Posted by Becca
Categories: Fiction, Picture Books, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Animals, Good Read Aloud, Horses, Out of Print, Wesley Dennis
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Flip is a happy little colt who enjoys life on a Kentucky farm. He can run, buck, and play, but he can never manage to jump the brook in the pasture. One day, Flip falls asleep and dreams he has wings. Jumping the brook should be easy now!
A very short, easy read with a humorous story and wonderful illustrations. It is simple enough for children just beginning to read and is enjoyable for more advanced readers as well. Since the early 1940’s, Flip has pleased many horse-loving youngsters and it is sure to gather even more fans.
Posted by Becca
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Carol Ryrie Brink, Dogs, Good Read Aloud, Quick Read
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Willie is the errand boy for Puddling Center, a town where all the people think much more of work than play. One day, a showman named Professor Petit comes to town with his five dogs. Willie and the Professor become good friends, and Willie is distressed to hear that Professor Petit’s show may go bankrupt. The cause of the trouble is another showman, Black Hoskins, who is taking all of the Professor’s business. Professor Petit doesn’t mind being beaten by an honest showman, but Black Hoskins seems to be doing everything in his power to shut down the Professor’s show, and Willie suspects that the competing showman is swindling the townsfolk as well.
The Highly Trained Dogs of Professor Petit is a short, fun story. Some of the tricks done by the dogs seem a little unrealistic, however the rest of the book has plenty of charm to make up for that slight flaw. Younger and older readers will both find the story entertaining, and I highly recommend it.
Posted by Becca
Categories: Fiction, Incredibook!, Picture Books, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Funny, Good Read Aloud, Tedd Arnold
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Walter has been warned about jumping on his bed, but he chooses to disobey. An extra hard bounce sends his bed crashing through the floor and into the room below where Miss Hattie is enjoying dinner. Though Walter would love to stay, he continues the descent through every floor of the apartment, taking the occupants and their possessions with him.
Quite the funny story. The list of people and objects gets longer with each page. The rhyming names of the occupants makes the list even more humorous. Make sure that you pay close attention to the illustrations, especially the dinosaur on the television. All in all, this book is much more fun to read out loud than for one person to read it by himself.
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 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.
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.