Pirates of the Caribbean: Silver - Jack Sparrow #6 (Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow) (Paperback) by Rob Kidd

Pirates of the Caribbean: City of Gold - Jack Sparrow #7 (Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow) (Paperback) by Rob Kidd

The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff by Jason Lethcoe

"Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening" by Michael Carroll







"Shield of Stars" by Hilari Bell. Book 1 for ages 8 - 12






"Skulduggery Pleasant" by Derek Landy

I'm Back!

Yes I know it's been a long time, I can't believe it is already March and a quarter of the way through 2007!!

Anyway, I have a few books to add and some have already been out a couple of months, so yes I do feel bad. But actually I have not seen that many new ones on the shelves, not sure if that is my bookshops fault or me. So here goes, there is a couple that I am really excited about like The Invention of Hugo Cabret and The Mysterious Benedict Society.

"The Treasures of Weatherby" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

Book description from Amazon: " Harleigh J. Weatherby IV feels misunderstood. At age twelve he is about as tall as a six-year-old, and no one lets him forget it. At school the bullies nicknamed him "Hardly." Now he is homeschooled at the Weatherby mansion, where strict Aunt Adelaide is always on his case about something.
Then Harleigh meets Allegra. When she literally flies over the walls of Weatherby and into Harleigh's life, the two form an unlikely friendship. Allegra is fascinated by the enormous Weatherby mansion, and against Harleigh's orders, sneaks inside. Together they discover that someone is trying to find -- and steal -- the long-lost Weatherby treasure. Will Harleigh and Allegra be able to foil the villain and save Weatherby House?
Three-time Newbery Honor winner Zilpha Keatley Snyder combines a cast of quirky characters with an eerie old mansion to create a spellbinding tale of mystery and magic."







"The Phantom Isles" by Stephen Alter.

Book Description from Amazon: " The book is called The Compleat Necromancer, and when Ming, Orion, and Courtney read an incantation from its pages, they have no way of knowing they are about to conjure up the ghosts of an entire nation. Because the ghosts that the three friends summon aren’t just any ghosts. They were captured from an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean—the Ilhas dos Fantasmas—a place where the living and the dead once coexisted peacefully. Now confined to the pages of a few dozen library books in a New England town that’s thousands of miles from their home, the ghosts must rely on the children and a determined librarian to free them before they are lost forever. "








"The Navigator" by Eoin McNamee.

Book description from Amazon: "Owen turned to Cat but she was staring into the woods, her face a mast of fear. Far off, but moving closer, were two figures, both white, both faceless, seeming to glide between the trees. "The Harsh" whispered Cati. "They're here." One day the world around Owen shifts oddly: Time flows backwards, and the world and family he knew disappear. Time can only be set right when the Resisters vanquish their ancient enemies, the Harsh. Unless they are stopped, everything Owen knows will vanish as if it has never been...And Owen discovers he has a terrifying role to play in this battle: he is the Navigator. "

"The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart. I started to read the first chapter in the bookshop last weekend and I can't wait to find out what happens to Reynie after his tutor spots the advert in the newspaper.

Book description from Amazon: "ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES? Dozens of children respond to this peculiar ad in the newspaper and are then put through a series of mind-bending tests, which readers take along with them. Only four children-Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance-succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and inventive children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. But what they'll find in the hidden labyrinth of the school's underground tunnels is more than your average school supplies. First-time children's novelist Trenton Lee Stewart takes readers on an adventure that puts friends, family, and foe to the test. Are you up to the challenge?








"The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick. Awesome book, which is a mixture of pencil drawn narrative artwork and the written word. You almost feel like you will smudge the beautiful storytelling pictures as you turn the 544 odd pages. Story is set in Paris in 1931 about a 12yr old boy, Hugo, who lives in the walls of a train station ....." who once, long ago, discovered a mysterious drawing that changed his life forever." I can't wait to read this to J, he may even read it himself as he has already asked the Librarian to hold it for him. The school library got a copy of this thanks to the Scholastic Book Fair held this week, it has to be added into the computer before lending out.

"Little Fur: A Fox Called Sorrow" by Isobelle Carmody. Second book about Little Fur who is one half elf the other troll girl who heals animals in a magical grove in the heart of a big city. Black-and-white illustrations by the author throughout the book.

