kiddieliter

The librarian and keeper of the rules, Miss Merriweather, has an unexpected guest to her library in the form of a lion. The assistant Mr. McBee seems intent on making the beautiful lion leave the library. However, since it is declared that the lion is actually breaking no rules, he is welcome to stay.  The huge cat seems to love story time and at the end of the reading session decides to roar loudly, which is noise in the library and is breaking a rule!  Displeased, Miss Merriweather’s reprimands the lion. The children stick up for the lion saying he only wants to hear more stories! He is allowed to stay as long as he follows the rules. The lion does follow the rules and he actually becomes quite helpful and liked at the library, dusting with his tail, licking envelopes, and serving as a stepstool for the smaller folk. Everyone appreciates him–except Mr. McBee. When Lion lets out another tremendous RAAAHHHRRR!, Mr. McBee knows he has the perfect excuse to have the lion ousted!. He rushes into Miss Merriweather’s office to tattle on the lion only to find that Miss Merriweather lying on the floor, hurt. The lion had actually only RAAAHHHRRRed to get Mr. McBee’s attention in order to help Miss Merriweather. The lion knows he broke the rules and leaves the library. He is greatly missed. In the end, even Mr. McBee realizes the joy the lion brought and is the one to find the lion and persuade him to come back, to everyone’s delight. This is just a feel good story with wonderful water colored pictures.

After a man rescues a Canadian goose, he soon meets a mysterious woman who crafts what appear to be magical sails. They soon marry and raise a family, but she warns him to never interupt her while she is weaving sails. Out of greed, he does so anyway, discovering her secret and thus shattering their happiness.

The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Catling is about John Midas who loves chocolate. He loves it so much that he’ll eat it any hour of any day. He doesn’t care if he ruins his appetite. He thinks chocolate is better than any other food! But one day, after wandering into a candy store and buying a piece of their best “special” chocolate, John finds out that there might just be such a thing as too much chocolate.

The story of a little boy and his father’s attempts to please his indecisive, unresponsive son.  The book is really cute.  It really reminds me of the book Terrific about a man who only says “terrific”.  Since the only thing the boy will say is “whatever”.

The Sound of Colors by Jimmy Liao is a wonderful modern fantasy book.  It takes a young girl on a journey that is slowly loosing her vision.  In the beginning, she stayed at home and let the darkness surround her.  Then one day she went out and experienced the world through her senses.  This book is great for the imagination and for fantasy.  She begins to realize that she is not missing anything with out her sight but she has a range of colors and design in her mind.  She is able to fantasize about possibilities and questions about her journey.  This book be a great book for students to read or have read to them.  Teachers could use the book as a writing prompt answering, “what do you see when you close your eyes?”  The students would be able to use their imagination and escape to a fantasy land.  I strongly suggest this book.

Jumanji is a wonderfully exciting story that shows children the power of fantasy. It allows them the chance to dream big.

Backyard Dragon, by Betsey Sterman.

A boy named  Owen discovers a dragon named Wyrdryn in his backyard; but no one believes him, especially his parents.  His classmates at school think he is really weird, too, so he befriends the dragon.  The two become friends and Owen decides to help Wyrdryn get back home.  Help soon comes from unexpected places

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs is a modern twist to the orginal story of The Three Little Pigs.  The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs takes on the perspective of the wolf and what he says really happened.  It is a great children’s modern fantasy story.  I would highly recommend this story for teachers to use in their classrooms.

Another wonderful addition to The Magic Tree House Collection.  Jack and Annie take another adventerous trip.  This time they are sent on a mission around paris. They are in search of 4 magicians in order to protect them from an evil sorcerer.  This is a wonderful book.  Mary Pope Osborne has yet to disappoint me with any of The Magic Tree House books, and this one is no exception.

On his way to school Marco’s dad also tells him to watch and come home to tell him what he has seen. However, all the way to school and all the way home Marco can only think of wild tells to tell his father that he has seen, when really all he sees is a horse and wagon. Marco gives children the encouragement to explore their own imagination and ideas.