To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

 I don't know what to say about it, except that it fully deserves the praise that it has collected.  It's brilliant.  Weighty, but up-lifting.  Beautiful.  Honest.  Well worth the read.

Something Under the Bed is Drooling by Bill Watterson

About : Calvin
Type of book : comic book.
I thought it was pretty funny.
It's about a 6 year old boy who can change his world with his imagination.

Larklight by Phillip Reeve

Told from the viewpoint of Art Mumby, this is about the adventures that he and his sister Myrtle have across space. Set in the Victorian era and written as if the Victorians were right about everything that they thought about how science was going to advance (steam power for everything, alchemy, inhabitable planets, etc...) I really enjoyed this book.

Tuesdays At The Castle by Jessica Day George

When princess Celie's parents leave to get her oldest bother from wizarding school they leave everything in her and her two older siblings' hands. It was light and funny but it nevertheless kept a hold of my attention the whole way through, and I quite enjoyed it.

Leave it to Beaver

I was recently looking for something "mostly harmless" for my children to watch on netflix, when this caught my eye.  Now, I grew up with very limited TV viewing, so even if this show (or the reruns, more likely) were on, I don't think I ever got to see it.  And all I knew about it as an adult was the occasional scathing feminist criticism of June Cleaver, with her beautifully pressed dress, beauty-parlor hair, and immaculate housekeeping - and no apparent ambition to do anything other than what she is doing.
As a wife and mother myself, who has recently started enjoying this show, I have this to say:  the humor is gentle.  The parents love each other, and love their children.  The children like each other, and are kind to each other.  When they aren't, it isn't the cue for a laugh, it's the problem to be resolved in the episode. Does June Cleaver set an unrealistic standard for women?  Certainly no more so than shows which portray women working outside the home, raising children, and maintaining the same standards of beauty and organization that June Cleaver appears to spend her day on - with less outside help than she evidently hires.   It's an idyllic picture of childhood and growing up in America; I don't know if it's anything more than that - or if it was ever meant to be.  But as pictures - necessarily limited in their scope - go, it a pleasant one.

The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival : Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low

This book is delightfully silly, truly amusing, and a breath of fresh air in a world which increasingly descends to the crass and vulgar in attempting to entertain.  Such misguided buffoonery would clearly be beneath Petronella, a spirited, intelligent, stalwart heroine worthy of anyone's admiration.  In short, I loved it.  (Good for all ages; probably especially enjoyed by girls in the 9+ range.  A dignified alternative to "teenage girl" books  - a definite plus to my pre-teen girl.)

My Side Of The Mountain by Jean Craighead George

My Side Of The Mountain is about Sam Gribley, a 12 year old boy who decides to run away from his cramped home in New York, and learns to survive in the wilderness around his great-grandfathers farm up in the Catskill mountains. I found it interesting, well written, thought provoking, light-hearted, and enjoyable. 

The Roar by Emma Clayton

The Roar by Emma Clayton

The blurb: Post apocalyptic distopia, "mutant" psychics, Etc. Etc.

What it starts to look like: Enders Game/Neon Genesis Evangelion meets Carrie,
then edited until it looks PG(read: no aliens), if still depressing.

Plot Holes: Yes.
To name but a few:

• No space colonies(despite the bad guy having a space station)
• No underwater colonies
• The twin in the beginning not leaving anything identifying during her escape and capture(she has telekinesis for crying out loud)
• None of the "mutant" kids pulling a Carrie(except one, and he gets stopped by a glance)
• Convincing via television hoax * nearly two thirds of the planet to evacuate to the remaining third.

Premise: Great, 4 stars, could make for some excellent fanfiction.
Execution: Terrible, 1.9 stars, not as bad as it could have been, but there are better uses of my time.

*Spoiler, highlight to show.

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

I was surprised at how much I liked this book.  I'm normally just frustrated with books which include magic which may not be magic at all - I like fantasy, I like historical fiction, I like to know what I'm getting into.  But somehow this was such a well-told story that it didn't bother me at all.  And as a coming of age, family reconciliation story it was beautiful.  Suitable for young advanced readers; there is some talk of ghosts and one death scene.  Set in the Great Depression with flashbacks to WWI, just before the great Spanish Influenza epidemic - there are some serious topics, but (I felt) very well dealt with.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I liked this book because even though at a couple of points I felt that it was somewhat unrealistic I thought that it did a good job showing how friendship can work, especially in a family setting. It was funny, interesting, and a light read---I think I would recommend it to just about anyone old enough to understand it.

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This book - and this entire series - is a lovely portrait of life in the late 1800's - I am struck, each time I read it, with how much detail of daily life it has. Simply laid out to appeal to even a very young listening audience, I've found it good reading-aloud material for all ages. It's about a girl, but I've found boys to be as interested in the accounts of panthers and bears and household chores (making bullets, butchering pigs) as any girl I've ever known. And really worth re-reading. It is, technically, fiction; my best guess, given the level of detail, (and the difference between the earlier books, which she fully edited, and the last, published after she died, without said editing) that she smoothed over some of the difficulties of family life - but the everydayness of frontier life seems to be accurate (as would details of life in the late 1900's in any book someone my age would write, as the audience would spot discrepancies immediately). Delightful, excellent, and repeatedly re-visitable.

