Realistic Fiction Books

Picture Books

The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: Mommy bunny with a counter-argument to the baby bunny’s urge to run away from home. She will become anything to get her baby back. Theme is that your mom will always be there for you, no matter what. I love this book because it brings back memories.

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: One morning, Peter woke up and looked out the window to see the snow that fell during the night. After breakfast he put on his snow-suit and went outside. He moved his feet in and out and to make tracks in the snow. He also made tracks with a stick, hit a tree with the stick, decided not to play in a snow ball fight because he was too young and instead made a snowman, pretended he was a mountain climber and slide all the way down. Picked up some snow and put it in his pocket and told his mom all about the day. After the tub, he looked in his pocket for the snow and it wasn’t there and he was sad. He had a dream that the sun made all the snow melt, but when he woke up it was snowing again and he called his friend and played more. Theme is having a good snow day. I like this story because it brings back memories and is fun to read. 

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: Art class in school was over and Vashti sat in her chair next to her empty paper. The teacher told her to draw a small thing and see where it takes you. So Vashti grabbed a marker and stabbed the paper. The teacher made her sign it and then was surprised to see it hanging above the teacher’s desk the next morning. She then said that she could make a better dot than that one and took out her watercolors to make a red, purple, yellow and blue dot also. She mixed blue and yellow to make green.  She made little dots and big dots and dots by painting around to make a white dot. A little boy loved her art and wanted to paint but wish he could, she told him that he could but he said he can’t even draw a straight line. He showed her that he can only make a squiggle and she told him to sign it. Theme is that everything is art. I love this story because I think it is the cutest thing when a teacher can communicate through a student for the student to then use the skills themselves to teach others as well. 

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: Trixie went on an errand with her daddy. They went down the block, through the park, past the school and until the Laundromat. She helped her daddy put the laundry and money into the machine, then left. A block later, Trixie realized something and tried to tell her dad something but her dad didn’t understand her and she cried and went boneless. She tried everything to show how unhappy she was, making her daddy unhappy too. Once that got home the mommy asked where the bunny was and they ran back to the Laundromat. Trixie’s daddy looked for the bunny, and finally found him and Trixie’s first words were “KNUFFLE BUNNY!” and they walk home. Theme is to never lose a Knuffle Bunny. I really loved this story because it was adorable and the pictures were actual picture of real places with the cartoon people drawn over them, which is really neat. 

When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: When I was young in the mountain, grandfather came home in the evening and kissed her head, grandmother made cornbread,beans and walked with me to the Johnny house in the dark night, took the cows to the lake and swam. On the way home we visited Mrs. Crawford’s house for butter.  We pumped pails of water and stood in-front of the stove with hot coco. We went to church and listened to frogs, watched snakes, and took pictures with them. We sat on the porch swings and talked and loved it because they loved the mountains. Theme was about the history of the mountains and family traditions. This story was sweet because it repeated the title on almost every page and in the end they loved living in the mountains. 

I Can Be Anything by Jerry Spinelli (Realistic Fiction) 

Summary: Starts off with a little boy in the grass asking a rabbit what he should be when he grows up. Which job with will be best for him? Pumpkin grower, dandelion blower, paper-plane folder, puppy-dog holder, puddle stomper, apple chomper, mixing-bowl licker, tin-can kicker, barefooted hooper, bubble gum popper, snowball smoother, baby-sis soother, girt unwrapper, jump and clapper, cheek-to-cheek grinner, dizzy dance spinner, cross-legged sitter, make-believe critter, deep hole digger, lemonade swigger, honeysuckle smeller, silly-joke teller, best-part saver, or goodbye waver? He chooses every one of the jobs in the end. Theme is you can be anything you want. I like this book because it was really cute and creative. 

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: Pa and Son went out to the woods late one night, passed his bed-time, to go owling. Threw the snow and the motionless trees, the Pa and Son quietly walked.  While looking up at the moon Pa called “Whoo-whoo-who” like the sound of a Great Horned Owl. They kept walking threw the woods to find an owl, while quietly trying to be as brave as they could. In another clearing of trees, Pa and Son tried to call for an owl again and this time they had an answer back.  They stood right under the owl’s nest and watched it as it flew on a branch, stared at them and flew off. To go owling you do not need words, warmth, or anything but hope. Theme is owling and family traditions. I liked this book because it was really cute and enjoyable for many ages. 

