MY WEIRD SCHOOL

Annie is reading MY WEIRD SCHOOL series at school and really likes them. Titles include Ms. DAISY IS CRAZY, Mr. Klutz is Nuts, Ms. Roopy is Loopy and Ms. Patty is Batty.

Annie says they are funny, the teachers do weird things in the story and the kids think that the real teacher is locked up.

DEATHLY HALLOWS ( Read when 6 and 8)

Well, we made it through the ENTIRE Harry Potter series. Curtis thought we should stop mid-way through number 7 because so many people start to die. Well, Annie and Spencer would not have it and in this case, I decided to let them make the call. They finished and were very excited about it. I listened to it as well and really enjoyed it.

NORTH TO FREEDOM

There are two books I remember reading as a child. Indian in the Cupboard and North to Freedom. I have tried reading both to our kids but they have been a little young. We just started North to Freedom about a boy who escapes from a concentration camp in WWII and has to head north to Denmark. The writing is OK. It could have benefited greatly from a good editor that just added things like "he said" or " David did". I have to fill in a bit so the kids know who the story is talking about. But a good message and a real reminder of how much we take for granted. This boy has never seen a mirror, been in a house, heard music and he is 12 years old. Annie and Spencer are enjoying this.

Kate McMullan and the FLUFFY Series

Spencer is LOVING the series FLUFFY by Kate McMullan. They are level 3 readers and really pretty funny. He is always looking for someone to share a laugh with him while reading these books. Kate McMullan has written several books including DIRTY and some Dragon books too. Annie started the Dragon books but was not too in to them.

Sister's Grimm and Peter and the Starcatchers

parent post - I just thought of two more series that the girls are enjoying...

Kenzie is reading The Sisters Grimm series. Book One is The Fairy-Tale Detectives. I have not read the book but Kenzie read books 1, 2 and 3 right after each other and seemed to really enjoy them. It is about two sisters that discover they are descended from the storytelling Brothers Grimm. They get involved in mysteries that include all the characters of those stories.



I have read the 1st of the series Peter and the Starcatchers to the girls. It is about an orphan named Peter and how he becomes Peter Pan. It was action packed and was really creative in bringing about all the characters of Peter Pan into the story.

Andrew Lost series by C.J. Greenburg

I'm reading these to Kate(5) right now. They are kind of like the magic tree house series in that kids go on various adventures. Andrew is an inventor and gets into trouble with his different inventions, such as shrinking himself and his cousin Judy with his atom sucker. Kate is really enjoying them.

Harry Potter series

This summer I read the last 3 Harry Potter books. The last 2 books made me a little sad in places. There is some fighting throughout the books. My favorite Harry Potter book was The Goblet of Fire. I really liked it because of all the games.

Parent voice: Kenzie would read the book and then we watch the movie and compare the differences from book to movie. She would tell us where things were left out or changed. We are looking forward to the movie coming out in Nov.

Harry Potter- Order of the Phoenix

Annie and Spencer just finished listening to the fifth book in the Harry Potter Series. Sirius Black dies and we heard the kids would be scarfed/devastated. They did fine. I did not expect to get this far into the series.

Chapter Books for beginning readers

My friend Nicole just sent these in.

Chapter Books for Beginning Readers
By Holly E. Newton

I am concluding my three part article on beginning readers with chapter books. Beginning chapter books are appropriate for children who can handle longer stories, with longer paragraphs. The font should be fairly large and the illustrations will decrease and ultimately not be found on every page. I've grouped the following chapter books by publisher, and I begin each list with the emergent chapter books and end with lengthier chapter books with few pictures found throughout.

I'll begin with Scholastic. Diamond, by Suzanne Weyn, and illustrated by Elizabeth Alba, is the latest horse book in the "Breyer Stablemates" series. "Appleville Elementary” is another series with the newest edition, Fooled You!, by Nancy Krulik. The illustrations are simple pencil drawings. "Dinosaur Cove", by Rex Stone, is a series that boys seem to enjoy. Swimming with the Plesiosaur is the latest book in the series, with detailed drawings by Mike Spoor. Pam Munoz Ryan has a new series about young Cornelia. Cornelia and the Show-and-Tell Showdown has Cornelia bringing a unique item to class. The illustrations are colorful throughout. "Magic Pickle", by Scott Morse, is a great series to introduce humor in books. The latest book in the series, Magic Pickle and the Creature From the Back Legume, has the Jo Jo's magic pickle falling into his backpack on the way to a peanut factory. "Perfectly Princess”, by Alyssa Crowned, is a new series geared for girls with Green Princess Saves the Day as the most recent edition. A nice introduction to non-fiction is the "True or False" series, by Melvin and Gilda Berger (who are some of the best children's non-fiction authors). Dangerous Animals is their newest. Fangs, by Heather Dakota, and Tami Susano, is one in a series that features a lenticular picture on the cover highlighting 3 different frightening animals. With 3-D movies currently being so popular, "3-D Thrillers" is a new series. Sharks and the World’s Scariest Sea Monsters is an exciting book with 3-D glasses included. Sophie is an imaginative 3rd grader and her first book in a new series is Sophie the Awesome, by Laura Tallardy.

