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A few years ago, I began to read the The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of 5 books about three children who enter the faerie world when they move to their Aunt Lucinda’s house, the Spiderwick Estate.  I read the first two installments of the series, but then never finished them.  This past week, I picked them back up and reread the second one, The Seeing Stone.  This prompted me to continue the series by reading Lucinda’s Secret and The Ironwood Tree.  The story of the Grace Children continues in each of these small, quick reads.  The Grace children, after finding a long-lost book, are tormented by goblins and dwarves who want the book as well.  I can’t wait to see how the series ends when I read Wrath of Mulgarath.  Check these little books out and enjoy them!

I was finally able to finish The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan a couple of nights ago.  The book belongs to my youngest son and he and I were competing with each other for time to read the book in the evenings.  When I was a student (a long time ago), I loved to learn about Greek Mythology. This captivating novel presents the Greek gods as parents of certain mortals who have one human parent as well.  These “half-bloods” live in both the mortal world as well the heavenly world.  The main character, Percy Jackson, is the son of a very powerful Greek god and in the book he is chased by monsters and his life is endangered more than once in his quest to stop an all-out war between the gods.  This book is the beginning of a five-book series that is sure to keep me up more than one night in the next few weeks.  Hope you will check it out!

Over the holiday break, I spent a lot of time reading some of the new books that are going to be in the library.  I read ghost stories, adventure stories and mysteries.  I enjoyed all of them.  All except one of the books is part of a series so if you enjoy them, there is more to come.

Check out the titles below and the grade I think would most enjoy the books.  Happy Reading!

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn (4th and 5th graders)

The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch (3rd, 4th, and 5th graders)

The Mystery of Mr. Nice by Bruce Hale (2nd, 3rd and 4th graders)

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix (4th and 5th graders)

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (4th and 5th graders)

I spent a bunch of time reading this summer and a lot of the books were children’s books.  The list that follows is what I read, and I highly recommend all of the books.  We have many of them in our library at Parkwood so check one out.  

• Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid:  The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
• The Seer of Shadows by Avi
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
• Heartbeat by Sharon Creech
• A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
• Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carmen
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
• Crash by Jerry Spinelli

What did you read this summer?  Come in and tell me!

“When the city of Ember was just built and not yet inhabited, the chief builder and the assistant builder, both of them weary, sat down to speak of the future.”

” ” They must not leave the city for at least two hundred years,” said the chief builder, “or perhaps two hundred twenty.” ”  

The City of Ember begins with these sentences and immediately drew me into the plot.  The main characters of the book are Lina and Doon.  They live in Ember, a town that is lit entirely by artificial light.  The generator that powers these lights is failing, and the town is often plunged into darkness.  This darkness is absolute and there are no flashlights or candles.  In fact, they don’t even know what they are.

I do not want to give away the secrets of this book, but I could not read it fast enough.  The People of Sparks is the name of the next book in the series and I will start it soon.

The City of Ember will be on the shelf on Thursday.  Come in and check it out!

 

 

Recently I finished reading the novel The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall.  I have to admit that I was not overly excited about the novel based on the description, but since it is nominated for the North Carolina Children’s Book Award in the Junior Books category, I thought I should give it a shot.  

The book is about four young sisters who have gone on a summer vacation to a cottage on the estate of a wealthy woman and her son.  The sisters are accompanied by their father who is a widower.  Jeffery, the son who lives on the estate with his mother, becomes friends with them and they have all sorts of adventures much to the distress of his mother.  

This book is a charming story of a family that is very close and has strong convictions about what they believe to be right and wrong.  The sequel to this book is on the shelf in the media center.  I think I will read it as well.

 

 

 

The catalog record for the book states:

 

While Piggie is determined to fly, Elephant is skeptical, but when Piggie gets a little help from others, amazing things happen.

Even older kids find these books funny.  They are easy to read, but the illustrations and the pictures are so humorous that you really should check one out.

Thanks for your question, Belawal.

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Hey there.  On this blog, I will write reviews of books we have in the school library.  You can also add your thoughts about these books as comments.

It is my hope that you will check some of these books out and enjoy!

• Recently Written

  • The Spiderwick Chronicles
  • The Lightning Thief
  • Winter Reading
  • Summer Reading
  • The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
  • The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy
  • Today I Will Fly
  • Elephant and Piggie Books by Mo Willems
  • Purpose of the Blog