Moonlight on the Magic Flute by Mary Pope Osborne

by Carol1 Comment
Moonlight on the Magic Flute (Magic Tree House #41) by Mary Pope Osborne Description: Jack and Annie head to 18th-century Austria, where they must find and help a brilliant artist. Decked out in the craziest outfits they’ve ever worn—including a wig for Jack and a giant hoopskirt for Annie!—the two siblings search an entire palace to no avail. Their hunt is further hampered by the appearance of a mischievous little boy who is determined to follow them everywhere. But when the boy lets the animals out of the palace zoo, Jack and Annie have to use the only magic at their disposal to save themselves and the naughty little fellow. My thoughts: Amber and I read this together, like we have all the Magic Tree House stories. I'm going to be sad when she gets too old for them. Heck, I might just have to keep reading them on my own. In this one, Jack and Annie are off on another great Merlin mission....
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The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

by Carol5 Comments
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster,illustrations by Jules Feiffer From the dust jacket: Readers of all ages will find much wit and wisdom in Norton Juster's beguiling, offbeat fanatasy about  a boy named Milo "who didn't know what to do with himself." Through the Phanotm Tollbooth lies a strange land and a series of even stranger adventures in which Milo meets some of the most logically illogical characters ever met on this side or that side of reality, including King Azaz the Unabridged, unhappy ruler of Dictionopolis; the Mathemagician; Fainly Macabre, the not-so-wicked Which; and the watchdog Tock, who ticks. In his quest fo Rhyme and Reason, Milo helps settle the war between words and numbers, visits the Island of Conclusions , and ventures into the forbidden Mountains of Ignorance. My thoughts: This is my brother-in-law's favorite childrens book, and he's the one who bought it for Amber. It's a classic and I'm definitely glad we read. Amber gave it 5.9 out of 5 starts...
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Backyard Bird Watching for Kids

by CarolNo Comments
Backyard Bird Watching for Kids: How to Attract, Feed, and Provide Homes for Birds by George H. Harrison Published May 1997 by Willow Creek Press From the back: This book provides a fascinating opportunity for children to learn how to attract birds to their own backyards. Backyard Bird Watching for Kids is filled with entertaining and fulfilling projects that allow young bird watchers to interact with nature while learning about the needs and behaviors of wild birds. And there's no better teacher than "Mr. Backyard Bird Watcher" himself, expert birder and author George H. Harrison. This book will kindle in readers a healthy, enduring interest in birds and other wild animals. My thoughts: As I've mentioned before, I'm not exactly a nature lover, but I do enjoy watching the birds at our backyard feeder from our kitchen window. I know this book is geared for kids, but I found the pages on identifying birds especially useful. It only lists about 20 birds, so it was easy to...
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The Case of the Fiendish Flapjack Flop

by Carol3 Comments
The Case of the Fiendish Flapjack Flop (Humpty Dumpty Jr., Hard Boiled Detective #1) by Nate Evans and Paul Hindman, illustrated by Vince Evans and Nate Evans From the back: Humpty Dumpty, Jr. has always gotten the bad guy. Always. Except once, when the case got too personal. You know that case. The one about his Dad... And now, a frantic call for help tells him that someone is making it personal again. And this time, Humpty better watch out or he might get scrambled. Our thoughts: Amber, 9, gave this one two thumbs up. It's a cute, "egg-citing" mystery and is really funny. I personally enjoy when authors take nursery rhyme characters and mythological creatures and run amok with them. Here we have Humpty Dumpty trying to find Patty Cake, but we run into the Knave of Hearts in the dungeon, a talking walking pancake named  "Johnny" Cakes, and a police sergeant who is a minotaur. Oh, and Humpty has a magic wand that's an egg...
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Eve of the Emperor Penguin

by Carol2 Comments
Eve of the Emperor Penguin (Magic Tree House #40) by Mary Pope Osborne Description: Jack and Annie continue their quest for the secrets of happiness—secrets they need to save Merlin. This time, the Magic Tree House takes them to the one continent they haven’t visited before: Antarctica! What can they hope to learn about happiness in such a barren place? Only the penguins know for sure . . . Jack and Annie are about to find out! My thoughts: This is another great book in the series. Amber and I have read all of them and we saw the musical in Pittsburgh last year, which was a lot of fun by the way. She loves this series because of the blend of fact and fantasy. The nice thing is that we both learn something in most of them, whether it be facts about Antarctica and penguins or what a selkie is in mythology. What I learned this time around is that there is an active volcano on Antarctica,...
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Too Tall Alice

by Carol2 Comments
Too Tall Alice by Barbara Worton From the dustjacket: Alice is tall. Not T-Rex or Empire State Building tall. Just four inches taller than the other girls in her class, and Alice is worried. FOUR INCHES! That's a lot of inches taller than everyone else. Her mom says it's okay to be tall, and her dad says it's okay to be tall. IT'S OKAY FOR THEM TO SAY THAT. THEY'RE NORMAL! Alice wishes, really wishes, she was just like everyone else. Then, her dream takes her to the place where the tall girls live, and she sees, really sees, herself for the first time. My thoughts: I love the message in the story. Alice learns to accept herself for who she is and that she is special. She learns that being "too _" isn't so bad, after all. It's a great message for all girls, not just the too short, too tall, too __ ones. The story is definitely designed to raise girls' self-esteem. The part I didn't...
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