Schools Books

How I missed this classic growing up, I'll never know. But my son has discovered the Ramona books, and they are wonderful and very true to life. Ramona's thought-processes and antics are so real, I now know that my son has been behaving like a normal kid! Cleary is so accurate in rendering the child's perspective and writing about it in a way that young children can identify with, that this book can't fail to appeal to everyone, now and for years to come. It hasn't dated, and the humor holds up well. Don't miss this series--your little reader will be eager to pick up the entire series.

Although it was first published in the 1960s, "Ramona The Pest" still speaks to the lives of children today, as a five-year old Ramona Quimby enters the world of "big kids" and goes off to kindergarten. Funny, heartfelt and honest, this book centers on Ramona's eagerness to please her new teacher, Miss Binney, and the difficulties of a headstrong little girl trying to mind her temper and get along with other kids in a complex social situation. This was the first solo Ramona book (Henry Huggins and Ramona's older sister Beezus make appearances, but they are not central to the story) and was the start of a series of Ramonacentric adventures. It includes some classic Cleary gags, such as Ramona getting the words to the "Star Spangled Banner" wrong ("by the dawnzer lee light...") and Ramona's brief career as a "kindergarten dropout". Great stuff - still holds up today. (ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)

I really loved this book. It was a lot of fun to read! It is great for kids of all ages, as it can remind everyone of their struggles as an elementary student.

Five-year-old Ramona Quimby is tired of being called a pest. It's not her fault she doesn't know as much as her big sister Beezus, or that she's always so eager to get things done, is it?

This year, Ramona is finally starting kindergarten. After what felt like years of waiting, she's excited at the idea of learning to read and write like Beezus.

But kindergarten is full of its own problems. As much as Ramona loves her teacher, she isn't always sure that Miss Binney loves her back -- or what she's done to make her unhappy. Ramona also quibbles with Howie, a neighborhood boy who alternates between being her friend and being so exasperating he makes her furious; longs to pull the curls of her classmate Susan, and to kiss shy little Davy.

As always, Ramona is a believable character, likeable and just like any other child readers might hope to meet. After becoming introduced to Ramona, young readers will clamor for the other books, eager to find out what happens to the irrepressible girl next.

Beverly Clearly is one of those rare children's authors who knows how to see the world through the eyes of her characters. There's a reason for all those rave reviews from readers over the years.

Ramona the Pest provides an opportunity for the child in your life to see how Romana's world is much like his own, and learn from Ramona as she makes mistakes.

Ramona the Pest is certain to be a favorite of yours, as well.

Do you like stories with friends that stick together forever? If you do you might like this book by Lurlene McDaniel. The story is about Ethan and Leah, are teenagers who are best friends. The story is about Ethan who is Amish goes and visits Leah who I an the hospital for nine days, diagnosed with bone cancer is the worst one week and two days for her especially for her because her mom an her husband are on a cruise out so she's all alone luckily she gets out the hospital Ethan's by her side. They have a strong love for each other is a very inspirational story about Leah and Ethan You will love this book I enjoyed it very much.

Lifted up by angels is a lovely book that explains life betweem Leah and the amish. It is and experiencing book for people to explore.

this book is a great book to read and it helps you to understand the hardships that some families have in their everyday life. i think it is really inspiriational and it can teach you things you may not have known.

I love this book!! I love the lurlene mcdaniel books because they are romantic, love stories!


This book is about a girl who falls for a Amish guy and He falls in love with her, and ...... WOW! SEE SOME SPARCKS??

As you can gather from the name, in my oppinion the second book was much better than the first book. In this novel, Leah goes to work during the summer near the Amish community. She meets up with Ethan and Charity, and though things seem to be going good at first, many conflicts spring up during her stay. The more she falls for Ethan, the more problems seem to occur. You should deffinately read this book.

My mother used to read me this story as a kid. I always liked it. As I got older, I began to appreciate it even more for its subtle humor. The story is unique and the illustrations should really be admired. I just bought it for my 2 year old and she seems to enjoy it as well. I highly recommend it.

Ferdinand is a bull who listens to his own heart. He does not bow to 'peer pressure' and try to be someone he is not. The story is not really about bull-fighting, but about self-acceptance and the acceptance of others for whom they are -- even when initial expectations are not met.

I completely forgot about this book until one of my students had me read it. Such a classic with an important message about staying true to yourself even if you are off the beaten path. The Spanish culture and charming illustrations only make this all the more likeable.

