Felicity: An American Girl (The American Girls Collection)
We listened to the audio version of this book and we all really enjoyed it. I love how we are learning about history in this gentle way. This book is just at the eve of the American Revolution and it's fascinating the way people started splitting up, some in favor, some not.
 | author: Valerie Tripp rating:  asin: 1562470442 binding: Paperback list price: $39.95 USD amazon price: $38.75 USD |
The Sign of the Beaver
As part of our History Curriculum (Story of the World) we are reading about the Colonial world and Native Americans. The book The Sign of the Beaver was part of the recommended reading and we all enjoyed it. A 13 year old boy is left alone to guard the homestead in the wilderness of Maine, waiting for his father to return with his mother and siblings. After being brutally stung by bees, he is taken care of by Native Americans and befriends a young boy. A story of friendship and loyalty.
 | author: Elizabeth George Speare rating:  asin: 0440479002 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Until the day his father returns to their cabin in the Maine wilderness, 12-year-old Matt must try to survive on his own. During an attack by swarming bees, Matt is astonished when he's rescued by an Indian chief and his grandson, Attean. As the boys come to know each other, many months pass without a sign of Matt's family. Then Attean asks Matt to join the Beaver tribe.
Kirsten's Craft Book: A Look at Crafts from the Past With Projects You Can Make Today (American Girls Collection)
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 | author: Jodi Evert rating:  asin: 1562471120 binding: Paperback list price: $5.95 USD amazon price: $5.95 |
Make the same bunny pincushion, braided rug, and other crafts that Kirsten enjoyed in 1854 using this craft book. It's full simple step by step instructions, historical fun facts, and full color photographs and illustrations.
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
 | author: Julie Andrews Edwards rating: asin: 0060218053 binding: Hardcover list price: $16.99 USD amazon price: $16.99 USD |
The Whangdoodle was once the wisest, the kindest, and the most extraordinary creature in the world.Then he disappeared and created a wonderful land for himself and all the other remarkable animals -- the ten-legged Sidewinders, the little furry Flukes, the friendly Whiffle Bird, and the treacherous, "oily" Prock. It was an almost perfect place where the last of the really great Whangdoodles could rule his kingdom with "peace, love and a sense of fun"-- apart from and forgotten by people.
But not completely forgotten. Professor Savant believed in the Whangdoodle. And when he told the three Potter children of his search for the spectacular creature, Lindy, Tom, and Ben were eager to reach Whangdoodleland.
With the Professor's help, they discovered the secret way. But waiting for them was the scheming Prock, who would use almost any means to keep them away from his beloved king.
Little House in the Highlands
This is truly an outstanding book that will appeal to a large audience. Our girls (then 10 and 7) hung on every word. I loved that this was about Laura Ingalls Wilder's great grandmother! There was a lot of research put into it and I loved reading all about Scotland, as my own mother was born there. I especially enjoyed how the author wove in retellings of fairy stories and myths. This is the first the series and we are very excited to continue on. PLEASE NOTE I am referring to the unedited version with the painted cover, not the one with the photographed cover (which amazon insists on linking to). I have not read both but I have heard that the 2nd version is considerably abridged.
 | author: Melissa Wiley rating:  asin: 0061148172 binding: Paperback list price: $5.99 USD amazon price: $18.82 USD |
It's 1788 and Martha lives in a little stone house in Glencaraid, Scotland. Her father is Laird Glencaraid, which means Martha must behave like a young lady even when she would much rather run around the Scottish hillside!
Ramona's World (Ramona Series)
 | author: Beverly Cleary rating: asin: 0380732726 binding: Paperback list price: $5.99 USD amazon price: $5.99 USD |
Ramona Quimby is back! Beverly Cleary's best-loved and most exuberant character has been winning friends since the 1950s when she made her first appearance as Beezus's pesky little sister. Now, in Cleary's first Ramona book in 15 years, our beloved spitfire is 9 years old, and she fully intends to make fourth grade the best year of her life. Even with her spelling struggles, a new baby sister, and a fall through her best friend's ceiling, her wish seems to be coming true. Old friends Yard Ape and Howie are still around--and with her new best friend Daisy, Ramona is on top of her world!
