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Reading Level -- about 1.4ish? Age 6-9 according to the cover
Length -- 69 pages
Chapter Book -- pictures nearly every page
Warnings : teenage characters, magic
Rating: 3 Stars!!
This book is the first in a series called "The Tiara Club," and is aimed at those just making the transition to chapter books. The story itself is something of an adapted fairly tale -- the story of five young princesses who have just arrived at the "Princess Academy." The plot of the story revolves around attempting to retrieve dresses for the ball. One of the princesses (Charlotte) acts very "un-princesslike" in chasing after the carriage, her shout resulting in the trunks and dresses falling into the river. Luckily the girls are able to demonstrate their "true friendship" and earn back the right to attend the ball -- and with a little fairy dust they even have dresses to wear.
Overall the writing is pretty trite, and the story itself is fairly predictable. It's a good entry into chapter books for your early reader - something a bit more challenging, but definitely not going to win any awards or be a treasured memory. The print is large, and a picture takes up at least half of every other page. As an added bonus, there is a sheet of stickers about halfway through, and if you want to you can visit a website listed on the cover and use a "hidden" word to unlock games. (The website is pretty much a let-down, however, so I'd avoid building it up. There are a couple of games and a printable coloring sheet, but not much else. To help you get the idea of the hidden word, in this first book it is in chapter 3 in the picture of Queen Gloriana at her desk.)
The only hesitations I'd point out is that these girls are "teenage" princesses, and the story introduces two older princesses who are a bit snooty and look down on our heroines. These two older characters basically "flunked out" of the princess class the year before and now have to re-do their first year. They continue to play a role in later books as well, so be ready. There are some references to not liking people, or other princesses not being as "cool," and definitely some superiority among the 5 friends -- an attitude I don't endorse in my daughter. We just made sure to mention that behavior "wasn't nice," and then moved on. There is also some use of magic -- to test Charlotte's quick thinking, and also to "fix" the dresses, but it's fairly innocent.
My daughter (who was just under 5 when she read it) flew through it in less than an hour, but loved it. (It took me about 7 minutes to read the whole book.) The pretty pink color of the cover, the pictures, and the ease of reading - not to mention the princess theme! - made it a quick favorite. Several months later, however, it's been forgotten at the top of a shelf. I'm not conviced it was really worth the $3.99, but she says it was! 
Happy Reading!!
Reading Level -- about 2.1
Length -- 96 pages
Chapter Book -- few pictures
Warnings : None
Rating: 5 Stars!!
This sweet book is the first in a series by Kristin Earhart tracing life at a friendly riding farm called "Big Apple Barn." This story follows Happy Go Lucky, a young horse who has just been transfered to Big Apple Barn. Confused and lonely, Happy Go Lucky takes the advice of a fellow colt and "disobey's" his rider in the ring, resulting in feeling embarassed and sad when he learns he's let down his new owners. A friendly mouse in the barn explains to him that the colt wasn't TRYING to cause trouble, he just wanted different things than Happy does. Happy, of course, gets a second chance, and is able to follow what HE knows is right and prove he is an excellent riding horse.
As a parent I loved this book-- the lessons it teaches ( rely on your own definition of right and wrong, not what your peers tell you; choose to do what is right; etc) are great ones and familiar ones. One lesson that is equally important, but often ignored is the idea that your friends may not be TRYING to mislead you, but may simply want different things. Happy doesn't have to ignore his friend, or make a major moral stand - he simply learns to make his own decisions instead of being a follower. Wholesome, moral, age appropriate. The main characters are animals, and the human beings are portrayed as nice and good as well.
As a child, my daughter loved this book. The words and writing were solid, and kept her engaged. The chapters are short, and the book is not a difficult read ( it took her about 2 hours of reading spread over 2 days -- took me about 25 minutes of skim-reading) but it is a fun read. Best of all, it's only the beginning of a great new series! I'll keep you posted on the next couple of books as we read them! 
Thanks for following along!
Hello!!
And welcome to my corner of the world wide internet! This blog has been born out of my frustrations as a mom of an early reader. All too soon we'd progressed past the safe world of Syd Hoff and the many board books with their sweet rhyming stories, and I found myself desperately reading children's book after children's book looking for anything that might be subject matter appropriate for my almost 4 year old, but still have a reading level that would challenge her. Over the past two years since that time, I've read an ABUNDANCE of children's books. I am now intimately acquainted with "Flat Stanley," the American Girls and I are old buddies, and Jack and Annie are my best friends. As my daughter continues to out pace her learning curve, and I find myself continuing to come up empty on suggestions for good books I thought it was about time someone start putting together an easy list of children's books for those of us desperate to find them.
