Reviews (2)

A Very Exciting Book
This book is excellent. If you love Unicorns, and I very much do then you will love this cute adorable book. Mary Pope Osborne has done it again with this fantastic story! You won't be disappointed. This book takes place in a blizzard and it's a excellent time to read a story like this coming into the season.
Fantastic Book!
Blizzard of the Blue Moon is one of the greatest book by Mary Pope Osborne! Jack and Annie to New York City, 1938, during the time of the Great depression.
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Animals - Mythical    3. Children's 9-12 - Fiction - Historical    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    5. Children: Grades 2-3    6. Fiction    7. Historical - General    8. Historical - Medieval    9. Juvenile Fiction    10. Magic    11. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    12. Time travel    13. Unicorns    14. Juvenile Fiction / Historical / General   

Reviews (9)

I really like Jack and Annie's quest.
I gave it five stars because I think I should give the magic carpet two stars.

Smarty Pants
Season of the Sandstorms is about Jack and Annie going on one of Merlin's Missions.This time they go to the golden age of Baghdad and are suppose to help the Caliph sread wisdom to the world.Your going to have to read the rest yourself.You'll also learn who the Caliph is!This was the best book I ever read!

Goo's review
Season of the Sandstorms is a good book. They go to a desert and find people which help them on their journey to help save Camelot,but you need to read the rest of the book to find about their journey. I hope you injoy this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Baghdad (Iraq)    3. Brothers and sisters    4. Children's All Ages - Fiction - Historical    5. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    6. Children: Grades 2-3    7. Fiction    8. Historical - General    9. Historical - Medieval    10. Juvenile Fiction    11. Magic    12. Readers - Chapter Books    13. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    14. Time travel    15. Juvenile Fiction / Historical / General   

Reviews (7)

I like inventions a lot.
I am 7 years old.I wasn't very interested about the men in the book.But I was very interested about the inventions and the flying bicycle.And I hope 4 stars is good for me and you.

Great magic
This is the first Magic Tree House book I have experienced.I really enjoyed the book and think the author done an awesome job of incorporated history (through investions and scientific discoveries).The trips the two characters (Jack and Annie) take are not only an adventure but also educational.I would like to go back and read the books that came before.

Another great from Mary Pope Osborne!
My son loves this whole series.If you have not started your child on these for age 5 and up, do so!These are the most interesting books for young kids.And so far the series has seem to grow up with my son.This book lists the scientists such as Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and others. These books really start a child learning about history.My son is so much into this history of these, it has led him to research on his own through other books about the historical events! We have also read the accompanying research books.The only thing I wish for now, is some children travel guides from Mrs. Osborne (it would be a great add on to the research books!). Thanks so much for these! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Brothers and sisters    3. Children's 9-12 - Fiction - Historical    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    5. Children: Grades 3-4    6. Fiction    7. Historical - General    8. Historical - Medieval    9. Juvenile Fiction    10. Magic    11. Readers - Chapter Books    12. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    13. Time travel    14. Juvenile Fiction / Historical / General   

Editorial Review

Genre-jumping author Avi clocks in here with his 50th book, Read more

Reviews (187)

Crispin: The Cross of Lead
I read this book first in sixth grade, and now I read it again and I loved it more now than I did then. Crispin goes from being a thirteen year old boy growing up in historical England with no name, to being Crispin who can play the recorder, knows who he is, and has made a friend. This was great, and I got many good quotes from it. It has a lesson to be learned, and it is exciting and smart. Love it.

I can see why this book won the Newbery
Crispin: The Cross of Lead is a historical novel set in 1377, during a time of great crisis in England. At the start of the story, the hero doesn't even know his own name. He's been raised in isolation in a small village, and has only ever heard himself referred to as "Asta's son". Even among the villagers, Asta's son has been isolated, never treated like one who belonged there. His own mother often seems to resent him. He thinks of himself as being "nothing".
Let Me Have a Soul, That I Too May Sing and Dance
"I keep asking myself if I felt different, if I was different. The answer was always yes. I was no longer nothing."
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Avi    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 4-6    5. Family - Orphans & Foster Homes    6. Fiction    7. Historical - Medieval    8. Identity    9. Juvenile Fiction    10. Middle Ages    11. Orphans    12. Social Issues - Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance    13. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Reviews (262)

Um, WOW!
an awesome book that shares my thoughts about most things. you'll love birdy's bitter sarcasm, her intellegence, and her independance. May she rock the thirteenth century! this book is so fun!