What a lovely classical story of peace. Ferdinand is a peaceful bull who loves to lie in the meadow and smell flowers. He gets stung by a bee at exactly the wrong moment (when the bullfighters are coming to pick a bull to take to the fights). So he is, of course, carted off to fight, since he is obviously the feistiest bull in the field. When he gets to the ring, no matter how mean the bullfighters are to him, Ferdinand just lies down and smells the flowers on the ladies' hats. This is such a beautiful story of peace and hope. Even though bullfighting is not promoted or accepted in the U.S., I think this is a beautiful classic story and I do recommend it for all ages.

the book and the cd were in good shape and the story was
similar to the one i knew when i was a child but not the
same. i was looking for a copy of the one i knew in the
early 50's, it was fun to listen to and it was funny.
there is another story of the flying mouse at the same
time, that i am looking for.

Do you what to buy a book you'll love to read? If you do, you should read Chrysanthemum By Kevin Henkes. Kevin Henkes is a good author. Chrysanthemum is a good children's book. If you are a mom you should read it to your child. They might love it like a favorite book. In the book Chrysanthemum loved her name until she went to school. The kids teased Chrysanthemum and said "you're named after a flower" and a girl named Victoria that was in her class teased her the most. Her parents said her name was perfect but Chrysanthemum did not think so. She had dreams that were nightmares like that Victoria was picking her like a flower. The main problem is she is picked on. I chose the book because it is interesting. The characters are classmates and Chrysanthemum and a music teacher and Chrysanthemum mom and dad. The book takes place at her mom and dads house and outside and school. I think the authors message is to not tease somebody (treat somebody the way you want to be treated.) If you want to find out if the problem's solved you should read the book.


also

Do you like mice? Then you will like Chrysanthemum. I chose to read this book because it was about mice. Chrysanthemum is a girl who was named after a flower and it came to the first day of school and everyone made fun of her because she was named after a flower. Everybody thought it was a funny name except for her parents and her teacher. Everybody said "That's a dumb name. Your names Chrysanthemum it barely fits your nametag" Every body there told chrysanthemum their names and they said their names were perfect. I'm not giving away the ending. You are going to have to read it. I will give you a hint though it turns out to be pretty good. I think that you should never make fun of someone about them. You're just making it worse and worse for you not the person who your making fun of. Its just an embarrassment. Kids through 1st and third grade should read this book because it teaches you a lesson.

I bought this book for my daughter who is an early childhood education major. She requested it after reviewing it in class. Great book!

I am an elementary school teacher and this book is great to read to the kids within the first few weeks of school. It teaches them about the differences between people and how differences are ok. It is just the right length and repeats for easy reading. The video is also a great buy! Play it as a listening center for reading!

Great story for a child in elementary school or approaching. It touches on many levels the challenges of attending school for the first time. The author highlights Chrysanthemum and gives her depth. The school children that she meets also are made to be a challenge for Chrysanthemum.
The problem solving and the love of her parents touch on family values.
LOVE IT AND RECOMMEND.

Chrysanthemum was the main character. She was sad because her classmates were teasing about her name. This happened at school. Chrysanthemum's friends were teasing her because her name wouldn't fit on
her name tag. I like this book for three reasons.
1. I am named after a flower as well as Chrysanthemum.
2. Also, I have been teased because I am named after a flower and it relates.
3. My last reason is because I like books that at first characters do not like each other but in the end they solve the problem. Chrysanthemum is a book for any age. By Lily

Any kid who reads The Doll People and the sequel, The Meanest Doll In The World would be very excited if they knew there would be a third book. I'm one of those people, I read both of them and I LOVED THEM. I decided it was my favorite book so far (I'm only 10 so I know that won't be forever). I recommended them to everyone who was looking for a good book at the right level, I think if you are 8 or up, you would love the idea and l ove the way Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin writes and how Brian Selznick illustrates. They're all a really good team. One of the things I LOVED were the illustrations. For someone who doesn't know how to picture things in your mind while you're reading, this is the book to get in the book store. If you feel interested to read this book then grab it out of the bookstore or buy it anywhere, please. Both of those books are great!

Anntie Sarah was lost for 47 years ago, then 47 years later, Annabelle got a hold of her diary. She kept it very safe until the Funcrafts came to the house. Annabelle Doll shared the diary with the Funcrafts daughter, Tiffany, and everything in the diary they both read is a step closer to find Anntie Sarah.

By Rose

This is an excellent book with fun and adventure abound. Good reading for people of all ages. My 70 year old Father loved it, so much so I bought him his own copy. A fun read over and over.

