Merchant of Emotions. The tablet will do anything you write on it. Nathan and Josh must stop the Merchant of Emotions before he can reach earth and show Denise that she is wrong before, with the intention of making it a better place, she makes the world into a nightmare.

I really like this book. In The Tablet, the Merchant of Emotions has a pet named TeeBolt who is usually running away and they make a comical team together. The Bloodstone Chronicles is an allegory of a growing Christian’s life. I like the style of writing Bill Myers uses in this book.

The Pye family, complete with Ginger and Gracie, were going to spend the summer on Fire Island! Once there, they find an "abandid" kitten named Pinky. The Pyes decide to keep her. They find out she has unusual talents, such as boxing with Ginger - and even typing on their typewriter! Uncle Bennie came to Fire Island with them and develops an interest in crickets and grasshoppers. He starts keeping them as pets and Rachel will put them, inside their cricket and or grasshopper box, up in the eaves. But when they start disappearing... what's up?

This is a great book. You can probably guess what's up, so I didn't categorize it as a mystery. Still, Pinky's cute and I like the epilogue.

Balulu is an Australian aborigine hunter. His tribe is suffering from a drought, and is slowly starving. Setting out with his dingo named Warrigal, Balulu searches for a better place for his tribe to live and hunt in. But, when he finally finds the perfect place, it proves to already be inhabited by another tribe, which might have hostile intentions.

There's a lot of neat stuff in here, although, quite honestly, Balulu's diet is rather, shall we say, different. Anyway, it's interesting to read about how the aboriginies lived and what they did. It also makes you appreciate even something like brussel sprouts! At least they aren't sun-dried frog skins! (Although. . . I guess that point is debatable.)

The Old Meadow is scheduled to be destroyed, and Chester Cricket has sent word to Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat in New York City. Tucker and Harry rush to Hedley, Connecticut. Chester wants Tucker to think of a plan to save the meadow, but what with Harry being adopted by a girl named Ellen, Tucker's got his hands full.

I enjoyed Tucker's Countryside a bit less than some of the others in this series, but it's still very enjoyable and very fun.

In a series of increasingly more difficult tongue twisters, a Fox tries to find something that Mr. Knox can say.

If you can't say "Fox in socks on Knox in box." ten times fast, your tongue may need lubrication. What better way than to read straight through Seuss' book without one mistake? Take courage, though. The book ends with a (relatively) easy section on Tweedle Beetles.

Toot and Puddle are two pigs who live at Woodcock Pocket. One day, Toot, who really likes to travel, goes on a trip to the Wildest Borneo and Puddle receives postcards from him.

A funny, well-illustrated book. There are several other Toot and Puddle books, and the first of the series is Toot and Puddle.

A spider is busy spinning her web. Different animals come and talk to her, but the spider doesn't answer. She is busy spinning her web.

Another good Eric Carle book. Eric Carle has good, colorful illustrations. I like this book.

One night, a caterpillar hatches and finds that he is very, very hungry. He eats and eats and eats and eats and eats — and soon is a big, fat caterpillar. Then he makes a cocoon....

A nice, colorful, humorous book. I like it.

A grouchy ladybug and a polite ladybug both fly in to eat some aphids. The polite one wants to share, but the grouchy one plans on fighting for them. He's also a coward, though, and so the grouchy ladybug goes off to find something that's "big enough" for him to fight.

Eric Carle's books are always fun and interesting. As the grouchy ladybug tries to find something to fight, the pages start out small, and then get larger as the animals he wants to fight get outrageously larger. At the end, there's a great lesson about sharing and not being grouchy.