As far as qualifications go, I am a high school English teacher for the gifted and talented. I have a degree in English Literature, as well as one in History, and have been certified to teach Advanced Placement courses. All of that isn't really important, though. What IS important is that I've been "pre-reading" books for a precocious child for several years already. I've learned through doing -- and I'm hoping my lessons will be helpful to you. Remember, though, these are merely MY opinions. Books are like candy - no two people will ever have the same favorites. To help out, I'll try to give a brief synapsis of sorts, followed by my assessment of the book. If you're not looking for the same things in books as I am, feel free to use the synapsis as a starting point to decide which books you'd like to pre-read for your child. I'll be posting about books as I get a free moment, so check back often. You may occasionally find me posting multiple books at a time -- or I may go a few days without posting any. If you happen to be a publisher who would like to send me books to review, feel free to email me and I'd love to help out!
SO I fell into the black hole of real life for a bit -- like all of November, really. Sorry about that. Hopefully it won't happen again.
Not much to report really -- ok, that's actually a lie. There's a LOT to report, but not a lot of time in which to report it. Time is of the essence recently -- is it just me, or does it feel like it's sped up a lot recently? Currently my mini-me is out of town, so I've been able to slow down a bit. I've now seen THREE -- count them THREE recent movies in the last 2 weeks! I'm considering trying to fit in a FOURTH movie tomorrow evening or this afternoon, but I'm a little bit worried the world might stop turning! LOL! I used to be quite the movie connisseur, (however you spell that-- I know I'm not right since it's currently underlined with the little red "You're an idiot" line. ) As a college kid I whiled away many an hour completely immersed in someone else's reality as it played out on the big screen. For some reason there is something about the darkened room, the scent of buttered popcorn mixed with the cologne of the guy three seats in front of me, and the taste of Twizzlers that makes more than my mouth happy! It's been nice to revisit that recently. I guess that's one of the benefits of divorce -- I am now guaranteed at least the TIME to go to a movie once every other weekend -- assuming that he actually takes her on his weekends, which is a big assumption
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SO I fell into the black hole of real life for a bit -- like all of November, really. Sorry about that. Hopefully it won't happen again.
Not much to report really -- ok, that's actually a lie. There's a LOT to report, but not a lot of time in which to report it. Time is of the essence recently -- is it just me, or does it feel like it's sped up a lot recently? Currently my mini-me is out of town, so I've been able to slow down a bit. I've now seen THREE -- count them THREE recent movies in the last 2 weeks! I'm considering trying to fit in a FOURTH movie tomorrow evening or this afternoon, but I'm a little bit worried the world might stop turning! LOL! I used to be quite the movie connisseur, (however you spell that-- I know I'm not right since it's currently underlined with the little red "You're an idiot" line. ) As a college kid I whiled away many an hour completely immersed in someone else's reality as it played out on the big screen. For some reason there is something about the darkened room, the scent of buttered popcorn mixed with the cologne of the guy three seats in front of me, and the taste of Twizzlers that makes more than my mouth happy! It's been nice to revisit that recently. I guess that's one of the benefits of divorce -- I am now guaranteed at least the TIME to go to a movie once every other weekend -- assuming that he actually takes her on his weekends, which is a big assumption
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Sorry I disappeared for a bit -- real life kind of got in the way...
What is your favorite thing on your Thanksgiving table?
Lets start off with an easy one...
What is your favorite Halloween Costume you've ever worn?
After all, the one topic we all share a love for is ourselves. In my life today I've looked around and realized that there are far too few people who really give a flip about ME, and what I think. If that's true of me, I'm sure there are others out there who feel the same way. So I decided to start this blog. It's not about me and my life (that's what my other blog is for **SHAMELESS PLUG** Please visit my other blog by clicking on the link at the bottom of this entry and vote for me!! **END SHAMELESS PLUG**)
In any case, THIS blog is about YOU...what YOU think, and what YOU feel. I'll ask the questions, you give me the answers. Make them as long or as short as you'd like, but make them about YOU. And next time you think "no one really cares how I feel," remember that I do.
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Sorry about that folks!
I know, not the best way to get things moving around here -- to post a couple of thoroughly entertaining posts, and then disappear. Unfortunately, October got in the way of life -- or perhaps life got in the way of October. I'm not really clear on the order of things. All I do know is that I looked up yesterday and took my first full breath of fresh air in longer than I care to count, and realized that my next paycheck had been deposited
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In all of the traumas and tragedies associated with my nearly-completed divorce, I thought I had covered all of my "to worry about" bases. I'd composed the "I knew you were cheating" letters to both him and her. I'd planned out the custody arrangement should something ever happen to me. I'd located all of the take-out food menus to compensate for my woeful lack of kitchen skills. I never even thought about the return to high school first date phobia.
It happened early last week. The timing and composition is enough to singlehandedly prove the existance of some higher force guiding our lives -- even if only for the purpose of humor
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Comment by dreamersdance
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Dreamer's Dance
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