Archive | January, 2011

THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA

31 Jan

THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA

By Tom Angleberger

Published in 2010 by Amulet

141 pages ages 9+

 Origami Yoda is a wad of paper Dwight, the weird kid who made Origami Yoda, never removes from his finger. Now, Tommy and his friends are trying to figure out if Origami Yoda is able to tell the future and use “the force”. The strange case of Origami Yoda is a bunch of small stories that usually end with two comments: one from Tommy, who doesn’t know if Origami Yoda is real, and another one from his “friend” Harvey, who just thinks Origami Yoda is a “dumb” wad of paper.

The main character’s name is Tommy because this book is a real life experience for Tom Angleberger (the author). Anyway, this story is a great one because I liked the Star Wars movies, but if you never saw the Star Wars movies it is still a great book because it doesn’t have a lot to do with Star Wars, so you won’t be left clueless on the first story in the book!

I give this book five out of five book worms!

MAKE SURE TO VOTE!!!!

29 Jan

Make sure you vote for your favorite book/library joke on my post on January 26th. So far #6 (my personal favorite) is in the lead!!! Check it out!

Books Recommended by Commenters

29 Jan

So far I have gotten some good suggestions for books to read!

Jarred recommends The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

Jake recommends Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

Emma recommends Dragon Egg by Mallory Loehr and Hala Wittwer

Avidreader recommends Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry

There it a lot of reading going on too!

Ethan is reading Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

Jarred is reading The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Emma is Reading Me Too Woody by Heidi Kilgras, and Atelier Philippe Harchy

Boomchakalaca is reading The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Avidreader is reading the first book in the 39 clues series by Rick Riordan

 WHAT ARE YOU READING?? WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND??

JENNIFER MURDLEY’S TOAD

27 Jan

JENNIFER MURDLEY’S TOAD

By Bruce Coville

Originally published in 1993 by Minstrel- published in 2002 by Aladdin Paperbacks

156 pages  Ages 9-12

Jennifer Murdley thought she was different from other kids in school in one way: she thought she looked ugly. But that turned into a fraction of her problems when she bought Bufo the toad. Bufo talks, acts like a human, and is hiding secrets. Bufo is soon realizing his own powers including kissing people to turn them into toads. Jennifer, her two brothers, her friend, and a mean girl are whisked into an adventure to stop an evil witch from stealing Bufo!!

I like how the author writes the end because he does not end it in “happily ever after”. This is an exciting book and I would recommend it to anyone!

 I rate it four out of five book worms.

Books are no JOKES……but these are!!!

26 Jan

1.Question: Do you know how many librarians it takes to screw in a light bulb?

Answer: No, but I know where you can look it up!

 

2.Question: What reference book should you put on your head to keep off the sun and rain no matter where you go in the world?

Answer: A  hat-las!

 

3.Question: What has a spine but no bones?

Answer: A book!

 

4.Question: What happened when the bloodhound wrote his autobiography?

Answer: It got on the best SMELLers list!

 

5.Question: What building has the most stories?

Answer: The library of course!

 

6.Question: Why did the librarian slip and fall on the floor?

Answer: She was in the non-FRICTION section!

GOT ANY GOOD BOOK OR LIBRARY JOKES??? LET ME KNOW!!!

YOUNG SANTA

25 Jan

YOUNG SANTA

By Dan Greenburg Illustrated by Warren Miller

Published in 1991 by Scholastic Inc.

89 pages ages 9-12

Did you ever wonder what Santa Claus was like when he was a kid? From the time when he was born Santa had a wacky life(funny too)! You may not know this but (according to this book) Santa was born in Sioux City Iowa where his father, Milton Claus, sold ice boxes (Santa’s mother’s name is Sophie). Milton’s boss transferred his job to the North Pole, so the Claus family had to move to the North Pole and that’s where Santa grew up.

This book is pretty short and it was very easy to read (I have read it at least three times). I liked the book a lot because it is really funny and I liked the story. In fact it says on the back cover of the book “WARNING: This book will make you laugh so hard your stomach will jiggle like a bowl full of jelly…” and it does!!!

I give this book five out of five book worms.

THIRTEEN WAYS TO SINK A SUB

24 Jan

Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub

By Jamie Gilson

Published in 1982 by Scholastic Inc.

