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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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.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, E. B. White, Good Read Aloud
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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.
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.
Posted by Becca
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Arthur C. Bartlett, Bootleggers, Dogs, Good Read Aloud, Out of Print, Sled dogs
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More than anything, 16-year-old Peter Riggett wants to be considered a man, so he finds it an affront to his pride when his father won’t let him a buy a very good sled dog that was offered at a ridiculously cheap price. Mr. Riggett had good reason to be suspicious of the seller’s honesty, but he fails to tell Peter his reasons. Peter, frustrated by what he sees as unfair treatment by his father, runs away from home. Too proud, and secretly too ashamed, to go back home, Peter joins a group of men, finding out later that the men are rum-runners. Peter is finally thrown out of the group when he stands up to the leader, who is the man who tried to sell Peter the dog earlier. Feeling that he must redeem himself for his past actions, Peter joins two police officers and another man named Pewee Ledoux in the hopes of catching the gang he has just escaped.
There is much more to this book than can be put into a summary. It would make a good read-aloud, though some characters talk in broken English mixed with the occasional French that could be difficult to read out loud. The Runaway Dog Team is written in an late 1920s style, so there are a few places where the author gets a little wordy. Other than that, this is a great story of a self-centered boy learning to dump his pride and finding what it really means to grow to manhood.
Posted by Becca
Categories: Fiction, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Astrid Lindgren, Good Read Aloud, Orphans, Out of Print, Quick Read, Sweden, Tramps
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Rasmus is tired of living at the orphanage. Everybody who comes to adopt an orphan always picks a girl with curly hair. Nobody wants a boy with straight hair. One day, Rasmus decides to take matters into his own hands and sets out to find a family who wants him. The very next morning, Rasmus meets up with a tramp named Oscar who seems very friendly. Oscar says that he will help Rasmus find a home, but the two new friends run into trouble when Oscar is suspected for a crime he did not commit.
Probably the biggest thing I didn’t like about this book was Oscar’s disrespect for policemen because he is tired of them assuming that “tramp” equals “badguy.” That’s all well and good, but Oscar doesn’t even try to be nice to the policemen, which would help to clear the “tramps are bad” mindset. Another interesting item to note is that, unlike other books by Lindgren, Rasmus and the Vagabond is not a humorous story. The ending is somewhat predictable, but this is still a good quick read for days when you don’t have time for a long story.
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