The Phantom Toll Booth

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is also one of my favorite books of all time. It's about a boy named Milo, who is terribly bored. When he wants to be at home he is at school. When he wants to be a at school he is home. His case seems hopeless... until a magic tollbooth appears in his room. On it is a note that reads: For Milo, who has plenty of time. Also on the tollbooth is a sign that says insert one or two quarters, I forget how many. Anyway, Milo drives his little car up to the tollbooth and inserts his quarters. All of a sudden, Milo isn't in his room any more. He turns his little car down a road and starts to slow down. The road stretches on and on and on and Milo is getting... tired almost, pretty much exhausted. What's happening? Find out by reading The Phantom Tollbooth.   

From The Mixed Up Files Of Mrs.Basil E. Frankwieler

From The Mixed Up Files Of Mrs.Basil E. Frankweiler is a GREAT book. The only problem, the author, E.L. Konigsburg uses the word 'and' to start her sentances way to much. This book is about Claudia a girl who is tired of the monotony of everything she does, and she wants to teach her parents a lesson for making her do all the hard stuff. She decides to run away and take her little brother Jamie with her. She chose Jamie for two reasons. One, he was rich. Two, he had a transistor radio, which might come in handy during the trip. Claudia doesn't just want to run away though. She wants to run to somewhere instead of run away to nothing. She can only think of one possible place... The Metropolitan Museum of Art. They'll find a lot of adventures there. Find out all the adventures of Claudia and Jamie, so pick up a copy at your school library, bookstore or public library.    

A Valentines Book To Read...

The book I'm going to tell you about is called, Somebody Loves You Mr.Hatch by Eileen Spinelli. It's a great valentines book perfect to read that day. Mr.Hatch is a plain man. His schedule is eat, go to work, get the paper, go home, eat dinner, and go to bed.  Mr.Hatch has reicieved a package. It's full of delicious chocolates and, an ote that reads: Somebody Loves You. Mr.Hatch can't believe it. Somebody loves him? Something in Mr.Hatch changes. Read to find out what!

A Story Secret... You can have Hector Elizondo (he does a GREAT job!) read it to you through this link : 



http://www.storylineonline.net/?THEBIGDEALBOOK=634711429441027500      

Picture Books New And Old

Here are some picture books that I loved and I still do in truth. They are new and old books, but all of them are great. 

The first one is The Lorax by Dr.Seuss. My favorite line in the whole book is, "Unless someone like you cars a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better... it's not." It's an absolutely great story about how trees help everything, the fish the birds, and the people. The Lorax is "the keeper of the trees" and must stop the Onceler from making sneeds. A "sneed" is an all-purpose fuzzy thing (sorry I can't give a better discription but that's exactly what it is). I hope everyone will read The Lorax it's a great story.    

The second one is A Bad Case Of Stripes by David Shannon. This book is about Camilla Cream, a girl that loves lima beans, but doesn't eat them. Why she doesn't eat them? It's all becuase of popularity. In the midst of trying to fit in, Camilla acquires a bad case of stripes. At school she is a laughing stock and at home she is being examined by "the specialists" who keep protting and poking her. Ohh, poor Camilla doesn't know what to do. What will solve her case? Read this book to find out!

The last one today is Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch. I read this one endlessly. It's always been a big favorite of mine. I hope Robert Munsch recovers from his stroke soon. The plot is that Stephanie wants a new hairdo and asks her mother for one. Her mother gives her a "in the back" ponytail. When she gets to school all the kids yell "Ugly, ugly, very ugly!" But the next day everyone, even some of the boys, have ponytails. What is Stephanies solution to this? She gets a new hairdo. Read to find out what the kids at school say this time, and what they do to react. 

