Louis Sachar

We are currently in love with Louis Sachar (again.. of course we loved Holes)

This time it is Marvin Redpost. We can not get enough of this red-haired middle kid. He's sweet, he's funny, and his adventures are just true-enough to have us rooting, laughing, and sighing along with him.

Here are some pictures of Marvin's nail-biting ride down Suicide Hill from the book Super Fast and Out of Control.
What we love is that Louis Sachar does not talk down to kids. He writes about things real kids might feel and he doesn't really sugar-coat it.
I just finished reading his "Dogs Don't Tell Jokes". This is not a Marvin Redpost book and after pre-reading it I think it is a book I'd rather read aloud with my third grader so we can talk about the issues it presents. But it is a terrific book! All about a junior high boy who has no friends and gets picked on.... and your heart just bleeds for the guy.

Next up is "There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom" Also by Mr. Sachar.

(And... now that we've taken a month break from this site (unintentionally), we plan to be back weekly again)

Edwardo the Horriblest Boy in the World

Edwardo was an ordinary boy. He would get up in the morning, get dressed, have his breakfast, go to school, play games, eat his supper, and go to bed. Sometimes Edwardo would kick things.

And so begins the story of Edwardo. A normal boy who sometimes did naughty things- and then became labeled a horrible boy. He starts living up to his label.

Don't we all know boys and girls like this?

But what happens when someone says thank you to him. When someone assumes he is being nice?

Here's Izie's favorite part.

Edwardo threw water on a dog to be mean and live up to his reputation. But someone assumes he is trying to wash the dog and all of a sudden....

the horrible boy starts becoming a nice boy.

A terrific read. Especially when you feel the need to sit back and give someone who is really testing your limits a bit of compassion.

Edwardo the Horriblest Boy in the World by John Burningham

Stick

Stick liked to do things on his own... all by himself.

JT: Stick is a little frog that likes to do things alone. My favorite picture is the picture of the guy riding the motorcycle.

Izie: Stick sticks to a dragon fly and the dragon fly flies away. My favorite part is at the end when Stick turns really light. (Guess what he swallows!)
Stick gets carried away and goes through the forest, a cat tries to get him, he goes through a ladies house, a dog barks at him and he falls from the dragon fly only to continue his adventures on other moving things.

The story is mostly told in pictures - hilarious pictures- with very few words.

Stick, words and pictures by Steve Breen

The Seven Chinese Brothers

Once upon a time, when Ch'in Shih Huang was emperor of all China, seven remarkable brothers lived together on a beautiful hillside.

They walked alike, they talked alike, they even looked so much alike it was hard to tell one brother from the brother next to him.

All the same, each brother had something special about him. Each brother had one amazing power that was all his own.

I have owned this book for quite some time. It sat on my shelf in my classroom when I taught 3rd grade and then 6th grade. I had never read it aloud until recently, when I read it to my boys.

Since then, I've read it aloud to my first grade class each year and they are just enthralled by the story.

Something about a story that starts, "Once upon a time" and that has brothers with magical strengths, just gets them. Always, one or two kids will just shout out while I'm reading, "This is an awesome story"It's a little scary. An emperor is trying to kill each of the brothers (who he thinks is just one person).

He throws one brother in the ocean, but his legs grow so long, he never drowns.

He attempts to burn a brother, but the one who loves fire, puts himself in his brother's place and enjoys the toasty warmth.The youngest brother, the one who was the baby of the family, is the one the other brothers try to keep happy, for if he cries, he creates giant tears that could drown an entire village.

In the end, he does cry, but his tears end up saving everyone.

This is a story my two boys ask for again and again. I know they love how each brother has a special strength of his own.

The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Jean and Mou-sien Tseng

The Boy who was Raised by Librarians

Melvin lived in the Livingston Public Library.
Well....he didn't really live there. He just spent lots and lots of time there.
He wanted to know a little...no...a lot about everything. He was curious. And the library is a wonderful place to be if a person is curious.

This book is currently on our all time favorites list. Mostly because we love the library and love reading so we can picture ourselves exactly in Melvin's shoes.

He starts visiting the library as soon as he can walk there by himself and he goes every day until he goes away to college.

When he is in first grade, he brings a jar of bugs to show the librarians - he trips and they go everywhere in the library. Izie loves this part because he has tripped carrying his beloved caterpillar and they flew everywhere.

The librarians help Melvin record and catalog his bugs.
Izie catalogued some of his, here's his caterpillar on his finger.

In third grade, Melvin starts a baseball collection that he organizes. The librarians help him store them and show him a price guide on the internet.

JT loves this part because he organizes all his baseball cards just like that.



We love this book and have been re-reading it daily. The library really is one of our favorite places and the boys think it does sometimes seem like they are being raised by librarians (even though mom is a teacher and dad just plain ol' likes being curious.

You'll never guess what Melvin grows up to be......

The Boy who was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris, illustrated by Brad Sneed

Something Might Happen

Twitchly Fidget trembled all over. No, nothing had happened to him. But it might.

So begins the story of the adorable, yet fearful, little lemur named Twitchly.

He is so fearful, he won't take a bath, he won't get dressed (for fear of putting his shoes on the wrong feet),
he won't eat breakfast, he won't even put a roof on his house for fear of it falling in on him.

Finally his Aunt Bridget Fidget drops in and tells him that he must fix himself up.
She forces him to bathe, eat and get dressed.

He realizes nothing bad will happen to him.

Something Might Happen by Helen Lester. Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger.

We also love Hooway for Wodney Wat also by Helen Lester.

Mystery Mansion

Do you like looking for clues?

If so, this is the book for you.

Each page has a hidden alphabet letter (or two!), hidden animals, foreign language phrases, and a secret message revealed at the end.

The main character, Tommy, is invited to his Aunt Jeanne's mansion. She's a little bit different and is also hiding on each page. She has planned an extravagant hunt for her nephew. He's a brave boy who doesn't seem the least phased by mazes, secret tunnels, and numerous little yellow notes.

Perhaps you'll be inspired to create your own scavenger hunt. Or perhaps you'll be inspired to create art out of the alphabet like we were. Our letters are not camouflaged. No, quite the opposite, we chose to have them jump out at you.

Mystery Mansion by Michael Garland