Great book for anyone.
This book was required reading for my up and coming 6th grader.She hates to read, but this book has been a riot.She is not into Barbie, pink or much girly stuff.Fortunately, neither is Catherine.She and my daughter have a lot in common.I would highly recommend this book for all girls.If the boys can get past the sprinkling of puberty stuff they will like her antics too.
Catherine Called BirdyBy: Ashley
When I first started off reading Catherine Called Birdy it wasn't very interesting, but after I read a little more it all made sense and turned out to be a funny and excellent book. It gives a lot of details and makes the story really come alive.
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Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - History    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Diaries    4. Fiction    5. Historical - Medieval    6. Middle Ages    7. Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure   

Reviews (8)

Mary Pope Osborne creates magic... from a Book Loons reviewer...
Mission: to save the Grand Lady of the Lagoon. Place: Venice Italy. When: 260 years back in time on the night of 'Carnival'.
A adventures book
Carnival at Candlelight is a funfilled book. It all starts when Jack and Annie of FrogCreek has the same dreams. (Which was sent by Teddy and kethleen). They decide to go to the TreeHouse
Carnival at Candlelight
"Carnival at Candlelight" by Mary Pope Osborne was a delight to read.I generally don't like the fantasy genre but I absolutely love the "Magic Tree House" series.One of the things that I love about this series of books is the author's ability to blend factual knowledge with adventure and excitement.As a teacher I appreciate this ability because I believe that students will learn a lot of facts from these books plus they will be enjoying a grand adventure too.
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Brothers and sisters    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 2-3    5. Fiction    6. Historical - General    7. Historical - Medieval    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Magic    10. Readers - Chapter Books    11. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    12. Time travel    13. Tree houses    14. Juvenile Fiction / Historical / General   

Reviews (4)

It's the edge of the world as we know it
2006 has been a good year for Newbery sequels.First Louis Sacher comes out with, "Small Steps", his follow-up to "Holes".Then Avi does the same with the second part of his Crispin series."Crispin: At the Edge of the World" begins at the precise moment that "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" ended.Like its predecessor, the book is chock full of intelligent contemplations on the nature of "good" and "evil".More importantly, with this book Avi is taking the time to show that a human being is a tricky changeable thing.That said, this is the weaker of the two books and feels very much to be the middle section of a three part series.There's much to admire in Avi's writing here, but I had a hard time gettingpast some of the story's sadism to truly think it worthy reading.
A rare second book in a trilogy that's better than its predecessor
This is a sequel to Avi's Crispin: The Cross of Lead. This series is set in the year 1377, during a period of political and social crisis in England. The protagonist is Crispin, a poor orphan. Crispin grew up in a small village, but had to flee due to persecution from the local steward. In the first book he threw in his lot with Bear, a traveling entertainer and father figure.
Richie's Picks: CRISPIN: AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
"What kind of men -- I wondered -- were these that killed by day, drank by night, but prayed each morning?"
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Avi    3. Children's 9-12 - Fiction - General    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    5. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    6. Family    7. Family - General    8. Fiction    9. Historical - Medieval    10. Historical Fiction (Young Adult)    11. Juvenile Fiction    12. Middle Ages    13. Voyages and travels    14. Juvenile Fiction / Historical / Medieval   

Editorial Review

Karen Cushman likes to write with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek, andher feisty female characters firmly planted in history. In Read more

Reviews (119)

The Midwife's Apprentice Book Report Project
Elisha Watson
A slice of medieval life
Another lovely tail of the Medieval ages from the perspective of a preteen from the author of Catherine, Called Birdy. This time, the story is focused on a young nameless, homeless girl who becomes an apprentice to a midwife. It is about Alyce's journey to accepting her fate and duties. Cushman is brilliant at capturing the feel, voice, and character of the time period through a series of vignettes that show daily life, superstition, and relationships. The story here though is weaker than Catherine, Called Birdy. Grade: B

The Midwife's Apprentice is not anti-Catholic
A few years ago when my son was old enough to participate in our community center's Medieval Festival, our public library offered a reading circle in partnership with the event. The book they decided to read was Karen Cushman's, "The Midwife's Apprentice."
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Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Literature - Classics / Contemporary    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 3-4    4. Classics    5. Fiction    6. Historical - Medieval    7. Middle Ages    8. Midwives    9. Juvenile Fiction / Historical / Medieval   

Reviews (14)

