Old Favorite: Flatfood Fox and the Case of the Nosy Otter

Easy Chapter Book?   Check!

Quirky characters?  Check!

Quick and funny read?  Check!

It’s Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Nosy Otter by Eth Clifford!

* * *

Flatfoot Fox is the smartest detective in the whole world…and he knows it.  With his assistant, Secretary Bird, he follows the clues and solves the mystery.  So when Mrs. Chatterbox Otter knocks on the door of the office and tells them that her son Nosy has been kidnapped, they are on the case!

There are suspects, and there are witnesses.  Some of the suspects are witnesses!  Crabby Crow, Terribly Worried Woodchuck and Lame-Brain Swan are all helpful…but maybe it’s because they’re trying to cover something up?

It doesn’t matter!  Flatfoot Fox and his assistant Secretary Bird are determined to solve the case!

* * *

Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Nosy Otter was originally published in 1992, so it’s not quite as old as some of the other Old Favorites.  However, in the world of easy chapter books, it’s ancient!  Only forty-eight pages, it packs a lot of clever word play and detective tropes into it’s pages…along with very nice illustrations by Brian Lies.

The Flatfoot Fox series is a step above early readers like Nate the Great, and step below fictional mysteries like the Chet Gekko series.  They’re cleverly done, with characters whose names are pretty representative of their characters, and the repetition and humor makes it a favorite of mine.

There are four more books in the series: Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Missing Eye, Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Missing Whoooo, Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Bashful Beaver and Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Missing Schoolhouse.  I wish there were more!

Eth Clifford is the author of the Mary Rose and Jo-Beth mysteries, which start with Help! I’m a Prisoner in the Library! –one of my go-to books for early AfterSchool BookClubs.  She was very popular in the 1980s and 90s, but is less known these days.  She was born in 1915, and will be celebrating her 105th birthday this year!  She’s not nearly as well known as Beverly Cleary, who is a year older, but her chapter books have a similar feel.  It’s a shame that Eth wasn’t quite as prolific or as well known as Beverly.

Brian Lies is a very popular illustrator these days with his Bats Series (including Bats in the Library), but the Flatfoot Fox series was his first published book illustrations.  Bot the author and illustrator have won several awards for their books.

Flatfoot Fox is best for kids transitioning from early readers to chapter books–first through third grades.  Some read alikes are Pigsticks and Harold by Alex Milway, The Chicken Squad by Doreen Cronin, Detective Gordon by Ulf Nilsson, Inspector Flytrap by Tom Angleberger and Tales from the House of Bunnicula by James Howe.

So grab your magnifying glass and your partner in crime…er, in solving crime…and solve a case with Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Nosy Otter!

Happy Reading!
::kelly::

Old Favorite: Half Magic

Everyone knows about genies–when you find one, you get three wishes (and you can’t wish for more wishes.)  We know about wishing on a star–one star, one wish.  But have you ever heard of a talisman that only gives you half a wish?

Today’s Old Favorite is Half Magic, by Edward Eager!

* * *

It happened one summer, thirty years ago to four children.  Jane was the oldest, and Mark the only boy, between them, they ran everything.  Katherine was the middle child, and a comfort to her mother.  Which she let everyone know, until Jane threatened to scream.  Martha was the youngest, and rather difficult.

Their father had died, and their mother worked as a newspaper, so they didn’t get to go away to the lake, or to camp, or to the seashore for the summer.  Instead, they were stuck at home, with Miss Bick, who was supposed to watch them, but didn’t, much.

The children spent quite a lot of time at the library in the summer, since they could get ten books instead of three, and keep them a month, instead of just two weeks.  The library was two miles away from their house though, and so it took a good part of a day  to travel there, select books, and come home.  It was a nice walk though, and the older children liked to read aloud some of their favorite books aloud along the way.  Many of those books contained magic, like The Enchanted Castle, by E. Nesbit.  One day, they even had a vehement discussion about whether magic like that in The Enchanted Castle was real, or even possible.  Jane, Mark and Katherine came up with some wonderful ideas about exploring local places for magic, or magical artifacts, or enchanted disguised castles.  Martha stopped the discussion dead by saying “we could pretend…”  Everyone knows that you can only pretend if you don’t SAY you’re pretending.  And so…magic is out for the summer.

Or is it?  Because one day, only a week later, Jane was so bored, she said that she wished that something would happen…even a fire would be more exciting than sitting around.  And there was!  Fire sirens went off immediately, and the children rushed to see. It wasn’t a house fire, but a little playhouse, but it was exciting to watch the firemen work on the fire.  Could they be magic?

Mark wished for seven league boots, but didn’t get any.  Katherine wished for Shakespeare to come talk to her, but he didn’t.  Martha wished that they wouldn’t wish…which was an odd wish, but the others decided it counted.  Jane wouldn’t wish, because she worried about if she could wish, how much magic was there, and how dangerous it might be to rely too much on magic, and what if it ran out?  Jane was a practical girl, and she needed to know where the magic came from before she started using it.  So Jane thought.  And thought and thought.

Soon, she figures out that the wishes come from a talisman.  A coin Jane thought was a nickle that she picked up on the sidewalk.   But even though they’ve figured out what causes the magic, they don’t know how.  The wishes don’t work exactly the way they’re wished.  After some trial and error, the children figure out that the magic coin somehow grants HALF a wish.

In order to get a full wish, they have to double what they wish for…but the magic is unpredictable, and sometimes doubles or halves something in an unexpected manner.  From a baseball game with ghostly friends to a visit to King Arthur’s Court to a talking cat who can’t be understood…will Jane and Mark and Katherine and Martha have a summer full of fun magic, or will the magic go awry and cause a catastrophe or two…or more?

