13-14. Bethany the Ballet Fairy, and Jade the Disco Fairy by Daisy Meadows

These are the first two books in The Dance Fairies series. This is actually the second time I've read both these books because Lily has decided that she needs to read all the fairy books for her bedtime stories, just like Ruthie has. These are pretty good ones. Anything that combines dance and fairies is a popular hit with Lily. This time the mean Jack Frost has given his goblins the ability to freeze people (which doesn't actually hurt them, but lasts for a few minutes). I really liked the clothes in the disco fairy book. They made me laugh. They're fun, short reads.

12. The Princess Tales: Cinderellis and the Glass Hill

The Princess Tales are a series of short novels by Gail Carson Levine, the author of Ella Enchanted. Anything by Levine is awesome. These books combine and retell various fairy tales. They are witty and hilarious. This is the second one we've read as a bedtime story and they are definitely favorites with my girls. They make great read-alouds because they have short chapters, and lots of natural breaks which makes it easy to stop until the next time. I especially like the book design. They are skinny and tall little books that fit easily in your hand and have fun little pictures throughout. This particular book is a take-off on Cinderella with a little Rapunzel mixed in. This time the Cinderella character, Cinderellis, is a boy, incredibly gifted as an inventor. He lives with his two older brothers, who aren't mean as much as they just ignore him and are totally oblivious to any of his accomplishments. Meanwhile, in a nearby kinddom, lives a princess who's father is a little obsessed with random contests. He decides to offer his daughter's hand in marriage to the man who can climb up a huge glass tower and rescue her. Cinderellis decides to solve the puzzle in order to get his brothers' attention. It's a fun story. The characters are very likeable and it's an extremely creative story.

11. Stella the Star Fairy by Daisy Meadows

Yes, I read another fairy book. This is the Christmas edition of the fairy books. Jack Frost has stolen all the things that make Christmas great. Kirsty, Rachel, and Stella the Star Fairy defeat Jack Frost and his goblin minions. Ruth and I had fun reading it together. She obviously loves all things fairy and all things Christmas, so the mixture was a big hit.

10. Who Stole The Wizard of Oz? by Avi

Avi is a great author with incredible versatility. Everything I've read of his is very good. This book is no exception. It is a really fun mystery that also explores the true value of books. I really enjoyed the little puzzle that the main characters have to figure out to solve the mystery. Lastly, the characters are fun and likable. I found it just a fun, short book to read that helped me remember what I really like about children's literature, and especially children's mysteries.

9. Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

First of all I have to say that this book defied all my expectations. This was the book for the mother-daughter book club last month. I had never heard of it, so I looked it up to see what it was about. I can't remember where I got the description, but it went something like this: "The story of Hurricane Katrina through the eyes of a young girl who can see ghosts and lives with her witch doctor grandmother in New Orleans." I groaned and decided I better read it before my daughters. I was looking forward to something totally depressing and weird. This book couldn't have been farther from that. It is really well-written and interesting.

It is about a little 12 year old girl named Lanesha who lives with an older lady who is a midwife and healer. This lady, named Mama Ya-Ya, took Lanesha in at birth after her mother died and the rest of her kin abandoned her. They have a very loving, positive relationship. The little girl can see ghosts, but in the book it doesn't seem creepy or weird, just the way it is. Lanesha loves math and approaches everything as a problem to be solved. So when the problem of Hurricane Katrina presents itself, she does her best to solve the problem for herself, her best friend, their dog, and Mama Ya-Ya. They live in Ninth Ward, one of the poorest areas in New Orleans, and have no way to evacuate when the city begins to flood. Even though this book is about a tragedy, it seems very hopeful and positive. I really liked it and so did my girls. A lady in our group who had lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, said the portrayal of the hurricane was very accurate. I learned a lot and would recommend it to anyone. And the author sent our group an autographed copy of the book, about 20 autographed book marks and two frozen cakes. What a nice lady!! (And very impressive that the librarian even tried to contact the author, way braver than I would be.)

5-8. Call Me Francis Tucket; Tucket's Ride; Tucket's Gold; and Tucket's Home by Gary Paulsen

These 4 books are the sequels to Mr. Tucket. I decided to just do one review because they read like one long book. This is great historical fiction. Francis Tucket leaves his friend Mr. Grimes and strikes out on his own with a wagon train headed west. Along the way he gets lost, gets robbed, and finds a small girl and boy that have been abandoned because of sickness. Later he gets kidnapped by Mexican banditos, finds Spanish gold and is rescued by Indians. The books are fast-moving and really interesting. I really liked the part about the Mexican-American war. I really hadn't thought that much about it. They're great quick reads, every one, and I loved them.

4. The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl

I was on a role so I decided to read another Dahl book. This book is hilarious. It's all about a crocodile who wants to go and eat some children. Unfortunately for him, he brags about his super clever plans to all the animals in the forest. That comes back to foil his plans later. It's a really cute little book and very funny. The illustrations are wonderful too. I'd recommend it to anyone.

