Talk about the kidlit you're reading!

DSA

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Just finished Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze by Alan Silberberg. It tackles a difficult subject (death of mom) in what deceptively appears to be a lighthearted way. My middle grade book club members were unanimous in liking it--unusual for us.
 

Morrell

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I just bought 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison. I have to admit, the cover sold me. It looks magical. I'm taking it on vacation. And it says "Do you believe in fairies?" Why yes, I do. I really want to write a fairy novel. I can't believe my first novel isn't about fairies.

I read it not long ago. I'll be interested to hear your opinion.
 

t0dd

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I just finished reading "The Invisible Order Book One" by Paul Crilley and enjoyed it a lot. Crilley really knows how to make fairies feel creepy. And the ending made me eager for the next book.
 

sissybaby

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I haven't read 13 Treasures, but I did read the 13 Curses. I thought it was okay, but didn't realize it was part of a series until I was in it a ways. That's what I get for not paying more attention.
 

Kelkelen

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I'm living abroad right now, so due to travelling light, I'm not in possession of many children's books -- I own a ton, but they're back in Pennsylvania. The up side is that this means I read and re-read what I do have with me, and it's *great* as an author; I can start to see how the books fit together, what makes them compelling, how the clues are dropped in bits and pieces, and so on.

I'm a big Diana Wynne Jones fan. When she died, I bought 5 of her books, 4 of which I'd never read. So, between the "grown-up" books I'm reading, I've also read A Tale of Time City, The Merlin Conspiracy, and Dogsbody, and RE-read Black Maria, The Time of the Ghost, and Howl's Moving Castle (well, that last one, I've re-read more times than I can count!). I also went through A Tale of Time City and wrote a huge outline of it, trying to see how one of Jones' complicated plots all fell into place by the end. I was *amazed* to see how smoothly everything was woven into the story, all from the very beginning!

It does rather make me despair of ever writing anything half so good, though!
 

Kelkelen

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and i just read The Enchanted Castle for the first time - how am i just discovering Edith Nesbit at age 34????

I still need to read that one! My dad loves it -- still remembers it as the first book he ever took out of the library. I only got a short way into it, several years ago, but I HAVE to read the rest. I love E. Nesbit's Book of Dragons. It's the best dragon short story collection ever; I'm especially fond of "The Dragon-Tamers." Also, Five Children and It!
 

timp67

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I'm reading The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell and loving it.
 

Kitty Pryde

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Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. Do read!! It's much stronger than The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It's really thick but a super fast read with a bunch of illustrations. Really great story about a deaf boy searching for his family. Got a very queer vibe from this book, but I'm not sure a kid would pick up on it...Anyway, I predict it will do really well IF the intended audience is willing to pick up such a fat book!
 

sissybaby

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I just finished The Smoky Corridor by Chris Grabenstein - what a gross, but entertaining book. Some of it was really over the top, but I think young boys would really like it.
 

Kitty Pryde

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Free Kindle books? All the Oz books, 2 Peter Pan books, Jungle Book, Oscar Wilde short stories, 2 Alice in Wonderland books, Wind in the Willows, and a bunch of E Nesbit books. And the Lang fairy books. And Grimm's fairy tales.
 

MJWare

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Free Kindle books? All the Oz books, 2 Peter Pan books, Jungle Book, Oscar Wilde short stories, 2 Alice in Wonderland books, Wind in the Willows, and a bunch of E Nesbit books. And the Lang fairy books. And Grimm's fairy tales.

I didn't realize Wind in the Willows was a free ebook. Speaking of classics, you can get most of the Poe stories for free--now he'll get you ready for Halloween!
 

sissybaby

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So is there a source to find free books for the Nook Color? Mine is sadly lacking in downloads at the moment.

I really wish there were more free picture books available - especially the ones that will read the story - because I'm going to be traveling with my 2 yo granddaughter and I need entertainment ideas for the car.
 

MsJudy

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So is there a source to find free books for the Nook Color? Mine is sadly lacking in downloads at the moment.

Barnes and Noble does have some free specials and $1.99 specials every month. Last month the special was The Name of This Book is a Secret by Bosch, so they do some MG/kids stuff. (Most of the free/cheap stuff is romance, though. Bleah.)
 

sissybaby

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Thanks, Judy - yeah, usually I don't get through the list because none of it appeals to me. Guess I'll have to be more patient.
 