* * *

Half Magic was published in 1954, the first of the Tales of Magic series.  (Edward Eager actually called them the Everyday Magic series, but that never quite caught on.) There are seven books in the series, featuring four different sets of children.  The direct sequel to Half Magic is Magic by the Lake, and Knight’s Castle and The Time Garden both feature a cameo by Jane, Mark, Katherine and Martha.

The events of Half Magic take place in the 1920s…which is why Jane, Mark, Katherine and Martha have nothing to do in the summer, and it’s nothing for them to walk two miles to the library.  (And can you imagine?–the limitations of how many books they can check out at their library always makes me cringe!)  It’s why they can keep the magic secret, and why adults dismiss anything that’s odd.

Edward Eager was a Harvard graduate, who lived in New York as a playwright and lyricist.  When his son Fritz was young, he turned to writing children’s books when they couldn’t find anything to read together.  He thought E. Nesbit was the best children’s writer of all time, and there’s usually several references in his books to her books.  Unfortunately, he died young of lung cancer.  I wish he had had time to write more!

As a kid, I loved these books so much!  I actually read Knight’s Castle first, then backtracked to read the others.  I didn’t manage to track down a copy of The Time Garden until I was in college.  (I really appreciate about the internet is the ability to locate ALL the titles by an author…and find a way to borrow them.)  One of the things I love about all the books is how the author plays with time.  There are several crossovers where Jane and Mark and Katherine and Jane make their way into the books featuring other children…and those children do the same.  It was always fun to figure out that these characters were from another book, and then to find the same scene later, in a different book, from the other children’s point of view.  I think Edward Eager may have been the only author to do this.

The illustrations by N.M. Bodecker are just as much part of the story as the text.  There is generally an illustration at the beginning of each chapter, and at least one illustrating the chapter.  I miss the days when illustrations were considered standard in fictional titles for kids, and I’m glad it’s starting to make a comeback.  Bodecker is and always will be one of my favorite fiction illustrators.

Half Magic is enjoyable for all ages, but would probably be best for readers in third  through sixth grade.  It feels a little British, but Eager was absolutely born here.  It was Nesbit’s influence!  If you like Edward Eager, you should definitely check out E. Nesbit’s books…which should be another future Old Favorite.  Some other read alikes are A Storm of Wishes by Jacqueline West, What the Witch Left by Ruth Chew, The Backward Season by Lauren Myracle, and Well Wished by Franny Billingsley.  And of course, The Enchanted Castle, The Phoenix and the Carpet, and Wet Magic by E. Nesbit.

So keep your eyes peeled for a magic talisman, but until you find one, get your magic in Half Magic, or any of these books.  And think about it…if you had to double your wishes to get what you want…how would you do it?

Happy Reading!
::kelly::

 

Old Favorite: Charlotte Sometimes

It’s never easy to be the new girl at school…and it’s even harder when you’re the new girl in two schools.  In two time periods.  Without any idea why…

Today’s Old Favorite is Charlotte Sometimes, by Penelope Farmer!

* * *

Charlotte Makepeace has just arrived at boarding school, and everything seems new and strange.  As the first arrival in the Cedar room, she does get to pick the first bed, and goes for the one near the window.  She has four new new roommates, Janet and Vanessa, already whispering and giggling together, Susannah who follows them around, giggling when they do, and Elizabeth, who has mostly ignored everyone in favor of books.  Charlotte is too shy to talk much, and she misses her sister Emma.  But while unpacking, she and Susannah talk, and decorate, and Charlotte doesn’t feel quite so alone.

In the middle of the night, she hears what she thinks is a very loud plane pass overhead.  It wakes her up, and she looks out the window.  Oddly, she thinks she sees a tree–but there was only a jut of the building out the window, wasn’t there?  She falls back asleep.

In the morning, she wakes in the sunshine, the only breaks in the light are from the shadow of the huge tree outside the window.  A…tree?  There wasn’t a tree there the previous day!

The room is different.  There are only four beds, instead of five.  There’s a white dresser where the fifth bed was.  There’s a chipped enamel basin and pitcher instead of a washroom.  The photographs and decorations are gone, the walls bare.  And in the bed beside Charlotte, instead of Susannah’s dark hair, there’s someone with light brown hair instead.  Someone who reaches out and grabs Charlotte’s hand…and calls her Clare.

What is going on?  Is she Charlotte, or Clare?  As the day goes on, Charlotte realizes that she’s somehow slipped back  forty years in time, to 1918.  She’s still the new girl at school, but since she has no idea how to live life in 1918, the other girls think she’s strange, or slow.

Soon, Charlotte is alternating between her own time and Clare’s.  Can she learn to function in two new worlds?  But when a change happens at the school, Charlotte is stranded in 1918 .  And after some time, Charlotte starts to wonder if she remembers how to be Charlotte at all. If she doesn’t figure out some way to get back to the world she knows before the end of the school term, she might never have another chance.

Can she figure out a way to get home?  And does she even want to go home?

* * *

Charlotte Sometimes was first published in 1969.  It’s the third book in a trilogy about the Makepeace family, but is the best known of the three.  (The other two are The Summer Birds and Emma in Winter.)  In all three books, time travel and a sense of identity are explored.

Penelope Farmer was  a fraternal twin, and although she said she didn’t intend to write about identity, it is a theme that runs through many of her books.  Time travel (or time slip, which is slightly different) is another.  She said being a twin might be part of why that happened.

There’s a very big difference between the England of 1918 and that of 1958.  Charlotte has to adjust from living life with indoor plumbing, electricity at the flick of a switch, and a fairly carefree life…even at school.  In 1918 as Clare, she has to deal with World War I, the influenza epidemic, friends and family who have lost loved ones.  And that’s not even mentioning the differences in transportation, shops, toys and food.

