Fiction Books

Flotsam (Caldecott Medal Book)

David Wiesner

Amazon Price: $11.56 List Price: $17.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Clarion Books Amazon Marketplace: 70 new & used starting at $7.89

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> Picture Books
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 84 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Book with no Words 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book for a 4 year old niece who loves to tell the story of a book, even if the book comes with a written story. She loves the ocean so this fits into her life experience just perfectly. Wonderful pictures.

Editorial Review:

A bright, science-minded boy goes to the beach equipped to collect and examine flotsam--anything floating that has been washed ashore. Bottles, lost toys, small objects of every description are among his usual finds. But there's no way he could have prepared for one particular discovery: a barnacle-encrusted underwater camera, with its own secrets to share . . . and to keep.

In each of his amazing picture books, David Wiesner has revealed the magical possibilities of some ordinary thing or happening--a frog on a lily pad, a trip to the Empire State Building, a well-known nursery tale. This time, a day at the beach is the springboard into a wildly imaginative exploration of the mysteries of the deep, and of the qualities that enable us to witness these wonders and delight in them.

The Magic School Bus Lost In The Solar System (Magic School Bus)

Joanna Cole

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $5.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Scholastic - Model: SB-0590414291 Amazon Marketplace: 207 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Features:

• Made with the Best Quality Material with your child in mind.
• Top Quality Children's Item.

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( C ) -> Cole, Joanna

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

great book! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

My 5yr old son is a huge fan of Magic School Bus series.
Especially, Solat system and human body are his favorite among them.
He memorizes the order of all the plantes in the Solar system. Draw pictures about it and make planets with playdough. Great book!

Magic school bus does it again! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

All the magic school bus books are fantastic. This one is no different.
It is great for learning about the solar system.

the magic school bus lost in space 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

the magic school bus get lost in space is a very good book read it all the time you will love it

Creative with lots of information 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is the first magic school bus book we got. It is written for 4-5 years and up to 3rd grade. I was expeting it to read easier, but got use to it and enjoyued it. There are lots of bubbles or boxes on each page. They all have very intersting tidbits & information, but is is hard to know what to read first. Good intro to the solar system, although they are drawings and no pictures. Also, note that Pluto is no longer classified as a planet as it says in the book!

Editorial Review:

The fieldtrip to the planetarium is foiled when the museum turns out to be closed, but Ms. Frizzle saves the day. The Magic School Bus turns into a spaceship and takes the class on a trip zooming through the atmosphere, to the Moon, and beyond! With up-to-date facts about the solar system, revised for this edition.

Science Fair

Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson

Amazon Price: $12.91 List Price: $18.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Disney Editions Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $11.09

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> Action & Adventure

Editorial Review:

Grdankl the Strong, president of Kprshtskan, is plotting to take over the American government. His plan is to infiltrate the science fair at Hubble Middle School, located in a Maryland suburb just outside Washington. The rich kids at Hubble cheat by buying their projects every year, and Grdankl's cronies should have no problem selling them his government-corrupting software. But this year, Toby Harbinger, a regular kid with Discount Warehouse shoes, is determined to win the $5,000 prize-even if he has to go up against terrorists to do it. With the help of his best friends, Tamara and Micah, Toby takes on Assistant Principal Paul Parmit, aka "The Armpit", a laser-eyed stuffed owl, and two eBay buyers named Darth and the Wookiee who seem to think that the Harrison-Ford-signed BlasTech DL-44 blaster Toby sold them is a counterfeit. What transpires is a hilarious adventure filled with mystery, suspense, and levitating frogs.

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born

Jamie Lee Curtis

Amazon Price: $11.55 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Joanna Cotler Amazon Marketplace: 82 new & used starting at $0.71

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Baby-3 -> Picture Books
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> Picture Books
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 81 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Spot-On Positive Vibes for Adopted Kids and their Parents 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Tell Me Again... is my favorite storybook about adoption. The little girl whose voice we hear is a happy and proud teller of her own adoption tale, and her parents' essences come through loud, clear and wonderfully human. The illustrations provide kids with zillions of fun things to detect, and everyone finishes the story with a smile on their face. My only complaint: I couldn't find it in hardback. Since this book will be read a hundred times you need a sturdy version.

