The Read-Aloud Family (Ages 8-12)

Author

Maryrose Wood

For fans of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events and Trenton Lee Stewart's Mysterious Benedict Society, here comes the fifth book in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, the acclaimed and hilarious Victorian mystery series by Maryrose Wood.Lord Fredrick Ashton may not feel ready...

Author	Maryrose Wood
ISBN	0061791199

Since returning from London, the three Incorrigible children and their plucky governess, Miss Penelope Lumley, have been exceedingly busy. Despite their wolfish upbringing, the children have taken up bird watching, with no unfortunate consequences--yet. And a perplexing gift raises hard questions...

Author	Sarah Mackenzie
ISBN	0310350328

Connecting deeply with our kids can be difficult in our busy, technology-driven lives. Reading aloud offers us a chance to be fully present with our children. It also increases our kids’ academic success, inspires compassion, and fortifies them with the inner strength they need to face life’s...

Author	N.D. Wilson
ISBN	0375838813

Twelve-year-old Henry York is going to sleep one night when he hears a bump on the attic wall above his head. It's an unfamiliar house—Henry is staying with his aunt, uncle, and three cousins—so he tries to ignore it. But the next night he wakes up with bits of plaster in his hair. Two knobs have broken...

Author	Caroline Starr Rose
ISBN	0399168109

It’s 1587 and twelve-year-old Alis has made the long journey with her parents from England to help settle the New World, the land christened Virginia in honor of the Queen. And Alis couldn’t be happier. While the streets of London were crowded and dirty, this new land, with its trees and birds and...

Author	Carol Ryrie Brink
ISBN	1416940286

Caddie Woodlawn is a real adventurer. She'd rather hunt than sew and plow than bake, and tries to beat her brother's dares every chance she gets. Caddie is friends with Indians, who scare most of the neighbors -- neighbors who, like her mother and sisters, don't understand her at all. Caddie is brave,...

Author	Roald Dahl
ISBN	0142403881

Tonight I just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate factory with my son. This is the first chapter book I've read all the way through with him. And it was a ton of fun.

First off, I'll admit that I love the movie. I grew up with it. (I'm talking about the Gene Wilder version, of course.)I'll...

Author	Laura Martin
ISBN	0062416227

Jurassic World meets Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in this epic new middle grade series full of heart-pounding action and breathtaking chills! "Amazing adventures!" raves Brightly.com as they recommend Edge of Extinction as a 2016 Holiday Gift for Tween Readers. 

One hundred and fifty...

Author	S.D. Smith
ISBN	0996436804

The stage is set. It's war. Morbin Blackhawk, slaver and tyrant, threatens to destroy the rabbit resistance forever. Heather and Picket are two young rabbits improbably thrust into pivotal roles.
The fragile alliance forged around the young heir seems certain to fail. Can Heather and Picket...

Author	S.D. Smith
ISBN	0999655329

*zips lips against spoilers* *realizes I won’t be able to speak at all* *unzips lips*

I’ll just have to try to keep the spoilers out because OH MY WORD I went into this blind and was repeatedly gobsmacked by the twists and turns and reveals. O.o. :D

The first 60% of the book was sooo...

Author	Brian Floca
ISBN	1416994157

I see why people love Floca's book. The illustrations of the trains are terrific. As far as train-technology goes, it is way-cool. However, in 2013, couldn't it have been made more inclusive?

The Chinese laborers, for example, are shown in illustrations twice, but never mentioned in the part...

Author	E. Nesbit
ISBN	0140367357

I read Five Children and It with the Women’s Classic Literature Enthusiasts group and enjoyed it immensely. If you like Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and its series' mates by Betty MacDonald, you will like Five Children and It. The ideal child reader of this book is between second and fifth grade, with a fondness...

Author	Elizabeth Enright
ISBN	0152022724

Summer has a magic all its own.

When Portia sets out for a visit with her cousin Julian, she expects fun and adventure, but of the usual kind: exploring in the woods near Julian's house, collecting stones and bugs, playing games throughout the long, lazy days.

But this summer is different.

On...

Author	Edward Eager
ISBN	0152020683

Would you believe I grew up in Toledo, Ohio and never noticed while reading and re-reading this that it was set in my hometown? It's true. I don't know if I just figured ALL books were set there, and that's why the street names were so familiar or if I was just extraordinarily clueless. I figured it out finally...