The Doll People
By: Ann M. Martin

Book Review by: Caroline Le

Have you ever lost someone near and dear to you? Well that's exactly what happened to Annabelle Doll in this book, The Doll People. It's about a family of dolls trying to find their lost family member, Auntie Sarah, but the problem is that Auntie Sarah could be anywhere in the house and the whole family is only about an inch in height. The whole family includes mama, papa, Uncle Doll, nanny, Annabelle, her little brother Bobby, Baby Betsy, and of course Auntie Sarah. Along the way they get into a lot of problems, with The Captain (the humans cat) and getting lost, plus they can't move while the humans are around, it'll jeopardize their secret, but they also have a lot of fun too so don't worry. Personally I think that one of the best parts in the story is all the adventures they have. Read the book to find out what happens to the Doll family and Auntie Sarah. Enjoy reading it, I know I did.

Who says that you can read and enjoy children's books? This book is on par with some of the great children's literary classics like the Wizard of Oz. The author creates a world in which a Doll family comes to live unknown to the human residences around them. While the Dolls remain forever the same age, Annabelle Doll had remained an eight year old girl for a hundred years. She is on the search for her missing aunt Sarah who disappeared 45 years ago. She and the Doll family travel without getting human detection which means that they can be forever frozen in time. The Doll life is very fragile and human detection can determine their frozen state. A fear that the Doll family must have while Annabelle and her sister yearn to break free from the dollhouse that is their home. They remind me of Anne Frank and her sister hiding in the attic. They have so many rules of their own without being detected from humans. It's quite an entertaining novel for both adults and children alike. I could see an animated movie come alive and popular quite easy. The illustrations are in black and white. I don't have any complaints about the book but hope to get back into it soon enough.

Hi, I am 9 years old and I LOVED this book its about a doll that's a hundered years old and is named Anabelle who lives with her mom, dad, brother, uncle , and baby sister. While Anabelle is looking for Auntie Sarah, who has been missing for 45 years, she finds another doll family, the Funcrafts. They are newer dollhouse dolls. The Funcraft family & Anabelle's family become good friends. And the Funcrafts have modern things the old dolls don't understand, like a microwave & Bar-B-que. And when Anabelle's birthday comes around they have a party for her at the Funcraft's dream house. The dolls have to be careful that the humans don't see them moving around & talking or else they will be in "doll state" (this is where they get frozen for 24 hrs). This book would be good for girls 7-12. The words are easy to read & the story is easy to understand. It's a long book, about 260 pages, but all totally entertaining. No boring parts. If you are looking for a great book to read, get this book NOW.

I didn't find this book all that special. The style seemed stilted and awkward. Characters seemed emotionally flat and I didn't buy the romance in the story. Not a bad read, but half way through I was ready for the book to end.

One of the things I like about this book is that it manages to retain an archaic feeling without sounding fake (you know, the type of dialogue that sounds like a bunch of college students roleplaying). Pope's choice of using modern language for the dialogue doesn't spoil the setting at all, whereas trying to force readers to jump back and forth between Elizabethan dialogue and modern narration could be annoying, e.g. Patricia Wrede's version of "Snow White and Rose Red".

Overall, Pope's characters are really well fleshed out, and she's also a master at describing atmosphere. The supernatural terror that Kate is subjected to in the underground halls kept me up at night for a while after both times I read this.

I didn't know the plot of "The Perilous Gard" was related to an actual legend till I stumbled across the name "Tam Lin" elsewhere on the Internet. Now I'm fascinated...

This book is beautiful. The proud elves! The historical drama! Probably the best theory for where elves/fairies came from, oh, and the answer will suprise you!
This books haunts you in that though there are mystical, magical elements in this story when you done reading you have to admit that it really COULD have happened. This book made me cry, I love it when books have the power to make you feel that much emotion. Do yourself a favour and read the book!

The Perilous Gard

The Sherwood Ring

The Perilous Gard is a book I still reread as an adult. The Sherwood Ring is good also. I just wish that Ms. Pope had written MORE.

The Perilous Gard is a wonderful rainy afternoon book. The characters seem real and the Elizabethan England that is described seems real and charming but none too easy to live in.

The best part of the story is the characterizations of the fairies themselves. Not the fluttery, glittery creatures beloved of Walt Disney, but a real, proud alien race at one with nature. The queen particularly is both admirable and cruel, pitiless and pitiable.