Editorial Review:

Tell me again about the night I was born . . Tell me again how you would adopt me and be my parents... Tell me again about the first time you held me in your arms . .

In asking her mother and father to tell her again about the night of her birth, a young girl shows that it is a cherished tale she knows by heart.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell come together once again to create a unique celebration of the love and joy a baby brings into the world. Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born is a heartwarming story, not only of how one child is born but of how a family is born.

George's Secret Key to the Universe

Stephen Hawking, Lucy Hawking

Amazon Price: $12.23 List Price: $17.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $8.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> Action & Adventure

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Captivating 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

My 3.5 year old son is completely hooked on this fabulous book! We're plowing through it in just a few nights and he doesn't want it to end. I was floored when after the first night of my husband reading it to him he ran up to me excitedly the next morning and said "Mama, I know how stars are birthed, wanna hear about it?" And proceeded to give me a very sweet and stunningly accurate lecture on the topic!
I wish there were more books like this out there -- smart, not sassy and rude, fun loving, and adventurous!

Editorial Review:

Stephen Hawking, author of the multi-million copy bestselling A Brief History of Time, and his daughter Lucy explain the universe to readers of all ages. George's parents, who have always been wary of technology, warn him about their new neighbors: Eric is a scientist and his daughter, Annie, seems to be following in his footsteps. But when George befriends them and Cosmos, their super-computer, he finds himself on a wildly fun adventure, while learning about physics, time, and the universe. With Cosmos's help, he can travel to other planets and a black hole. But what would happen if the wrong people got their hands on Cosmos? George, Annie, and Eric aren't about to find out, and what ensues is a funny adventure that clearly explains the mysteries of science. Garry Parsons' energetic illustrations add humor and interest, and his scientific drawings add clarity; there are also eight 4-page full-color inserts of scientific photos.

The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body (Magic School Bus)

Joanna Cole

Amazon Price: $5.99 List Price: $5.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Scholastic - Model: SB-0590414275 Amazon Marketplace: 209 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( C ) -> Cole, Joanna

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

packed with information 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Ms. Frizzle is taking her class on a memorable field trip through the human body in this entertaining book featuring the beloved eccentric teacher and her curious class. My only complaint is that the pages are so busy with information that it's impossible to sit and really read the whole book, but perhaps it's best to let a child's curiosity guide you through a number of readings rather than trying to get everything in at one sitting. Concepts are expressed clearly and with humor. Justly popular with young students.

a great book out of a great series - a review by Eli (age 7) 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is really out of this world. I have been hooked on the magic school bus series. I can't wait to read more books in the series. The inside the human body book is full with very interesting facts and I learned so much from reading it. Arnold doesn't know where the bus is and is trying to find it. He doesn't even know that it is actually inside him. Then Arnold sneezes and finds the bus right next to him. He doesn't understand how he didn't see it before.

Editorial Review:

Arnold has swallowed the Magic School Bus! Now, instead of seeing an exhibit of the human body at a museum, the class is taking a look at Arnold's stomach, his intestines, his bloodstream, and more from the inside on this heart-stopping fieldtrip - one the reluctant Arnold would be happy to miss.

The Hundred Dresses

Eleanor Estes

Amazon Price: $7.00 List Price: $7.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Harcourt Paperbacks Amazon Marketplace: 88 new & used starting at $0.66

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( E ) -> Estes, Eleanor

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 101 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Disappointing 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book has a lot of build up surrounding the dresses... are they real, imaginary, did she make them, buy them, or inherit them? Teasing from the main character's peers made me as the reader wait in suspense to find out what the dresses really were and to look forward to the girl standing up for herself. When we finally find out about the dresses, however, I found it to be a bit anticlimactic with very little resolution to the issues of bullying, teasing, gossiping, and stereotyping. Not impressed by this apparent "classic."