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: Amos McGee was an early riser, who changed right into his uniform when he woke up. He ate his oatmeal and had some tea and started to walk to the bus. He was right on time for the 6am bus to the City Zoo. Amos had a lot to do at the Zoo, including seeing all of his friends. He played chess with the elephants, raced the tortoise, sat with the shy penguin, lent a handkerchief to the rhino, and read stories to the owl. One day Amos woke up with a cold and didn’t think he could make it to work. At the Zoo all the animals waited for him, wondering where he was. Later that day all the animals went on the train and arrived at Amos’s house. The elephant and him played chess but he was too tired to run races to they played hide-and-seek instead. The penguin sat near Amos’s feet while he took a nap and the rhino had a handkerchief ready when Amos had to sneeze. When he started to feel a lot better, they all shared a pot of tea. After tea he said goodbye to everyone and set his alarm clock for the morning bus as the owl read him a story because Amos was also afraid of the dark. The last picture of the book was Amos sleeping with all of the other sleeping animals. Theme is that the people you love will be there for you. I liked this book because it was really cute and I love the pictures and story line. 

Chapter Books

Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: Joey Pigza Loses Control is an account of Joey's six weeks spent over summer vacation with his usually absent dad. Joey has ADD and has finally found a good dose of medicine, in the form of a patch on his arm. The new meds help Joey "settle down and think. And not just think about all the bad things that had already happened. I started thinking about the good things I wanted to happen." Meds have helped Joey start out new. But upon arriving at his dad's, Joey realizes his Dad is just like a grown up version of himself, but without the medicine. Carter Pigza is excited to get have this chance to bond with his son, and wants to make his son a winner. And winner's don't need medicine. So the first order of business is to flush all of Joey's medicine down the toilet and get Joey's world-class pitching arm on his baseball team. Both of which he does.  The rest of the story is about Joey slowing losing what little control he had over his behavior without the patch. Things go south quickly, and Dad is of no help to Joey. Joey’s burning desire to please his dad is the chief conflict here, because even Joey can sense his dad is making dangerous decisions. The real strength in this novel is the honest and heartbreaking voice of Joey and the voice, in turn, it gives ADD. I think this book is a wonderfully written novel that will make your reader think, and give him a birds eye, empathic view of children without stable family units and children struggling with ADD. Theme of this book is always do what is best for you no matter what anyone else says. I liked this book because it was showed me how a student with ADD would react and what they need to help them. 

Ramona Quimby Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: The novel opens with Ramona starting third grade and being excited about riding the school bus all by herself. At the same time, her older sister Beezus is enthusiastic about starting junior high, while their father begins taking college classes with a view to becoming a teacher.  Once Ramona arrives at school, she instantly clicks with her teacher, Mrs. Whaley ("a whale with a 'y' for a tail"), and starts signing her name, "Ramona Quimby, Age 8". But of course, as is normal for Ramona, things don't always go as planned. One day, she takes a hard-boiled egg to school for lunch. When she whacks it against her head to remove the shell as per a third-grade trend, she realizes it wasn't hard boiled and gets raw egg in her hair. She later overhears Mrs. Whaley talking about the incident in the staff room, commenting "What a nuisance". Ramona is shocked and upset that her teacher thinks of her like this. In another chapter, Ramona and Beezus claim not to like tongue because of "those yucky little bumps". As punishment for their comments, Mr and Mrs Quimby state that their two daughters should prepare the evening meal. The next day, Beezus and Ramona behave themselves in the hope that their parents will forget about their punishment. Unfortunately, Mr and Mrs Quimby remember and instruct the sisters to cook dinner. They prepare chicken thighs, rice and cornbread. However, they use some other ingredients because they ran out of the right ones. They use Cream of Wheat in the cornbread with the cornmeal, and banana yogurt and chili powder. They also make a mess of the kitchen. In another chapter, Ramona comes down with stomach flu and she does the "most terrible, horrible, dreadful, awful thing"; she throws up in front of everybody.  After Ramona recovers, she has hangups about a book report she is assigned to do, and comes up with a clever way to present it. Mrs. Whaley congratulates her warmly. Ramona confronts her teacher about the way she called her a nuisance. Mrs. Whaley replies that she meant it was a nuisance for the school secretary to have to wash the egg out of Ramona's hair. In the final chapter, the Quimbys are in a generally bad mood on a rainy Sunday, hardly a novelty in Oregon, complete with Beezus being upset over not being able to spend the night at her friend Mary Jane's house and Ramona being forced to clean up her room. So, to cheer everyone up, their father decides they should go out to dinner for the first time in months to Whopperburger, where the whole family realizes that a man, who had strangely asked Ramona if she's been nice to her mother, has paid for their meal, and they go home happy. Theme is family and school. I did not like this book much because it was boring and the plot line was not interesting enough for me. 

