Posted on by Maureen

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond

Paddington Bear was a big part of my childhood. My mother read several of the books to me, and I used to love watching the television show on The Disney Channel in the 1980s. Phrases like “Darkest Peru” and “Please look after this bear” have become family in-jokes that we cite frequently. Michael Bond began to write the Paddington books in 1958, but they have remained fresh and funny over the years.

I picked up the Audible edition of A Bear Called Paddington last year during a sale on children’s audiobooks, but we didn’t listen to it until last month. The girls have been vaguely interested in Paddington since the movie came out last year. We haven’t had a chance to see it, but when we finished listening to The Little Prince, they picked A Bear Called Paddington as our next audiobook. The Audible edition is read by Stephen Fry, and gives a delightful and whimsical performance. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A few years ago, my mother went to France for a vacation. She brought back presents for my girls. Among other trinkets, she gave them bowls with a picture of The Little Prince and the quote “Mais les yeux sont aveugles. Il faut chercher avec le Coeur.” This translates to “But the eyes are blind. You must look with your heart.”

The girls love their bowls, and about a month ago, my oldest girl came out of Kumon with a copy of The Little Prince and was very excited that she had found the book about the boy on the bowl. This reminded me that The Little Prince had been an Audible Daily Deal that I had purchased, and I asked the girls if they wanted to listen to The Little Prince. Everyone said they did, so we listened to The Little Prince as we drove back and forth from our activities. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Completely Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

My 8 year old daughter and I read Completely Clementine together not too long after its release. We are big fans of the Clementine series, and have read all of the other books.

Completely Clementine marks a turning point for our heroine. After six books, Clementine has finally reached the end of third grade. She is not very happy about this because she doesn’t like when things change. She is not looking forward to moving to a new class because she likes her teacher and her classroom. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency: The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Stratford

I have always loved learning about 19th century England, and reading stories set in that era. So, when I saw The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, my interest was piqued. Subtitled The Case of the Missing Moonstone, this is the first entry in a planned series written by Jordan Stratford and illustrated by Kelly Murphy.

The story is set in 1826, and it begins with a young girl named Mary traveling to a grand house to study with the young occupant of said house- a young girl named Ada. Lady Ada is three years younger, but Mary quickly learns that her new friend is very intelligent. The girls form the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, and they receive a request from a debutante who wants assistance with recovering a stolen jewel. The lady’s maid has confessed to the crime, but the debutante insists that the maid is innocent. Is she innocent? Can Lady Ada and Mary track down the real culprit? Read more

Posted on by Maureen

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

I first saw The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place at Barnes & Noble over the holidays. I made a request at the library, and the book arrived. Things were hectic, and I didn’t get around to reading more than the first chapter before it was time to return the book. I was very sad about this, but I didn’t want to run up fines- that dime a day adds up quickly! When I received my monthly Audible credit, I didn’t even hesitate before buying The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place.

This novel straddles both the middle grade and the young adult genre. It was written by Julie Berry and narrated by Jayne Entwistle. The story opens in the waning days of the Victorian era. Seven young ladies are enjoying Sunday dinner- or rather, they are watching Mrs. Plackett, their headmistress and her n’er do well brother Mr. Godding enjoying the veal that they prepared. This is what happens every Sunday, but on this particular Sunday, something different happens: the two adults drop dead in front of them. Read more

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The Dark by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen

I found The Dark at my town library. I hadn’t heard anything about it, but how could I pass up a picture book written by Lemony Snicket and illustrated by Jon Klassen? I’ll admit that I never read the entire Unfortunate Events series, but Snicket’s The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming is a favorite holiday story of mine, and I think I Want My Hat Back is a modern classic.

The Dark is a story about Laszlo, a little boy who is afraid of the dark. They mostly keep away from each other, and the dark stays in the basement. But when Laszlo’s nightlight goes out, the dark comes to visit. The dark talks to him, and guides him into the basement. Laszlo learns that he doesn’t have to be afraid of the dark. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

This Plus That: Life’s Little Equations by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I found This Plus That: Life’s Little Equations at our town library. As a leafed though it, I thought that my daughters would like it, so I brought it home. We have another book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal called Cookies: Bite Size Life Lessons, and the girls have enjoyed that one. This Plus That was illustrated by Jen Corace.

The story is composed of a series of equations. The book combines English with math in ways that are quite clever: Read more

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Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

I just finished reading Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy. This is a middle reader chapter book written by Karen Foxlee. My oldest daughter actually read this book a couple of weeks ago for her homework reading log, but I had other books on my list, and I didn’t get around to reading it until now. I’m so glad that I did.

Ophelia is a shy girl who wears glasses and carries a puffer. She is not very boisterous, and she does not consider herself to be very brave. Ophelia has come to a snowy foreign city with her father and sister so that her father can assemble a special display of swords in a museum full of curious collections. The entire family is still processing the loss of Ophelia’s mother, which occurred three months before the events of the book. Read more

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The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

I first found out about The Day the Crayons Quit when it was featured in an Amazon email. I immediately headed over to my library network website and made a request. This is the best thing ever. I can request any book in the system, and they will send that book to my town library. Best of all, there’s no cost for this service! I can’t tell you how many thousands of dollars we have saved by using the library network. Plus, I already have a book storage problem, so anything that I can do to not add to the problem is a plus in everyone’s book. Read more