I enjoyed this book immensely once I got into it. The first chapter didn't impress me, but after that the book held my attention. The main character, Kate, was a great heroine that I enjoyed reading about and she had her own flaws, which I thought was great. Because most books in this sort of genre have the perfect, beautiful, strong, intelligent, courageous heroine, which I always found somewhat unbelievable. This book is adventursome, fantastical, and has some romance thrown in too. Its my kind of book! I plan on looking for more books by this author.

An eight-year-old Jewish girl, Marissa, is sitting down with her family for the Passover seder. This year it is not only her family at the meal, but two guests, an older couple named Alex and Mela Roslan. At her Uncle David's prodding, Marissa's father, Jacob, tells the story of why he is so honored to have the Roslans as his guests. It all started long, long ago, when Jacob was just eight years old.

Jacob and his family lived in Warsaw, Poland, at the start of the Holocaust. His mother died giving birth to his youngest brother, but the rest of his family was well off, with servants and a nice house. Everything changed when the Nazis invaded. All of a sudden all of the Jews were put into a ghetto. The men of the family escaped the country before then, believing the women and children would be safe. Jacob's aunt managed to find places for his little brothers, Sholom and David, in the country. Jacob, however, stayed in the ghetto. Life was hard but livable. Then, his aunt began to worry about the fact that so many people were being arrested and taken out of the ghetto each day. She found a place for Jacob to live, with Alex and Mela Roslan and their two children, a family of Christians.

Throughout the war, Jacob lived with this courageous family, a family who put their own lives at risk to save the life of someone they had barely known.

This is another true Holocause story, and another one that makes the reader see there were some good people out there, surrounded by the bad. I liked that this book showed that helping Jacob was a difficult decision for the Roslans to make. They probably saved his life, but they still were concerned about their own lives and their own children. I would have liked to have seen more of what the Roslan children were thinking during this time. It would be interesting to get the point of view of the children who were involved because of a decision of their parents.

An excellent book dedicated to two people stood up for life when others looked the other way. My children and I enjoyed reading this book together.

Visitors are coming for seder dinner and Marissa wants to know who they are!

This is an amazing story of a young Jewish boy during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Jacob is his name, and he is given a chance to live with a brave Polish family. The Roslan family takes Jacob in and protects his brothers and him. This now united family must go through many hardships throughout this story, but there is still happiness and gratitude flowing in the text. Alex the father is the bravest of them all. He keeps the family alive and healthy.
This book tells a well rendered real life experience of a very brave family. It explains what was going on in Poland from the peoples view not the generals prospective. In this book Jacob tells this story to his daughter. Think of finding out that your father was living through an adventure story that had dire conflicts.
What I'm saying is if read this book if you want a idea of what happened to people that were brave and fought in their own way during World War 2.

PR2

In this story called Jacob's Rescue a Holocaust Story, Jacob is a Jew. He finds out that he has to go away from his Aunt and his grandma, to live with a German. The German's name is Alex. He hides Jacob from the Germans, or any other people who don't like Jews. Jacob becomes family to Alex and his wife and kids. Throughout the whole story Jacob is scared and frightened by the Germans. He doesn't want to get caught.
I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't keep my hands off of it. It was that good. I am really interested in the holocaust, so I enjoyed reading it very much. Anyone who likes reading about history or the holocaust, this is the book for you. This is based on a true story. That makes this book a lot more interesting to read.
By: Tenille

Jacob's Rescue by Malka Drucker and Micheal Halprin is an awesome book to read. It starts with Jacob getting captured by the Nazis and being put in a ghetto but for most of the story he is kept in a small apartment.

This book is about an 8 year old boy named Jacob and the extremely brave people who rescued him, Alex and Mela. There were also two brave kids the son and daughter of Alex and Mela. Jacob is one of the Jewish people who got put in a ghetto. In this story Jacob loves to play cards and do math. The whole story starts when Jacob gets put in a ghetto. Their problem is they have to find a way to stay safe without getting caught and being killed. My favorite part is when he escapes from the ghetto and goes with Alex to his new home.

I gave this book five stars because many of you know how many Jewish people got killed because of the war. This book is about the few people who went way out of their way just to save two Jewish boys life. I think that just to know that people would be so giving is a great thing. I think that Malka Drucker and Micheal Halprin did a great gob on this book and I hope that there are more books of theirs that I can read. I would recommend this book to a friend because I think that it's cool to know that two boys' lived through a war because of two people that saved them.

Louisa County High School recommends that you read Baby Alicia Is Dying. We all agree that if you read the book then you would think before you made a bad action like Alicia's mother did. Many of us cried in the end.