This is a book that encompasses quite a lot of genres–time travel, historical fiction, suspense, a little bit of mystery and some realistic fiction in 1958.  Charlotte Sometimes is also a thoughtful book, with a main character who is very observant and contemplative about the world around her.   It’s hard to say too much without giving away what happens at the end of the book; it is both poignant and bittersweet, but completely fits the story.

I reread Charlotte Sometimes so many times as a kid; I just loved Charlotte, and her connection with Emily, Clare’s sister.  It was the book that inspired me to try to keep a diary.  (It didn’t last very long, but I tried!).  This book may not appeal to every reader in 2020–not only is there time travel in the book, but there’s also a sense of time travel just for the reader!  When it was written, it was a fifty year jump, but current readers are going back in time 60 years to Charlotte’s time, then 100 years to Clare’s.  My grandmother was eight in 1918, and I remember after reading Charlotte Sometimes asking her tons of questions about what life was like “way back then”.  That sense of physical connection to the past might not be available to current readers.  But kids still love historical fiction, so it shouldn’t affect their take on the story.  It’s just a sort of introspective observation on my part.

Charlotte Sometimes would be most enjoyed by girls in fifth through seventh grades.  I think fans of The War that Saved My Life will love this book as well.  Some other read alikes are Withering-By-Sea by Judith Rossell, Beswitched by Kate Saunders, Traveler in Time by Alison Uttley,  The Ghosts by Antonia Barber and North of Nowhere by Liz Kessler.  You should also read Emma in Winter and The Summer Birds, which are about Charlotte and her sister Emma.  The other book she wrote which I loved was Castle of Bone…which may have to be another future Old Favorite.

So if you like historical adventures, with a time travel side and a bit of suspense and a savvy, introspective narrator, pick up Charlotte Sometimes.  And let me know what you think!

Happy Reading!
::jekktLL

 

 

 

 

 

Old Favorite: Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake!

Follow the clues and solve a mystery.  Follow the directions and make a tasty treat.

It’s Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake by Donald J. Sobol!

* * *

 

Idaville looks like any other normal town–on the outside, anyway.  Inside, it’s like no other place in America.  For more than a year, no one has gotten away with breaking the law there.

Idaville’s chief of police, Chief Brown has a secret.  Whenever he or his officers come up against a case too difficult for them, he brings the case home.  And over dinner, his ten year old son, Leroy, solves the case for him.

Leroy doesn’t tell anyone about the cases he solves over dinner.  He doesn’t want to seem different to other kids.  But there’s nothing he can do about his nickname–Encyclopedia. An encyclopedia is a set of books filled with facts from A to Z…just like Encyclopedia Brown’s head.  He’s read more books that anyone, and never forgets what he’s read.  He’s like a bookmobile, running on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

From fall to spring, Encyclopedia helps his father capture crooks.  During the summer, he helps out the kids in the neighborhood.  He even has a sign:

BROWN DETECTIVE AGENCY
13 ROVER AVENUE
LEROY BROWN, PRESIDENT
No Case Too Small
25 Cents Per Day Plus Expenses

Every day during the summer, he hangs his sign on the garage, and kids come.

From  The Case of the Missing Garlic Bread to The Case of the Overstuffed Pinata to The Case of the Chinese Restaurant (and all the other cases in between) Encyclopedia Brown will listen to your case, pick up on all the details, and solve the mystery!

* * *

There are twenty eight Encyclopedia Brown mysteries, starting with Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, published in 1963.  The final book, Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Soccer Scheme was published in 2012.  There are also eighteen related puzzle, game and trivia books.

In each of the twenty eight regular books, there are at least ten mysteries, with all the information you need to know to solve that case.  You have to look for the clues and inconsistencies and solve the mystery.  Encyclopedia Brown solves them…can you?  To see if you’ve come up with the right solution, you can check the answer is at the back of the book.

Donald J. Sobol was a newspaper writer who started a syndicated  series called Two Minute Mysteries in 1959.  It was wildly popular and ran for ten years.  The mysteries starred an adult criminologist named Dr. Haledjian and ran the gamut from robberies to murder.  Some of the cases with thefts, pranks and mischief were adapted to begin Encyclopedia Brown’s case files.

The Encyclopedia Brown books has been made into a comic strip, an HBO series and a movie.  They’ve never been out of print, and have been translated into twelve languages. In 1976, Encyclopedia was given a special Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America.

Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake is actually number 15 1/2 in the series.  It’s the only one that has a co-writer…Glenn Andrews.  It’s my favorite because all the cases in the book are related to food…and every case has several recipes to make after you solve the case.  It’s the first cozy kitchen mystery I ever encountered!  (Kids–that’s a genre some adults love.  I’m one of them.)

The recipes are actually pretty good.  My copy of the book has food stains in it on some of the pages.  (I think it was actually my younger sister’s copy, but I somehow ended up with it on my bookcase.)  The cookies and brownie recipes have become family staples, but some of the others are quite yummy too.

The Encyclopedia Brown books are great mysteries for kids from third through fifth grades.  They’re great short read alouds, and since the clues are laid out, the reader can join the listeners in trying to figure out the solution…before checking in the back of the book to see if you got it right!

Some read alikes are The Brixton Brother Mysteries by Mac Barnatt, The Ballpark Mysteries by David Kelly, The Key to the Treasure by Peggy Parish, and All the Wrong Questions series by Lemony Snickett.

So grab your magnifying glass and get out your notebook and solve a mystery with Encyclopedia Brown!

Happy Reading!
::kelly::

 

Old Favorite: Hatchet!

One boy, alone.  A plane crash in the northern wilderness. A hatchet that was a surprise gift–that may save his life.