"Barnstormers: Game No1 - Three Kids, A Mystery, and a Magic Ball" by Loren Long and Phil Bildner.

From Amazon.com " Griffith, Graham, and Ruby's father passed away in the war. And now they must join their mother and their father's wartime traveling baseball team, The Travelin' Nine, on a tour of America to raise money. No one will tell the kids why the team needs money so badly. Their only clue is a baseball with a hole the size of an acorn in it that their Uncle Owen gave to them the night of their father's funeral. They know very little about its significance except that their father made it with his own two hands and carried it with him throughout the war. And when all three kids hold the ball, strange things begin to happen..."

"Dragon of the Red Dawn" by Mary Pope Osborne is #37 in The Magic Treehouse series.







"Crane: The Five Ancestors" by Jeff Stone is the fourth book in the series.






"Ferno The Fire Dragon: Beast Quest" (Paperback) by Adam Blade. My son, 8yrs old, loved this book and said it had a GREAT ENDING!! Now trying to find the following in the series, this being the first one. Amazon list "Sepron The Sea Serpent" as the next one, I have seen that one in the Scholastic school flyer this month. Future ones according to Amazon are "Cypher The Mountain Giant" coming out June 1, 2007 and "Tagus The Night Horse" in Sept 1, 2007.

Books found in the last 2 weeks

The White Elephant by Sid Fleischman has black and white illustrations throughout and is marketed to 8 -11 year olds.



little fur: The Legend Begins by Isobella Carmoody has an eye catching fuzzy cover with a third of it protected with a partial dust cover. The story is about a half elf, half troll little girl and there is more stories to follow judging by Amazon.



Flight of the Fire Thief by Terry Deary is book two in the Fire Thief trilogy.






Extraordinary Adventures Of Ordinary Basil by Wiley Miller is about an adventure in a hot-air-balloon ship. The book is full of wonderful illustrations on every other page by the comic strip artist Wiley Miller.

Couple of series books found last week.

Both of these books are paperbacks.


Rocket Racers by Victor Appleton is the fourth in the Tom Swift Young Inventor series and is a fun early reader chapter book that will appeal greatly to the boys.







Babymouse: Rock Star by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm is the fourth in the series of this adorable, very pink and highly amusing graphic novel mouse called Babymouse. These are addictive to read, thank goodness Amazon shows there is another book due at Christmas 2006 and another May 2007.

Corby Flood's Map Dust Cover.

A few months ago (Aug 28th to be exact) I blogged about the cool dust cover on Corby Flood, so finally I took the pictures today, as promised....







I started reading CF to Lumpy last night, and it was great that he could look at the map as I read and see portraits of the many characters, very handy for him too. Cute idea guys!!

Oooh!! TWO new Diane Wynne Jones

"The Tough Guide to FANTASYLAND" by Diana Wynne Jones is not a story but is "The Essential Guide to Fantasy Travel - Revised - Updated Edition - Dark lord Approved" according to the front cover of this paperback.






"The Pinhoe Egg" by Diana Wynne Jones is the new book in the Chrestomanci Series and I believe it is the sixth one, "Mixed Magics: Four Tales of Chrestomanci" being a companion book. I am currently reading the first one "Charmed Life", which is charming indeed. The books that follow are "The Lives of Christopher Chant", "The Magicians of Caprona", "Witch Week", "Conrad's Fate" and then this new story of the Chant family "Pinhoe Egg". For ages 10+.





"London Calling" by Edward Bloor

A twist to Alice in Wonderland, new YA book.

"The Looking Glass Wars" by Frank Beddor.

Quote from Amazon's description....

"You know the myth...

A little girl named Alice tumbled down a rabbit hole and proceeded to have a charming adventure in the delightful, made-up world of Wonderland...


Now discover the truth... Wonderland Exists!"

I am intrigued.......

First Chapter Books.

"Blizzard of the Blue Moon" by Mary Pope Osborne, is number 36 in the Magic Treehouse series. Lumpy will not have a thing to do with this series after his little friend read them non-stop to him in the car pool rides for several months!!

This one is the only hardback, the following are all paperbacks.......