Septimus Heap Series

This is a great series full of magic and fantasy. It's called The Septimus Heap Series by Angie Sage. It's in the form chapters going from different points of view by character. In the first book, we discover Jenna's big secret and we find Septimus who supposedly died as a baby. Is this true or not? Marcia, the extra ordinary wizard, is a highly respected lady who always and I mean always wears purple. Silas Heap the father of all the Heap boys and Jenna dislikes her greatly. One cold night, the night his baby Septimus dies, he finds Jenna, alone in the snow needing a family. Who is this girl? Nevertheless she is only a baby and Silas and Sarah take her in. Ten or eleven years later, Jenna Marcia and some of the the other Heaps embark on a great journey to keep Jenna safe and along the way they find some unexpected surprises, and meet the friendly little creature, Boggart. Once you start reading it you just don't want to stop. Here's the good thing. There are six books in the whole series, so you can just keep on reading. My advice after you've read all of them, either re-read them or read/re-read the Harry Potter Series. :)     

A Look Back In History

I'm sure a lot of you have heard about Nancy Drew, but I think you have all over looked Trixie Belden. Trixie Belden is the better (in my opinion), cooler and older Nancy Drew. The Trixie Belden series is all about mysteries that The Bob Whites Of The Glen (or BWG's for short) solve. Full of exciting chapters. If you ever get the chance to read one, go for it. The first one is The Secret Of Mansion.    

Dead End In Norvelt

This is a great book for ages eight and up. Dead End In Norvelt is about a boy named Jack, who has a bit of a problem. When his father is away on an errand, he decides to go look at his father's military guns, which his father has gone out of his way to tell him not to touch them more than a million times. Well, Jack is just too tempted. Let me tell you what the result is, Jack is grounded for the entire summer, which has just begun. His mother, sorry for him, says one thing... "to get out of this house you could go work for that lady who writes obituaries." If you read it you'll find out how that goes. Did I ever mention that Jack also has other problems. Ever get so excited you feel like you're going to pee your pants? Well, if jack even felt  twinge of excitement, his nose would start bleeding, he wouldn't wet his pants, he'd simply just have a big nose bleed. This is not a good thing while messing around with the gun. Jack, even with all his problems, finds a mystery while helping with the obituaries. THe one big question... Why are all the old people dying all of a sudden... even when some were as healthy as can be. Find out by reading Dead End In Norvelt by Jack Gantos.    

Maine State Book Award Nominees You Should Read

These are some great Maine State Book Award nominees you should read:

Dead End In Norvelt By Jack Gantos 

With A Name Like Love By Tess Hilmo

Small As An Elephant By Jennifer Jacobson

The Aviary By Kathleen O'Dell

The Running Dream By Wedelin Van Draanen 

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide To NOT Reading By Tom Greenwald

Bluefish By Pat Schmatz

The Great Wall Of Lucy Wu By Wendy Wan Long

For more, go to this link to the Maine State Book Award Site: 

http://msba.umeedu.maine.edu/ 

      

Balloons For Isabel

Balloons For Isabelle is for, well anybody who likes "feel good" stories. It's by Deborah Underwood ans she did a GREAT job with it. It's about a porcupine name Isabel who wants a balloon for graduation, but if you've ever seen a porcupine... well  you wouldn't want to give them a balloon. Isabel must find a way to cover her quills as well as the other porcupines. Will she do it? Read this book to find out!!!  

Bluefish

A bluefish is a fish that is dumb, and Travis believs he is one. Travis has a problem. He can't seem to figure it out though. His dog Rosco has run off, his only friend gone... or did he run off? Travis can't figure it out. His grampa likes to drink and Travis is doing the best to make him stop it, but will he find success? Everything seems to change on the first day of his at his new high school. He meets Mr. McQueen who seems to want an answer so badly he'll fight anyone for it. He finally finds out Travis's secret and so does another girl who is reading The Book Thief. Something is about Travis is changing and you can read to find out. Pat Schmatz did a wonderful job on Bluefish and you should REALLY consider reading it. An age eight or nine and up book.    

The Aviary

The Aviary By Kathleen O'Dell is a great book and I think that it has a lot of great aspects of looking at things. Clara Dooley is a twelve year old girl who is very courageous, just not at first. When Mrs. Glendoveer dies, everything seems pointless to Clara... at first. The birds in the aviary are left for Clara, Harriet and Ruby to take care of and they seem to be telling Clara something... yet she just can't put her finger on it... yet. All of a sudden, things seem to change. Daphne Aspinal moves to town and the birds start talking to her, real talking. A mystery starts to unravel as Clara and Daphne search for Elliot Glendoveer so all the birds may fly home, but that really doesn't make sense... or does it. Read to find out what Clara and Daphne discover along with the help of the birds of the Aviary. A great book for ages eight and up.