Ivy and Bean and the Ghost That Had to Go

From Goodreads:    Now that Ivy and Bean are friends, they do gymnastics club together, sit together in Ms. Aruba-Tate's second grade, and tell each other their darkest secrets. And when Ivy discovers a ghost in the school bathroom, it will take both girls' courage and imagination to make it go away. Another entertaining installment in this series about two mischievous, funny, clever girls.











My Thoughts:

-    Yes, we read another one of these. Gnome really liked it. She said she liked everything about this book.

-    It was fun to read about girls in the same grade as Gnome. The characters are cute.

-    I liked this one better than the first one, not by much, but I thought this one had a better story.

-    The whole ghost thing reminded me of making up things with my friends. We used our imaginations and created fun places and situations too. 

-    Overall, these are pretty cute and quick reads for kids. 

Previous Book

Elmer and the Dragon

From Goodreads:    A stand-alone sequel to My Father's Dragon, in which Elmer Elevator and the flying baby dragon help the king of the canaries find treasure.
















My Thoughts:

-    Gnome and I both enjoyed this one. We didn't love it as much as My Father's Dragon, but it was still good.

-    It was fun to get to know the dragon. He was a very endearing character.

-    The canaries were fun. 

-    These are great stories! I'm glad we discovered them. 

Previous Book:

Ivy and Bean

From Goodreads:    The moment they saw each other, Bean and Ivy knew they wouldn't be friends. But when Bean plays a joke on her sister, Nancy, and has to hide quickIvy comes to the rescue, proving that sometimes the best of friends are people never meant to like each other. Vibrant characters and lots of humor make this a charmingand addictiveintroduction to Ivy and Bean.











My Thoughts:

-    This was a cute book about two unlikely friends. 

-    There wasn't a lot to the plot. The story is mostly about these two girls meeting and getting to know each other. 

-    Gnome really liked this book. She liked the characters. 

-    The illustrations were cute, and there are a lot of them.

-    I probably wouldn't continue the series, but Gnome wants to read more.

Alien in My Pocket: Blast Off!

From Goodreads:    The adventure begins in this exciting new chapter book series!

When a four-inch-tall alien crash-lands through Zack McGee's bedroom window, Zack is sure he's about to become the first victim in a new War of the Worlds. But when the alien turns out to have weapons that are more ticklish than terrifying, Zack realizes that rather than protect the world from the alien, it's up to him to protect the alien in his pocket from the world.

My Thoughts:

-    I read this with Gnome, and I think we were both meh about it. 

-    There were a lot of silly moments, but we rarely laughed.

-    I thought the best part of the book was Amp's mind control powers. I wish there had been more of that. 

-    The ending left me feeling like the whole story was a waste of time. The characters spent all this time trying to accomplish their goal, and for what!? Nothing!

-    I didn't really love any of the characters, they were tolerable at best. 

My Father's Dragon

Goodreads Says:    Elmer Elevator (narrator's father as a boy) runs away with an old alley cat to rescue a flying baby dragon being exploited on a faraway island. With the help of two dozen pink lollipops, rubber bands, chewing gum, and a fine-toothed comb, Elmer disarms the fiercest of beasts on Wild Island.













My Thoughts:

-    This was such a fun and endearing book! I loved it! Gnome loved it too. She can't wait to read the others.

-    Gnome and I both laughed a lot during the book. The way that the boy helps the animals with their problems is so funny. We especially laughed at the end. We were laughing so hard, we could barely read.

-    The pictures were so great! It really added to the book, and Gnome and I spent time just enjoying the detailed illustrations. 

-    I highly recommend this one! 

Freckle Juice

Goodreads Synopsis:    What’s a guy gotta do to get some freckles? This perennial bestselling favorite from Judy Blume has a fresh new look!

More than anything in the world, Andrew Marcus wants freckles. His classmate Nicky has freckles—they cover his face, his ears, and the whole back of his neck. But when Andrew asks Nicky where he got them, Nicky just says he was born with them. Some help he is!

That’s when Sharon offers Andrew her secret freckle juice recipe—for fifty cents, she promises, Andrew can look just like Nicky. His freckleless days are over! He rushes home to whip up the concoction. Grape juice, vinegar, mustard…

But what starts out as a simple freckle juice recipe quickly turns into something disastrous. Andrew is still determined to get his freckles, and to show that pesky Sharon that she doesn’t know everything—and he has the perfect solution! Or does he?

My Thoughts:

-    Gnome and I both liked this a lot. 

-    It was a cute and silly story, and I love how innocent and naive Andrew is. 

-    The illustrations were fun, and they matched the story well.

-    This is a great one if you want a quick fun read with your kid.

The Crazy Case of Missing Thunder

Goodreads Description:    Fans of Dav Pilkey's The Adventures of Ook and Glook and Patricia Reilly Giff's ZigZag Kids will flock to this chapter-book mystery series full of slapstick humor and silly situations by the wildly popular Tony Abbott, author of the Secrets of Droon series.

Jeff, Brian, Mara, and Kelly are self-proclaimed goofballs. Since first grade these friends have been solving mystery among their schoolmates etc and now their reputation is expanding.

Rich kid Randall Crandall's horse, Thunder, goes missing and he calls upon the Goofballs to find him. Deciphering the clues that range from a flower delivery truck, a thunderstorm and a horse who's afraid of thunder, leads the Goofballs to recover missing Thunder, the flower-loving horse. In the meantime, they follow a trail of chomped-up flowers, disguise themselves as bushes in a florist shop and spend some time in a house that's bigger than the White House.

My Thoughts:

-    I read this with Gnome, and we had conflicting opinions. I thought the book was fun and quirky, and I would have read more of the series. Gnome didn't like it. She thought it was silly and boring. 