"Agent Boo: The Littlest Agent" (Graphic Novels) by Alex De Campi and Edo Fuijkschot looks like there is a second Boo due January 2007.




"Joe Sherlock, Kid Detective, Case #000003: The Missing Monkey-Eye Diamond" by Dave Keane. Third in the detective series with the fourth one due February 2007.





"The Grosse Adventures: The Good, the Bad & the Gassy" (Graphic Novels) by Annie Auerbach, and Mike Norton second adventure is due out January 2007.

Stocking Stuffers Stories

"When Santa Fell To Earth" by Cornelia Funke







"On Christmas Eve" by Ann M. Martin

And quite a few Kid finds.

"Wintersmith" by Terry Pratchett

"The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls" by Elise Primavera

"The Lost Colony" Artemis Fowl, Book 5 by Eoin Colfer









"The Last Dragon" by Silvana de Mari
"The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane" by Joseph Delaney.





"Shipwreck Detective" by Duncan Cameron





"Secrets of the Alchemist Dar: A Treasure's Trove" by Michael Stadther





"Mary Poppins in the Kitchen: A Cookery Book with a Story" by P. L. Travers
"Big Fat Little Lit" by editors Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly

Teen books found in passing.

"Here, There Be Dragons: The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica" by James A. Owen




"Voices" by Ursula K. Le Guin





"This Is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn" by Aiden Chambers

"Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean" by Justin Somper





"Fairest" by Gail Carson Levine





"Escape from the Carnivale: A Never Land Book" by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

A few cute Picture Books I spotted last week.

"Hedgie Blasts Off!" by Jan Brett is about one of my favourites...hedgehogs. I miss them here, in the UK they can be found in your garden (yard) sniffling around for bugs at night. As children we'd often put out a saucer of milk with broken up bits of bread floating in it. They loved that and you could clearly hear them slurping it up. Couple of times we kept one for a few days in a cardboard box, the only bad bit is that they were often covered in nasty bugs, making them unpopular with parents.




"Jack and the Beanstalk" by E.L. Nesbit, is the classic story but the illustrations by Matt Tavares caught my attention.




"So Few of Me" follows the popular "The Dot" and "Ish" books by Peter H. Reynolds who is also known for his Judy Moody and Stink fame.




The Snow Globe Family by Jane O'Connor, and illustrated by S. D. Schindler caught my eye as these adorable ornaments hold many fond childhood memories. I wish I had one, and this book reminded me that every house should have at least one, especially around xmas.



"Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown is now also available in Picture Book edition, very cute. Lumpy, like a lot of school kids here in the US, brought home a cardboard Stanley in 1st grade. He ate with us, rode in the car (with seat belt!!) and went to watch L play soccer. This was all taken very seriously by said child, photographed and documented in Stanleys special Journal. Each child in his class took it in turns and it was a delight to read what each child of 6/7 yrs old had to write and comment about. Poor Stanley was quite dog eared & tatty by the end of his travels.



"G Is for One Gzonk!: An Alpha-number-bet Book" by Tony DiTerlizzi is well known for his illustrations in "The Spiderwick Chronicles" series of which I'm a huge fan. This interesting new book he has produced reminded me straight away of Dr. Seuss's ABC book. Once I got home and read his blog on Amazon I found out it was deliberate and a homage to Seus and Edward Lear. Phew...had me worried for a second, it's not a style I particularly enjoy but I did not grow up with it and I know it will defintely hit a spot for many Seus fans here in the States. It will be a great read aloud for parents to young children as Zeus's ABC was to Lumpy and many others.



"Moongirl" by Henry Selick is a Collector's Edition Book and includes a DVD short film (I would love to know how long it runs for but could not find the info anywhere ) The illustrations to this book are to die for, adorable and wonderful artwork by Peter Chan and Courtney Booker

Today's discoveries.....

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll But it's the illustrations by Alison Jay that you must see. The gorgeous, colourful crackled finish makes this classic a must-again-buy-for-the-pictures!!







"Horowitz Horror: Stories You'll Wish You Never Read" by Anthony Horowitz He is also the author of the Alex Rider Adventures from which series there is a film out now called Stormbreaker ( I've heard very little except it was coming out last week, it did not make it to our little town so will catch it on DVD)




"The Spoon in the Bathroom Wall" by Tony Johnston is the only paperback on todays list, liked the cover a lot, on the back it says for ages 8-12.

