Posted by Ruth
Categories: Adventure, Fiction
Tags:Animals, Funny, Good Read Aloud, Long Read, The Lord of the Rings
4 Comments »
Our rating: 
Bilbo Baggins is a respectable hobbit who considers adventures to be “nasty uncomfortable things that make you late for dinner.” So when the great wizard, Gandalf, scratches a strange sign on his door and the next day thirteen dwarves appear quite uninvited for tea, Bilbo is rather worried that he’s gotten himself right in the middle of one. But, as the dwarves continue into the night telling their wonderful tales of adventure, Bilbo begins to become interested. Soon, he is persuaded to join the dwarves in their hopeless quest that will lead them through dangerous forests, over mountains, encountering orcs, savage wolves and giant spiders, to regain their rightful treasure that was stolen and is being guarded by Smaug, the most feared dragon in the countryside.
A great adventure book! This is most definitely one of my favorites. J.R.R. Tolkien is a wonderful fantasy writer and I enjoy reading this again and again. It’s very funny how, when they start, the dwarves don’t think Bilbo’s worth much, but as time goes on, and Bilbo has to rescue them out of all sorts of messes, the dwarves begin to turn to him every time they get into trouble. I especially like the part where Bilbo and Gollum are having their life-and-death riddle tournament.
Click here to buy The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Boxed Set from Amazon.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Good Read Aloud, Horses, Marguerite Henry
2 Comments »
Our rating: 
In this sequel to Misty of Chincoteague, Paul and Maureen are faced with a hard decision. A movie company wants to buy Misty. Maureen and Paul finally decide to sell Misty, so city children can see a wild pony. Misty’s going leaves an empty gap in their lives, which is eased by the orphan colt Sea Star. When Sea Star won’t eat, they have to find a way to make a mare, who has lost its colt, adopt little Sea Star.
A very nice story. Although, I was surprised that Sea Star only has the last half of the book and a very short half at that. It was fun reading this book again. I hadn’t read it for quite a while and I had forgotten a lot. Sea Star is one of Marguerite Henry’s heartwarming stories.
Posted by Ruth
Categories: Adventure, All Ages, Fiction, Mysteries, Review
Tags:Animals, Freddy the Pig, Good Read Aloud, Pigs, Walter R. Brooks
3 Comments »
Our rating:
Signor Zingo, the well-known magician, is traveling with Mr. Boomschmidt’s circus. Freddy thinks it’s a wonderful opportunity to learn magic. So when Presto, Signor Zingo’s rabbit, offers to teach Freddy all he knows about magic, Freddy is delighted. As he learns more about magic tricks and begins to put on small shows, he uncovers suspicious information about Signor Zingo. His suspicions are soon confirmed and with the help of his friends, Freddy determines to prove to the unsuspecting inhabitants of Centerburo that Zingo is a crook.
This is one of my favorites of the Freddy books. The showdown between Freddy and Zingo during the magic performance is very hilarious.
Posted by Jordan
Categories: Adventure, All Ages, Fantasy, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, C. S. Lewis, Good Read Aloud, Narnia, Unicorns
3 Comments »
Our rating:
Eustace and Jill return to Narnia! This time, Aslan has been absent for a long while, but reports have come to King Tirian and his unicorn Jewel that Aslan has returned. Then a wise centuar tells them that this Aslan is a fake! Tirian tries to stop him, but ends up captured by the Calormens. Eustace and Jill must rescue the king and his unicorn and expose the false Aslan before it’s too late.
Sad to say, this book ends The Chronicles of Narnia. The battle at the end is great (it goes on for a few chapters). There are several sad parts, but of course, all comes right in the end. I think that this is a fitting end to the series, but I wish that C. S. Lewis had written more.
Posted by Jordan
Categories: Fiction, Incredibook!, Review, Younger Readers
Tags:Animals, Easy Read, Eric Carle, Funny, Good Read Aloud, Insects
Add a comment »
Our rating:
A grouchy ladybug and a polite ladybug both fly in to eat some aphids. The polite one wants to share, but the grouchy one plans on fighting for them. He’s also a coward, though, and so the grouchy ladybug goes off to find something that’s “big enough” for him to fight.
Eric Carle’s books are always fun and interesting. As the grouchy ladybug tries to find something to fight, the pages start out small, and then get larger as the animals he wants to fight get outrageously larger. At the end, there’s a great lesson about sharing and not being grouchy.
content rss