Another Great Book from Hanley
Light of the Oracle is the third book Hanley has set in the same fantasy universe - and aside from that, the three books could hardly be more different, and all are excellent. The Seer and the Sword is a political-military novel, with relatively little magic and a lot of action. Healer's Keep is a save-the-world novel almost entirely about magical warfare between the protagonists and Ultimate Evil. And this one is an "academy" story about relationships among students and faculty at an institute organized to control prophecy. Others have summarized the plot; I'll just say that I've loved all three books, and that based on her start Hanley is fully worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as Tamora Pierce, Jane Yolen, Sherwood Smith, and Diana Wynne Jones. She doesn't have anything like their body of work produced yet, so I can't say if she'll sustain it as well, but so far so good.

The light of the oracle
" A child born to such a calling is often called dreamer" Bryn is a poor humble stonecutters daughter. She is disturbed by visons that no one else can see she is teased because she talks to the wind and sky. One day Bryn runs across a path and meets her destiny, the first preist of the oracle. Bryn is offered to join the temple of the oracle as a handmaid and mabey become a priestess someday.Bryn enters the temple of the oracle with Clea, a rich snob who looks down on Bryn and becomes her enemy.Bryn meets friends such as Dawn ans Kiran (a boy who she loves. The day comes of the ceremony of birds, if you are chosen by a bird you are able to study as a preist or preistess, very few are normally chosen. Unfortunatly angainst Bryns hopes Clea gets chosen by a vulture, a powerful bird representing the god of death. Kiran gets chosen by the extreamly rare black swan, wich means he can comunicate with animals. Byrn however is not chosen by a bird, but the wind, wich makes her the first one to be wind chosen in ages, its the most powerfull roll. One day Bryn is cursed by jelous Clea, who weakens Bryns powers. Byrn and Kiran try to find a way to break the curse and keep the secret of the whereabouts of Selid a handmaid put to death for reasons that are unfair. But if someone finds out that Bryn and Kiran know they could be put to death as well.
One of the best books of all time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Light of the Oracle, a fantasy by Victoria Handley, is about a young adult growing up with a special talent; she can see the future. Thought by the town, and mainly her mother, a wild and crazy child, Bryn has always felt singled out, separate from the rest. Separate, that is until one day she runs in front of the Master Priest's horse while following a strange piece of floating thistledown. The Master Priest, instead of seeing her as "the silly dreamer", he realizes her talent and asks her to join the Temple of the Oracle. Eager to leave the village, she quickly accepts; not knowing the challenges she is yet to face. But as she enters the Temple, so does the wicked, power-hungry Clea. Almost immediately, rivalry swarms between the two girls. As time passes, it soon becomes time for the bird-choosing festival, were a twist of fate leads Bryn to be chosen, not by a bird, but by the wind. One of the highest, and most sacred power, wind chosen receive the power to control the wind, only to be crippled by a curse. Consequently enough, Clea is chosen by one of the most feared birds, a vulture. Controlled by Keldes, the God of death; vulture chosen were given the gift of casting curses. Seeing her advantage, Clea quickly curses Bryn, forces the wind to leave her. Distraught and empty inside, Bryn is forced to standby and watch as the Temple's powers crumbles, powerless to stop it...
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Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - Fantasy    2. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - History    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Fantasy    5. Historical - Medieval    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    8. Juvenile Fiction / Historical / Medieval   

Reviews (7)

Amazing!Its back in print!
This was one of the truly formative books of my youth.Silly and fun and with a wonderful rhyme.I have the most wonderful memories of my mother reading this to me.Years ago, when I first had children, I HAD to find this book for them and it was out of print.I managed to find an excellent copy but spent nearly $100 for it -- and thought it worth every cent!Now that its back in print, I've bought FOUR more copies -- for gifts for all the children of the right age that I can think of.Highly, highly, highly recommended!

Still baking after all these years...
This book is the reason I got a library card as a child.I loved (and still love) the predicament of the duchess.She was only trying to bake "a lovely light luscious delectable cake" for her family--but things get a bit out of control when she adds too much leavening to the batter.The rhyme and meter are lilting and memorable, the names of her daughters (e.g. "Gunhilde") sound exotic and old-fashioned to a child's ear, and the illustrations are delightful.I'm now in my 30's, and am pleasantly surprised to find that the book is still in print.Even though I don't have any children, I have purchased the book so that I can read it to my siblings' kids and pass on the laughter (and memories) to another generation in my family.