"Tales Of Deltora" by Emily Rodda ........."special edition that finally reveals the truth about the battles and the bloodlines that forged a universe full of adventure. As an added bonus, this collection offers twenty stunningly lavish new color illustrations by Marc McBride" quoted from Amazon.com's description. Has two glossy gems buried into the cover which appealed to my child, as did the wonderful and detailed illustrations by Marc McBride and then there's a pull out map too, very cool.





"The Beatrice Letters" by Lemony Snicket. More details for the fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events. How many of these story offshoots can they come up with? Not that I am complaining, I think it is brilliant and very addictive, clever little buggers!



"The Silver Donkey" by Sonya Hartnett, looks cute with a classy, simple, older style finish that is a very pleasing change to the usual dustcovers. Not unlike the Sisters Grimm books in size and finish.

"Things Hoped For" by Andrew Clements is the follow up to his other book, "Things Not Seen".





"Toys Go Out: Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable Stingray, a Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic" by Emily Jenkins has inside that it's aimed at age 7-11, has cute illustrations on several pages by Paul O. Zelinsky.






"Voyage of Slaves: A Tale From Castaways of the Flying Dutchman" by Brian Jacques is the third installment in the "Castaways of the Flying Dutchman" adventures.






"Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and other Wily Characters" by Patricia Mckissack looks very interesting and has 9 tales in it for ages 8-12. It is a bigger book, similar size and look of a picture book but to be found in Kids Fiction like the rest of the books above.

Mercy Watson No.3 finally showed up in this town.

We have been checking the shelves for weeks for the new story in the series, this one is called "Mercy Watson Fights Crime" by Kate Dicamillo. I love the quality of these books, the size and excellent colour illustrations by Chris Van Dusen . This book may of come into the bookshop before we found it because they had been mishelved and were in with the American Girl series of books!?! Is this the last one in the series? I looked and cannot see any more on Amazon, that would be a shame.

New book finds from last week.

Well Lumpy is back at school and enjoying being a Second Grader, I was sad the first few days but now I am getting back into and it's not so bad!! I am keeping busy right now redoing our family room, a new three piece has finally been chosen but actually has four pieces. So now it is floor covering, Lumpy Senior is keen to replace the carpet with hardwood, that is not working out so simple or cheap, but more about that later.

So onto the new book finds in the Kids Fiction area of my bookshop with a 20oz white chocoalte mocha, skimmed milk, no whipped cream in hand and absolutely no interuptions.....

"Golden & Grey: The Nightmares That Ghosts Have" by Louise Arnold is the follow up to "Golden & Grey (An Unremarkable Boy and a Rather Remarkable Ghost)" series about a 11yr old boy and a ghost who becomes his friend. In the UK the title of the first book is "The Invisible Friend" and the new one is "Ghost School"

Yeah "Framed" is on the shelves here! Same author as the book and movie "Millions", Frank Cottrell Boyce has written a new book based on an true story from WWII about paintings stored in slate mines in Wales. A young welsh boy is the main character in this story and it is set in tiny village. A book after my heart!!





"Escape From Castle Cant" by K.P.Bath is another second in a series, the first being "The Secret Of Castle Cant". We just got the first one, but I have not had chance to read it yet, inside the cover says...A shy girl-A loyal Servant-A cunning spy and rebel-until she discovers the truth.....

Here is possible new series by a new author P J Haarsma The sci-fi is called "The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1" and involves a 14yr old boy with special abilities with computer communication that bring attention to him when thing go wrong in the alien factories.

"Part Of Me" by Kimberly Willis Holt

"Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allan Crow" by James Howe

"Mistmantle Chronicles, The: Urchin and the Heartstone - Book #2" by M. I. McAllister

"The Palace of Laughter: The Wednesday Tales No. 1" (Julie Andrews Collection) by Jon Berkeley

PlanetEsme wrote a review on this in her Book-A-Day Plan last week.

"The Beasts of Clawstone Castle" by Eva Ibbotson

"Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars: The Fall of the Amazing Walendas" by Tracy Mack & Michael Citrin

Fusenumber8 wrote a long review on this book last thursday, go read her thoughts.