Ages 9-12

Hobie Hanson, Nick Rossi, Lisa Soloman, and Molly Bosco were just giving their report on China when their teacher, Mr. Star, ran out of the classroom! The next day he called in sick. The next morning, knowing Mr. Star was absent, Hobie and Nick challenged the girls to see  who could “sink the sub” (meaning the substitute teacher) first. The girls accepted the challenge and the whole entire morning was made up of tricks on the substitute teacher. At first Svetlana Ivanovitch ,“the sub’s” name surprised them, but she then she started to figure out what the class was doing. Miss Ivanovitch then tries to spoil their plans by making them do the right thing.

This book was a gift from my third grade teacher. When my teacher gave this to me she said “I hope you don’t try to do any of these tricks when I’m gone”.  It was a really good book.

I give it five out of five book worms!!!

REVIEW OF THE KINDLE

23 Jan

Before my birthday last year I did not know what an e-reader was. My parents got me a Kindle for my birthday and explained what an e-reader or e-book was. It is an electronic book that is about the size of a thin paperback book. (about 8 inches by 5 inches and very thin). I can put about 3500 books on my Kindle (right now I have 11). The screen looks a lot like a paper page and you can change how large the words appear on the screen. It’s easy to download books to it. Its more portable than regular books. Sometimes I read a couple of books at once so I only have to carry my Kindle around rather than all the books. One nice feature about the Kindle is that it comes with a dictionary so that when you’re in a story and you don’t know what a word means you put the cursor in front of the word and the dictionary pops up and tells you the meaning. Another good thing is that the battery lasts a real long time. The screen saver pictures are really detailed and cool. It’s easy to move around in the book too (you can add book marks and notes in places in the book).

One thing I don’t like about it is that it is slower at flipping to the next page than if I was doing it (not super slow –just different). The kindle will actually read a book to you but I don’t like this feature because I get distracted and don’t listen to the story and then I miss some of the details. I still like to hold a book in my hands but the Kindle is really awesome!

I would rate the Kindle 5 out of 5 book worms!

Mom’s opinion: A great piece of technology for a kid that isn’t a video game or a phone. It seems to be very durable. The screen has amazing clarity and quality. Be aware that the Kindle has wireless capabilities and can connect directly to Amazon’s store (I’m sure other e-readers do the same thing). The Kindle has a feature where you can turn the wireless connection off. I think the Kindle was a good buy for our child.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

21 Jan

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

By Eric Carle

Originally published in 1969 by The World Publishing Company

Ages 1-5

The very hungry caterpillar is for pre-school kids and for kids learning to read. It is one of my sister’s books[][]. Learn what happens to this new-born, starving caterpillar. This is a great way for young children to learn about the life cycle of a caterpillar :). It has really good drawings in the story. It’s a great book for parents and kids to read together:o) [][] (o:!  

I give it 4 out of 5 book worms.

Percy Jackson and The Olympians – The Series

20 Jan

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES

By Rick Riordan

Ages 9+

Percy knew he was different than the other kids in his boarding school, he got expelled from a bunch of other schools and was hoping that this time would be different. One day he discovers his math teacher is a fury (a kind of monster), his best friend, Grover, is a satyr and Mr. Brunner (his Latin teacher) is a centaur named Chiron. Percy Jackson finds out he is a demigod also called a “half-blood” (his parents were a mortal and a god). Percy finds out that all the Greek mythology that he was learning about from Mr. Brunner was REAL and that satyrs, centaurs, half bloods, and even monsters live among us in the mortal world. It’s now up to Percy Jackson to stop Kronos ,the king of the titans, and all the monsters he controls, from destroying Olympus (the home of the gods), all the demigods and the mortal world.

Each of the 5 books in the series has an exciting new adventure. I think it’s better to start reading the series from book one (The lightning Thief), but you could also read any of the books by itself (I’ll also tell you a little about each book below). At first I was a little scared when Percy’s math teacher turned into the fury and attacked him, but I kept reading and found that many times when frightening things happen in the books Rick Riordan makes it not so scary by adding funny things that happen. I learned a lot about Greek mythology from the books and I wanted to learn even more so I checked out all sorts of books on Greek mythology from our school library. This series is one of my favorites and I would recommend the books!!

