We are not eaten by Yaks (An accidental Adventure) by C. Alexander London

Picture it: the Explorer's Club, New York City. 

Twins Celia and Oliver, children of the Explorers in Residence (Drs. Navel and Navel), HATE adventure. 

They DO, however, love television. Everything about TV. Sitcoms, nature shows, soap operas, adventure series. All of it. They do not discriminate. Sure, they fight about who gets the remote. Who doesn't?

They like to sit on the couch. They like to eat cheese puffs. They hate to miss their favorite shows. 

Are they good role models for our kids? We wouldn't expect so, would we?

We would be surprised. Celia and Oliver get dragged on trips (everywhere), eat exotic foods (beetles), get thrown out of airplanes (sometimes with a parachute, sometimes without). 

They meet yetis and save their Dad, whose been poisoned by evil witches in Tibet. 

All in a days work, eh?

This is a fantastic, fun, adventure series. 

Other books in the series:

We Dine with Cannibals

We Give a Squid a Wedgie

We Sled with Dragons

We are NOT eaten by Yaks: An accidental Adventure, by C. Alexander London (Amazon.com)

The Trouble with Chickens, by Doreen Cronin

Our narrator is a retired search and rescue dog: J. J. Tully. He is called upon to rescue two chicks, who have supposedly been kidnapped! By whom? 

A ha! That's the mystery. Lots of fun, and very funny too!

Other books by Doreen Cronin that we love: (some also found at Napa Main Library en Espagnol!)

The Legend of Diamond Lil: A J.J. Tully Mystery

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type

Duck for President (Pato Para Presidente)

Giggle, Giggle, Quack (Jaja, jiji, cuac)

Dooby Dooby moo (Dubi dubi muu)

The Trouble with Chickens by Doreen Cronin (Amazon.com)

Invisible Inkling by Emily Jenkins

This is a very cute book! The first in a series of three. 

Hank is a boy who lives with his family in NYC; his parents own an ice cream shop, and Hank spends time coming up with new flavors. What better to do, when your family makes and sells ice cream in NYC?

While cleaning up one day, he comes across something fuzzy. That he is unable to see. Something invisible...

It is a Bandapat; a pumpkin loving, invisible creature who helps Hank work out his issues. Doesn't everyone have issues?

I wish I had an invisible friend when I was young. I would have even settled for an imaginary friend!

1. Invisible Inkling

2. Invisible Inkling: Dangerous Pumpkins

3. Invisible Inkling: The Whoopie Pie War

Invisible Inkling by Emily Jenkins (Amazon.com)

Swindle by Gordon Korman

Swindle is the first in a series of awesome books!

I really enjoyed these books; they are full of adventure and excitement.

The main characters are kids who each have a specialty - computers, climbing, organization, animals. They remind me of young, non-felonious versions of the A-Team.

They solve mysteries; they rectify misdeeds; they rescue animals from a floating zoo - some of whom have been stolen; they find lost and stolen items.

It's all about teamwork!

Other books in the series:
2. Zoobreak
3. Framed
4. Showoff
5. Hideout
6. Jackpot (due out Jan. 7, 2014)

Gordon Korman: Swindle (Amazon.com)

Andrew Clements: Our New Favorite Author

We have fallen in love with the writings of author Andrew Clements.

He was born in NJ and worked as a teacher in the Chicago public schools for several years. He went on to write music and jingles in New York City!

We've enjoyed each and every one of his books that we've read! The characters, children and adults, are interesting and thoughtful as they grapple with lots of different types of of everyday things: sibling rivalry, classmate interaction, teachers and parents, excelling at some things, failing at others.


Frindle: A good natured kid makes up a new word for an every day item. The school bans the new word and parents are furious when kids have to stay for detention. How far do we go to protect our first amendment?

Troublemaker: This 5th grade class clown is requested to "cool it" by his older brother, whose temper got him sent to jail recently. He has to learn to think about his actions; what may seem funny to one person, is hurtful to another.

Extra Credit: A 6th grader from the midwest has to do some extra credit in order to prevent from repeating the grade; she choses to write to a pen pal in Afghanistan. Cultural issues are in play as each kid tries to explain to the other about their environment.