Pure Joy
This is a lyrical, rhythmic, rhyming book of pure joy.Read to a toddler, it will sooth and enchant; to a pre-reader, it becomes a lesson in language and a memory exercise; as an adult with grandchildren of my own, it is a sweet remembrance of my childhood to share with the little one in my lap.It comes with my own personal five star rating. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    2. Children: Kindergarten    3. Historical - Medieval    4. Humorous Stories    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. Short Stories   

Editorial Review

Three time Newbery honor author Nancy Farmer's epic fantasy, Read more

Reviews (71)

Secrets of the Sea of Trolls
Jack is a youthful apprentice who is being taught by the village bard. When Jack and Lucy are looking for food and they here berserkers and hide. Lucy is his little sister, his only sibling. Lucy thinks they are knights taking her to her castle. They are captured by Olaf and his crew. They are put on a slave ship to sell. But then Thorgil a shield maiden wants to keep Lucy to give her to Frith. Frith is an evil half troll shape shifter, wife of King Ivar the Boneless. Jack is not sold because Olaf finds out he is a bard. When Jack meets Frith and he makes her hair fall out. She gets terribly mad and sends Jack, Olaf, and Thorgil on a quest to get song mead. They meet a dragon, giant owls, trolls, norms, and a giant spider. Will he get through the quest or will he fail or die? Read the book to find out!

a wild and magical ride
this is one of my favorite books (out the thousands I've read) not only is this a exciding and magical book but it teaches you a thing or two about celtic and viking history. I would reccemend this book to anyone but parents if you have a child under the age of 10 due to colorful languge

A Grand Epic of Pillaging
As a very young Bard's apprentice, Jack's master's sanity was taken by a vicious Nightmare. Shortly after, his entire village was pillaged by a band of Northmen, who took him and his younger sister Lucy captive to become thralls under the fearsome Olaf One-Brow. The two of them were treated badly on the Northmen's ship, until Olaf found out that Jack was an apprentice Bard, or "skald". Olaf had longed for a skald to sing praise songs to him and about him, and was quite pleased when he found that he had taken an apprentice captive. The Northmen already had a skald on board the ship, but Rune was old and on the verge of death. Besides, the Northmen were severely afraid of seither, or witchcraft, so they stayed away from Rune as much as possible. When the ship arrived at the hall of King Ivar, a young shield maiden named Thorgil offered Lucy to Queen Frith, a beautiful half-troll, and Olaf made Jack sing praises of him for the king and queen. Then, Queen Frith forced him to sing her praises, and he did, but one thing went wrong. He sang of her golden hair falling to the floor like sunshine, and her hair detached itself from her head and literally fell to the floor. Olaf's group was forced to flee the hall, but had to soon return to apologize to Frith. Olaf volunteered to take Jack and Thorgil on a quest to find Mimir's Well in Jotunheim and, by drinking from it, Jack could restore Frith's hair. So they ventured out to the edge of Jotunheim, where everything was much bigger than in Middle Earth. After traveling for several days through Jotunheim, the three encountered a giant troll-bear, and after fighting it for a long time, Olaf was mortally wounded and Thorgil ended up with a broken ankle. Jack raised Olaf on a funeral pyre and lit it. Within several moments, the Dragon came to pay her respects to Olaf, and Jack sang the praise-song from Ivar's hall. Later on, Jack and Thorgil were abducted by the Dragon and taken to her nest as food for her dragonlets. Jack's crow Bold Heart told the boldest dragonlet to kill off its siblings, which gave Thorgil the chance to kill it. But the dragon's blood splattered Thorgil, and raised blisters, including in her mouth. The magical properties of the blood resulted in giving Thorgil the ability to understand birds. Then they came upon Olaf's troll-boar, Golden Bristles. He gave them a ride across the ice-bridge to the home of the Mountain Queen, where they had to go to get to Mimir's Well. Slipping and sliding, the three of them made it across, only to be captured by trolls. Luckily, the trolls took them to the Mountain Queen, and all of them seemed to be rather friendly towards Jack and Thorgil. Jack learned from the trolls that creatures called Norns were coming to the palace to play a game of chess that would decide the fates of both Jack and Thorgil. When one of the Norns won the game, they took Jack and Thorgil to Mimir's Well so that they could drink. Upon encountering the Well, they found that each of them had to give up something dear to them. Jack gave up the rune of protection that the Bard had given him, and Thorgil gave up her madness of the berserkers so she could no longer become a true berserker. Jack brought a bottle of the song-mead back to Rune, because it had always been his dream. Jack and Thorgil departed from the palace and made their way back to the edge of Jotunheim to return to Ivar's hall. Jack sang his new song for Frith and restored her hair, freed Lucy, and tricked the Queen into not accepting any offering. Then, Jack and Lucy were able to return to their village peacefully.
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Bards and bardism    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    5. Druids and druidism    6. Fiction    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Mythology, Norse    9. Science Fiction / Fantasy (Young Adult)    10. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    11. Vikings    12. Juvenile Fiction / Legends, Myths, Fables / Norse   