-    For an intermediate book, I think this is a great one to read with the kids. It was quick and entertaining, and there are illustrations throughout. A fun group of kids solve a little mystery. It is something I would have loved doing with my friends when I was 11. 

-    I laughed a couple times, but Gnome didn't as much. It just wasn't for her, but I thought the story was kinda funny and cute. 

Quest for the Keys

From Goodreads:    Welcome to the enchanted world of LEGO(R) Elves, where building a magical adventure is just the turn of a key away!

When Emily Jones was walking through her grandmother's garden, she never dreamed she would end up in another world. But after crossing through a secret portal, Emily finds herself in Elvendale, the mystical land of the elves... with no way to leave! 

Luckily, she meets the elves of fire, earth, wind, and water. Together they set off on a quest to find four legendary keys that have the power to open the portal to Emily's world. But it will take imagination and courage for them to succeed as they encounter riddles and powerful magic on their way. Can they unlock the mystery and get Emily back home? 

Young readers will be enchanted by this exciting chapter book series based on the newest LEGO(R) Elves toys!

My Thoughts:

-    Gnome loves the Lego Elves sets, and she was pretty excited to read this with me. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was a lot better than I was expecting.

-    I liked the characters. They were fun, and Gnome liked them a lot too. I like how each elf represented a different element.

-    The story was good. It was a fun little adventure.

-    I liked reading about some of the Lego sets we already own. It was fun to see what scene they belonged to and the back story. 

The Witches

Goodreads Synopsis:    The Grand High Witch of all the World has gathered together the witches of England for an annual conference at the Hotel Magnificent in Bournemouth. Their agenda is the elimination of all the children in the country and the prospects for their young victims look bleak. But her Grand High Witch and her cronies have reckoned without the spark and ingenuity of a young guest at the hotel and his rather brilliant grandmother.











My Thoughts:

-    This is one of my favorite Dahl books. The witches are so unique and scary. I love Dahl's descriptions.

-    I read this with Gnome, and it was really fun to see her reactions to the witches and mouse-maker potion. 

-    The grandmother is awesome! I love how spunky she is. 

-    I feel like Bruno wasn't really needed. He didn't add anything to the story, except maybe some comedy. 

-    This is a must read for Roald Dahl fans! 


Gnome's Thoughts:

-    I liked it.

-    The grandma was really nice and built things for the mouse.

-    I hated The Grand High Witch. She was scary.

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

Goodreads Synopsis:    The incomparable Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle loves children good or bad and never scolds but has positive cures for Answer-Backers, Never-Want-to-Go-to-Bedders, and other boys and girls with strange habits. ‘[Now] in paperback . . . for a new generation of children to enjoy.' 'San Francisco Examiner Chronicle.

Meet Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! She's the kind of grown-up you would like to have for a friend-and all her friends are children. She is a little lady with brown sparkly eyes. She lives in an upside-down house, with a kitchen that is always full of freshly baked cookies. Her husband was a pirate, and she likes to have her friends dig in the back yard for the pirate treasure he buried there.

Best of all, she knows everything there is to know about children. When a distraught parent calls her because Mary has turned into an Answer-Backer or Dick has become Selfish or Allen has decided to be a Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has the answer. And her solutions always work, with plenty of laughs along the way.

So join the crowd at Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's house-and enjoy the comical, common-sense cures that have won her so many friends.

My Thoughts:

-    I wish Mrs. Piggle Wiggle were real, and that her cures for all sorts of behaviors really worked. It would be amazing!

-    I loved reading this as a kid. I remember wanting a neighbor like Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. It was still fun to read as an adult. I love books that you can read at any age.

-    My daughter read this by herself, and she enjoyed it. She thought it was really funny. I kinda wish we had read it together. It would be a fun book to read aloud.

-    I recommend this to everyone! 

Ramona and Her Father

Goodreads Description:  Lately Ramon had the terrible feeling that she was the only happy member of the Quimby family. Since her father lost his job, he seemed too worried to love her anymore. Ramona's mother and big sister Beezus had become awfully busy and and grouchy. Even Picky-picky, the family cat, was grumpy. He didn't like her new cheaper food and had eaten the Quimby's Halloween jack-o'-lantern instead. 

Ramona tried everything she could to make things better. With Beezus's help she launched a campaign to stop her father from smoking so much, but he didn't seem to appreciate it. Ramona also tried to act adorable, like kids in TV commercials. Mr. Quimby said the boy who sang the Whopperburger jingle made a million dollars year! Ramona wanted to make a million dollars, too, because then her father would surely be fun again.

My Thoughts:

-    I have never really been interested in the Ramona books, but I was surprised at how cute and humorous it was.

-    It was cute how Ramona wants to help her family make money.  I'm sure a lot of families are going through what Ramona's family is right now.  

-    I'm sure their family could save a lot of money if Dad quit smoking.  I'm glad the author addressed this problem.

-    I laughed at some of the illustrations!  I like how they added to the story.

-    This would be a great book for young readers! 

Mr. Popper's Penguins

My mother-in-law gave me a bunch of these Newbery award books, so you are going to see a bunch of reviews for them.  I plow through these pretty fast.

Goodreads Description:  A classic of American humor, the adventures of a house painter and his brood of high-stepping penguins have delighted children for generations. "Here is a book to read aloud in groups of all ages. There is not an extra or misplaced word in the whole story."--"The Horn Book." Newbery Honor Book.

My Thoughts: 

-    Fun illustrations!  Those penguins are so darn cute!

-    Why does the text only cover 2/3 of the page?  They could put a lot more text on each page.

-    Even though this is for a younger audience, I found it cute and funny.  I chuckled quite a bit.