Junie B. First Grader (at Last!) by Barbara Park (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: Junie B. Jones just started First Grade and it is very different from Kindergarten. She doesn’t like first grade at first because her best friend Lucille from last year doesn’t want to be her best friend anymore and instead hangs with two twins, Camille and Chenille.  Plus her bus buddy, Grace from last year has a new buddy, so she sits with a boy named Herb, that she thinks she will like. During journal time, Mr. Scary, her teacher, took her down to the nurse’s office to test her eyesight and she ends up needing glasses. Junie was scared that everyone would react to her new glasses so she tried to whisper the news to Herb, but May the goodie girl started to yell at her to be quiet and Junie yelled her secret as she screamed at May. The next day Junie showed her glasses for Show and Tell. May laughed at her, but her friends Herb, Jose and Lennie all high-fived her. At the end she was happy to be in first grade. Theme is little children and school. I do not like this book because Junie B. never seems to be very polite and she’s always annoying. 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Realistic Fiction) 

Summary: Greg Heffley just started middle school and has to suffer through the bullying, girls, his dorky friend Rowley and the dreaded Cheese Touch. Not only school is tough, but home as well because of his older brother Rodrick playing tricks on him and his younger brother Manny who gets away with everything. Greg loves video games and tried to run for class treasurer but his campaign signs were too mean.  Greg’s favorite holiday is Halloween so him and Rowley tried to make a haunted house in Rowley’s basement. It didn’t work out too well when a little boy was too scared to get out from under the bed and Rowley’s dad came down stairs and made Greg leave. On Halloween the boys dressed up as a knight with a lot of reflective tape and a pirate.  After hanging around their parents and little siblings the boys went off on their own but ran into a couple of high school bullies in their big truck who made fun of them and sprayed them with a fire extinguisher then chased them to Greg’s Gramma’s house. They safely got back home to be drenched from Greg’s dad and his trash can filled of water for the teenagers that come to his house. In November Greg and Rowley tried out for wrestling but Greg was put in the low weight class with Fregley, the weird kid.  He didn’t want to be defeated by him again so he asked his dad for a weight machine to get bulked up and gain pounds in muscle. His mom didn’t want to spend the time and money on the exercise machines so Greg made his own weights which didn’t work out too well. When that was over, Greg’s mom made him sign up to act in the Wizard of Oz play at school.  Greg was on of the trees in the forest seen with a singing part, but after seeing his older brother tape him from the crowd, he didn’t want to sing anymore and ruined the play by throwing an apple at the annoying girl playing lead, Patty Farrell. For Christmas Greg didn’t get anything he wanted because his video game was accidentally sent to the Giving Tree poor person instead. While Rowley road on the new big wheel from Christmas, Greg threw a football at him as a game, but Rowley fell off and broke his arm. At school, Rowley got all the fame and girls because of his injury and Greg was upset because he got nothing. Rowley and Greg then decided to work together on a comic strip for the school’s newspaper, but Rowley and Greg had different ideas.  Greg’s ended up winning, but the teacher edited the strip so much it made him look like a teacher’s pet and was then bullied for it.  The boys decided to join the Safety Patrol to miss some of their Math class, but Greg got in trouble when he had to take care of Kindergarteners when walking home.  It was raining so he borrowed Rowley’s jacket while he was taking a quiz, but Greg was caught terrorizing the children by Mrs. Irvine who thought it was Rowley.  This got Rowley in trouble with the principle and got him kicked off the Patrol for a week. Greg was caught and Rowley got a promotion for taking the blame. Rowley starts to hang out with Greg’s back up friend Collin and start to make matching T-shirts together with their faces on them.  Greg needs a new friend and the only one he can think of is Fregley.  She he decides to sleep over Fregley’s house, but he eats all of Greg’s candy and get a sugar high. Greg runs away in the bathroom to then get an apology note from Fregley with a booger on it which makes him run back home at 2am.  To get more friends, Greg tries to get a class favorite, but his new sub teacher is his mom and all of his plans fail.  Rowley’s comics end up being in the newspaper, unchanged, and this gets Greg mad.  Their peers than think they are going to fight, but it was interrupted by the teen boys from Halloween who make Rowley eat the Cheese. Greg takes the blame for touching it and Rowley gets Class Clown, but Greg has blackmail on him with eating the Cheese just incase he get a big head. Theme is surviving relationships with friends and family as well as school survival. I love this book because it is one of the only books that actually make me laugh out loud while I read it.

