Posted by Jordan
Categories: Fiction, Picture Books, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Animals, Chickens, Cows, David Macaulay, Funny, Good Read Aloud
2 Comments »
Our rating: 
A chicken crosses the road, beginning a hilarious chain reaction involving a burglar, an explosion, and stampeding cows.
Macaulay’s genius shines through brilliantly. The adults reading this book will enjoy it more than the children they are reading to. Make sure you look closely at the pictures for speech bubbles, goofy happenings, and the burglar hiding on most pages.
Posted by Becca
Categories: Adventure, All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Dogs, Funny, Jack Stoneley, Out of Print, Sad
5 Comments »
Our rating:
A mixed breed puppy is born in an abandoned house. Its mother had been left, tied to the house, for a neighbor to pick up when her owners moved away. But she chewed her rope and ran back into the house before the neighbor could get there. The puppy ends up as the only surviver of her litter. The house is eventually set on fire to get it out of the way of a building company. After escaping through the chimney, the mother dog and her puppy are found on the roof and rescued by a worker. The man takes the two dogs home for his wife to care for. She immediately falls in love with them and persuades her husband to keep them. But the mother dog has other plans. She is determined to find her way back to her previous owners. On the way back to the old house, she gets lost and ends up getting shot by some shepherds. The puppy is now alone in the world. Throughout the rest of the story, she earns the name “Scruffy,” joins up with a pack of dogs, and unwittingly helps to wreck a car.
This is a great book about a dog who started out as a stray and ended up famous. I’ve read it multiple times and it still remains on my favorite list. The pack of dogs get into many adventures, including blowing up a traffic sign, “guarding” a lady, and rescuing a boot—thought to be a puppy by a deaf collie—from getting run over. The last part of the story is true. Jack Stoneley actually wrote the articles that are talked about in the book. “Scruffy” was originally titled “The Tuesday Dog.”
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Animals, Funny, Horses, Mark Twain, Westerns
1 Comment »
Our rating:
Soldier Boy, Buffalo Bill’s horse, is one of the finest scout horses in the west. When an orphan named Catherine comes to stay with General Alison, Kathy becomes good friends with everyone at the garrison, including Buffalo Bill who allows her to ride Soldier Boy. After a period of time, Kathy, General Alison, and some others return to Spain (Kathy’s home), and they take Soldier Boy with them. Unfortunately, Soldier Boy is stolen and eventually is killed in a bullfight.
This is reminiscent of A Dog’s Tale in that the hero of the story, Soldier Boy, dies. However, it takes it a step further because Kathy dies too! There are some funny parts, particularly one in which Soldier Boy and another horse discuss what makes something a reptile — “That any plantigrade circumflex vertebrate bacterium that hadn’t wings and was uncertain was a reptile.”
Posted by Jordan
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Funny, Good Read Aloud, Robert McCloskey, Skunks
Add a comment »
Our rating: 
In the small town of Centerburg, Homer Price has six adventures with the rest of the residents of the town. Plenty of great stories, like shop-sitting for his uncle when the doughnut machine won’t stop, and catching a bunch of dangerous robbers.
Loads of fun! You’ll be rolling on the floor by the end of each chapter. If you enjoy this one, try Centerburg Tales, which contains the further adventures of Homer and the residents of Centerburg.
Posted by Sarah
Categories: All Ages, Fantasy, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Cats, Funny, Good Read Aloud, Lewis Carroll, Lizards, Pigs, Rabbits, Turtles
1 Comment »
Our rating:
A young girl named Alice sees a mysterious white rabbit one day and follows it through a rabbit burrow into a magical and somewhat strange land. Cakes and drinks that change her size, a Hatter and a March Hare, a baby that is literally a pig, and conversations with walking packs of cards confront Alice as she makes her way through Wonderland.
The cards are quite fun. They play a game of croquet with Alice using flamingoes and hedgehogs as mallet and ball! I found the court scene amusing. This is a sort of book that doesn’t really explain things. It’s a string of strange adventures, but still enjoyable. By the way, a pun with the Mock Turtle struck me as funny. I found this book pretty good, and perhaps some day I will read the sequel, Through The Looking Glass.
content rss