Today’s Old Favorite is Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen!

* * *

Brian is not happy.  He’s the only passenger in a single-engine Cessna 406 bush plane, which normally would be kind of exciting.  But the reason he’s in this plane, on the way north, is not exciting at all.  Divorce.  His parents had just split earlier in the year, and his father had visitation rights.  So that’s why Brian’s mom had driven him to the airport in New York, to put him on a plane to spend the summer with his father, somewhere in northern Canada at an oil fields, where the forests turned to tundra.

Brian wants to see his dad, but he feels slightly guilty too.  Because he knows something, a secret…the Secret…that explains why his parents split.  But as angry as he is with his mom, he still loves her too.  Enough to indulge her by strapping the ridiculous-looking hatchet she bought him for his summer in the wilderness to his belt.  Enough to forget to take it off when he got on the plane.

Things get a little more interesting when the pilot–Jim? Jake?–shows him how to steer the plane.  It’s enough to distract him from the thoughts whirling through his brain.   But the pilot takes back the controls, and Brian slumps in the copilot’s seat again, watching the trees and the lakes and the marshes far beneath them.

And smelling…gas?  Human gas.  The pilot is rubbing his shoulder and arm, and the smell is worse and worse.  And then, right before Brian’s eyes, the pilot clutches his chest and shouts.  Brian saw a man have a heart attack at the mall once, so he knows what’s happening.  And he doesn’t know how to help.

Now the pilot is slumped in his seat, not breathing, and Brian is the only person in the plane.  He needs help!  He manages to keep the plane gliding, and finally manages to get the radio to work…but the man on the other end doesn’t seem to understand him.

Brian’s plane is going down…and no one knows where his is.  Can he land it?  Will it crash?  The ground beneath him is full of trees and water.  No towns, no houses, no land.  Even if he can get down, how will he get home?

The plane crashes, and Brian manages to get out.  But all he has are his clothes, and the hatchet on his belt.  Lost in the wilderness, with no idea even of which way to go.  Will he survive?

* * *

Hatchet is a wonderful, suspenseful, scary survival story.  It was published in 1986, and won a Newbery Honor Medal that year.  Gary Paulsen published his first book in 1966, and is still writing today.  Not a whole lot is known about his life, but many of his books are based on his experiences growing up.  He has a great affinity for life in the outdoors, and has both raised and raced sled dogs, as well as sailing in the Pacific ocean.

Hatchet it is often listed as a favorite book by many young readers.  Brian’s struggles to keep himself alive while dealing with animals, weather and finding food have set the standard for survival stories.  New survival stories are usually compared to Hatchet, in terms of  suspense, survival techniques, and if the situations are as believable as what happened to Brian.

I love recommending this book to readers looking for adventure, or a sort of “man vs. nature” type of book.  It’s not a long book–only 189 pages–but so much happens in it!

Because readers weren’t willing to let Brian go, there are several sequels.  My favorite is The River, where FBI agents ask Brian to recreate his life in the wilderness in order for scientists to understand the psychology of survival.  Of course, things don’t go well, and this time Brian not only has to survive, but to rescue the agent with him.

Brian’s Winter, Brian’s Return and Brian’s Hunt are sort of  alternate timeline sequels.  Brian’s Winter assumes that Brian wasn’t rescued at the end of Hatchet, and had to survive the winter.  The other two follow that timeline with Brian’s further adventures.  I loved Hatchet and The River so much than I really wasn’t as open to the other sequels.  Other people love them even more than Hatchet though, so it just goes to prove that you must read them all and decide for yourself!

Hatchet is popular with readers from third through ninth grade.  It definitely has wide appeal over all ages.  Some of my favorite read alikes are Far North and Wild Man Island by Will Hobbs, The Wilder Boys by Brandon Wallace, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell, Ice Dogs by Terri Lynn Johnson, Peak by Roland Smith, and Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo.  (See?  Many survival books are compared–or maybe inspired–by Hatchet!)  You could also read the 30th anniversary edition of Hatchet, which has a whole section of survival tips and tricks.

So while you’re surviving at home, grab Hatchet and read about why you’re happy not to be surviving in the wilderness!  (And if you’re ever on a north-bound, private plane, make sure you have a hatchet close at hand.)

Happy reading!
::kelly::

 

Old Favorite: Over Sea, Under Stone

A holiday by the sea, a strange house, a mysterious yacht.  The three Drew children are in for the adventure of a lifetime!

Soon they are on a treasure hunt, risking their lives to help find a mysterious missing object.  But villains are on their trail!  Can they follow the clues and solve the puzzle before the bad guys catch up?

It’s Over Sea, Under Stone, by Susan Cooper!

* * *

Barnaby, Jane and Simon Drew are all set for four exciting weeks of holiday.  Their Great Uncle Merry has invited them to spend time with him, in Cornwall, in a strange twisty home called Grey House.

Any time they can spend with Great Uncle Merry–or Gumerry, as Barney named him when he was a toddler–is to be celebrated.  Gumerry is tall, with wild white hair and deep-set eyes, no one knows how old he really is, but anyone spending time with him starts to feel he’s ancient–as old as the hills, or the sea, or the sky.  Always, wherever he was, unusual and interesting things happened around him.  Who wouldn’t want to spend time in his presence?  It’s sure to be an amazing holiday!

Before they even enter Grey House, the children stop to look out at the ocean.  There’s a strange wildness in the breeze; the scent of seaweed, salt and excitement. Barnaby notices a fast moving white yacht in the harbor.  Barnaby and Simon imagine how thrilling it would be to go onboard.  Only Jane, who isn’t fond of the open sea, notices that Gumerry seems to be startled.  Not only startled, but surprised, alarmed and unsettled at the sight of the white yacht.