"Dear Max" by DJLucas AKA Sally Grindley

"The Snow Spider" by Jenny Nimmo First in the new Magician Trilogy.

"Corby Flood" by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell This was the only one I bought, Lumpy so enjoyed the Fergus Crane (see previous posts in July) edition of the Far Flung Adventures. So I could not resist getting it to read aloud, especially when I discovered that the dust jacket unfolded to produce a large version of the map!! That's brilliant as now L can look at the map as the story goes along, instead of my halting my oral adventure so that he can find the destinations as they are mentioned. Wonderful idea, love, love, love it and I will post photos of it later when blogger is behaving itself. As well as photos to go with the books I've listed. By the way it was xmas in August for me finding all these delicous new books, all of them hardbacks.

If anyone has reviewed any of these books already please let me know and I will glady add a link to it.

A New Fly Guy!

Woohoo, look what I found for Lumpy yesterday, a third book in Tedd Arnold's "Fly Guy" series. It had just been added to the bookshops shelf, following "Hi, Fly Guy" two months ago and the original "Super Fly Guy" last year. Great timing to cheer my wee fella up as he had four baby teeth pulled in the morning, he did wonderful, but I was feeling like the worse mother ever. Those suckers still has huge roots on them, and this professional & well paid dentist had pliers in my kids mouth, boohoo. The fairy left him $20, that was the main thought that got him thru the ordeal, he needed more money to save up for a army tank he has spotted in Target ( and the fairy had amazinglyy figured out how much he needed, bloody clever these fairies!)

New Angie Sage Series

Found these cute little books today at the bookshop, and the author is a good old English lady, Angie Sage who wrote the Septimus Heap tales Magyk, Flyte and Physik ( I have Magyk on its way to us/me right now so looking forward to reading that). So this new series is called "Araminta Spookie" ( in the UK it is Araminta Spook not Spookie!) and they are very very similar in size and style as the Spiderwick Chronicle books, which I adore. The story is about a haunted house which the Aunt wants to sell, Araminta her neice wants to stop her!!




I found the books shelved in the Kds Fiction rather than the Intermediate Readers like the SC series are. They are going on my wishlist, the cover illustration reminds me a lot of the USA edition of the 'Pure Dead' series by Debi Gliori.

Boardgames

Yes we've got some games in too, not easy to do when the weather is so nice out and your pool is calling. But it made a nice change for Lumpy and us parents, just need to remember that games played near bedtime might lead to tears if one looses!!

Lumpy's Summer Book Tally

Ooppps been gone over a month!! No excuse except enjoy the summer break and been busy. Lumpy has done great keeping up with his reading, no summer slide here! Not always easy and mucho bribing sometimes but once he gets going he does wonderful. I am dead proud of him and can alrready see a big improvement in his reading skills.


So above is a picture of the books he has read since school broke up on the 2nd June, 33 books total but not all in the photo due to library, friends and the 'bookshop reading while Mum drinks a coffee" ones. And we still have 2 1/2 weeks left.

And here is his collection of books he has read since the beginning of 2006. It gives him a great incentive when he finishes a book to see add it here and see his library of 'read' books grow.

And here is the collection of books that I have read aloud to him during the summer break.




And this is the books I have got to read during my summer break!! I have enjoyed each one enormously and have many more to go as I have been picking up lots at the bookshops and paperbackswap the past couple of months.

Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride

Purchased this with Lumpy on the way to his very first Orthodontist appointment last Friday. It was the perfect treat to take his mind off the dreaded consultation and to read while in the waiting room. He had finished reading the book to himself by the time we got home, sadly it is a quick read but probably perfect for him at this stage. Great illustrations from Chris Van Dusen, who we already knew of from our Book Fair purhase this year of 'A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee'. Lumpy thoroughly enjoyed the second Mercy Watson tale of the hot buttered toast loving pig, which is aimed at the 6-8 yr old market. Kate DiCamillo has got herself a nice series that is a funny, cute and eye candy for emerging readers to gain confidence with. I think I will find myself continuing to buy the future books in the series even if L gets too old for them....thinking of grandchildren hoho. The third in the series is due out August 22nd 2006 and is called Mercy Watson Fights Crime. We will definitely be buying it, and I am curious as to how many tales of Mercy there will be in the future.

