Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M.M. Blume*

 My friend recommended this delightful book to me.

Cornelia despises being known as the daughter of famous pianists. She rarely interacts with her traveling pianist mother; her father disappeared from the familial scene when she was young. To protect herself, she memorizes, utilizing them as weapons with annoying people.  Her loneliness dissipates when elderly Virginia Somerset moves in next door. Virginia fills Cornelia's afternoons with colorful stories about her adventures with her older sisters as they traveled the world. Slowly Cornelia emerges from her protective shelter of words and ventures into the real, exciting world.

This book certainly promotes vocabulary development! It also transports the readers to different countries and cultures around the world (Africa, France, England, India) from 1949-1954.

*Highly recommend.

Points to discuss: Cornelia's father does not involve himself with her and has numerous wives/girlfriends, Lucy, Cornelia's mother, smokes, a dear character dies

-Borrowed from the library.

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr paintings by Ronald Himler

Recently we had homeschool friends over to present topics that interest them.  One of my youngest son's friend summarized this book and demonstrated how to fold a paper crane.  He allowed my son (and me!) to borrow this book.  

Sadako is determined to make the junior high running team.  As she trains, she begins to feel dizzy after her workouts.  She does not tell anyone until she falls over at school.  Her parents admit her into a hospital where it is discovered she has the "atom bomb disease", leukemia.  To bring her hope, her friend Chizuko makes her a paper crane, reminding her of the old story that if a sick person makes a thousand the cranes, the gods will heal her.  Sadako begins to make paper cranes out of any paper she can find. Unfortunately, she does die months later.

Based on a true story.  Step-by-step directions how to fold a paper crane are included in the back of the book.

A short but powerful book with admirable characters.  Readers will be exposed to Japan's culture.

Points to discuss: Japanese culture, WWII & the atom bomb/Hiroshima, worshipping ancestors/gods, relying on "good luck", death of a young girl, leukemia

-Borrowed from a young friend. 

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren

 My boys and I were part of a virtual author visit with Maria Parr (author of Adventures with Waffles & Astrid the Unstoppable) through Read Aloud Revival.  Ms. Parr recommended this book.  

Ronia's father, Matt, is a robber who lives in a mountain with his band of thieves.  Ronia roams the woods freely not being afraid of anything.  When she meets Birk, her life is forever changed. He is her first (and only) friend.  Birk's father, however,  is Matt's revival and archenemy.  Can any situation or any person bring friendship between the two  robber bands?

Entertaining and humorous.  I love the idea of kids roaming the forest from sunrise to sunset, free and imaginative!

Points to discuss/warnings: a few swear words, the main characters' living is stealing/robbing the innocent, scary magical folks,fighting/violence, an older, endearing thief dies at the end 

-Borrowed from the library.

100 Adventurous Stories for Brave Boys by Glenn Hascall*

 Memorable Tales of  Men of Faith

Boys (and girls) can learn about a myriad of men who chose/choose to make God King of their lives.  A wide variety of men are featured from Old Testament men to apostles to church fathers to modern day athletes.  Each man has an one page biography and an opposite page illustration.  As parents and children read each biography, they will learn when the man lived, what he is known for and how he chose to glorify God with his life.  A Bible verse at the bottom of the page reinforces the focused lesson/character trait to discuss.  Real-life application is also included.

Inspiring!  Best for elementary school age kids (K-6th grade-depending on their attention span and maturity).

Some of the men featured in this book are: Abraham, Augustine, Drew Brees, Frederick Douglass, Radamel Falco, John the Baptist, Luis Palau, Francis Schaeffer, Carson Wentz, Louis Zamperini.

The publisher also has produced 100 Extraordinary Stories for Courageous Girls. 

*Highly recommend.

-Borrowed from the library.

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman illustrated by Peter Sis**

John Newbery Winner
My college professor would read chapters from this book at the beginning of our Children's Literature class each time we met.
My sons and I formed a "book club" to enjoy this book together.
It was so fun to be reading our own copy to ourself, to hear each other chuckle over words/characters and then to be able to share our amusements.
We loved this book!
Jemmy use to be a successful rat catcher.  Then he was snatched to be Prince Horace's (aka Prince Brat) whipping boy.  Whenever Prince Horace has done something deeming punishment, the king calls for Jemmy to be spanked instead!
Then Prince Horace runs away, demanding that Jemmy comes with him to be his manservant.
An comical, suspenseful adventure ensues.
The word choice, the plot pace and the character development are brilliant.
More books like this one need to be written and published!
**Highly, highly recommend.
-I own two copies of this book (thanks to my mother in law!).