Editorial Review:

Never out of print since its 1944 publication, this tender story offers readers of all ages a timeless message of compassion and understanding. At its heart is Wanda Petronski, an immigrant girl in an American school, who is ridiculed for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. When she tells her classmates that she has one hundred dresses at home, she unwittingly triggers a game of teasing that eventually ends in a lesson for all.

In restoring the reproduction of Louis Slobodkin's artwork, this new edition recaptures the original vivid color. And to celebrate the book's enhanced beauty, Helena Estes, the daughter of the author, has written a new letter to readers about the true story behind The Hundred Dresses.

Stink and the World's Worst Super-Stinky Sneakers (Book #3) (Stink)

Megan Mcdonald

Amazon Price: $4.99 List Price: $4.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Candlewick Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $1.66

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( M ) -> McDonald, Megan

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Stink is as happy as a pig in slop. 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Stink is as happy as a pig in slop. He and his friends, Webster and Sophie, are on a class field trip at the science museum --- and the exhibit is called "Gross-Me-Out: The Wonderful World of Smelly Stuff." Stink starts with the giant nose, where he gets to gawk at enormous nose hairs and learn how boogers are made. He loves it!

But when Stink's teacher, Mrs. D., dares him to experience the "Everybody Stinks" exhibit, he has to summon up his courage. After all, no one else will even go near it. One whiff of the B.O. scent almost does him in, but he recovers long enough to sniff more smelly odors, including dirt, rotten eggs, skunk scent and perfume. It appears that Stink has a real talent for smelling. He can smell better than anyone else in his class. In addition, he learns tons of smelly facts.

At lunch, the kids read flyers about a stinky sneaker contest the museum is putting on. Naturally, Stink must enter. Others are interested as well, so he'll have plenty of competition.

At home, Stink demonstrates The Nose and even impresses his big sister, Judy Moody. Stink is confident that his Nose will make him famous someday. When he researches the science of smelling, he finds information about the corpse flower, the world's stinkiest blossom, rumored to smell worse than outhouses, dead elephants and rotten fish.

Stink is inspired to create some terribly stinky perfume and sets up a Franken-stink lab. He and Sophie work up a recipe (including toilet water, dead-flower water, pickle juice and more), but he's distracted when Sophie tells him she's planning to compete in the stinky sneaker contest. Stink is determined to win.

He's positive that his reeking old sneakers have a great chance to win the competition. But his plan is foiled when Judy deodorizes them with sweetly fragrant powder. What is he going to do? He can't pour anything (like his stinky perfume) in them since the rules say the shoes must stink from being worn. Can his entry be saved?

In a startling turn of events, Stink saves the day when misfortune strikes the contest. He also gets to meet a professional smeller who has actually sniffed a corpse flower. It all makes for a happy (or at least smelly) ending.

This is another enjoyable book in the Stink series, sure to appeal to young readers (especially to boys who are enthralled with the grosser aspects of life). As always, author Megan McDonald manages to tickle readers' funny bones, slip in a little subtle education and tell a good story.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon

Editorial Review:

"Stink is a delightful protagonist, and McDonald cleverly imparts information on smells. . . . A funny book for almost any collection." — SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

When Stink Moody’s second-grade class goes on a field trip to the Gross-Me-Out exhibit at the science museum, he learns that his very own nose has amazing sniffing abilities — and that some people have real jobs sniffing stuff for NASA! Soon Stink is engrossed in toilet water, corpse flowers, and all things smelly. But is his fetid footwear foul enough to win a Golden Clothespin Award? Loyal fans will be holding their breath for Stink’s latest outrageous solo adventure.

