Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM) on his Always in the Middle website each week. Check it out for more great kidlit! This is the first time I’ve participated in MMGM in a few years, and I picked a great book for my return. The premise grabbed me right away. I’ll post a […]
Kibble Talk, by Cynthia Port
I picked this one up on a whim, after meeting the author online (unbeknownst to her). I’m glad I did, and so are my boys. Kibble Talk is a cute story about a young girl named Tawny who discovers she can converse with her dog, Dinky, whenever she eats dog food. At the heart of […]
Horton Halfpott or the Feindish Mystery of Smugwick Manor or The Loosening of M’Lady Luggertuck’s Corset, by Tom Angleberger, 2011, Book Review
If I might add yet another subheading to the title of this most unusual book, it would be “or Whimsical Wit and Lyrical Nonsense,” because those happen to be the two most notable assets of this particular scrap of literature. The story is sort of a whodunit with very stylized characters and a not entirely […]
Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage, 2012, Book Review
Meet Mo LoBeau, eleven-year-old spitfire from the town of Tupelo Landing, NC and her best friend, Dale Earnhart Johnson III. (The three is for the immortal legend’s race car number, of course.) Yup, you’ve just landed in a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business–which is a good thing, according to Miss Lana, because […]
The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles, book one), by Rick Riordan, 2010, Book Review
Rick Riordan is a master of modern tween story-telling. He keeps the action fast-pitch, his characters feel distinct and real, and he writes kid-funny. No wonder his name is repeatedly at the top of the best-sellers list. The Red Pyramid is a 516 page battle of good vs. evil. Sadie and Carter are two siblings that […]
Howliday Inn, by James Howe, 1982, Book Review
This week I figured I’d build on last Monday’s post about Bunnicula and review Howliday Inn, the next book in James Howe’s hilarious series. Unfortunately, his wife Deborah did not live to co-author this one. But the book maintains Bunnicula’s quirky style. I actually received this book in fourth grade as a new release, and […]
Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe, 1979, Book Review
I first met Chester and Harold as a kid and fell in love with them. If you haven’t encountered these two yet, let me introduce you. Chester is a highly educated cat with a vivid imagination. One of his delights is to listen to his owner, a college English professor, practice class lectures. He’s widely […]
The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), by Rick Riordan, 2009, Book Review
I’m done. I read the last book. Mr. Riordan has certainly written a rousing tale. In The Last Olympian, the epic battle that’s been building between Kronos, Lord of the Titans, and the Olympian gods comes about at last, and Percy, of course, features prominently. Finally, we learn the Great Prophecy in its entirety, and after […]
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog, by John R. Erickson, 1983, Book Review
Hank is an Australian shepherd employed on an American ranch. Being “Head of Ranch Security,” as he proudly informs us, “requires a keen mind, a thick skin, and a peculiar devotion to duty. I mean, you put in sixteen-eighteen hours a day. You’re on call day and night. Your life is on the line every […]
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney, 2007, Book Review
Somehow this book flew under my radar. Since it came out, it has prompted a whole Wimpy Kid series and even a movie, but it just made its way into my hands today. It’s an easy read, I finished the whole thing in an hour, but I now understand the rage. It’s hilarious in a […]