Three Little Kittens Illustrated by Lilian Obligado

51kzncpxetlMy oldest daughter and I have been reading the advanced copies of middle grade books that I receive from Netgalley. I wanted to be able to include my twins, who are a little too young for middle grade books. So, my twins and I have been reading books from the Best Book Club Ever. You might remember these books from the late 1970s and early 1980s. They have been picking one book each night, and I have been enjoying rediscovering some childhood favorites.

 

Three Little Kittens is a traditional children’s nursery rhyme. This edition was illustrated by Lilian Obligado, and it was originally published in 1974.

The text closely follows the original nineteenth century nursery rhyme, with very few changes. This is the story of a trio of kittens who lose their mittens, angering their mother. They are told that they can’t have any pie, and this motivates them to look for their mittens. They find their mittens, but then get them dirty because they’re wearing them while eating pie. Will things ever go right for these three little kittens? Read more

Flap Your Wings by P.D. Eastman

51d5swrxyjlMy oldest daughter and I have been reading the advanced copies of middle grade books that I receive from Netgalley. I wanted to be able to include my twins, who are a little too young for middle grade books. So, my twins and I have been reading books from the Best Book Club Ever. You might remember these books from the late 1970s and early 1980s. They have been picking one book each night, and I have been enjoying rediscovering some childhood favorites.

Flap Your Wings was written by P.D. Eastman and was originally published in 1969, but I think our Best Book Club Ever edition was published in 1979. Our particular copy has my husband’s name in it. Most of our Best Book Club Ever books used to be his, but very few have his name in them.

Flap Your Wings is the story of Mr. and Mrs. Bird, who return to their nest to find a strange egg in it. When the egg hatches, they are surprised to find a strange creature in it (a baby alligator). They are not sure that their baby is a bird, but it is in their nest, so they feed Junior everything from berries to centipedes. Junior’s appetite never diminishes, and he grows very quickly. Junior is too big for his nest, and it is time for him to flap his wings and fly. But will an alligator be able to fly like a bird? Read more

Unicorn vs. Goblins: Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure by Dana Simpson

51mumeuihqlI received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I might not have been familiar with the Phoebe and Her Unicorn series before receiving the opportunity to read this book, but my oldest daughter has read both of the other books in the series.   In fact, she was the one who sat down to read Unicorn vs. Goblins before I got the chance.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn is a graphic novel series by Dana Simpson featuring a young girl named Phoebe and her best friend, a magical unicorn named Marigold. Unicorn vs. Goblins contains several connected storylines, including a trip to music camp, the start of a new school year, and a showdown with those titular goblins. Read more

My Little Hen by Alice & Martin Provensen

91whroxbkmlMy oldest daughter and I have been reading the advanced copies of middle grade books that I receive from Netgalley. I wanted to be able to include my twins, who are a little too young for middle grade books. So, my twins and I have been reading books from the Best Book Club Ever. You might remember these books from the late 1970s and early 1980s. They have been picking one book each night, and I have been enjoying rediscovering some childhood favorites.

My Little Hen was written by Alice and Martin Provensen, and it was first published in 1973.

This is the story of a little girl named Emily, who loves her hen Etta. One day, Etta lays an egg, and that egg grows into a little chick named Neddy. Emily and Etta are very protective of Neddy, but they don’t have much to be worried about because Ralph the dog is very gentle with the chickens. Read more

Rupert and Polly by Jody Silver

My oldest daughter and I have been reading the advanced copies of middle grade books that I receive from Netgalley. I wanted to be able to include my twins, who are a little too young for middle grade books. So, my twins and I have been reading books from the Best Book Club Ever. You might remember these books from the late 1970s and early 1980s. They have been picking one book each night, and I have been enjoying rediscovering some childhood favorites.

Rupert and Polly was originally published in 1978, and it was written and illustrated by Jody Silver.

Rupert is an anthropomorphic goat, and Polly is his pet parrot. They get along well, and Polly loves when Rupert sings “Polly Wolly Doodle” to her. One night, Polly doesn’t feel comfortable sleeping in her cage, so she nestles on Rupert’s beard. Rupert is startled and yells at Polly, who flies out of the window. When Rupert wakes up and realizes that Polly is gone, he feels terrible- can he find Polly and apologize to her or is she gone forever? Read more

The Last Boy at St. Edith’s by Lee Gjertsen Malone

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I received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I first heard about The Last Boy at St. Edith’s last summer when I began to follow author Lee Gjertsen Malone on Twitter. I knew that this was a book that I wanted to read, and I was very excited when I received an opportunity to read an advanced copy via Netgalley.