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS BOOK 1: THE LIGHTNING THIEF

By Rick Riordan

Published in 2006 (paperback) by Hyperion

375 pages – ages 9+

All in the same day 12-Year-old Percy Jackson discovers he is a demigod or “half-blood” which means he’s the son of a god and a mortal human, his best friend is a satyr, his Latin teacher is a centaur, his pre-algebra teacher is a monster and his mother is captured by a minotaur! Percy goes to camp Half-Blood, a camp for demigods to get training, where he finds out who his (god) father is and that Kronos, the king of the titans is awakening and is going to destroy the world. On top of that, all the gods won’t unite to fight Kronos because someone stole Zeus’ lightning bolt (that’s why the story is called the Lightning Thief) and they’re blaming it on Percy! So Percy, Grover (the satyr) and his new friend Annabeth (daughter of Athena) set out to bring the lightning bolt back to Zeus and save Percy’s mother.

This was a great book and I couldn’t wait to read the next book in the series after reading this one. I read the book in 2 days because I couldn’t put it down! Some parents may not like the book because there is some fighting in the book and a few scary parts, but I think it really was not too bad in that way.  My favorite character in the book was the camp counselor, Mr. D also known as Dionysus also known as “the wine dude”.

I give this book five out of five book worms!

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS BOOK 2: THE SEA OF MONSTERS

By Rick Riordan

Published in 2008 (paperback) by Hyperion

279 pages – ages 9+

Something bad  is happening at Camp Half-Blood. The magic that protects the camp isn’t working. Kronos’(the evil Titan king) minions poisoned the camp’s borders to weaken it so they can attack the camp and destroy it. The only thing that can heal the magic is the Golden Fleece that is on an island in the Sea of Monsters (the Bermuda Triangle) and is protected by Polyphemus (a giant Cyclops). Percy and his friends must travel to get the fleece and save camp Half-Blood.

This book was a good continuation of the first book. I really liked when Percy was playing dodge ball at his mortal school and it turned out he was playing against cannibal giants! My favorite characters in this book were the party ponies (centaurs that always were joking around).

I give this book five out of five book worms.

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS BOOK 3: THE TITAN’S CURSE

By Rick Riordan

Published in 2008 (paperback) by Hyperion

312 pages – ages 9+

Percy, Annabeth, Grover and their new friend Thalia race to bring two new Half-Bloods to camp before they are captured by monsters and brought to Kronos, the evil Titan king. But Kronos set a trap for the campers and they fall right into it! Annabeth gets kidnapped by Kronos and it’s up to the others to kick some monster butt to get her back.

This book had a lot of funny moments along with all of the action. Porkpie the  Pegasus and his friend Blackjack were two of my favorite characters in this book.

I give this book five out of five book worms!

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS BOOK 4: THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH

By Rick Riordan

Published in 2009 (paperback) by Hyperion

361 pages – ages 9+

Kronos, the evil Titan lord is getting stronger and his army found a way to penetrate the border of Camp Half-Blood. There is a secret entrance to the Labyrinth (the giant maze built by Daedalus for King Minos to hold the Minotaur) in Camp Half-Blood and that is how Kronos is going to attack. Percy and his friends have to go into the Labyrinth without getting lost and find Daedalus’ work shop to solve the puzzle of the Labyrinth and close the entrance in Camp Half-Blood.

This was my favorite book in the series. My favorite part in the book was the huge battle near the end when all the campers have to push back Kronos’ army. The most funny part of all the books happen in this book when Rachel Elizabeth Dare ( a mortal friend of the campers) stops Kronos in his path by chucking a plastic purple hairbrush at his eye…..imagine the King of the Titans being beaten by a plastic hairbrush thrown by a mortal girl!

I give this book six out of five (kidding!) five out of five book worms!

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS BOOK 5: THE LAST OLYMPIAN

By Rick Riordan

Published in 2010 (paperback) by Hyperion

416 pages – ages 9+

While all the gods of Olympus are out battling Typhon, a HUGE monster sent by Kronos to destroy Olympus and the gods……no one is at Olympus protecting it. While the gods are away Kronos is planning a sneak attack on Olympus. It is up to Percy and ALL the Campers to hold off the army until the gods get back.

This book has the best action in it with a HUGE battle right in the middle of New York City!! It was a great ending to the series (although I was sad for it to end).

I give this book five out of five book worms.

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