Author	Johanna Spyri
ISBN	0753454947

Heidi, a Swiss book originally published in German in 1881, was one of those books I grew up with: my mother had a simplified, abridged version of it that I read many times and loved as a child. When I realized the GR group "Catching up on the Classics" was doing it as a group read, I jumped in, excited for the...

Author	Andrea Davis Pinkney
ISBN	0425287688

A celebration of the extraordinary life of Ezra Jack Keats, creator of The Snowy Day.

The story of The Snowy Day begins more than one hundred years ago, when Ezra Jack Keats was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. The family were struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats’s obvious talent, his...

Author	Beverly Cleary
ISBN	0688213855

In the first novel from Newbery Award-winning author Beverly Cleary, boys and girls alike will instantly be charmed by an average boy whose life is turned upside down when he meets a lovable puppy with a nose for mischief.

Just as Henry Huggins is complaining that nothing exciting ever happens,...

Author	Maryrose Wood
ISBN	0061791121

Thanks to their plucky governess, Miss Penelope Lumley, Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia are much more like children than wolf cubs now. They are accustomed to wearing clothes. They hardly ever howl at the moon. And for the most part, they resist the urge to chase squirrels up trees.

Yet...

Author	Maryrose Wood
ISBN	0061791229

For fans of Lemony Snicket s Series of Unfortunate Events and Trenton Lee Stewart s Mysterious Benedict Society comes the fourth book in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, the acclaimed and hilarious Victorian mystery series by Maryrose Wood.

In The Interrupted Tale, Miss Penelope...

Author	Esther Forbes
ISBN	0440442508

Probably the greatest book ever written, by both man and child, woman and other writing entity, Johnny Tremain tells the story of a young genius who becomes a silversmith and burns the crappin' hell out of his hand. He's always embarrassed by his sort of melty hand and keeps it in his pockets or in his mother's...

Author

Edward Eager

Great fun, just like the first in the series! And if you’re a fan of knights, castles, and medieval-type adventures, you might like it even better!

Like Half Magic, this is a magical adventure story featuring four kids. Like Half Magic, the kids aren’t quite in control of the magic, so it...

Author	Douglas Kaine McKelvey
ISBN	0998311227

Without Mama, life in the log house at the forest's edge can be lonely for a little girl. But there's Papa for company, and the two mules, Bartholomew and Thaddeus Frisco, and the big old dog that mysteriously showed up at the end of winter. Everything about her little homestead seems sheltering and secure--that...

Author	Pam Muñoz Ryan
ISBN	0439269709

Neftali finds beauty and wonder everywhere: in the oily colors of mud puddles; a lost glove, sailing on the wind; the music of birds and language. He loves to collect treasures, daydream, and write--pastimes his authoritarian father thinks are for fools. Against all odds, Neftali prevails against...

Author	Elsie Egermeier
ISBN	0871620065

Egermeier's Bible Story Book has sold nearly three million copies and continues to be America's favorite Bible story book. It has 312 stories that cover the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Younger children will sit spellbound as you read these stories to them. Older children who read for themselves...

Author	Brandon Mull
ISBN	1590385810

For centuries mystical creatures of all description were gathered into a hidden refuge called Fablehaven to prevent their extinction. The sanctuary survives today as one of the last strongholds of true magic. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually, quite the opposite.

Kendra...

Author	Natalie Savage Carlson
ISBN	0064402509

This is the delightfully warm and enjoyable story of an old Parisian named Armand, who relished his solitary life. Children, he said, were like starlings, and one was better off without them.
But the children who lived under the bridge recognized a true friend when they met one, even if the friend...

Author	Lindsay Mattick
ISBN	0316324906

Before there was Winnie-the-Pooh, there was a real bear named Winnie. In 1914, during World War I, Captain Harry Colebourn, a Canadian veterinarian on his way to serve with cavalry units in Europe, rescued a bear cub in White River, Ontario. He named the bear Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg,...

Author	Andrew Clements
ISBN	0689818769

From bestselling and award-winning author Andrew Clements, a quirky, imaginative tale about creative thought and the power of words that will have readers inventing their own words.