Candlewick Press has a cute new series with the first book being about two lively friends: Joe and Sparky Get New Wheels, by Jaie Michalak, and bright illustrations by Frank Remkiewicz. At the same emergent chapter book level is the "Zelda and Ivy" series with Keeping Secrets, by Laura Mcgee Kvasnosky. “Houndsley and Catina" is another series at the same level with Plink and Plunk, by James Howe, and colorful illustrations by Marie-Louise Gay. "Mercy Watson" is a favorite series for many beginning chapter book readers because the stories are so enjoyable. Something Wonky This Way Comes, by Kate DiCamillo, and wonderfully illustrated by Chris Van Dusen, is the newest book. "The Cool Crazy Crickets" is a brand new series featuring four lively friends. Club and To the Rescue!, both by David Elliott, and illustrated by Paul Meisel, are the first two books in this series. "Stink", the little brother to the Judy Moody books, is a popular series, by Megan McDonald, and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Solar System Superhero is another hit! The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt, by the same author and illustrator, features both Judy Moody and her little brother, Stink. This book is a fun mystery waiting to be unraveled. "Daisy Dawson", by Steve Voake, and illustrated with wonderful black and white etchings by Jessica Meserve, is a series about a sweet little girl with the kindest nature. The Secret Pond is the newest book in this series. "Max Disaster”, by Marissa Moss, is another new series with two new books in this series. Alien Eraser to the Rescue and Alien Eraser Unravels the Mystery of the Pyramids are both full of inventive drawings and a clever storyline that will surely captivate your young reader all the way to the end.

I love this new book by Hyperion. If you have a child (especially boys) who hasn't discovered the joy in reading, look no further. Super Chicken Nugget Boy, by Josh Lewis, and illustrated by Douglas Holgate, has just a few pictures sprinkled throughout and the font is smaller and the story is more complex, but it showcases a boy who is bullied in class by the mean kid, Bert, but becomes a superhero when he stands up against the bully. There will more books about this hero.

Little, Brown publishers has a delightful series about "Rumblewick's Diary", by Hiawyn Oram, and wonderfully illustrated by Sarah Warburton. The level of reading ability is about the same as the previous book mentioned with My Unwilling Witch Gets a Makeover being number 4 in this series. Rumblewick is the witch's cat and he's about to help his mistress make some important decisions. This series is hilarious.

Lastly, Houghton Mifflin has The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends: George and Martha, by James Marshall. This large, over-sized book, with over 350 pages has the 35 well-known episodes about these two friends with an emergent chapter book level and colorful pictures throughout. The meaning of friendship is well explored in this book.

Tales from the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osbourne

This is an adaptation for children from Homer's classic by the author of The Magic Treehouse series. Annie and Spencer are really enjoying it. And to think, I did not even know about the Odyssey until I was in High School English class. Kids these days have it pretty good.

Several Series 4-8 year old have enjoyed.

We have read several popular series such as Nate the Great, Encyclopedia Brown & Cam Jansen, The Box Car children, Judy Moody and Stink Books. Annie and Spencer thought all of the former mentioned OK, but their FAVORITES that they return to again and again are as follows...



Mercy Watson adventures. "VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY FUNNY" says Annie. "Yes it is" says Spencer, " and they always talk about toast at the end." Like many books, we have listened to these on CD as we drive around.




Annie has read all of the Geronimo Stilton and thinks Thea Stilton books are even better.


A to z Mysteries at age 3-4 and up. Spencer says these books are good. They make him laugh and they help children know how to read Spencer says. Annie says that at age 8 she still likes these books. I thought maybe she was growing out of them but she tells me that is not true. We like listening to these on CD as well as reading them. Annie agrees that they are funny and they keep her "super interested" . We dug into these right after we read all of the Magic Treehouse when Annie was young. She loved them from the beginning at age 3.


Magic Treehouse series. I started reading these to Annie everyday while Spencer slept when she was 3. They were recommended by my wise friend Laura. I looked at the book and thought there was NO WAY Annie would like the books because they are chapter books with very few pictures. I was SOOOO wrong. We read one of the 70 page books each day. Annie had me driving to the library everyday to get the next book. Annie and Spencer have loved these books. They are very educational. We listen to them on CD as well. The reader is the author. She is not an actor so her voices are OK. The stories are interesting enough that her reading still engages my children.



This summer we dug into the HARRY POTTER SERIES. We are listening on CD. The reader, Jim Dale is FANTASTIC! He is really amazing with all of the voices. Curtis and I have been REALLY enjoying these books too. Annie says these books are "really exciting". Spencer says these books are "very funny". I had heard rumors that these books get TOO scary as you advance. Annie and Spencer have listened to the first three, Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban and they are both still loving them. We have listened to these CD books in about a week and they are long. I wake up and find them happily playing with legos, listening. They are great for car trips too. Spencer added that these books are "so funny, he feels like he is going to faint."

Rapunzel's Revenge from Annie

realy good stroy! this is a graphic novel.

NETTIE INTERJECTS: The author, Shannon Hale has done GOOSE GIRL and others. She always disliked the wimpy persona of Rapunzel saving the Prince with her hair so she turns Rapunzel into a vigilante in the old west.

Annie returns: lots of action! adventure story. 

Books on cd - my kids love these from the library