Down in the village, Jane is nearly run over by a rude boy on a bicycle.   A wizened old fisherman helps Simon and Barnaby get Jane to her feet and patches her up.  Kindly Mr. Penhallow tells them a little about the town, and confirms that Gumerry is well known in the village.  Barnaby chats with him and finds out all about the fishing schedule in the village.  He also tells his brother and sister than Mr. Penhallow said that rain was coming.  Looking at the beautiful blue sky above, Simon says that it doesn’t seem likely.

But the next day, not only is it raining, but there’s thunder as well.  The first full day of the holidays, and they’re stuck in the gloomy old house.  Bored, Barnaby convinces Simon and Jane to go exploring in the house.  There are rooms they haven’t seen, and the house is so big, that there have to be things to find!  They do find some interesting rooms and strange corridors.  But they start thinking about the layout of the house and walls; curious enough to start thinking about the logistics, they start measuring space, and realize that there should be a room behind the wall in Simon and Barnaby’s bedroom.  Moving a heavy cupboard, they find a dusty door.  Forcing it open, they push past cobwebs and enter the tiny room… which isn’t a room at all, but a staircase, ascending into dusty darkness…

Simon, Jane and Barnaby’s discovery is the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. It sends them on a dangerous quest that entraps them in the eternal battle between the forces of the Light and the Dark.

* * *

Over Sea, Under Stone was published in 1965.  Ten years later, Susan Cooper wrote four highly acclaimed sequels, starting with The Dark is Rising.  Barnaby, Jane and Simon appear in three of the other books–Greenwitch, The Grey King, and The Silver on the Tree.  Since the four were published by a different publisher, Over Sea, Under Stone didn’t really get credit as the first book in the series until 1979.

I loved this book as a kid!  I did not guess who Gumerry was until near the end, but I did guess before the big reveal.  The mystery is based around the coast of Cornwall, with caves and fishing villages and cliffs, as well as beautiful vistas.  Readers will want to visit Cornwall after finishing the book!  The clues are complicated, but there are enough clues in the text to help figure it out with the kids.

While the rest of The Dark is Rising Sequence are high fantasy, Over Sea, Under Stone is more of a mystery.  It does have elements of fantasy, and Great Uncle Merry–Merriman Lyon–is definitely fantastical.  Because it’s a mystery, it’s more focused on the clues and the treasure, and can be accessible to slightly younger readers.  It would be best for fourth through seventh grade readers.  (The rest of the Dark is Rising Sequence is probably fifth through tenth grades, increasing slightly with each book.)

Some read alikes are The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer, Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones and Yesterday’s Magic by Pamela Service.

So grab your Guide to Cornwall and try Over Sea, Under Stone…and enjoy!

Happy Reading!
::kell::

Old Favorite: Sideways Stories From Wayside School

The tallest and most mixed-up school you’ll ever visit.  Thirty kids, each with their own story.  A teacher who thinks cute kids are monkeys, super sticky gum, mosquito bite math and a nonexistent nineteenth floor.  You never know what you’ll find here.

It’s Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar!

* * *

Wayside School was accidentally built sideways.  Instead of thirty classrooms, side by side on one level,the builders made it with thirty classrooms, one right on top of the other, thirty stories high.  The builders apologized.  The kids like it that way though…it means they have an extra big playground.

The thirtieth floor holds thirty stories.  The first story starts with Mrs. Gorf, who has pointed ears, a long tongue, and is the meanest teacher in the school.  She is doesn’t like children, but she loves apples.  So, when children misbehave, she turns them into apples.  All she has to do is wiggle her ears–first her right one, then her left–and stick out her tongue.  Apple.

At the beginning of the week, Mrs. Gorf has twelve apples on her desk.  By mid week there are twenty-four apples on her desk, and three children in her classroom.  By the end of the week, there are only apples, and she decides to retire.  But the apples attack, and Mrs. Gorf is forced to turn them back into children.

That could have been that, but the children threaten to get Louis, the yard teacher.  Mr. Gorf tries to turn them back into apples,  but Jenny has a mirror, and Mrs. Gorf turns herself into an apple.  None of the children know what to do.

But Louis heard the commotion and comes up to see what’s going on.  When he doesn’t see Mrs. Gorf, he decides to take the apple. After all, he saw two dozen on Mrs. Gorf’s desk just the day before—surely she wouldn’t miss one!  He polishes the apple on his shirt, and eats it.

And that’s the end of the first story, but not the end of the book!  Mrs. Jewels, Joe, Sharie, Todd, Bebe, Calvin, Myron, Maurecia, Paul, Dana, Jason, Rondi, Sammy, DeeDee, D.J., John, Leslie, Miss Zarves, Kathy, Ron, the three Erics, Allison, Dameon, Jenny, Terrence, Joy, Nancy, Stephen and Louis each have their own story to tell…

* * *

Sideways Stories from Wayside School is certainly not an easy book to summarize! It’s offbeat, a little crazy, very much tongue-in-cheek…and very popular with kids for the last forty plus years.  Louis Sachar said he wrote Sideways Stories based on experiences he had in college, working as a playground supervisor–Louis, the yard teacher.  Of course, he also said his life was boring, so he added several elements to make it more exciting.  Sideways Stories was his first book, but certainly not his last!  In fact, he won a Newbery Medal in 1998 for Holes, which is also popular with young readers.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School was originally published in 1978, there are several sequels:  Wayside School is Falling Down and Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger written in 1989 and 1995.  There were also two companion books Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School and More Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School, also written in 1989, are Wayside stories interspersed with math and logic puzzles.

