The Witch Family
Amy and her friend Clarissa are 6 and they love to draw pictures and make up stories about Old Witch, and in some other reality they come true and even visit the girls. A story rich with imagination and full of all the things little girls love - mermaids, babies, and plenty of magic. Written in 1960.
 | author: Eleanor Estes rating:  asin: 015202610X binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
Old Witch, Little Witch Girl, Weeny Witch, and two real girls in a fantasy that blends the worlds of reality and imagination. A Halloween classic about the power of make-believe.
Betsy-Tacy and Tib (Betsy-Tacy)
This is the 2nd book in the series. We loved it!
 | author: Maud Hart Lovelace rating: asin: 0064400972 binding: Paperback list price: $5.99 USD amazon price: $5.99 USD |
Three of a KindBetsy and Tacy are best friends. Then Tib moves into the neighborhood and the three of them start to play together. The grown-ups think they will quarrel, but they don't. Sometimes they quarrel with Betsy's and Tacy's bossy big sisters, but they never quarrel among themselves.They are not as good as they might be. They cook up awful messes in the kitchen, throw mud on each other and pretend to be beggars, and cut off each other's hair.
The Doll People
 | author: Ann M. Martin Laura Godwin HPFC rating: asin: 0786812400 binding: Paperback list price: $7.99 USD amazon price: $7.99 USD |
Annabelle Doll is eight years old-she has been for more than a hundred years. Not a lot has happened to her, cooped up in the dollhouse, with the same doll family, day after day, year after year. . . until one day the Funcrafts move in.
Best Witches
Last time this year I checked out Best Witches by Jane Yolen and our girls loved hearing the silly poems, and they each picked out one to commit to memory. We got it again this year and it's still a book they love to hear from to get into the Halloween spirit.
 | author: Jane Yolen rating:  asin: 0399215395 binding: Hardcover list price: $14.95 USD amazon price: $14.95 |
The author presents her own poetry on witches, ghosts, magic, and other aspects of Halloween.
Face Painting (Klutz)
 | rating:  asin: 159174430X binding: Spiral-bound list price: $24.95 USD amazon price: $16.47 USD |
Face Painting has become a touchstone of Klutz appeal and quality. With 1.5 million copies sold, we thought nothing could surpass it — until now. This new edition has been completely revitalized, including new paints in bold, bright colors and easy-to-use tear-out cheat sheets. It’s the book that will launch a zillion more faces.
The Curious Garden
We had a garden this year and it has been wonderful. I got several books about the joy of gardens and this is one we like - The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. What happens when someone helps nature reclaim an old elevated railway? It's beautiful.
 | author: Peter Brown rating: asin: 0316015474 binding: Hardcover list price: $16.99 USD amazon price: $11.55 USD |
One boy's quest for a greener world... one garden at a time.
While out exploring one day, a little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world.
This is an enchanting tale with environmental themes and breathtaking illustrations that become more vibrant as the garden blooms. Red-headed Liam can also be spotted on every page, adding a clever seek-and-find element to this captivating picture book.
Love That Dog
Another great chapter book that I read in about 40 minuets was Love that Dog by Sharon Creech. Jack (age 8 or 9?) has a diary of sorts for school in the subject of poetry. Laurel is especially fond of journals, especially journalsthat are shared with an adult for the purpose of learning and expressingoneself. This journal is funny and sad and so moving. This novel also deals with the death of a loved one, in this case a dog. Ella especially enjoyed this story and gives it 4 1/2 stars. I think it's a great book too and I look forward to hearing the next in the series.
 | author: Sharon Creech rating: asin: 0060292873 binding: Hardcover list price: $15.99 USD amazon price: $10.87 USD |
"I guess it does
look like a poem
when you see it
typed up
like that."
Jack hates poetry. Only girls write it and every time he tries to, his brain feels empty. But his teacher, Ms. Stretchberry, won't stop giving her class poetry assignments -- and Jack can't avoid them. But then something amazing happens. The more he writes, the more he learns he does have something to say.
With a fresh and deceptively simple style, acclaimed author Sharon Creech tells a story with enormous heart. Written as a series of free-verse poems from Jack's point of view, Love That Dog shows how one boy finds his own voice with the help of a teacher, a writer, a pencil, some yellow paper, and of course, a dog.
The Magic School Bus Lost In The Solar System
Another fabulous book in the Magic School Bus series!
 | author: Joanna Cole rating: asin: 0590414291 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
On a special field trip in the magic school bus, Ms. Frizzle's class goes into outer space and visits each planet in the solar system.
Button Box
Mama worked in a factory sewing by day and sewed custom clothes at night. She saved everything, but particularly fabric scraps and buttons. Her daughter would sit on the floor and dig through the button box and ask to hear stories about buttons. "Well, jerk out my heart and stomp on it! Baby that's the button off your first birthday dress!" This collection of stories are often hilarious, especially at the end where we hear how Mama sang in church....
 | author: Barbara McBride-Smith rating: asin: 0874837626 binding: Audio CD list price: $14.95 USD amazon price: $12.11 USD |
Mama believed the woman who dies with the most fabric scraps wins. She saved scraps from odd sewing job for neighbors. She saved buttons from old winter coats and birthday dresses. Mama had a button from Daddy's first uniform and another from Grandma's cloth coat and every button in the box came with a story. In her trademark Texas twang, award-winning storyteller Barbara McBride-Smith recounts stories from her family that speak to all of us.
If I Built a Car
What a great book! I love the illustrations and how this boy imagines such a neat car. I read this book several times already this week.
 | author: Chris Van Dusen rating: asin: 0142408255 binding: Paperback list price: $6.99 USD amazon price: $6.99 USD |
"If i built a car, it’d be totally new! Here are a few of the things that i’d do. . . ." Jack has designed the ultimate fantasy car. inspired by zeppelins and trains, Cadillacs and old planes, with brilliant colors and lots of shiny chrome, this far-out vision is ready to cruise! there’s a fireplace, a pool, and even a snack bar! After a tour of the ritzy interior, robert the robot starts up the motor . . . and Jack and his dad set off on the wildest test drive ever!
