4 Kids | A Book a Week?

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As each year comes to an end, it's easy to look ahead with excitement at what the New Year will bring. It's also really easy (as in, really, really easy) to make New Year's resolutions that are all about improving ourselves, breaking bad habits, etc., etc. I'm tired of making New Year's resolutions to change something I really don't want to change! No more! I'm not going to give up chocolate. Furthermore, I refuse to give up Taco Bell. For me, 2013 is going to be about enjoying life.....and that means books.

After very careful thought, I've come up with a resolution I'm rather excited about. I am going to read one book a week! Yes! One book a week. In all honesty, that's quite easy for me to do because, as you all know, I LOVE reading. But I'm going to read at least one great children's book that I find on the shelf of our wonderful Library.

I promise to share what I read with all of you on Tuesday mornings...right here...on the 4 Kids blog. I hope I'll entice you to read something new. Or old. Or funny. Or scary. Or adventurous. Or completely out of this world!

Since there are still a few days left of good old 2012, I'll finish the pile of books that sits on my nightstand:

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Kit's Wilderness by David Almond

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood (Book 1 of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series)

And please, dear readers, leave a comment below if you want to recommend a book you think I absolutely MUST read. I will read any and every book you recommend. I promise.

In the meantime, Happy Holidays to you and yours....and a very Happy New Year!!

See you in 2013!!



4 Kids | It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

It's dark outside. The wind is howling. Trees brush up against the house. A thump. A bump. It's late. You're scared. BOO!

Just wanted to get you in the mood for some great mystery reading; after all, Halloween is just around the corner! Join me as we pay a visit to some of SSJCPL staff's favorite mystery books for kids.

There's a dollhouse with a weird ghostly light. The dolls in the dollhouse move around when no one is watching. That's not all! The dollhouse holds a secret....a deadly secret that hasn't been talked about in years. And that secret has to do with a murder that happened many years ago. Not only is this one of my all-time favorite mysteries, but my colleague John also recommends it. The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright. Read it!

 

Two SSJCPL ladies, Peach and Christine, recommend this one. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. So there are sixteen people invited to the reading of a very strange will of the very rich Samuel W. Westing. They could become millionaires, depending on how they play the game. All they have to do is find the answer -- but the answer to what? Are you confused? I am.  But I just checked out a copy of this book and am going to figure it out. Join me. Check it out, read it, and tell me what you think!

Today's final mystery recommendation comes from my friend Suzanne. It's Howliday Inn by James Howe. This is the sequel to my favorite book, Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery. There are plenty of strange things going on at Chateau Bow Wow, the place where Chester and Harold are boarded....they're animals, by the way....when the Monroe family goes on vacation. Read it and help Chester and Harold figure out what happened to Louise the French dog. And what is all that howling at night? A fun mystery for young readers!



So there you have it. Some great mysteries, recommended by SSJCPL staff, to get you into the Halloween mood! Read them and let me know what you think!