Reviews (26)

Teacher's Grade: A-
I love reading this book aloud to my 2nd grade students.There is abundant humor, a lot of action, and excellent dialogue.The kids especially love the disgusting giant with flatulence issues, and the fire-breathing dragon.
You would think it was the authors fifth not first......
You knew this was the authors first book, but you felt far into the story while reading....which made it good...I would like to read more books by this author.

The start of an empire
Finally Lane Smithh and Jim Szcieska have found their niche.These(now eleven?) stories are about to become a series on either Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network.And this is the book that started it all.Alas.
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 2-3    4. Fiction    5. General    6. Humorous Stories    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Knights and knighthood    9. Magic    10. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    11. Time travel    12. Juvenile Fiction / Historical / Medieval   

Reviews (17)

Dounut boy
I think that the magic tree house books are for everyone but parents.They are good, but the best one is the Knight at Dawn. They go in to the castle and I always wanted to see what a castle looks likes inside.This is the best book ever!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Fair Entry in a Lame series
Kids in the 5-7 range will probably love this series with its dependable repetition of formulas that my kids loved to say out with me when we got to the best part of the book:"The wind blew harder ... The treehouse started to spin ... faster and faster ... then everything was still.Absolutely still."The loyalty and friendship which bond brother Jack and sister Annie are also a refreshing break from sibling squabbles.
Wonderful story, but a lot of poor grammar
MY OPINION: This is a wonderfull book. I read the Magic Tree House books to my little brother every night,and he said that he likes these books a lot, exept for all the bad grammar. The grammar bothered me, also. For example: '"Remember the picture of Frog Creek?" said Annie.' Instead of 'said Annie', it should have been 'asked Annie'. If things like that bother you, well, I'm warning you there's a lot of it. But besides that it is a wonderfull story for kids. (I even enjoy them.) It is 10 chapters long and 66 pages. I liked this book more than the first one (Dinosaurs Before Dark).
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Castles    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 3-4    5. Fiction    6. Historical - Medieval    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Knights and knighthood    9. Middle Ages    10. Osborne, Mary Pope    11. Readers - Beginner    12. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    13. Time travel    14. Fantasy    15. Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic   

Reviews (12)

...the beginning of an era
For a person like myself who definately loves reading very well written materials, this book is so awesome. I enjoyed Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events. This book is on my list of favorites. It was so compelling the way events just fell into place like jagged puzzle pieces. Although the shape of a puzzle doesn't look like it would fit but when you see how they come together, not one bit is out of it's realm. I really admire the skill that was required to compose such literature and am glad that I had the pleasure of enjoying each and every word of it.

Engrossing historical time travel drama.
Gerard Doyle's background as a Shakespearian actor lends drama to his reading about a cutpurse and gentleman, set in 1763 and telling of two 20th century children who are accidentally sent back in time. With the machine stolen, Gideon and the two children journey through 18th century London in an effort to find the keys to their return in this engrossing historical time travel drama.

Superb!
The book tells the story of two modern British kids (12-13) who get into the 18th century and experience plenty of adventures in their attempts to get back with the help of the (former) cutpurse of the title and other friends they make in 1763.
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 4-6    4. Fathers and sons    5. Fiction    6. Historical - Medieval    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Robbers and outlaws    9. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    10. Time travel    11. Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure   

Reviews (69)

a wonderful book
I had to read thhis book this summer as a millville g.t. assinment. i loved it. at first i thought o great a book thats called the door in the wall. but by the time i was finish i thought don't judge a book by it's cover.

Great Read-Aloud
This book was a fantastic read-aloud book for my second-grader.We both thoroughly enjoyed it.I know he would never had made it through the story (because of the difficult language) if he had read it himself.It was a little tough getting into the plot, but once in, it was hard to put down.

The Door in the Wall
A Newbery Award Medal Winner and winner of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, The Door in the Wall is an excellent book about finding your own way.
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Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Fiction - H