Is Nick Allen a troublemaker? He really just likes to liven things up at school -- and he's always had plenty...

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	Edward Eager
ISBN	0152020772

oh, Edward Eager, you really seem like a swell guy. a family man but not one of those mawkish mewling types who always seem to be about to burst into tears when they talk about their fam. you get kids and you don't bring a lot of sentimentality to the table either; you capture the cheerfulness & the mood...

Author	Edward Eager
ISBN	0152511601

The magic begins when Laura and her family--brothers James, baby Deborah, and her parents--move to a country house in Connecticut. There is a well in the yard, and Laura is the kind of girl who believes in making wishes.

Her first wish comes true, and this sets off a round of adventures for Laura,...

Author	P.L. Travers
ISBN	0152058109

By P.L. Travers, the author featured in the major motion picture, Saving Mr. Banks. From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed.

It all starts when Mary Poppins is blown by the east wind onto the doorstep...

Author	Eleanor Estes
ISBN	0152025413

The Moffats, who live in the same town as the owners of Ginger Pye, are a close-knit family of four children and a hard-working seamstress mother, whose bust "Madame" occupies a central position in the family's little brown house. Although the children are essentially good-hearted, they get into an...

Author

Brian Floca

Simply told, grandly shown, here is the flight of Apollo 11. Here for a new generation of readers and explorers are the steady astronauts, clicking themselves into gloves and helmets, strapping themselves into sideways seats. Here are their great machines in all their detail and monumentality, the...

Author	Robert C. O'Brien
ISBN	0689862202

Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with four small children, must move her family to their summer quarters immediately, or face almost certain death. But her youngest son, Timothy, lies ill with pneumonia and must not be moved. Fortunately, she encounters the rats of NIMH, an extraordinary breed of highly...

Author	Maryrose Wood
ISBN	0061791059

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place are no ordinary children, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess, and mysteries abound in this first volume in a new series for ages 9+.

Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander,...

Author	Avi
ISBN	0689837186

At the very edge of Dimwood Forest stood an old charred oak where, silhouetted by the moon, a great horned owl sat waiting. The owl's name was Mr. Ocax, and he looked like death himself. With his piercing gaze, he surveyed the lands he called his own, watching for the creatures he considered his subjects....

Author

Melissa Wiley

In this “delightful mash-up of Little House on the Prairie and The Spiderwick Chronicles” (SLJ), experience life on the prairie—with one fantastical twist!

Louisa Brody’s life on the Colorado prairie is not at all what she expected. Her dear Pa, accused of thievery, is locked thirty...

Author	Beverly Cleary
ISBN	0192750976

This is the second title in the hugely popular series about Ramona Quimby. Ramona doesn't think she's a pest - she knows that she isn't a pest on purpose. So how in the world does Ramona get in trouble? Why does Davy run away whenever Ramona comes near him? And how does she manage to disrupt the whole kindergarten...

Author	Elizabeth Enright
ISBN	0152022635

A wish come true. That's what Portia thinks when her parents buy Villa Caprice, a tumbledown Victorian house along the swampy edge of Gone-Away Lake. A new house is always full of surprises, but Porcia is completely unprepared for the extraordinary things that happen when her family moves into a new...

Author	Jennifer Trafton
ISBN	0803733755

Ten-year-old Persimmony Smudge leads (much to her chagrin) a very dull life on the Island at the Center of Everything . . . until the night she overhears a life-changing secret. It seems that Mount Majestic, the rising and falling mountain in the center of the island, is not a mountain at all-it's the belly...

Author	Jonathan Rogers
ISBN	0805431322

As book two opens, Aidan is living in the court of King Darrow. He has become best friends with Darrow's son Steren, and he enjoys great favor among the courtiers. But King Darrow's suspicion is growing and his insecurity causes him to hate the young man who saved his kingdom. Concerned about his king's...

Author	Avi
ISBN	0152046992

More than anything, Ida Bidson wants to become a teacher. To do that, she must finish eighth grade, then go on to high school. But her dream falters when the one-room school in her remote Colorado town shuts down. Her only hope is to keep the school open without anyone finding out. Yet even a secret school...