Lost and Found: What happens if the previous school combines the files of identical twins when they send them to the new school? Your new school thinks that there is only one of you! You and your identical twin can take turns going to school! And no one at school will know... right?

Room One: A mystery or Two: We have just started this book; about a kid living in the countryside in Nebraska, who comes across a girl and her family, living in an abandoned farm house. Why are they there? What are they running from? Can't wait to find out.

Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School series

Jake Drake series

http://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Clements

Construction!

The Construction Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta


Roadwork by Sally Sutton

I'm Dirty!  by Kate and Jim McMullan



These are three of our favorite construction books! Books for small and happy children who love large earth moving equipment!

We went through a multi-year construction phase, and we still enjoy watching large earth-moving equipment!

The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem

Imagine an island off the coast of the eastern United States, that, in 2013, doesn't have electricity or cars.  The people on this island are ruled by The Book, written hundreds of years ago, which dictates all that the people should and shouldn't do.

The people are austere and puritanical - all that they do must have some function or purpose. People are named after their profession - they are Carpenters, Bakers and Tanners.

Everything that doesn't have a purpose, is rejected. Creating something that doesn't have a purpose, is reason for banishment to the mainland.

Humans have created beautiful, non-functional things for thousands of years - how do you suppress that desire? What happens when a Tanner actually prefers to Bake?

An interesting read!

Find it at Amazon.com: TheUNNAMEABLES

Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off

ZAPATO POWER: Freddie Ramos Takes Off
by Jacqueline Jules (Author) and Miguel Benitez (Illustrator)

This is a very sweet series of books; they are short chapter books, with lots of illustrations. 

The main character, Freddie, receives a pair of magic shoes (the spanish word for "shoe" is zapato), enabling him to zoom around with super-speed. He's got a super power! 

ZOOM! ZOOM! ZAPATO!

Spanish words are sprinkled throughout the books.

Five Stars from Jules!

Sequels are: 

Zapato Power Freddie Ramos Springs into Action

Zapato Power Freddie Ramos Zooms to the Rescue

Zapato Power Freddie Ramos Makes a Splash

So many books! So little time!

This week we've read a large number of books. Thank goodness the library allows us to take 50 books per library card.

We have three library cards.

Whew.

No time for other things.

Read! Read! Read!

Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit, by Joan Carris (author) and Noah Z. Jones (illustrator)

Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit 

by Joan Carris (Author), Noah Z. Jones (Illustrator)

Last week, the boys and I finished this book and it's two sequels (Magic at the Bed and Biscuit, Wild Times at the Bed and Biscuit).

All three books are set at the "Bed and Biscuit", a farm and boarding house for animals, run by veterinarian Grampa (Adam) Bender.

Grampa Bender has cows, a horse, llamas, a rooster named Rory and chickens, boarders - dogs, cats and birds. In the third book, Wild Times at the Bed and Biscuit, he hosts injured wild animals that are normally housed at the local wildlife shelter (while the shelter builds new pens).

Grampa Bender has several assistants: Ernest, the mini-pig, who loves showering in his outdoor shower, built especially for him. Gabby, the mynah bird, who makes phone calls and can mimic anyone and anything; Milly, an orange tabby cat, mouse catcher extraordinaire and Sir Walter Scott, a rescued scottie dog.

In the stories, the animals are able to communicate with each other. The stories examine feelings; for example: jealousy (following the arrival of a new pet), and anger (poor treatment by a rascally magic chicken named Malicia). They demonstrate the animals working together to solve problems as well.

At the end of each book, the author explains a little bit about the different creatures that participate in the stories.

A wonderful series, available at the Napa County Library!

An Introduction

As a child, I devoured books and stories. These opened up the world to me: I was able to take adventures that my real-life shyness prevented me from going on. I explored people, regions, myths, mysteries, music and animals. 

Entering my fifth decade, I still enjoy reading. Many of the books I read now are children's books, brought home from our wonderful public library. It is very exciting to introduce my childhood favorites to my boys, and also discover new books!

Each post will contain book recommendations - what we're reading this week, what we've enjoyed in the past. 

Please tell us about your favorite books!