3. The Vicar of Nibbleswicke by Roald Dahl

I have to say upfront that I really don't like movies based on Roald Dahl's books. They just always seem a little wierd to me. Whenever I see them, it makes me think that I really don't like him as an author. But then, every once in a while, I pick up one of his books and am completely impressed and fascinated. He is such a great writer and his books are always laugh-out-loud funny. This book is about a vicar who has a bad case of dyslexia. He realizes he has this problem as a child and seems to conquer it as he goes through school. But when he is appointed vicar of his hometown, he gets so nervous that his brain freaks out and he starts saying lots of words backwards. He doesn't realize that he's doing it, and the townspeople aren't sure what to think. It makes for a lot of really funny situations. It's a great book to talk about the problems of dyslexia and just a short, funny read. Roald Dahl actually wrote it near the end of his life and donated the copyright and all rights to the Dyslexia Institute (in London). He also talked his longtime illustrator Quentin Blake into doing the pictures. It's definitely worth reading.

2. Seven Kisses in a Row by Patricia MacLachlan

I picked up this book because the author, Patricia MacLachlan, wrote the Sarah, Plain and Tall series. It's one of my favorites. This is a really cute book about a little girl who's aunt and uncle come to babysit while her parents take a trip. At first she hates it, because she doesn't think her aunt and uncle know anything about kids. But as she teaches them what parents do, they teach her about different perspectives. By the end of the week, she almost doesn't want her parents to come back. This would be a great book to read with kids who are staying with someone else while parents go away. It's a great, funny story and would be a great read-aloud for any family. I loved it.

1. Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen

I forget how much I like historical fiction until I read it again. This is great historical fiction. Mr. Tucket is the first in a series of books that Kate recommended to me. She read them last year and really liked them. I think one of her teachers read her class this book and then she read the rest in the series by herself. And Gary Paulsen is one of the great young adult writers around. His most famous book is probably Hatchet which is a classic. When I was teaching middle school English, Hatchet was the go-to book to recommend to young teenage boys who were reluctant readers. They always loved it. This book is just as good. He tells the story of a 14 year-old boy who is kidnapped by indians from his wagon train while traveling with his family on the Oregon trail. He then is rescued by a mountain man, Mr. Grimes, who proceeds to teach him how to live in the wild. It is a really fun, fast, exciting read. Westerns are great when they are well done and this is well done. I loved it!

86. Nothing But The Truth: A Documentary Novel by Avi

I love this book. I think it perfectly captures the illogical thinking of teenage boys, and the out of control politics of education and patriotism. It also shows perfectly how something can be totally blown out of proportion to serve different people's personal agendas. In the book, a ninth-grader gets suspended for humming the national anthem, and the story is picked up by the national news media. The story really is not that simple, but soon grows out of control. The great thing about the novel is that you get to see everyone's viewpoint because it is written in the form of diaries, memos, letters, etc. from everyone involved. I love this book. If you really want to think about the fine line between patriotism and fascism, you should read this book. It's really short and well worth the time. It also won a Newberry Honor award. I highly recommend it.

85. The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker

Yes, this is the original children's book on which Disney loosely (very loosely) based their movie The Princess and the Frog. I haven't seen the movie, though I've heard it is cute. But I think about the only thing the same between the two is that, in both, the princess gets turned into a frog. I love this book. This is probably the second or third time I've read it in some form. This time I listened to it on CD and the reading is incredibly well done. I just love the wackiness of it. The main character, Emma, does not like being a princess, and she's horrible at magic (which runs in her family). In order to avoid being forced to marry a prince that is pompous and interested only in himself, she escapes to her neighborhood swamp and kisses a talking frog. But instead of turning him back into a prince, she is turned into a frog and spends the rest of the book trying to get out of this predicament. It is a hilarious, quick read. It is also the first in The Frog Princess series, which has about 5 or 6 books in it. My girls love this series and have also read and re-read it. And it is versatile enough that my little girls love it and I still think it is intelligent and funny. A good read that I would definitely recommend.

84. Best Loved Bedtime Stories: The Ugly Duckling and Other Stories by Dalmatian Press

This is another of Lily's picks for bedtime stories. Like I've said before, she seems to really like collections of stories. This has quite a few of your well-known bedtime stories, like The Ugly Duckling, Puss in Boots, and The Little Tin Soldier. But then about the second half of the book, there are a whole collection of related stories about a bunch of little animals that live in a forest with some gnomes and giants who are all friendly. I really like these little tales. They remind me of the Beatrix Potter books, but shorter. The illustrations in the whole collection are really great. And the thing I like best is that the stories are broken down into divisions that are just right for Lily's age. The stories tend to be between 2-10 pages with about a paragraph per page. Perfect! She loved this book and I really enjoyed reading it to her.

83. Buddy (A Puppy Place Book) by Ellen Miles

The Puppy Place is a cute little series of books about...that's right, puppies. Each book centers on how one particular puppy overcomes its hardships and ultimately finds a good home. I've only read this one, but Emma has read several, and she says that's how they go. In this one, Lizzie and her family volunteer to foster a dog and her three puppies until the puppies are old enough to adopt out. Lizzie's family often fosters dogs for their local shelter where she also volunteers. One of the puppies, which they name Buddy, is the runt of the litter and is struggling to do well. The family has to spend extra time just keeping him alive. It's a cute little book about puppies and caring for them and fun to find out how the puppies find just the right homes. Emma seems to really like this series, as would any kid who likes dogs. It made for a pretty good bedtime story. It also includes tips for caring for puppies in the back. Over all good book.