And guess what?  This month, a NEW Wayside School book came out!  Wayside School Beneath a Cloud of Doom.  (Which is certainly appropriate, given the circumstances.)  I haven’t read it yet, but it’s definitely on my TBR pile.  It certainly looks and sounds like it should be a worthy successor!  Maybe there will even be more…

Sideways Stories from Wayside School is a fun book to read aloud.  It’s quirky and unpredictable and laugh-out-loud funny…and kids just don’t know quite what to expect.  If I’m reading aloud, the looks on their faces when they hear what happens to Mrs. Gorf…no one knows quite how to react!  Is is supposed to be funny, or horrifying?  The first chapter definitely sets the tone for the rest of the book.

So many kids who read the book just want to share it with an adult or another kid.  It’s one of those books that passes from reader to reader through word of mouth.  The short chapters and unpredictable elements lend itself to kids transitioning from beginning chapter books to fiction. So Sideways Stories can be enjoyed by good second grade readers right through fifth graders.

Some read alikes might be My Weird School by Dan Gutman, The Classroom 13 series by Honest Lee and Matthew Gilbert, The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School by Candice Fleming, and Punished! by David Lubar.

So check out Sideways Stories from Wayside School and see what you think.  Would you like to be trudging up thirty flights of stairs each day to get to your classroom at the top of the school?

Happy Reading!
::Kelly::

Old Favorite: Shakespeare’s Secret

A new school, and new house, a new neighbor.  A treasure hunt?

It’s Shakespeare’s Secret, by Elise Broach.

* * *

Hero’s not happy with  her family’s new home.  The house is okay, and she Maryland seems like a good place to live.  But…another new school, new town, new life?  Ugh.  Even though the Netherfield family moves often, there’s something different about this move.   Maybe it’s because now that she’s going into sixth grade, all the baby stuff that she’s collected since she was five just doesn’t seem to fit her anymore.  She doesn’t even want to unpack her stuff…she just shoves it in a box under her new bed.

She’s also not looking forward to the scrutiny that being the new kid will bring at school.  She just knows her sister Beatrice will have plans for the weekend by the end of the first day; Beatrice is outgoing, and pretty, and collects friends easily.  Hero is practically her opposite; quiet and plain and she just knows she’ll still be ‘the new kid’ in three months.  Plus…she’ll have to explain her name.  Again.

It’s not easy having parents who met in a Shakespeare class, who thought the best idea in the world was to name their daughters after characters in Much Ado about Nothing, the play they had been studying.  Their mom continued to love Shakespeare, but their dad lived it–reading, studying and writing about Shakespeare had brought the whole family to Washington, D.C., to his new job as an archivist at the Maxwell Elizabethan Documents Collection library.  Hero and Beatrice will probably be the only kids in school who recognize almost all characters from Shakespeare’s plays…not that they’ll tell anyone that!

In order to take her mind off new school, Hero’s mother volunteers her daughter to work in the new neighbor’s garden.  Mrs. Roth has lived in her house forever, and Hero discovers she’s a big fan of English History and Shakespeare too.  When she realizes that Hero’s worried about starting school, Mrs. Roth suggests that Hero tell her new classmates where she lives.  It turns out that Hero’s home is famous…or maybe infamous.  The Mruphy diamond house.  Years ago, a seventeen-carat diamond vanished somewhere inside the house.  Before Hero can ask too many questions, she’s called back home.

School is about as bad as Hero predicted.  Soon she finds herself avoiding kids her own age and hanging out with Mrs. Roth.  She’s also finding out more about her house and the diamond, which belonged to the previous owners, and had been in Mrs. Murphy’s family for hundreds of years. The disappearance was a mystery…the Murphy’s say it was a robbery, but the insurance company thought they’d sold it.  The police couldn’t solve the case.  Mrs. Roth tells Hero more about the diamond, and it turns out there is even an odd historical connection to Shakespeare.

Soon Hero is searching through her house, researching the history of English jewelry, and trying to find the diamond.  She’s not on her own though, she has help from Mrs. Roth and from Danny, a boy in Beatrice’s class who is also friends with Mrs. Roth.  Danny, the son of the chief of police, and one of the most popular kids in school.   Why does he seem to enjoy hanging our with an old lady and an unpopular girl?  But Danny does seem to be just as invested in locating the treasure.  If the diamond is in Hero’s house, she will find it.  With Mrs. Roth and Danny on her side, and her sources for all information about Shakespeare, she’s on top of it.

If anyone can find the Murphy diamond, it will be this offbeat trio!

* * *

Shakespeare’s Secret is a little newer than most of our Old Favorites–it was originally published in 2005.  It was  nominated for eighteen different children’s book awards, and won an American Library Association Notable Books for Children.  It deserved every one of those nominations.

Hero is an engaging character; determined to solve the secret hidden within her new house.  When the clues to finding the diamond seem to rest on a knowledge of Shakespeare’s secrets, Hero knows exactly where to find the answers.  But is that the only mystery in this case?  Hero’s developing friendship with Mrs. Roth, the elderly neighbor, is at the heart of solving this mystery…but Mrs. Roth might have some motivations of her own.  Even Danny, who seems to be an open book, is keeping secrets in his past.

Not only can you try to solve the mystery along with Hero, you will also learn quite a bit about Shakespeare–and if he did or didn’t write his own plays.  It might leave you looking for more info on Shakespeare, Edward deVere, Henry the VII, Elizabeth the first and other interesting figures from England in Shakespeare’s time.

Shakespeare’s Secret is a great mystery for kids in fourth through seventh grades.  Or any English history buff.  You’ll enjoy following the clues to help Hero find the diamond–if that’s even the real treasure!

Some read alikes are Chasing Vermeer by Blue Baillet, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg, The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood, and Superstition Mountain, also by Elise Broach.

Read Shakespeare’s Secret and enhance your skills at mysteries and Shakespeare!

