Tuesdays at the Castle

There were only two rules the Castle seemed to follow.  Rule One: The throne room was always to the east.  Rule Two: If you turned left three times and climbed through the next window, you'd end up in the kitchens.

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

Sometimes when I walk through the shelves at the library I snag books based entirely on their cover (and usually their inside flap).   This book was one of those, from the award book section in juvenile fiction that I frequent every time I'm a
t the library.  It was a fun, fluffy read, one of those that reminds me of why I so loved (and still do) indulging in books as a child. 

The Glower family lives in an enchanted castle that can transform as it pleases.  Each Tuesday something changes: a new wing added, a hallway lengthened, a secret passage where there was nothing before.  It is a fun, intriguing building and the kids love to live there. 

A few pages in, however, the king and queen have gone missing and the three Glower children at the castle must use it to fight those that are trying to take over.  The kids are involved in pranks as well as dangerous adventures as they join forces with their castle to try to make sure the crown stays protected.

Though there was nothing that made it really stand out in a literary sense, for me this book rates high.  It was just fun!  I loved being taken away by my imagination.

Two post scripts here: first, I am the dork that almost always reads about the author and reads through their notes at the end.  I was delighted to see that Jessica Day George not only lives in Salt Lake City but also attended BYU, my alma mater.  Second, my nickname (from one of my siblings) is Glower - odd, but true.  It was hard to read about the Glower children without a smile coming to my face because of it.

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell

I may as well get to the point: I absolutely loved Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat.  It was such a FUN read.  I remember watching Monsters, Inc. and walking away saying, "That was a fantastic show.  I can't believe they could construe such an absurd story line into something cohesive."  I felt much the same way about Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat: I could never adequately describe the book but it was just so good.  And so, I'll take a stab at describing it.  :)

Since Emmy's parents inherited a massive fortune from a great uncle they never knew, they have been traveling the world, leaving Emmy in the care of a nasty nanny, Miss Barmy.  Miss Barmy is simply not kind but she is also very odd: she makes Emmy drink all sorts of strange things, rub things behind her ears, keep a remarkably full schedule, and be the perfect child.  It's a mess.  But one day Emmy stumbles on Miss Barmy in an area of town she's never seen before: a rodent store that houses all sorts of animals with unique tags on them, listing powers and abilities of each. 

And on the story goes: a well-woven plot about some impressive rodents and a smart little girl who figures out Miss Barmy while dealing with her own innocent emotions.  It was such a fun ride: one I will certainly purchase for my children and read with them again and again.

Half Magic

"Still, even without the country or a lake, the summer was a fine thing, particularly when you were at the beginning of it, looking ahead into it. There would be months of beautifully long, empty days, and each other to play with, and the books from the library.”

Half Magic by Edward Eager

As with most of the book recommendations I pursue, I picked this up based on a recommendation by Janssen at Everyday Reading.  She lists it as one of her favorite middle grade books and I agree completely.  In fact, I told TJ that this is the exact kind of book I imagine reading to our kids on road trips in the future.  It was innocent, fun, entertaining and plain old wholesome: my favorite combination for a book.

Four siblings - Jane, Katharine, Mark and Martha - find a charm one day and, after a sequence of odd events, figure out that the charm grants them exactly one half of everything they wish.  With that understanding in place the four of them set out to have several wonderful adventures together, fumbling through some wacky wishes (caused by unsound math).  It was a lot of fun to see what sorts of adventures were the most exciting to them (they take turns with the charm) and it was quite funny to see what went awry. 

I also really enjoyed the narrator's voice, which I felt was the perfect tone for children.  I imagined the narrator as a he, since the author is a he, and he acknowledged the audience by saying things like "you know exactly what I mean" or "as I'm sure you know."  They were the sort of acknowledgements that I would bet make children feel connected to the book even further.  A great touch, I think.

I did close this book with a homework assignment to read something by E. Nesbit.  I'm ashamed to say I don't even know who it is but Edward Eager, the author, mentions Nesbit in every book he writes in an effort to point children to her books.  I'll add her to my list!