Morrell

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Finally getting around to Fablehaven. Sibling rivalry aside, I can't figure out why a girl would have her brother/only companion for the summer taste milk she believes to be contaminated. He shares her room! Does she really want him to get sick? Also, it doesn't make me like her very much. And the boy is a little jerk. But, overall, the story appears promising.
 

timp67

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I didn't like how the grandparents had to die in order to get them there, RuthD. But so much of the magic stuff that happens later is awesome! My biggest problem came much later in the book. Can't mention it now! :)
 

Kitty Pryde

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Just finished a portal fantasy which was ok, but the ending rubbed me the wrong way. The sidekick decided to stay in fantasyland instead of returning to his non-tragic life with mom, dad, and two little sisters. So they all think he's dead, because he decided he was having more fun over there. Gah! They even showed them mourning in the epilogue. Do not like!!! Everyone knows you only stay in Fantasyland if your family is evil and abusive!
 

t0dd

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Everyone knows you only stay in Fantasyland if your family is evil and abusive!

Which could describe the families of a lot of protagonists in children's fantasies these days, from Harry Potter on down.

But I agree with you - though there is one other exception I've found, in L. Frank Baum's Oz series. When Baum decided to end the series so that he could write other stories, he had Dorothy brought to Oz permanently in "The Emerald City of Oz" - but had her bring Uncle Henry and Aunt Em with her. (Uncle Henry had taken a loan from the bank to rebuild the farm after the damage caused by the tornado that carried Dorothy and Toto off to Oz in the first book, but hadn't been able to pay it back because of a succession of poor harvests. The bank finally foreclosed on the farm, and Dorothy got in touch with her friends in Oz, who transported her, Toto, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to Oz where they could settle down happily ever after - though, needless to say, it was a bit of a shock for Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to discover that their niece's stories about a living scarecrow, a tin woodman, and a talking lion were true!)
 

Morrell

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Fablehaven

Finished Fablehaven. I liked it okay. I'll read the next one to see how it compares. It had some good moments, but I didn't LOOOOVE it. '

Spoilers ahead, beware!!!!!

The character development could be a lot stronger. The obligatory sibling bickering gets repetitive. On Midsummer Night, they bicker for SIX pages before anything happens, and most of Kendra's comments are some variation on, "Seth, get back in bed!" Kendra is always the voice of caution--a pretty boring role. She's kind of a nothing character, except when she feeds Seth toxic milk (!) As for Seth, he's too much a caricature--always the devil-may-care, impulsive little snot. I couldn't believe the part where he gets mouthy with Muriel (when he thinks she's just a homeless old woman). As Jessica Lada says in her review, it's "a fantasy version of Goofus and Gallant".

Good description of the fantasy elements--but wouldn't it have been amazing if description were interwoven with the action instead of a block of telling inserted at the beginning of each scene?

I did kind of like Grandma being the chicken, and having Seth save her was cool. But ... keeping a chicken in your room? ... eww...

And speaking of disgusting, how about when Kendra stabs the giant cow in the udder?

Kendra does manage to save everyone in the end, but she does it by begging the fairy queen for help, and then ... yeah, the cow thing. It just seems like a really weird way for a character to come into her own. Then, during the battle scene, she's basically a passive observer, along for the ride. Neither she nor Seth are active participants in making things right.

As for everything being restored to normal and/or improved by the brownies... well, how convenient! By the time Mom and Dad return, nothing seems amiss. Isn't that a little too easy?

I'm being very critical. It's a great premise, and I know this was the first (and was a debut novel). And it's very popular with kids. Maybe it's just me being hard to impress. ;)

I'd like to hear others' opinions. Timp, what was your objection?
 

timp67

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The giant cow and the udder! Haha, you couldn't miss it. IT WAS A GIANT COW. My eyeballs practically fell out, they rolled so hard at that. But the book was a colossal smash, so there are plenty of giant cow lovers out there. :)
 

t0dd

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Just finished a portal fantasy which was ok, but the ending rubbed me the wrong way. The sidekick decided to stay in fantasyland instead of returning to his non-tragic life with mom, dad, and two little sisters. So they all think he's dead, because he decided he was having more fun over there. Gah! They even showed them mourning in the epilogue. Do not like!!! Everyone knows you only stay in Fantasyland if your family is evil and abusive!

I can guess which book that was, incidentally; at least, I finished reading the book that I suspect you're talking about this afternoon. (I'd name it, but I'm afraid that if I identified it, I'd spoil the ending for anyone else here; I assume that's why you didn't mention the name.)

It had talking animals in it, which gave me some hope. I've been pitching a children's fantasy to agents for a couple of years now; got around 40 refusals. One of the major characters in it was a talking squirrel (a confidant to the MC - who's a human boy, though), and since I've learned here that talking animals are out of fashion at present, I've suspected that this might be a major reason for the refusals. But since this book got published, maybe talking animals are starting to creep back into popularity. That would mean new hope for my own book.

And I considered the sidekick a bit annoying even before he decided to abandon his family (I saw him that way once he insisted on accompanying the MC on her quest near the beginning and turned into a liability).