Posted by Becca
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Award Winner, Good Read Aloud, New York City, Ruth Sawyer
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Lucinda Wyman’s parents are going to Italy for health reasons, leaving ten-year-old Lucinda with two spinsters for a whole year. Lucinda is excited about her “year of orphanage” because she will be allowed to roam the streets of New York City without being tied to a French governess. Her freedom allows her to make many friends, from the poor family in the upstairs apartment to the Italian street vendor.
Roller Skates is wonderful in that Lucinda is given so much freedom to explore and make friends, within bounds of reason, allowing her to come out of the shell imposed on her by her high-class, snooty, and somewhat uncaring family. There is one loose end that is upsetting to Lucinda and to the reader that is never tied up in the end, but most of the story is a good read with no lack of the subtle emotions of a young girl whose feelings have been hidden for so long.
Posted by Sarah
Categories: Fiction, Picture Books, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Animals, Arnold Lobel, Easy Read, Frog and Toad, Frogs, Good Read Aloud, Quick Read, Toads
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This book contains five stories about Frog and Toad, in which spring comes and Frog tries to wake Toad up, Toad tries to think of a story to tell Frog, Toad loses a button, Frog and Toad go swimming, and Toad is unhappy because he never gets any mail.
Light-hearted tales that are fun to read aloud. My favorite is the one where Toad tries to think up a story, perhaps because I myself am a writer. If you enjoy this book, you may want to also read Frog and Toad Together.
Posted by Ruth
Categories: All Ages, Fantasy, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Award Winner, Easy Read, Gail Carson Levine, Good Read Aloud
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Ella has a problem. At birth, a foolish fairy granted her the gift of obedience. Now any command she receives, however big or little it be, she is compelled to obey. This has obvious disadvantages, and if the knowledge of her curse falls into the wrong sort of hands… well, it could be very bad indeed. However, Ella is not one to simply accept her fate. She determines to find the cure, no matter how long it takes.
This is a delightfully fun read. It’s lighthearted, but at the same time isn’t meaningless fluff. The story is cleverly written, and I found it almost impossible to put down. In short, Ella Enchanted is… enchanting! I’d say it’s best suited for ages 12 and up, but it could be a good read aloud book, too.
Posted by Becca
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Dogs, Funny, Good Read Aloud, Monkeys, Wilson Rawls
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Jay Berry Lee loves to explore the river bottoms near his home in Oklahoma. One day, his dog, Rowdy, finds a strange creature in a tree. Jay Berry finds out from his grandpa that the creature is an escaped circus monkey and that there are about twenty-nine more. The circus is offering two dollars for each monkey, except for one. This one monkey is the leader of the other monkeys and the reward for it is a hundred dollars. Having the opportunity of making so much money, Jay Berry sets out to capture all thirty monkeys, but the task proves to be harder than he had expected.
Summer of the Monkeys is filled with Jay Berry’s humorous adventures. Every time the boy thinks he’s outsmarted the monkeys, the monkeys outsmart Jay Berry. Though there is some questionable theology about the Old Man of the Mountains, but the rest of the book is great. Be sure to have a tissue handy at the end because it’s very touching.
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