Mr. Pudgins
10 best books like Mr. Pudgins (Ruth Christoffer Carlsen): A Room Made of Windows, Saturday, the Twelfth of October, Striped Ice Cream, Twin Spell, Time at the Top, Happy Little Family, The Ghost of Dibble Hollow, She Was Nice To Mice: The Other Side of Elizabeth I's Character Never Before Revealed by Previous Historians, Edward Eager's Tales of Magic, Betsy's Little Star
| Author | Eleanor Cameron |
| ISBN | 0316125237 |
It's a remarkable sensation to go back to a book that meant a lot to you as a child and wonder if the story and characters helped shape you in some way, or if you were already that way and it simply resonated with who you were then. I'm not sure which it was, but I know I read this several times, and as many of the...
| Author | Norma Fox Mazer |
| ISBN | 0440995922 |
This was one of my favorite books as a kid. Was thrilled to discover it is still a good book when I read it as an adult. Zan, the protagonist, is transported back in time to a (presumed) prehistoric tribe. Zan's time with these people is a well written comming of age story. We never do learn who exactly the tribe...
| Author | Joan M. Lexau |
| ISBN | 0397310471 |
Becky's hard-working mama and four older brothers and sisters try to surprise her on her eighth birthday. ‘An exceedingly warm and satisfying story of a [African-American] city family that is true to childhood.' 'NYT.
"Mama --" Becky said and waited. "My birthday's coming pretty soon....
| Author | Janet Lunn |
| ISBN | 0440491770 |
Twin girls are drawn to an antique doll, and find themselves sucked into a mystery from the past. It's spooky, but not terrifying; just the right chill-factor for the intended age group. The book is a little slow-moving by today's standards. Still, the story is interesting, and the characters well drawn....
| Author | Edward Ormondroyd |
| ISBN | 1930900198 |
It's strange enough when Susan Shaw disappears without a trace on a wintry March afternoon. It's stranger still when her uninformative note is found in the hallway of her apartment building, along with a black cat that no one has seen before. And it's strangest of all when she suddenly appears again,...
| Author | Rebecca Caudill |
| ISBN | 1883937728 |
It is a good thing that mothers understand what no one else seems to when you are the youngest child in the family, and are finally four years old. Bonnie is more than ready to join her older sisters and brother in the many adventures she sees come their way, whether it be sliding along the ice, searching for...
| Author | May Nickerson Wallace |
Out of the graveyard comes a ghost--the ghost of ten-year-old Miles Dibble. "I've been waiting a long time for you to come to Dibble Hollow, Cousin," he tells Pug. "Now you must help me find that lost money."
From that moment on the ghostly Miles leads Pug from one spooky adventure to another.
All...
| Author | Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy |
| ISBN | 0070565155 |
Written by the actress Ally Sheedy (well, Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy) when she only twelve years old. It's been on my shelf for a zillion years, and I finally cracked it open.
It tells the story of a mouse who resides in the court of Elizabeth I and keeps a diary of her observations. There is a framing...
| Author | Edward Eager |
| ISBN | 0439325471 |
Have been reading this set to little kids all year (2013/2014). They have loved them. Quite long chapters, we read approx. one chp. per day, and even the smallest one makes sure he stays within earshot.
Stars reflect how much my kids love love love them, not necessarily how wonderful I think they...
| Author | Carolyn Haywood |
| ISBN | 0440401720 |
More than anything, Star wants to go to school - but she's not old enough. Every morning she watches her big sister Betsy, and all her friends, walk to school, and wishes she could go with them. But Star can't stay sad. She's too busy having adventures! One day she does go to school - in a milk truck! On Halloween,...
| Author | Sue Stauffacher |
| ISBN | 0440419344 |
Franklin Delano Donuthead is a fifth grader with a lot of problems: For starters, his last name is Donuthead. He considers himself handicapped because one arm and leg are shorter than the other (by less than half an inch), his mother is trying to poison him with non-organic foods (like salami), he doesn’t...
Wace (1115 – 1183) was an Anglo-Norman poet. The introduction to this work by Eugene Mason gives an excellent account of Wace and the background behind this historical work. Wace begins his history of the Britons as follows. “Constantine came to Totnes, and many a stout knight with him—there...
| Author | Ruth Chew |
| ISBN | 0590098403 |
This may be the first Ruth Chew book I ever read. I think I got it some time between 2nd and 4th grade from one of those grade school book order sheets that were given out at my school from time to time.
My sister and I were both mildly obsessed with the witch books Ruth Chew wrote, me first because I was...
Julia Gillian And the Quest for Joy
| Author | Alison McGhee |
| ISBN | 0545033500 |
Where is the joy? Julia Gillian is sure to find it! This is the second story in an extraordinary series by a New York Times bestselling author.
So far, fifth grade at Lake Harriet Elementary School is not exactly a thing of joy. Julia Gillian's best friend, Bonwit Keller, is keeping a secret from...
| Author | Peggy Parish |
| ISBN | 0440444381 |
Each summer Lisa, Bill, and Jed visit their grandparents, and they hear the story of the sketches hung above the mantel. The sketches are clues to a hidden treasure, and no one has been able to figure them out for a century. There is a missing first clue, but when the children stumble upon the second clue,...
| Author | Charlotte Zolotow |
| ISBN | 0064432173 |
I liked this story quite a bit. I thought the illustrations were quite charming, although the style is quite old and may not be as appealing to readers today.
The story was sweet - a protective older sibling cares for her younger sister, doing her best to take care of her. The younger sister desires...
| Author | L. Frank Baum |
| ISBN | 1421933268 |
This is not one of L. Frank Baum’s best known works, and it probably should not be compared to the Wizard of Oz. Yet it is well worth the read, even if it is just to see what a great thinker predicted, in 1901, would be the most important electrical inventions of the following century. If you’re wanting...