As for me I finished I, Coriander and loved it. I am now reading Ingo by Helen Dunmore and this too is going to be a delightful read. Hubby is plowing on with Peter and the Starcatchers, but seems to be disillusioned at present, more details when he's finished.

For reading practice L finished Magic Treehouse #2: Knights at Dawn, and his Dad had been reading to him from his Commandos at bedtime. I am no futher on with reading more Fergus Crane to him since last week, we have had too much going on. This afternoon is mean't to be quiet but something always comes along, no complaints, that's the beauty of summer hols.

Fergus Crane

Okay so this blogging lark is not so easy to keep up with, I missed a day!!

Lumpy was exhausted yesterday and was asleep by 7pm! He had Gymnastic camp in the morning for 3 hrs then we met his little friend and family for lunch and then played Putt Putt. The day was overcast and cool with the threat of tropical storm Alberto, so a perfect temp to let the kids enjoy the outside inside of the plan to see the new movie 'Cars'.

So very little reading done yesterday, hubby read him one of his new commando comics that a very good friend posted to him from the UK. He loves army stuff and the comics are only available over there, if you are interested see this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando_Comics

Today was better for reading as part of TS Alberto came over us and we had a windy and very wet afternoon after camp, so a perfect excuse to get cozy indoors. So I started to read Fergus Crane by Paul Stewart (shown above) to L, and he's hooked!! It is an adorable story so far and perfect for reading aloud. It's a small hardback, albeit thick with 214 pages, and wonderful black and white illustrations by Chris Riddell on a lot of the pages and a great map at the beginning. This is ideal for my 7 year old as he still loves to have pictures with his stories and this will wean him for the books later that will not include any.

Lumpy read a chapter of Magic Treehouse #2: Knights At Dawn out loud to me afterwards, but he wasn't keen to read any more than that, he wanted to do Maths from his new summer workbook we got yesterday.

I am half way through I, Coriander and still enjoying it. Hubby ran out of books to read so I suggested Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, which I so happened to have just bought on sale on Monday to add to Lumpy's 'library' . He was dubious to start with but he is now on page 80 after only a few nights and he seems pleasantly surprised. I am too, especially as his reading time has been severely limited by the football/soccer World Cup that started last weekend. It's keeping an old man awake.....that's a sign of a good book!!

Where did the day go?

Began the day with taking L to Gymnastic Camp for a few hours. So I enjoyed a White Chocolate Mocha at the bookshop and hunted down books in the Kids Fiction that I've read reviews on. We then had a few hours swimming and reading, L started and finished the first of the Magic Treehouse: Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne. He has refused to read any of the MT series until our neighbour across the road lent us a pile of chapters book from her 1st Grade classsroom last week. They are mostly Junie B.'s and a couple more Magic Treehouse and Horrible Harry's. He was tickled to get the books and he pulls one out whenever he feels like it, it was lovely of her to think of him.

We finally finished The Giggler Treatment, L enjoyed it, it was funny, wacky and a nice short read so it's a keeper.

Tomorrow he can chose the next book from the list below. Seeing as he is enjoying plowing through the neighbours books I think he'd be better off having me read to him before he burns out. I am going to push for Fergus Crane by Paul Stewart, looks fun, not too long and nice handy size to carry around!!

Our Summer Reading List

Here is a list of books I've purchased over the last 4 months to be read to or by Lumpy in no particular order:



The Magician's Boy by Susan Cooper

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

Great-Grandpa's in the LiItter Box (The Zack Files) by Dan Grrenburg

The Dragon of Doom (Moongobble and Me) by Bruce Coville

The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler

The New Kid at School (Dragon Slayers Academy 1) by Kate McMullan

The Elevator Family by Douglas Evans

Pure Dead Magic by Debi Gliori

Stink the Incredible Shrinking Kid by Megan McDonald

Invisible Stanley by Jeff Brown

The Transmogrification of Roscoe Wizzle by David Elliot

Tom Swift: Young Inventor - Into the Abyss by Victor Appleton

The Anybodies by N.E.Bode

Fergus Crane by Paul Stewart

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Joe Sherlock: Kid Detective - The Haunted Toolshed by Dave Keane

Now how many we get through in the remaining 9 weeks of the summer break is anyones' guess. Especially since we still need to finish The Giggler Treatment!!