Summer of the Monkeys
This book is an absolute gem! We all loved this book as a family. Set in the late 1800s, Jay Berry is a 14 year old boy who has an amazing adventure trying to capture 29 monkeys that have escaped (from a circus trian) and are living in a wild part of his family's 60 acre farm. It is hillarious, it made us cry, it was a little scary at times. At one point I thought it was to scary to read to our girls (then ages 9 and 6) because when Jay Berry is catching a couple monkeys, the rest of them jump on him and bite him and his dog all over. However, they are not seriously hurt, Jay Berry simply lays in bed for 3 days and he's better. Also, know that Jay Berry's goal is to get a pony and gun, it was simply part of the lifestyle of a boy living back then. Overall, this is a fabulous read and I'm sure we'll return to this book over and over again throughout the years.
 | author: Wilson Rawls rating: asin: 0440415802 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
The last thing a fourteen-year-old boy expects to find along an old Ozark river bottom is a tree full of monkeys. Jay Berry Lee's grandpa had an explanation, of course--as he did for most things. The monkeys had escaped from a traveling circus, and there was a handsome reward in store for anyone who could catch them. Grandpa said there wasn't any animal that couldn't be caught somehow, and Jay Berry started out believing him . . .
But by the end of the "summer of the monkeys," Jay Berry Lee had learned a lot more than he ever bargained for--and not just about monkeys. He learned about faith, and wishes coming true, and knowing what it is you really want. He even learned a little about growing up . . .
This novel, set in rural Oklahoma around the turn of the century, is a heart-warming family story--full of rich detail and delightful characters--about a time and place when miracles were really the simplest of things...
Henry Huggins (50th Anniversary Edition)
 | author: Beverly Cleary rating: asin: 0380709120 binding: Paperback list price: $5.99 USD amazon price: $5.99 USD |
Nothing ever happens to Henry Huggins. Nothing, that is, until a stray dog named Ribsy comes into his life. Pretty soon, Henry and Ribsy are wreaking havoc on the city bus, getting a ride in a police car with sirens wailing, and winning a prize at the dog show. Thanks to their joint shenanigans, Henry finds himself covered in green paint one day, and later accidentally colors Ribsy's fur pale pink. One week, Henry catches earthworms for his fisherman neighbor to raise money for a borrowed ball Ribsy helped him lose. One football costs a lot of earthworms--1,395, to be exact.
The Fairy Rebel
I'm not sure how I found out about the chapter book Fairy Rebel by Lynne Reid Banks, but we all enjoyed it too. It is the story of how a fairy grants an unspoken wish of a woman to have a baby and all the trials they have to go through to bring the child into the world. I love the explanation of how fairy magic works. "Of course," Tiki [the fairy says] "I haven't enough magic to do that sort of trick. That's really very hard stuff, you needto save up for ages, not do any little bits of magic, just save and save. Some fairies can save for years to do something big, but somehow I never can...." But she borrows the magic from others and then pays them back.
 | author: Lynne Reid Banks rating: asin: 0440419255 binding: Paperback list price: $5.50 USD amazon price: $5.50 USD |
The Fairy Queen strictly forbids fairies from using their magic power on humans. But after Tiki accidentally meets Jan, a woman who is desperate for a baby daughter, she finds it impossible to resist fulfilling her wish. Now up against the dark and vicious power of evil, this fairy rebel must face the Queen’s fury with frightening and possibly fatal results.
From the Hardcover Library Binding edition.
Kirsten: An American Girl : 1854 (The American Girls Collection/Boxed Set)
We all really enjoyed this book about Kirsten. Learning history through these gentle American Girls stories is wonderful, and our girls are so interested in the stories as well as all the facts at the end of the book.
 | author: Janet Beeler Shaw rating: asin: 0937295760 binding: Paperback list price: $39.95 USD amazon price: $26.37 USD |
