Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. The Ordinary Princess is a great tale about a young woman who appreciates the value in being a strong willed individual while everyone around you is obsessed with the way you look and who you’re going to marry. It’s set in a kingdom called Phantasmorania, a place full of strange […]
Sheep
June 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Sheep is about the adventures of a Border collie pup. When the sheep ranch where he was born burns down, he’s sold to a pet store. From there, he ends up as a pet and then runs away, traveling with several people or alone, until he finally finds the home where he belongs. In many […]
Basil of Baker Street
June 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Since Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective is one of my favorite animated movies, I’ve been meaning to read the books the movie is based on. Finally I got around to reading Basil of Baker Street. Basil is a mouse who lives in the basement of Sherlock Holmes’ house on Baker Street. He idolizes the human […]
The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror
May 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror is a fun, silly book that deals with two boys that sneak out of their house at night to watch the late night double feature at The Snark. They occasionally meet up with their friend Rat—a teenaged girl with a penchant for cars […]
Geronimo Stilton, Secret Agent
May 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
At my kids’ suggestion, I finally got around to reading my first Geronimo Stilton book, Geronimo Stilton, Secret Agent. It’s more or less what I expected—a sparse plot but visually interesting. Geronimo is the only character even slightly developed in the story. I was fascinated, though, to learn that the books are originally written in […]
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword
May 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Review written by Jessica Banks. Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword is a graphic novel that tells the story of Mirka, a feisty eleven year old with a head full of heroic aspirations of dragonslaying and adventuring. What makes Mirka different from all the other girls is her context—she lives in Hereville, a town populated […]
The Talking Earth
May 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Jean Craighead George wrote many books about nature and protecting the environment. I recently reread The Talking Earth, which is about a young Seminole girl name Billie Wind who spends 3 months on her own in the Everglades. When Billie Wind says that she doesn’t believe the legends of her people, she’s sent to spend […]
Stout Hearts and Whizzing Biscuits
May 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits is an amusing story of 11 year old Oliver Stoop whose family inadvertently stumbles on the kingdom of Patria, a sovereign nation nestled in Indiana and founded thousands of years ago by ancient Greeks. It’s somewhat inexplicably similar to medieval Europe with castles and knights (plus an old Studebaker), although […]
The Wide-Awake Princess
May 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
In The Wide-Awake Princess, Princess Annabelle (Annie) is the younger sister of Gwendolyn—the most beautiful princess in the world, cursed to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and sleep for a hundred years. When Annie is born, their parents want to avoid another fairy curse, so they ask the wisest fairy to protect her. […]
Stone Fox
May 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
My son mentioned in passing that he loved the book he was reading in school so much that he started it over as soon as he was done. Of course I had to know what this wonderful book was, and thus I first heard about Stone Fox. What’s interesting is that if you described a […]
