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Boys Against Girls by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Wed, 07/13/2011 - 23:00 | Meaghan O'Brien
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Boys Against Girls

Does your town have an elusive creature called an abaguchie roaming around and causing trouble? The abaguchie is the local legend in the town of Buckman, West Virginia. Ever since the Malloy girls moved across the street from the Hatford boys it has been a constant war of practical jokes and attempts at humiliating the other. The Hatford boys Jake, Josh, Wally and Peter just cannot stand Eddie, Beth and Caroline Malloy and want them to go back to Ohio. They scheme and plot in order to make the Malloy girls hate Buckman. However, the Malloy girls do not take this lying down and vow to get even.

The newest Hatford scheme is actually a town legend and that is the abaguchie. No one in Buckman has actually gotten a good look at the abaguchie but things mysteriously disappear when a townsperson has claimed to have seen it. The Hatford’s use the legend of the abaguchie to scare the Malloy girls and it is a running theme throughout the book.

Happy Birthday, Monster! by Scott Beck

Wed, 06/15/2011 - 23:00 | Craig Graziano
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Happy Birthday, Monster!

There's a lot more to Happy Birthday, Monster! than just monsters. Sure, there is a mummy, a skeleton, a vampire, and a ghost involved, but there's an alien and a robot too. That is not a problem. Diversity is great, especially when dealing with guys and gals like these.

This bunch is just looking to have a good time at their friend Doris' (a lizard creature of sorts) birthday. Devilish Ben is throwing the bash, and early on we see him brushing and flossing his teeth... and then brushing and flossing his horns.

The fun of Scott Beck's book is seeing how each of these very different characters interact with each other.  The book explores what happens when the ghost slow dances ("You're very light on your feet.") or when the robot falls in love with an ordinary houselamp.

2012: Enter the Year of the Dragon

Fri, 01/21/2011 - 10:18 | Virginia Johnson
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Chinese New Year's Dragon

January 23, 2012, marks the beginning of the Chinese Year of the Dragon. In Chinese astrology, people born in the Year of the Dragon are believed to be passionate, intelligent, brave, and self-confident. Years featuring the dragon are supposed to be strong ones for business and finances.

In folklore and fantasy books, dragons steal the show with their power and intelligence. In Western stories, there are wicked dragons, such as Smaug in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. There is the rather famous Reluctant Dragon, by Kenneth Grahame, who is a little too kind and civilized to be slain and turned into the latest trophy on Saint George's castle wall. In Chinese legend, dragons are known for their power and ancient wisdom.  Their somewhat human children might be warriors or handsome royals or simply wise and witty in the way that dragons are. Real humans who go up against them had better have their wits about them. 

To read more about legendary Chinese dragons and how they are remembered in today's celebrations, check out our book list, Year of the Dragon.

Trick or Treat Smell My Feet! By Lisa Desimini

Thu, 10/14/2010 - 07:09 | Adriana Puckett
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A pair of particularly nasty twin witches are bad news for the neighborhood in Lisa Desimini’s Trick-or-Treat, Smell My Feet! They chase kids with fire-powered umbrellas, steal their neighbors’ socks, and fool with everyone’s electricity on stormy nights.

This Halloween, the witches have hatched a particularly evil plan to foil the children’s Halloween fun. Brewing a foul concoction made of smelly socks, the greenish smoke rolling out of the chimney spreads across town and affects a key change in the typical Halloween procedure. Instead of saying, “Trick or Treat!” kids have no choice but to say “Smell my feet!” when going door to door. Worse still, instead of candy, the kids get a slammed door in their faces.
 
Luckily, a pair of sweet, pink socks accidentally falls into the witches’ brew, and their plan backfires in a funny way. Halloween is saved for the neighborhood kids, and the twin witches are even given another chance to be a little nicer, although who knows if they will take it. Given their love of black, their mean disposition, and pinched, green faces, I wouldn’t bet on it.
 
Lisa Desimini’s book is great fun to read with preschoolers and early elementary students. The witches are just scary enough, and the cut-paper illustrations are perfect. This story is a great addition to your Halloween read-aloud tradition!