The Disappearing Bike Shop by Elvira Woodruff

My nine year old read this book to himself to support our study of Leonardo da Vinci.
He really enjoyed it.
Tyler and his friend Freckles see an entire building rise up and disappear.  When it reappears, they decide to enter and investigate.  The sign above says Quigley's Bike Shop.  They meet the eccentric Mr. Quentin Quigley.  Does he do more than repair bikes?
-Borrowed from the library.

Fearsome Giant, Fearless Child by Paul Fleischman illustrated by Julie Paschkis

Mr. Fleischman combines different cultural stories about  Jack in the Beanstalk and Tom Thumb into one story.
I read this aloud to my nine year old.  We found it very confusing.  I am requesting other books by this author where he combines different cultural versions to make his own stories to see if they are as confusing (Cinderella stories and another one Creation stories). 
The artwork is stunning. The illustrations are clearly labeled with the country of origin.
The end pages display a world map and label the countries featured.   A very nice addition. 
I was excited to read this title and am sorry that I was disappointed!
-Borrowed from the library.

Whittington by Alan Armstrong illustrated by S.D. Schindler*

-Award winning book-Newbery Honor Book
I read this book aloud to my sons.
A cat named Whittington arrives in Bernie's barn, looking for a home.  Lady, the Muscovy duck who rules the barn, decides to permit him to stay (after setting up some boundaries and deals).  As time progresses, Whittington shares his family history and also stories about a beloved historical figure, Dick Whittington. 
Bernie's grandchildren live with him and his wife.  The children soon routinely visit the barn and talk with the animals.  Eight year old Ben reveals his struggle to learn to read.  Through his sister Abby's encouragement,  through Whittington's inspiring stories and through the animals' support, Ben faces his dyslexia and gains confidence.

Mr. Armstrong weaves two story lines together-Medieval England and the  modern days at a "catch all" barn. 

The author lists all of the resources he consulted in order to write this book accurately and with credence.
Points to discuss/warning: dyslexia/learning disabilities, bullies/cruelty, Dick Whittington really checks out Mary, the woman he loves, at one part in the story-her features/body

*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.

The Triumphant Tale of the House Sparrow by Jan Thornhill*

We maintain bluebird houses so we despise house sparrows!  Nevertheless,  this book was extremely interesting, providing the history of house sparrows and their resiliency. 
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.
Points to discuss: evolution and old-earth view are treated as fact.

She Made a Monster by Lynn Fulton illustrated by Felicita Sala

How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein
This book reveals how Ms. Shelley came up with the idea and the plot of Frankenstein.  The author also weaves in events from Ms. Shelley's childhood and her mother's (Mary Wollstonecraft) advocacy of women's rights. 
The author's note offers more insight to the time period and the original Frankenstein story. 
The illustrations are dark yet fitting.  They may creep out younger readers.
-Borrowed from the library.

Hallowilloween by Calef Brown

Nefarious Silliness
Unique, imaginative poems
Warning: Halloween topics-   witches, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, grim reaper
-Borrowed from the library.

The White Stag by Kate Seredy

Award winning book-Newbery Medal Winner

Generations of the Huns and Magyars follow the elusive White Stag so they can find their promise land. . . a land in which they can call their home.  According to this legend, the famous leader, Attila the Hun, is the one who eventually leads them to this beautiful land which is known today as Hungary. 
With beautiful phrasing and word choice, Ms. Seredy tells of this migration in a poetic manner.
She even offers reasons why Attila may have been so brutal.
I read this aloud to my two sons while we were learning about the Huns in history.
-Borrowed from the library.