Author	Edward Eager
ISBN	0152020799

Of all the Edward Eager books, this is probably the one I know least well, the one I don't think I first sat down and read until I was an adult - which means, unfortunately, that it missed out on that golden period where I devoured books as a child, reread them ad nauseam, and now carry them forever with me.

Note:...

Author	Grace Lin
ISBN	0316215538

The moon is missing from the remote Village of Clear Sky, but only a young boy named Rendi seems to notice! Rendi has run away from home and is now working as a chore boy at the village inn. He can't help but notice the village's peculiar inhabitants and their problems-where has the innkeeper's son gone?...

Author	E.B. White
ISBN	0064400565

A paperback edition of E.B. White's classic novel about one small mouse on a very big adventure! With black and white illustrations.

Stuart Little is no ordinary mouse. Born to a family of humans, he lives in New York City with his parents, his older brother George, and Snowbell the cat. Though...

Author	Stephanie S. Tolan
ISBN	0064410447

Will anyone take on Jake Semple?

Jake Semple is notorious. Rumor has it he burned down his old school and got kicked out of every school in his home state.

Only one place will take him now, and that's a home school run by the Applewhites, a chaotic and hilarious family of artists. The only...

Author

Arthur Ransome

Read as part of The Infinite Variety Reading Challenge, based on the BBC's Big Read Poll of 2003.

Swallows and Amazons, despite it being a popular old-fashioned children's book that almost every adult in England would have read, has never been on my radar and I don't think I'd ever even heard...

Author	James Thurber
ISBN	0440405823

How can anyone describe this book? It isn't a parable, a fairy story, or a poem, but rather a mixture of all three. It is beautiful and it is comic. It is philosophical and it is cheery. What we suppose we are trying fumblingly to say is, in a word, that it is Thurber.

There are only a few reasons why...

Author	Edward Eager
ISBN	0192751018

2.5 We thought we would enjoy this a lot more than we did. Perhaps we would have enjoyed the series more starting at the beginning. I really like Quentin Blake's illustrations but they really didn't suit this book, their comical style seems much more suited to books that are funny or for a younger reader....

Author	E.B. White
ISBN	0064408671

Swan Song

Like the rest of his family, Louis is a trumpeter swan. But unlike his four brothers and sisters, Louis can't trumpet joyfully. In fact, he can't even make a sound. And since he can't trumpet his love, the beautiful swan Serena pays absolutely no attention to him.

Louis tries...

Author	Natalie Babbitt
ISBN	0374480095

Doomed to - or blessed with - eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less...

Author	Dorothy Canfield Fisher
ISBN	1887840133

For all of her nine years, fragile Elizabeth Ann has heard her Aunt Frances refer in whispers to her "horrid Putney cousins." But when her aunt can no longer care for her, Elizabeth Ann must leave her sheltered life to live in the wilds of Vermont with those distant relatives.

In the beginning,...

Author	Karina Yan Glaser
ISBN	0544876393

The Vanderbeekers have always lived in the brownstone on 141st Street. It's practically another member of the family. So when their reclusive, curmudgeonly landlord decides not to renew their lease, the five siblings have eleven days to do whatever it takes to stay in their beloved home and convince...

Author	Jonathan Rogers
ISBN	0805431330

n book three of the acclaimed Wilderking Trilogy, civilizer Aidan returns home from three years in Feechiefen Swamp to discover that a party known as the Aidanites has arisen among his fellow Corenwalders. They believe the “Wilderking Chant” makes reference to Aidan, and that he is destined to...

Author	Edward Eager
ISBN	0152949941

Just when the children thought the magic in the old well was all played out (that is, if it was magic!) and had sworn an oath in blood not to make any more wishes until the well gave them a sign, Gordy—in a reckless moment—told it to get going with its magic, or else! Something certainly did begin to happen...

Author

Grace Lin

Pinmei's gentle, loving grandmother always has the most exciting tales for her granddaughter and the other villagers. However, the peace is shattered one night when soldiers of the Emperor arrive and kidnap the storyteller.

Everyone knows that the Emperor wants something called the Luminous...

Author	Grace Lin
ISBN	0316114278

In the valley of Fruitless Mountain, a young girl named Minli spends her days working hard in the fields and her nights listening to her father spin fantastic tales about the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon. Minli's mother, tired of their poor life, chides him for filling her head with nonsense....