Monday, November 17, 2025

Best Furry Friends

Some of our best friends are furry!  Check out these chapter books about our furry animal friends . . . .


Absolutely Lucy by Ilene Cooper
Bobby is a shy boy until he gets a beagle puppy named Lucy, who helps him to make new friends.

The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney
Humphrey, a pet hamster at Longfellow School, learns that he has an important role to play in helping his classmates and teacher.

Bunnicula by Deborah Howe
Though scoffed at by Harold the dog, Chester the cat tries to warn his human family that their foundling baby bunny must be a vampire.



More Books --
A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold
Chancey of the Maury River by Gigi Amateau
The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton
The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter by Aaron Reynolds
Jigsaw Pony by Jessie Haas
Just Gus by McCall Hoyle
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
My Kingdom of Darkness by Susan Tan
Petlandia by Peter Hannon
Quack by Anna Humphrey
The Simple Art of Flying by Cory Leonardo

Monday, November 3, 2025

Wait . . . That's a Book?

So many books have been turned into movies over the years.  Often, the movies become more popular than the books.  Try reading one of these books that were turned into popular movies.  Here's a few of our favorites . . . .

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there, and her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island's hostile inhabitants.

The Witches by Roald Dahl
A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together foil a witches' plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous. But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go. Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.


More Books --
The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes
Matilda by Roald Dahl
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Monday, October 20, 2025

Spine Chilling Tales for Teens

Get in the mood for Halloween with these Spine Chilling Tales for teens.  Here's a few of our favorites . . .

On the Day I Died by Candace Fleming
In a lonely Illinois cemetery one cold October night, teen ghosts recount the stories of their deaths in different time periods, from 1870 to the present, to sixteen-year-old Mike, who unknowingly picked up a phantom hitchhiker.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
For three years, seventeen-year-old Cas Lowood has carried on his father's work of dispatching the murderous dead, traveling with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat, but everything changes when he meets Anna, a girl unlike any ghost he has faced before.

Last Halloween, v.1: Children by Abby Howard
In a gothic adventure at the end of the world, a ten-year-old girl and a motley crew of ghouls must stop an invading horde of monsters on a fateful Halloween night.


More Books --
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Dead Upon a Time by Elizabeth Paulson
The Fade by Demitria Lunetta
Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons
The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
Horrid by Katrina Leno
Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton
The House of Dead Maids by Clare B. Dunkle
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves
The Voice Upstairs by Laura E. Weymouth

Monday, October 6, 2025

Creepy Cryptids and Other Mysteries

Kids love to read about cryptids and other unsolved mysteries.  So this week, we're sharing some informational books on various cryptids and other creepy mysteries. 

Area 51, Lizard People, and More Conspiracy Theories About the Unexplained by Jose Cruz
Did an alien spacecraft crash near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947? Is the U.S. government hiding alien secrets at Area 51? Could lizard people be in positions of power around the world? Get details about different conspiracy theories to find out why people believe them and what experts say. 

Inside the Bermuda Triangle by Megan Harder
Disappearances and other strange phenomena in the Bermuda Triangle have long inspired speculation and theories. Theorists chalk it up to everything from bad weather to time warps. Explore this mysterious history.

The Magnificent Book of Monsters by Diana Ferguson
From the man-eating Manticore and the dastardly demon Beelzebub to the corpse-munching Aztec goddess Coatlicue and the southern African tokoloshe, monsters from across the globe and many different cultures are brought to life in this large-format volume bursting with detailed full-color images and fascinating facts.


More Books:
Behind the Legend: The Loch Ness Monster by Erin Peabody
Chasing the Chupacabra by Anna Anderhagen
Crop Circles by Kyla Steinkraus
Encountering Chupacabra and Other Cryptids by Megan Cooley Peterson
Mysterious Disappearances by Louise Spilsbury
Mythical Monsters by Jen Breach
Sea Serpents by Thomas Kingsley Troupe
Vampires by Xina M. Uhl
What Do We Know About Yeti? by Ben Hubbard
The Young Investigator's Guide to Ancient Aliens by The History Channel

Monday, September 22, 2025

Award Winning Picture Books

Check out these award-winning picture books.  Here's a few of our favorites . . . .

Where Is the Dragon? by Leo Timmers
The king can't sleep until the dragon is found. Luckily, the three knights know everything about dragons and are armed to the teeth! Now they just have to find him. They set out into the night with a candle in hand. Soon they find something that looks very much like a dragon . . .

Odd Dog Out by Rob Biddulph
It's lonely being the odd dog out, when all she wants to do is find her place in the world. She's willing to go to the other side of the world to look for it. However, it might take a different kind of journey for her to discover that maybe where she's meant to be is right back where she started . . . 

Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian
When assorted intruders invade his personal space and bowl, Goldfish is put out, to say the least. He wants none of it, preferring his former peace and quiet and solitude. But time away from his new companions gives him a chance to rethink the pros and cons of a solitary life. And discover what he's been missing.

Moo! by David LaRochelle
When Cow gets her hooves on the farmer’s car, she takes it for a wild ride through the country. Moooo! But a bump in the road brings this joy ride to a troublesome end. 


More Books --
Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet Sarg
A Bear, A Bee, and a Honey Tree by Daniel Bernstrom
A Butterfly Is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston
Don't Hug Doug by Carrie Finison
Don't Worry, Little Crab by Chris Haughton
Hello Sun by Julie Downing
Hudson and Tallulah Take Sides by Anna Kang
Leap by Jonarno Lawson
Let's Play Monsters by Lucy Cousins
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
Off to See the Sea by Nikki Grimes
The Problem with Problems by Rachel Rooney
Pumpkin Heads by Wendell Minor
Saturday by Oge Mora
Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug by Jonathan Stutzman
Turtle Walk by Matt Phelan


Monday, September 8, 2025

Family Friendly Classics

Today, I'm sharing classic stories that can be read by the whole family.  Here are a few of my favorites . . .

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Headed for Canada to visit his father for the first time since his parents' divorce, thirteen-year-old Brian is the sole survivor of a plane crash, with only the clothes he has on and a hatchet to help him live in the wilderness.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
No case is too tricky for the world's most famous sleuth and his incredible powers of deduction, in a collection of mystery stories for young readers.


More Books --
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
Hans Brinker by Mary Mapes Dodge
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Stuart Little by E.B. White
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
White Fang by Jack London
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Monday, August 25, 2025

Back to School!

School has started for most children in the area.  Check out one of these great school stories.  Here's a few of our favorites . . . .

Matilda by Roald Dahl
Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security.

School Spirit by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Like her mother, a professional medium, Kat has been able to see dead people since turning thirteen, and although they would prefer to be normal, Kat and her best friend come to terms with their own talents while helping free the spirit of a girl trapped at their middle school.

The School Mouse by Dick King-Smith
Flora, the world's most educated mouse, saves her family during a crisis.


More Books --
In Honor of Broken Things by Paul Acampora
Lights, Camera, Middle School by Jennifer L. Holm
Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs by Katherine Applegate
The New Kid at School by Kate McMullan
Restart by Gordon Korman
Scary School by Derek Kent
School Daze by Nick Bruel
The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The School Is Alive by Jack Chabert
School of the Dead by Avi
Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
Zoo School by Laurie Miller Hornik