Happy Reading!
::kelly::

Old Favorite: Witch’s Business

We probably have more Old Favorites here by Diana Wynne Jones than by any other author.  But that’s because she was a wonderfully magical, spectacular author!  Even though we featured one of her books only a few days ago, it came up in my news feed this morning that it was nine years ago today that she passed away.

So in honor of DWJ, here’s another old favorite; her first book.

On with  Witch’s Business!

* * *

Frank and Jess are facing four months of no pocket money,  due to a destructive accident with a new chair and an angry father.  It seems as soon as there is no spending money coming their way, they are desperate for it.  Jess’s friends expect her to pay her way for things, which is bad enough, but Frank owes Buster Knell ten pence.  And Buster is not a boy you want to owe money. He’s large, and mean, and he has a gang.

After a bit of discussion, they siblings decide to start a business.  Their father puts a quick stop to their idea to run errands for people, so they have to come up with something more creative.  After a bit of discussion about Buster and punches in the nose, they do:

OWN BACK LTD.
REVENGE ARRANGED
PRICE ACCORDING TO TASK
ALL DIFFICULT TASKS UNDERTAKEN
TREASURE HUNTED, ETC.

Treasure hunting wasn’t exactly the same as revenge, but Frank and Jess figure it could be just as dangerous.  And it might lead to a greater reward.  They post the sign on the back of their potting shed (where their father wouldn’t see it) and wait for the clients to roll in.

They endure the laughter of a few adult passers-by, and after a few dreary days get a potential client in Mr. Carter, an elderly neighbor who hobbles over to look closely at the sign.  After a couple questions that make Frank and Jess anticipate a customer…he tells them that he saw a rainbow in Biddy Iremonger’s yard. and that they should dig there and find a pot of gold.  Then he walks away, laughing.

Frank and Jess aren’t laughing.  Biddy Iremonger is a strange old lady who lives in a hut that looks like it could fall over with a strong wind.  There’s something about her that makes people both pity and fear her.  There’s no way she has treasure in the trash heap surrounding her home.  More than that though, being laughed at does not earn them any pocket money.  They decide to give Own Back Ltd. one more day.

But in less than an hour, they hear a commotion outside the shed.  Customers!  Unfortunately, they recognize the voices…it’s Buster and his gang.  Trapped in the shed, Frank and Jess have no choice but to open the window and talk to the gang.  It turns out Buster wants revenge for his tooth being knocked out by Vernon Wilkins.  But Frank and Jess were picturing people getting revenge on Buster, not Buster using them to pick on someone else.  Worst of all, he doesn’t want to pay…but he says he’ll forgive the ten pence Frank owes him if he gets a tooth from Vernon in return.

Vernon is two years older than Frank and Jess, but they set off to see what they can do.  They do get a tooth, but they end up owing Vernon five pence.  So they can’t shut down Own Back, Ltd.,  they have to stay in business to get out of the money hole.

Soon word spreads around from Buster’s gang to the other kids in town, and suddenly Own Back, Ltd. has more business than Frank and Jess can handle.  Everything is completely out of control!  One thing leads to another, and somehow, Frank and Jess come to the attention of Biddy Iremonger…who, it turns out, is a witch.  A witch who feels that Frank and Jess are stepping on her territory, and messing with her business.  Biddy doesn’t want the competition; it makes her angry.  And an angry witch is a force to be reckoned with…

Can Frank and Jess help all the kids who are coming to them for revenge or treasure?  Can they fulfill all the contracts that they’ve taken on while not keeping away from Biddy?  If they can’t, is there any way they can escape the wrath of Biddy Iremonger?  Or will everyone end up under her thumb..?

Read Witch’s Business, and find out if revenge is sweet…or not.

* * *

Witch’s Business is classic Diana Wynne Jones…quirky characters, magic, lots of humor, and a dangerous villain.   It was originally published in 1973 in both the US and the UK, but with the title Wilkin’s Tooth in the UK.  I’m not sure why the title was changed; both seem pretty catchy titles.  Witch’s Business was her first published book, and the second one of hers that I read.  (The first was The Ogre Downstairs.)  She started winning awards with her third book (Dogsbody) and never stopped.  Her last book was published in 2014; she’d only written some of it, so it was completed by her sister, author Ursula Jones.  From 1973 to 2011 there was a new Diana Wynne Jones every year.  That’s quite a track record!

I wasn’t the only one who loved her writing and characters.  J.K. Rowling said Diana’s books were  an inspiration for Harry Potter, and many other authors, including Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, Robin McKinley, Megan Whalen Turner and Caroline Carlson said that she was an inspiration for their books.  I’m sure there were many others.

Witch’s Business is part mystery, part magic, part treasure hunt, and all fun.  It is very, very British…but that’s one of the things I love about it.  Most books now are published in many countries at the same time, and tailored to the language and expectations of the audience.  For example, Harry Potter wears a sweater in the US, but a jumper in the UK , even though it’s the same book.  In Witch’s Business, Frank and Jess wear jumpers…and you will figure out what they are from the context of the story.  This is one of the things that makes the reader feel like they’re in a different world.  It’s also pretty cool to figure out the slang!  Buster and his gang are big swearers–but their colorful language gets around that handily.

So check out and read Witch’s Business.  It’s great for kids in grades four though six or even seven. About 200 pages and, as stated above, very British.  There are twists and turns in the story, so keep your eyes open!  Sometimes, actions speak louder than words, and if you’re a careful reader, you might figure out the solution before Frank and Jess do.  Those are the kinds of books I love the most–the ones you finish and know that you missed clues–so you go back and read it again for a whole different experience.

Some read alikes are Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, Dial-a-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson, and The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain.

