The Spiderwick Chronicles

Posted by Jordan
Categories: Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Animals, Dragons, Holly Black, Spiderwick, Tony DiTerlizzi
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The adventure begins as the Grace family (twins Jared and Simon, Mallory, and their mother) moves into a house that Mrs. Grace’s great-aunt Lucinda has given them. And then strange things begin to happen. The children find a hidden room, full of weird references to faeries. Jared finds a field guide by Arthur Spiderwick telling all about the different kinds of faeries, what they do, where they live, and how to tame them. When they do find faeries, the faeries want them to destroy the book. But Jared insists on keeping it, and so the Grace family is plunged into an adventure they never expected.

Although this is a fun story, there are many things included that make it inappropriate for the intended age group.  Jared has problems controlling his temper, and he never overcomes the problem. He also deceives the faeries more than once in order to keep the field guide, but later realizes that he should be truthful. His siblings are a little more well-behaved.

Somewhat disappointing is the fact that the villain character is not revealed until the fourth book in the series. Also, the story seems to be stretched out needlessly to cover a five book serial. Every member of the family is captured by faeries at one time or another, which makes for exciting escapes, but becomes boring reading after the second or third capture. However, a clever story does manage to make Spiderwick worth reading. Even though the series is aimed at a younger audience, I feel that it is really better suited for ages 10 and up, so I went ahead and labeled them for older readers. I’ve linked to the boxed set, as the books really should be read back-to-back.

I actually enjoyed the recent film version of The Spiderwick Chronicles better than the book. A lot of the more inappropriate material was cut. The story was also changed around to make it move along at a more respectable pace, and I thought that the ending of the movie was much more satisfying than the ending of the book. The film also lets you know who the bad guy is early on, which was a big plus for me. So make sure that you see the movie once you’ve finished the books.

The Story Of King Arthur And His Knights

Posted by Sarah
Categories: Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Howard Pyle, King Arthur, Long Read, Sad
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The story of how King Arthur drew the sword from the anvil and became king, how he obtained the sword Excalibur and its magical sheath, and how he wore a magical cap of disguise to be near the Lady Guinevere and how they were eventually wed. Also the story of the evil plans of King Arthur’s sister, Queen Morgana le Fay, how Sir Pellias and Sir Gawaine were wed to Ladies of the Lake, and how King Arthur defeated the enchanter knight.

A pretty good book. It’s written in Old English and I learned at least one new word. It’s also somewhat sad in some places. I liked the stories with King Arthur best.

The Peterkin Papers

Posted by Becca
Categories: Fiction, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Funny, Good Read Aloud, Lucretia P. Hale
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One day, Mrs. Peterkin discovers that she has put salt in her coffee by mistake. She can’t drink it this way, so her family consults several people in the hopes that one of them can fix the coffee. However, all of these people only make the coffee worse. Then one of the Peterkins remembers that there is a wise lady from Philadelphia in town who might be able to help.

This is only the first of many silly escapades in the The Peterkin Papers. The Peterkins also try to go for a drive, but the horse won’t move. They try to summon the telegraph boy and end up calling the fire department. Each chapter is a different story about the Peterkins’ mishaps. All of them are funny in varying degrees. The Peterkin Papers is just the book to enjoy when you feel the need for a good laugh.

Giant John

Posted by Jordan
Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Picture Books, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Animals, Arnold Lobel, Dogs, Fairies, Funny, Giants, Good Read Aloud
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Giant John and his mother have no food except two potato chips, so John goes off to get a job and make some money. What kind of job will he get? And what will happen when his friends the fairies want him to dance?

I was quite pleased to discover that Giant John is coming back into print. The story ends in a fun way that will leave everybody laughing at John’s attempts to help. Arnold Lobel’s pictures may be the best part, and I always get a kick out of the picture of John’s mother when he comes home at the end.

The Sea Fairies

Posted by Sarah
Categories: Adventure, All Ages, Fantasy, Fiction, Review
Tags:Fairies, L. Frank Baum, Seafaring
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Trot and Cap’n Bill meet some mermaids who invite them to visit their palace underwater. Trot and Cap’n Bill accept the invitation and, after the mermaids give Trot the form of a mermaid and Cap’n Bill the form of a merman, they all go to the palace, where Trot and Cap’n Bill meet Queen Aquareine of the mermaids. But Zog the Magician captures the queen, Trot, Cap’n Bill, and Princess Clia, and it’s a battle of magic to see who will come out victorious.

As a warning, in my copy of this book a few little sections have the lines of text switched around, so you have to read it out of order so it makes sense. Zog is pretty sinister. The battles of magic in his castle are neat. Most of the book is more of Trot and Cap’n Bill visiting the ocean, but it picks up somewhat at the end with Zog.