Baby Alicia is Dying by Lurlene McDaniel is a great book. Well I want to tell you a little bit about what this book is about.It's about a girl named Desi who is hiv free and is trying to stop smoking and who wants a baby who is hiv positive and who wants to take care of that baby.In my opinion i think this book is exciting to me because it tells you the problems Desi is having and what she does And how she's gonna stop doing what she is doing.I recommend this book to people who like exciting books about drama and that tells you about people's lives.

This book is the greatest book in the WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its happy and sad at the same time. i could read it 10,000 times and never get bored of it!!!

I liked this book bacuase is told me about a little girl that was born with HIV. Also that seh was born HIV positive. I liked this book also becasue it has great details of what the young girl went through since she was born. I mostly liked this book bacaue of the was it decribes the characters are doing, and what is on in their mind at that time and place in the book. The sadest part was that when i read this book that I have felt the same pain as Alicia does in the book because my grandma Burger died of being HIV positive back in January of 2005.

Alicia was a unique and really nice baby. I didn't really think she should of got putt in the hospital because her mom didn't want her. The book teaches us that anyone can help the hospital and help little kids. It also teaches us that even though you got put in a hospital because your mom didn't want you, don't mean you're not a nice person. One example was when people started to tease a girl because she helped the hospital take care of kids.

Alicia was a great baby. She loved everybody. She knew what was wrong and what was right. Even though, she was only two.

This is a great book for ANYONE to read!

All stories from Richard Paul Evans are wonderful and this is no exeption.Read the trilogy is forth it.

The reviews were uniformly quite good for this novel, so I decided to give it a try. The story starts out slowly and takes some time to work up a bit of interest. The central character is a twenties-something working in a nursing home. Not typically the setting for a compelling plot.
A quick read-not one of my favorites.

The old lady is one of the strongest female characters in modern literature. Evans is a very capable writer.

With The Locket, Richard Paul Evans proves once again that when it comes to feel good, sentimental stories that tug at your heartstrings, he has no equal. As with his previous books The Christmas Box and The Letter, he utilizes his unique blend of fiction and inspirational writing to convey valuable messages of love, faith, forgiveness and redemption. His words take us on an emotional journey that leaves us reaching for the kleenex box as well as motivated to incorporate these precepts into our daily lives.

After the death of his mother, Michael Keddington takes a job at the Arcadia nursing home, where he meets parient Esther Huish, a woman who is instrumental in teaching Michael many valuable life lessons concerning forgiveness, overcoming insecurities, second chances and never putting things off until tomorrow.

The Locket of the title is Esthers gift to Michael. It serves as a symbol of the missed opportunities in her life and for Michael represents an opportunity to overcome a myriad of obstacles and begin his life anew.

This warm and beautiful story should kindle the flame of hope that burns in each of us. 4 1/2 stars

This was an excellent book! It wasn't just a typical romance, instead, it focused on what comes after falling in love. Devotion, kindness, and respect were themes in this novel. It was well-written, and kept my attention until the end.

This makes the top ten list out of all the great picture books we read to our kids when they were young. I never tired of reading it. So simple, symmetric, even musical. The story? How does the peddler get the monkeys to give back all the caps they've stolen from him and carried up into the tree? Okay, I'm the publisher of One Monkey Books, so call me biased. But try this one on your three or five or year old, and really get into singing, "Caps for sale! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!" It's been around for ages already, and this book will still be there when your kids are having kids. Nutty to Meet You! Dr. Peanut Book #1

I remembering absolutley loving this book as a kid, even though for the life of me I cannot quite remember why. But as far as pointless folktales go, this one really hits the spot. And how can I ignore those amazing illustrations and those silly monkeys? Not much in the way of plot, but somehow the book manages to be incredibly entertaining for some reason unknownst to me. Oh well. Maybe that is its charm.

Another classic to add to the list of beloved library books we had renewed so often we decided to buy it. It is a timeless classic. My 3 year old son loves it. Also see the sequel- circus caps for sale.

I remember a teacher reading this book to the class (a long time ago!) and now I read it to my 27 month old granddaughter. She loves the story and likes to immitate the monkeys. It's one of her favorite books. Our book is a soft cover, which I didn't realize at the time of purchase. With all its use, I wish I would have purchased a hard cover or even as a board book if it's offered that way.

Caps for Sale is a wonderful classic that young readers love to hear. There is enough repetition to encourage children to "read" along. This can also be "acted out" to engage different learning modalities.