Summer 2005
PeeWee’s
Tale.
Johanna Hurwitz, SeaStar Books, 2000. 103
pages.
Fiction H967p
PeeWee is not an ordinary pet guinea pig – PeeWee can read. He learned his
letters from the shredded newspaper on the bottom of his cage. But soon PeeWee
finds himself outside of his cage, lost in the huge Central Park of New York
City. What does he know of surviving on his own? Luckily he meets up with Lexi,
a street-wise squirrel who gives him plenty of advice. Will PeeWee try to make
it back to his owner and the safety of his cage or stay in his exciting new
home? Discover more adventures of
PeeWee and his friends in Lexi’s Tale
and PeeWee & Plush.
Minnie
& Moo and the Seven Wonders of the World.
Denys Cazet, Atheneum Books, 2003. 134 pages.
Fiction C386m
Minnie and Moo were the best of friends. They lived a good life on the farm. But
Moo overheard the farmer say that he needs money and has to sell the
farm. Is their good life over? Not if Minnie and Moo can help it. They
set out to raise enough money by taking the farm animals on a tour of the Seven
Wonders of the World, including the creature in the woods… Big Hoof.
Duff
the Giant Killer.
Budge Wilson, Formac, 1997. (First Novel series) 60 pages.
Fiction W753d
Duff and Simon are getting over the chicken pox and have to miss the school trip
to the museum. They are bored! Then Duff comes up with a brain wave – act out
a play in the park based on one of
their favourite stories, Jack the Giant Killer. But who invited the police?
Drusilla
the Lucky Duck. Errol Broome, Annick Press. 2003. 70 pages.
Fiction B871c
Carrie went to the market to buy a kitten and came home with a duck
- a puffy yellow duckling. Her parents warned her “One day it’ll be a
big fat duck”. That didn’t worry Carrie. She took good care of Drusilla the
duck and even trained her to come when called.
But what was she to do with Drusilla when their family went on holidays?
Rose
and Riley. Jane Cutler, Farrar Straus Firoux, 2005. 48 pages.
Orange Dot
C989r
This easy reader contains three delightful stories about Rose and Riley, a vole
and a groundhog, who are the best of friends. Should one be ready for the rain
even if it’s sunny? How do you celebrate an unbirthday? And is there a way to
get rid of your worries?
The
Legend of Spud Murphy. Eoin Colfer, Hyperion Books, 2004. 94 pages.
Fiction C695L
Marty and Will have to spend three afternoons a week of their summer at the
library. They really don’t want to go. The library is a dangerous place
because of Spud Murphy… the librarian. Every kid knows that if you break one
of Spud Murphy’s rules, she’ll spud you with soggy potatoes. And so Marty
and Will have to sit on an old piece of carpet in the children’s section
surrounded by boring books. How will they ever survive the summer?
Priscilla
and Rosy. Sharon Jennings, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001. 29 pages.
Orange Dot J54p
Priscilla lives in the alley behind the restaurant, her best friend Rosy lives
across the gutter near the ice cream store. All week the two rats are busy
finding scraps of food and scaring people. Monday’s their day off and
Priscilla has promised to work on a puzzle with Rosy. However Priscilla gets
invited out on a boat trip Monday - which of course she accepts. So what should
she tell Rosy?
Three
Tales of My Father’s Dragon. Ruth Stiles Gannett, Random House, 1998.
242p.
Fiction G198t
Three classic books are brought together in one volume. In My Father’s Dragon,
nine year old Elmer Elevator is off to Wild Island to rescue a poor baby dragon
from the lazy wild animals. In Elmer and the Dragon the boy and the baby dragon
help some unusual canaries uncover a buried treasure. And in the last story The
Dragons of Blueland Elmer has to stop the humans from capturing the baby dragon
and his family.
For
those who gobble up books...
Captain
Jenny & the Sea of Wonders. Duncan Thornton, Coteau Books, 2001. 291
pages. Fiction T513c
A
wild sea adventure in the Old Sea, the Sea of Heroes, the Sea of Wonders Found
and Forgotten. Jenny, the fisher girl, captain of her ship with a crew of
trustworthy sailors sets off to find the Lost City that was swallowed by the sea.