Le Petit Nicolas by Sempé

I first met this book, as so many who have read it did, in a class - I am happy to say it didn't ruin the experience for me. It is one of the most delightful books ever, simple enough to follow even with first-year french, with ideas complex enough to amuse adults who get dragged into reading them for whatever reason. The English translations are also very fun, but if you have even a smattering of French, I strongly recommend trying the original. The chapters are short, complete stories in themselves, and written as if from the viewpoint of a schoolboy (Nicolas) who constantly gets into trouble of one sort or another - along with all of his friends. Excellent for dusting off French from ages back, or for reading to children (in French or in English, whichever is appropriate).

Half Magic by Edward Eager

Another favorite from my childhood, this has been easier than some of the others (Andy Buckram's Tin Men) to find for my children to enjoy. Delightful for elementary age on up: Well-written, good to read aloud, and a lovely episodic plot with a delightful overarching storyline. Highly recommended.

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

This is a book - actually a series of books - about a Jewish family living in New York City in the early 1900's, right around the time of the first world war. When I first read it, I suppose it especially struck a note with me because this family - like the one I grew up in - is composed of five girls (though later in the series one baby brother is born). I think it also struck a note because while my family is not Jewish, we do practice our religion in ways that go beyond Sunday meetings- diet, customs, rituals, and holidays.
A beautiful piece of historical fiction; it is primarily a picture of family life, there mores and habits, and all the little things they do that are so ordinary to them and so surprising to us, a hundred years later. Beautifully written, excellent for reading aloud or for the elementary reader on up. Maybe I should note: a book that is good for reading aloud is one, to me, that is interesting enough for grown-ups, even if it was written for children.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane austen

I would say the book Pride and Prejudice is about etiquette and how it affects people in their daily lives as much it is about Elisabeth Bennett and the diference between being well manered and truly being kind.
It was well written , rich in plot and all in all a excellent book.

Rascal the Dragon by Paul Jennings

This is the first in a series of books that I have found perfect for beginning readers. Repetition in just the right doses; an amusing storyline - in each book; and excellent illustrations.
I especially like this because I find most beginning reader books lack one of those things - repetition is too much or too little, which damages the storyline, and the illustrations tend to be dreadful.
Given that it is my general practice to refuse to read books that I find too boring or inane to my children, it's nice to have something to teach them from that doesn't involve lowering my own standards of reading enjoyment. There is some (mild) potty humor - one of the dragons is named Bomber - so it may be a judgment call - but this is a series we will keep. Difficult to find in the U.S; getting a little easier. I finally gave up and imported the series, since I could only find the first two here. Australian.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

As a perennial sucker for stories about superheroes or people with special magic or talents, I found this a delightful book about children who are different, good-hearted, and adventurous. Light and sometimes silly, excellent for mid-late elementary on. Not without a truly fearful villain; my favorite part is the interactions of the gifts and personalities of each of the characters.

The Errand of Angels - Movie

I admit to having a sometimes morbid fascination with LDS movies - I will often watch them, even if I am reasonably sure they are useless, kitchy drivel. I have come to steel myself against that, in hopes of finding the occasional gem. This is necessary, because reviews on LDS movies are pretty useless. The crowd that watches them seems to consider it unfaithful to mention anything unfavorable - no matter how badly they were done - and nobody else reviews them, unless it's to say something unflattering about the LDS church in general. Not really helpful if I'm trying to find out if I will enjoy it of an evening with my family.
So, knowing where I'm coming from, I will say: this was really quite reasonable. The story was neither overblown, with things that most LDS missionaries - or members in general - never experience in their lifetimes (though we all hear about them); nor so understated that it lost all sense of plot or direction. It was the simple, pleasant story of a young woman's experiences on her mission, how hard it was, and how rewarding. So I will give it the highest praise I give to LDS movies: yes, I would recommend it to a friend.

The Ordinary Princess By M. M. Kaye

The Ordinary Princess is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it. As a baby, Amy's last christening gift was being Ordinary. In the author's note it says that she had always loved fairy tales, but before she began writing this she noticed that all of them were about blond haired blue eyed beauties (with the rare exception of those like Snow White). She wondered what would happen if the princess were ordinary so she decided write about one herself. I must say that the results are spectacular, and although it is a rather quick read I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull

As a long-time reader of fantasy novels, and as a homeschooling mother with a busy household to run, I have long turned to children's novels as a way to find my allotment of magic and adventure within the span of a naptime or two.

First of all, let me say that this did not disappoint. For a little while at the beginning, I was worried; I really hate books that purport to be about magic but are really about people who can't tell imagination from reality - but this quickly resolved into genuine, full-fledged fantasy.

Surprisingly enough - to me, anyway - my favorite part was not the magic, in this - it was the morality. As an individual, it has become more and more important to me that the basic truths of morality - hurting people is wrong, and helping people is right - should, in some way, be present in the universes I read about. As a parent, I have come to really resent stories in which it is taken for granted that parents are so stupid, uncaring, or selfish that the only reasonable thing to do is lie to, deceive, and avoid them at every turn. While Mull was perhaps a little heavy-handed in his treatment of these points (he's developed a much lighter touch in his Fablehaven series- more about those later) it was so refreshing to read a children's book in which all of the parents seemed like honest, ordinary people that I could have loved it for that alone. All in all, the story was fun enough and the characters intriguing enough that I just plain enjoyed it - and that, at the end of the day, is what makes me call this a good book.