So pick up Witch’s Business (or any other book by Diana Wynne Jones) and start reading!  You’ll soon be absorbed in the magic.

Happy Reading!
::kelly::

 

Old Favorite: Escape to Witch Mountain

Sometimes, a movie is made that is so popular, people forget that it was actually based on a book.  Escape to Witch Mountain wasn’t exactly a memorable top ten box office smash, but it was one of Disney’s most popular live-action movie, both in theaters and, eventually, on TV.  Popular enough to create enough demand for a sequel, and then…another sequel, and a made for TV movie, and finally, a modern remake.

But the book is, and always will be, an Old Favorite.  On with Escape to Witch Mountain!

* * *

Tony and Tia had always lived with Granny Malone…or at least as far back as their memories allow them.  It’s a dirty, ugly neighborhood, that only gets worse when Granny Malone dies, and the two of them are turned over to Social Services.

Because of their odd looks–pale hair, olive skin and dark blue eyes, almost black–they’ve always had a hard time fitting in.  It doesn’t help that Tia doesn’t talk, and Tony has a reputation for fighting (which is really just defending his sister from bullying.)  No one wants to take in troubled orphans.  So the two of them are sent to Hackett House, a group home that is more of a place for delinquents than a home.

It’s a horrible place, and neither Tony nor Tia are happy.  They know they belong in a place that’s full of music, and movement and maybe even magic.  But Hackett House is ugly, and full of kids who are either bullies, or who are too scared of bullies to help the two newcomers.  The only things of value they own are taken from them upon their arrival–the only thing they manage to keep is Tia’s starbox–a square purse with a strange design of two stars on it, each of them with eight points.

When Truck, the biggest boy at Hackett House steals Tia’s starbox, Tony has to get it back.  He fights with Truck, and even though the other boy is older, bigger and stronger, Tony wins.  Everyone is amazed, and Tony is in trouble. He’s restricted to the dormitory, forbidden to contact anyone, even Tia.

But it doesn’t matter.  He can always talk to Tia.  Whatever she says, even though no one else can hear it, Tony does.  They talk through his confinement, while she explores their new residence.  She tells him that the matron is planning to take all the kids to Heron Lake for a week, and asks him if he can see it.  Tony closes his eyes, and concentrates…and he can.  Tony can always see places that he and Tia will go.  And Tia tells him that something is going to happen to them at Heron Lake…because Tia always gets feelings that turn out to be true.

And it is true!  When they’re in Heron Lake, they meet a frail little woman–a nun.  She admires Tia’s star box, then tells her that she’s seen that design before.  Tony asks her where, and she says that it was on a letter she received years ago.  Unfortunately, she cannot remember where the letter came from…all she can remember is one word: Caraway.  Or maybe it was Garroway, or Hideaway.  And that it might have come from the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The man who wrote it was looking for his family.

Could they have a relative looking for them?  When they return to Hackett House, Tony plays his harmonica, and sets the little dolls he and Tia keep dancing.  The magic brightens their world temporarily, until he feels himself surrounded by mountains.  He tells Tia, and she knows that they’re going there.  Sometime soon.

Will Tony and Tia find their family?  How will they get away from Hackett House to do that?  Tony can move objects with music, Tia can sense what’s coming and even though she can’t talk to people, she can talk to Tony and to animals.  Why are they so different from all the people around them?  Does it have to do with where they come from?  And what IS Witch Mountain?

Read Escape to Witch Mountain and find out!

* * *

Escape to Witch Mountain came out in 1968, a science fiction novel by Alexander Key.  He wrote several fairly popular books, where kids, usually orphans, find themselves alone, trying to find their way home.  (One of my other favorites of his is Escape to the Lonesome Place, which is not as well known, but very well remembered by readers.)  Most of the kids have psychic powers, as do Tony and Tia, and they usually are stuck in horrible circumstances, until they find a kind person or family to help them.

In 1975, Walt Disney made a movie of the book with the same title.  It was one of their most popular live-action films, so popular in fact, that they made a sequel called Return from Witch Mountain.  Alexander Key wrote the screenplay, then wrote a novel based on the screenplay.

I loved Escape to Witch Mountain when I read it in fourth or fifth grade.  It didn’t have a picture on the cover, somehow the book jacket at my library had fallen off.  But I was a weird kid who read all the old and battered books on my library shelves, because I thought those were the best books.  (And it was mostly true!)  So I went into it knowing nothing about the book–not even a blurb to say what it was about.  It grabbed me immediately!  I kept reading, enthralled in Tony’s protectiveness, Tia’s special bond with animals, and both their powers.  I wanted to…oooh, I can’t say, because I don’t want to ruin the surprise!

I also loved the movie, and the sequel.  There were several other movies made, based on the book, the last one in 2009.  As always, the movies are good, but the book is better!  The original Disney movie is pretty close to the book, but there is still a lot of internal communications between the siblings that doesn’t translate to the screen.  So read the book, even if you saw the original movie, which is now a classic.  And definitely read the book if you saw the 2009 movie starring The Rock.  That one basically borrowed the title and a bit of the plot…but not much!

Escape to Witch Mountain is a good science fiction adventure for kids fourth through sixth grade.  It’s fairly short, about 200 pages, so not a long read.  It’s really good, and you’ll be happy you read it!  I wish there was an audio version…I have always thought that it would make a good book to listen to on a trip.

Some read alikes would be The Alchemyst by Michael Scott, Bedknob and Broomstick by Mary Norton,  Raven’s Gate by Andrew Horowitz, and The Forgotten Door, also by Alexander Key.

So read Escape to Witch Mountain (and the sequel, Return from Witch Mountain) and enjoy!  Let me know what you think next time we’re both in the library!

Happy Reading!
::kelly::