Jeremy Miner is a seventh grade student at St. Edith’s Academy. The school was coeducational for a few years, but all the other boys have moved away or transferred to other schools. Jeremy hates being the only boy at an all-girls school, but his mother will not allow him to transfer. So, Jeremy does what any reasonable person would do in this situation: he formulates a plan to get himself kicked out of school. He and his friend Claudia come up with a series of pranks, and while Jeremy tries to set guidelines about no one being humiliated or no property being damaged, things don’t always go according to plan. As Jeremy gets closer to achieving his goal, he realizes that his actions are affecting those around him- is this really what he wants? Read more

Noah’s Ark retold by Lawrence T. Lorimer

61o7rn9heolMy oldest daughter and I have been reading the advanced copies of middle grade books that I receive from Netgalley. I wanted to be able to include my twins, who are a little too young for middle grade books. So, my twins and I have been reading books from the Best Book Club Ever. You might remember these books from the late 1970s and early 1980s. They have been picking one book each night, and I have been enjoying rediscovering some childhood favorites.

Noah’s Ark was retold by Lawrence T. Lorimer and illustrated by Charles E. Martin. It was originally published in 1978.

The plot of this story should be familiar to many, as it is part of religious lore for several faiths. Noah is a farmer living in the ancient world, and he is apparently the only good person in the world. God tells Noah to build an ark, and to bring aboard two of every species of animal. Noah complies, the world is flooded, and when the floodwaters subside, a rainbow appears. This is God’s promise to never flood the world again.       Read more

The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason

51uhtu02bablI love young adult books, and I love books set in the Victorian era. Coleen Gleason’s Stoker & Holmes series combines both of these elements, and adds a partnership between Bram Stoker’s sister and Sherlock Holmes’ niece. I have recently finished listening to The Spiritglass Charade, which is the second book in the series.

Mina Holmes and Evaline Stoker have already solved one mystery, but they are asked by Princess Alix for assistance with a rather delicate matter. A young aristocratic woman has been increasingly involved with spiritualism following the death of her mother and the disappearance of her brother. The princess fears that Miss Aston is being taken advantage of, because mediums are believed to be charlatans who take advantage of mourners. But of course, nothing is as is seems, and the two young women find the case to be far more complicated than it appears. Throw in evidence of vampires, and you’ve got an intriguing case that Mina and Evaline are determined to solve! Read more

A Night Like This by Julia Quinn

51eukz2qhmlI have always loved historical romance novels, but in recent years, I haven’t had as much time for them. Julia Quinn was always my favorite author, and I’ve been catching up on some of the books that I missed. I had listened to the Audible version of Just Like Heaven, which is the first book in Quinn’s Smythe-Smith quartet. After that, I started listening to When He Was Wicked, which is part of her Bridgerton series… but I had to find out what happened next in the Smythe-Smith series.   I had a paperback copy of A Night Like This, and I found myself unable to resist bumping it to the top of my reading queue.

A Night Like This begins during the events at the end of Just Like Heaven. Daniel Smythe-Smith, the Earl of Winstead, has returned to England after a few years abroad. It’s a long story, but the prologue covers the reason for his departure. But now he’s back, and the one of the first things he notices is that there is a strange woman participating in his family’s annual musicale. She isn’t one of his cousins, and he is intrigued by her identity. Read more

Snow White and Rose Red illustrated by Sheilah Beckett

My oldest daughter and I have been reading the advanced copies of middle grade books that I receive from Netgalley. I wanted to be able to include my twins, who are a little too young for middle grade books. So, my twins and I have been reading books from the Best Book Club Ever. You might remember these books from the late 1970s and early 1980s. They have been picking one book each night, and I have been enjoying rediscovering some childhood favorites.

Snow White and Rose Red was originally published in 1978. It is based on a Brothers Grimm tale. There is no author listed for this adaptation, and Sheilah Beckett is listed as the illustrator.

This fairy tale is not affiliated with the more famous Snow White tale involving the dwarves and the wicked queen. In this story, Snow White and her sister Rose Red live in a cottage with their widowed mother. One winter night, a bear comes to the door seeking shelter, and his wish is granted. The bear comes to their house every day in the winter, but disappears in the spring. Snow White and Rose Red often see a gnome in the forest, and they help him out of several sticky situations. Could there be a connection between their friend the bear and the grumpy gnome? Read more