A First!!!.

Woohoo, finally the pool was ready to swim in for the first time this year. We took the cover off last week to find a lovely colour green but not appealing water, ick! Hubby did a great job getting it ready.

The water temp sounds good at 80 degrees but it is bloody freezing, Lumpy had no problem with it and assured me it was fine once you got used to it. His Dad on the other hand was a complete wimp about it and only got in a couple of times, the last one after he was shamed into a game of volleyball!! He is getting old hahah.

But my momment of pride today was watching Lumpy wrapped in his towel on the lounger reading Horrible Harry and the Green Slime by Suzy Kline. I am dead chuffed. He started it yesterday up to page 4 and he finished the book over the course of 3hrs this afternoon. It was sooo sooo cute, the three of us relaxing each reading contentedly, it was a first!!! Anyway I was reading I, Coriander by Sally Gardner (which is an absolute delight...... she has used one candle so far ) and hubby finished off The Triumph of the Sun by Wilbur Smith.

We still have not finished The Giggler Treatment, so no new book started yet. What with each of us reading it to him in turns I have no clue what is going on now, but Lumpy is enjoying it and still giggling here and there. He enjoys the ink/pencil illustrations by Brian Ajhar, of various sizes that occur on most of the pages, his favourite is on page 56 where Kayla has stones in her nappy!!

The Giggler Treatment

We are reading Roddy Doyle's The Giggler Treatment. (Hubby and I are old fans of Doyle's adult books The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van and especially the films) We started at bedtime Wednesday night, and the chapters are very short and sweet. Lumpy at one point was reading one page ( the one with the least writing haha) and I the other after he told me he could read this book. But it did not last long and I read the last few.

Dad managed to read a few more chapters last night (Thursday) as Lumpy fell asleep. Well it was 9pm and he been to watch a Baseball game with a little friend and the friends Grandad. He was having a good time, even got a ball from a players, but he had a fall on the area near the playground and badly scarped his knee and chin. He apparently asked his little friend not to tell anyone and that he'd deal with it himself?!?!?

Anyway for such a small book ( it only has 112 pages) and large font it is taking us a long time to finish!! So far though it has been funny and has frequent references to poo, this always delights Lumpy.

I plan to read more to L today so that we can start a new book tonight. Hopefully he will read a book to me, we will see. We are doing the http://www.rif.org/readingplanet/ and the http://www.scholastic.com/summerreading/ online as incentive and then http://www.barnesandnoble.com/subjects/children/summer_reading_kids/index.asp?z=y&cds2Pid=1669&linkid=689404 for a free book after reading 8.

The hardcover edition we have is shown above, I prefer this cover art to the others I have seen.

A Beginners Start!!!

Well I have no clue what I'm doing, but I feel it's time to start my own blog after enjoying so many this year, please bare with me. I want to share with you the books being read to and by my emerging 7 year old bookworm and this is the perfect way if I can get over the shyness.

So a bit more about us. I am Welsh and Hubby is Scottish, happily married for almost 18years. Lumpy (not his real name) is our busy, demanding, active little 7yr old son.

This blog will be all about him!!

His reading has come on great in his 1st Grade year 05/06. He even got a certificate for "Most Improved Reader" at the end of the school year last week. I admit to being worried through Kindergarten, he was showing no interest in reading and it was a struggle for all concerned to do his reading homework each night.

But wow what a difference now, he read about 35 books himself from Christmas, it's taken a few different incentives. But practice, practice has definitely shown a result in his reading skills. This time last year we were so relieved to not have reading homework, avoiding the frustration the three of us felt was a relief. You can't make them read, so we did the summer slide I'm afraid, still showing him our love of books and continued to read lots to him. Hoping to get a glimpse of interest from him. It took longer than we thought, but here we are and we are chuffed to bits with his progress. A week ago today he took a borrowed neighbours Junie B. book and read through it all .........to himself, I thought that would never happen!!

I hope to get the list of books that slowly brought out the bookworm on this blog soon. I know I spent many many hours searching shops, libraries and the web for book ideas/suggestions and know that not everyone has that luxury. So that's why I started this blog, wish me luck ;-)