InterWorld

Neil Gaiman, Michael Reaves

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $6.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Eos Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $3.22

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( G ) -> Gaiman, Neil

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not just for kids... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I wasn't aware that this was a "young adult" book until I received it. No problem, since, as always, Neil Gaiman delights with clever story-telling and memorable characters. It is, perhaps, a somewhat quicker read due to being geared toward a younger, somewhat more distractable audience, but certainly not a disappointment by any means, and I would love to see futher adventures of the young Joey in his parallel worlds.

Editorial Review:

An astounding tale of adventure, danger, magic, science, friendship, spaceships, and, oh yeah, the battle to save all the people in all the worlds in all possible dimensions.

Joey Harker isn't a hero.

In fact, he's the kind of guy who gets lost in his own house.

But one day, Joey gets really lost. He walks straight out of his world and into another dimension.

Joey's walk between worlds makes him prey to armies of magic and science, both determined to harness Joey's power to travel between the dimensions. The only thing standing in their way is Joey—or, more precisely, an army of Joeys, all from different dimensions and all determined to save the worlds.

Now Joey must make a choice: return to the life he knows or join the battle to the end.

The House of the Scorpion

Nancy Farmer

Amazon Price: $9.99 List Price: $9.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon Pulse Amazon Marketplace: 128 new & used starting at $1.04

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> Action & Adventure
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror -> Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Science, Nature & How It Works -> Fiction

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 312 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A nice break from heavy 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This was a nice one, a fast, easy, interesting read that I got to after reading a few heavy, slow-moving books. When it's taken me a week to read each of the last two books, I really need a one-day read as a pick-me-up, and that's what this was. The House of the Scorpion is a very interesting little dystopia: the drug lords of Mexico, led by one Matteo Alacran, managed to swing a deal with the US and Mexico whereby they were given the area around the border between the two countries as their own sovereign territory; in exchange, they agreed to stop completely the flow of illegal immigrants, and also promised not to sell their drugs in either nation, but go to Europe, Asia, and Africa with their product. So now, 100 years later, Matteo Alacran is still alive, owing to the fact that he keeps growing new clones of himself in order to harvest their organs. He's not unique in this, the other drug lords do the same, but what is unique is that Alacran allows his clones to retain their minds, to learn and experience life until he needs to cut them open and take their still-beating heart, so to speak. The novel is the story of the last of these clones, who goes by Matt.

The author does a nice job of portraying life as the complete outsider. She also created excellent characters for El Patron, who is the original Alacran, and Tam Lin, the IRA terrorist-cum-bodyguard who befriends little Matt. It's a nice little idea that Alacran gets his security personnel from other countries, since, as he tells Matt, that means it's harder for them to plot against him; his most recent hiring was a group of English soccer hooligans. There's also a nice idea of how the country turns the captured illegal immigrants into mindless slaves to work the fields, and I love the depiction of the Alacran family and its infighting and scandal and hatred of themselves and pretty much everyone else.

The problem, if there was any, was in the last part of the book; it's a nice little chapter in the story and it has a good resolution, but the only problem with it is that it has no connection to the rest of the book: the last section is about Communist oppression and government corruption, and the first parts of the book are not. It disappoints because the themes in the first section are so strong, so immediate -- drug cartels, illegal immigrants, cloning; it is about what makes one a human being, what makes people into a family, and also gets deep into the purpose of a nation and a government. These were all explored, all fascinating, all done with an adept touch as the book never got too profound or preachy -- and then they were all abandoned as the setting shifts. I suppose we could see the last section as offering an alternative to the nation of Opium, and trying to show that every nation has its problems, but that is rather a different idea, and not one that connects well with the other main points.

Despite my henpecking, however, the ending of the book was fine, and the first three-quarters of the book were excellent. This is a great recommendation -- especially for boys who aren't big readers, as it was recommended to me by one such. It's science fiction and action, but both are thoughtful, and neither is overwhelming.

Editorial Review:

MATTEO ALACRáN WAS NOT BORN; HE WAS HARVESTED.

His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium -- a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster -- except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.

As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.