An amazing tale of exploration with dangerous sea passages, mystical creatures
and wonders to be found. Jenny’s
friend Tom also has an amazing sea adventure in Kalifax.
Don’t
Pat the Wombat! Elizabeth Honey, Knopf, 1996. 142 pages.
Fiction H772d
What
could be better than going to camp with your best buddies? Mark and his Grade 6
class spend a week at Gumbinya Pioneer Camp discovering caves, wombats, leeches
and mud fights. Of course their teachers come along as chaperones which is fine
with the boys. However things don’t look so rosy when Mr. Holmes gets sick and
Mr. Cromwell, the teacher no one likes (a.k.a. The Bomb) shows up at camp.
The
Prince of the Pond : Otherwise Known as De Fawg Pin. Donna Jo Napoli,
Puffin Books, 1992. 151 pages.
Fiction
N216p
“None
of the pond dwellers has ever seen the peculiar new frog before. They found him
sitting in a pile of human clothes outside the hag’s house. What a strange
frog he is! He gets his feet tangled when he tries to jump, he refuses to eat
bugs ad he can’t tell a toad from a frog. He calls himself “De Fawg Pin”
and he’s about to turn pond life topsy-turvy!”
(Book cover)
A
Long Way From Chicago. Richard Peck, Puffin Books, 1998.
148 pages.
Fiction P367a
Each
summer Joey and Mary Alice have to leave the city of Chicago and spend a week
with Grandma Dowdel. She lives in a small sleepy town but the children quickly
learn that staying with Grandma is never boring. From watching over a corpse
that isn’t quite still, to catching the sheriff in his underwear, Grandma is
always up to something.
Boston
Jane: An Adventure. Jennifer L. Holm, HarperCollins, 2001. 266 pages.
Fiction H747b
Sixteen-year-old Jane Peck
has set out for the unknown wilds of the Northwest to wed her childhood idol,
William Baldt. Much to her dismay, Jane discovers that her training at Miss
Hepplewhite’s Young Ladies Academy in Philadelphia is not of much use on the
frontier. Miss Hepplewhite’s Helpful Hints on Travel did not include hints on
killing fleas, avoiding rats, being seasick or sharing a cabin with a motley
assortment of men… all while completely unchaperoned! An historical novel of
adventure, humour and romance. Read about Jane’s further adventures in Boston
Jane: Wilderness Days and Boston Jane: The Claim
Bunnicula:
A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery. Deborah and James Howe, Atheneum Books, 1979. 98
pages.
Fiction H855b
It all begins when the
Monroes go to see the movie Dracula. At the theatre, Toby Monroe finds a baby
rabbit on his seat, which he takes home and names Bunnicula. Chester, the
well-read and observant cat, soon decides that there is something odd about the
newcomer. The rabbit is awake only at night and seems to have fangs. Is
Bunnicula a vampire? Chester is determined to protect his family from this
strange animal. A hilarious story
as told by Harold the family dog.
The
Several Lives of Orphan Jack. Sarah Ellis, Groundwood Books, 2003. 84
pages.
Fiction E47s
Life is tough at the
Opportunities School for Orphans and Foundlings. But Jack is very good at
staying out of trouble. Over the years he has learned to skip over trouble, slip
around trouble and talk his way out of trouble. When Jack turns twelve he is
sent to a bookkeeper to be an apprentice. And there he finds trouble. What is
Jack to do?
There’s
an Owl in the Shower. Jean Craighead George, HarperCollins, 1995. 134
pages.
Fiction G348t
The decision to protect the endangered spotted-owls has cost Borden’s father
his job as a logger working in the old-growth forests of California. Now
Borden’s family is struggling to make ends meet. Borden, furious because his
father is out of work, decides to take revenge by going into the forest to shoot
spotted-owls. Instead he comes home with what he believes is a baby barred owl.
The family soon discovers that Bardy, the owlet, loves to take showers and watch
late-night TV. Only after falling in love with Bardy do they discover that
it’s a spotted-owl.