Grump The (Fairly) True Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Liesl Shurtliff*

Grump, a dwarf, longs to live on The Surface.  He panics if he must go deep under the earth which is atypical for the mining occupations dwarves always have!  To his horror,  he is assigned to the crew which is digging at the deepest point out of their colony.  Adding to his misery, he is the seventh dwarf of the crew.  The seventh dwarf must do whatever anyone else commands him/her to do. 
Then one day he escapes to the surface to find himself under the command of the wicked stepmother/queen of Snow White. 
What does Grump long for the most?  A friend. 
The reader will relate to Grump's longing to be understood, to have a friend and to be appreciated for who he is.
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.

I read this aloud to my boys (we own the other titles in this series) and we all enjoyed it!

The Treasure Chest #9 Leonardo Da Vinci: Renaissance Master by Ann Hood

Twins, Felix and Maisie,  travel back in time to Florence where they interact with young Leonardo Da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. 
Each time they travel to a new place in history, they learn more about the mysteries of Elm Medona (their great uncle's mansion) and their family history.
Points to discuss: The twins' parents are divorced and they are both dealing with the raw aftermath of it.  Maisie has a crush on Sandro Botticelli.
Initially I found it difficult to get into this book since I had not read the others in the series.  I found the facts about Leonardo Da Vinci and this time period fascinating.
-Borrowed from the library.

The War with Grandpa by Robert Kimmel Smith

I read this aloud to my boys because I read somewhere it was going to be made into a movie and in theaters this spring.  Apparently its production has been postponed.
Peter writes this narrative story for his teacher, sharing how he went to war with his grandfather when he came to live with them.  So the tone and sentence structure exhibits a fifth grader. 
Peter's parents give his room to grandfather and Peter now must stay in the guest room on the third floor.  He hates it there.   So he declares war on his grandfather to convince him to give back his room.
We all thought the book was funny, but we did not like how Peter treated his grandfather and thought about his grandfather some of the time.  It was apparent that he loved his grandfather but sometimes his behavior and thoughts were disrespectful.   We really did not like his friends and their negative influence.
This book provided a lot of opportunity for discussion which I enjoyed. 
Points to discuss/warnings: negative influence of friends; disrespect; swearing-no swear words are written(he is writing this for his teacher so he could not include them!). But, he inserted nonsense words to represent them.  One entire chapter is devoted to how his friends were swearing in reaction to his situation.  He also mentions in one chapter how he said "a couple of words he should not use".  Frequent use of "stupid" and "dumb".

Since a fifth grade boy is writing this, I would not read this book aloud to model superb writing.  The author, however, did an excellent job writing in a manner of a fifth grader!
This book is what I call a "hi-lo" book.  The reading level is low, but will appeal to older elementary students.  Perfect for older struggling readers.
Mentor text: voice

Vocabulary Cartoon of the Day by Marc Tyler Nobleman

For grades 4-6
A fun way to introduce new words!
The featured word is used in a cartoon sentence  and then alongside of it is the official definition and its part of speech.

-Borrowed from the library.

Longborrow #1 Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood*

Mr. Larwood is a superb writer--an exciting adventure tale, well developed characters and a satisfying ending.
Someday Podkin, a rabbit,  will be the chieftain of the warren, but instead of training his body and mind, he chooses to sleep and goof off.  Then the Gorm attacks his family's warren and he and his sister Paz and little brother Pook are forced to flee into the unknown.  As they flee, they befriend unique characters who also desire to defeat the evil threatening their land.
Point to discuss: Spiritual beliefs-gods/goddesses of the woods.
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.
Book #2 has been published but unfortunately my county library does not own it.

Guardians of Ga'Hoole The Rise of a Legend by Kathryn Lasky

My eleven year old son read this book to himself.  This is his review:
"It is about the life of Ezylryb, a Ryb at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree.  It contains a lot of adventure and war tactics." 
-Borrowed from the library.

Guardians of Ga'Hoole #15 The War of the Ember by Kathryn Lasky

My eleven year old read this book to himself.  This is his summary:
"The Striga and Nyra join forces.  They are trying to recreate hagfiends from dragon owls' eggs.  There is a war over the ember."
This one is the last one in the series.
-Borrowed from the library.

Guardians of Ga'Hoole #14 Exile by Kathryn Lasky

My eleven year old read this book to himself and this is his summary:
"The Striga, a blue owl, comes to Great Ga'Hoole Tree and he starts influencing the King Coryn.  The Band is exiled from the Tree."
-Borrowed from the library.