Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

Castle Hangnail needs a magical person to rule the castle and the minions or servants are getting desperate.  The board of magic is telling them they are running out of time. The minions are unique characters. There is a Minotaur, a hunchback, a steam kettle, a goldfish, and a stuffed creature who sews.  They need a master and 12 year old Molly who is a wicked witch shows up at their door. She doesn't seem to quite fit their expectations but they take her on.  Her magical powers, although not conventional, begin to win the castle minions over. Then a truly evil sorceress shows up to take over the duties. The minions are miserable because she is really hard to live with. They need to figure out how to keep Molly and overthrow the sorceress. 

This book has great illustrations and is truly written for the 4-6th grade student. It is longer and the reading level is 5.1. It would be perfect for advanced readers in the younger grades. It is more Disney like and not too scary. In fact, I kept thinking that I would probably enjoy this book as a movie. 

My reading experience was plodding. Fantasy isn't my favorite genre and so sometimes I have a hard time making a connection that keeps me totally focused. Or maybe since I have been so busy, I was just tired! That being said, this is a great book for elementary students who want a Harry Potter meets Disney experience.  I give it an OK rating or 2 out of 4.  But, I bet others will rate it higher. I think kids would like this book.  

• Age Range: 8 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 3 - 7
• Lexile Measure: 0730
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Dial Books (April 21, 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803741294
• ISBN-13: 978-0803741294

Wake Up Island by Mary Casanova

We welcomed Mary Casanova to our school a few weeks ago.  She is a Minnesota author from Northern Minnesota on Rainy Lake.  She writes picture books, middle grade books and Young Adult books as well.  It is nice to have an author visit who has books for all ages in an elementary school.

In preparation for her visit, I read Wake Up, Island to all of my students in the library media classes. It is her newest book which just came out March 2016.  It is really a poem about an island and animals waking up on a summer morning. She said she was inspired by an early morning canoe ride around an island in her pajamas and she wrote this poem to describe the beauty. It has gorgeous illustrations by a wood cut artist, name Nick Wroblewski from Wisconsin. It is his first picture book project.

As we read the story I found that there was lots to discuss. The younger kids learned lots of vocabulary such as shimmied, root (as in to dig), lichen, graze, plunge, and grubs. We also discussed all of the animals that are found in this book: mallards, deer, spiders, ravens, chickadees, heron, bear, squirrels, moose and our Minnesota bird--the loon.  The  loon page spread is my favorite woodcut of all!  The older students were able to pick out metaphors, onamonapia, personification, rhyme, and other figurative language.  We enjoyed the art and went to the illustrator's web page and watched his movie on how he creates a wood cut print.  The last thing we did is to imagine how we were going to spend a week on an island without using technology or electricity and describe what we would do. Swimming, fishing, tenting, making s'mores, hiking, canoeing and of course reading were some of the activities. It put us into summer mood for sure!

I highly recommend this quieter picture book for some fabulous literature lessons and as a read aloud for all grades.  This is the type of book that lends itself for lots of discussion.

I think this book would be a terrific nominee for the Minnesota Star of the North award and have recommended it to the committee.

Appleblossom the Possum by Holly Sloan

Appleblossom is a possum from the first litter of possums by a mama possum.  The first litter have names that start with "A" and the next litters go in alphabetical order.  This helps keep the organization of the possum family straight.  The new Mama possum allows her babies to pick their own name. The littlest possum takes a while to choose but ends up liking the name "Appleblossom". Mama possum teaches her family to take care of themselves and be on their own.  She also gives them acting lessons because one of their greatest abilities is to "play dead" for their own protection and survival.  After the mama leaves them on her own, Appleblossom and her siblings are on their own and slowly go their separate ways.  Appleblossom accidentally gets inside of a house where a little girl is determined to keep her as her own pet and the family dog is trying to track her down. The possum family comes to Appleblossom's rescue.  

This book is adorable and wonderful and heartwarming.  It is a perfect read aloud for younger students.  It is funny, and philosophical, and full of adventures.  I checked to see if there was an audible version and discovered that Dustin Hoffman is the narrator.  I imagine this book was fun to read aloud!  There are many illustrations throughout the book and the author's husband had that job.  I can just imagine what fun they had putting this book together and talking about their possum family. 

I highly recommend this book. I give it a 4 out of 4 and it is perfect for Division 1.  The reading level is 4.7.  

• Age Range: 8 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 3 - 7
• Lexile Measure: 0720 
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Dial Books (August 11, 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803741332
• ISBN-13: 978-0803741331

The Terrible Two by Jory John and Mac Barnett

Miles is famous for being a prankster in his previous school. In his new school he wants to establish the same reputation but discovers there is a competition with Niles, the boy who is his student helper showing him around the school.  Niles wants Miles to cooperate with him and become a team of pranksters but Miles doesn't consider it until his big prank is out pranked.  Miles and Nile become the terrible two.

This book is full of cartoon like illustrations and lots of humor and comedy.  The principal is a funny character who is often the target for many pranks.  He also has a son who is a classic bully that needs to be taken down. There is also a "cow" theme running throughout the story line. It seems the town is famous for cows.

This book is perfect for those kids who just can't get enough of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, & Captain Underpants.  I actually didn't mind this book.  It was silly and funny and had some creative plot twists. I rate it a 3 out of 4.  It is a great division 1 book.  The reading level is 4.5.  There are two books in this series and a third one coming out in 2017.

• Paperback
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc (2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419717782
• ISBN-13: 978-1419717789