Superfudge by Judy Blume (Realistic Fiction)

Summary: Peter is a sixth grader who lives in New York City.  He has a little brother, named Fudge.  Peter’s mom tells him that she is going to be having another baby.  Peter worries the new baby will create the same problems that Fudge caused him, so he plans to run away.  Next his parents decide to move the family from the big city, to suburbs in Princeton, New Jersey.  First, Peter is worried that the new baby will turn out to be a pain like Fudge, but to his surprise his new baby sister Tootsie is actually charming.  The first new friend Peter makes is Alex, the boys start a business by collecting worms for their neighbor.  Peter is actually enjoying his new school, but is mad that Fudge is at the same school with him.  The story ends with the family making a big decision about what to do next; Move back to New York City or stay in Princeton, New Jersey.

Fantasy Books

Picture Books

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes (Fantasy) 

Summary: A mother and father mouse name their new daughter Chrysanthemum because she is the perfect baby with the perfect name.  She grows up to love how her name is said and drawn, until she goes to school.  Everyone makes fun of her name for being too long or sounding like a flower. Her parents try to calm her down after school and that night she has a wonderful dream that her name was Jane.  The next day at school, the girl mouse Victoria made fun of her for looking like a flower and wouldn’t let it go. After school she said to her parents that school wasn’t for her, but they think they are just all jealous of her perfect name.  They comforted her with more of her favorite foods, hugs, kisses and Parcheesi. That night she had a bad dream that she was a flower and Victoria was picking her petals. Even carrying all of her good-luck charms, Chrysanthemum was put as a daisy in the school play and made fun of again. Mrs. Twinkle then told the class that her first name was also long and a flower’s name, Delphinium.  Chrysanthemum then blushed, beamed and bloomed. Then all the girls that made fun of her name changed theirs to a flower and Chrysanthemum knew her name was perfect. The play went well from her but not Victoria who forgot her lines, and Mrs. Twinkle named her new baby Chrysanthemum. Theme is to expect other’s differences. I liked this book because it had a point that bullying is wrong and there is always karma.

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper (Fantasy)

Summary: The little train was happy while running over the tracks because she had a lot of things to carry for boys and girls. This included; toy animals, giraffes, teddy bears, and even a baby elephant. Then there were dolls with blue eyes and yellow curls, brown eyes and hair, toy clown, cars, airplanes, tops, jack-knives, books, and puzzles. But that was not all, there was also food for the boys and girls to eat and drink. This included; oranges, apples, milk, spinach, peppermint drops, and lollipops. The train was carrying all of the wonderful things to the boys and girls on the other side of the mountain. All of the sudden the train stopped and she tried, but she couldn’t go another inch. The clown then saw a nice new engine and cried out for help, but the shiny new engine was not as nice and was not going to help. Next, a big strong engine came towards the little one and they asked him for help, but he was a Fright engine who pulls heavy trains, not little ones. The next train was old and rusty and he didn’t want to help because he was too tired and needed to rest. Everyone was ready to cry, but the clown found another train. A little engine showed up and they asked for help but she was not really big and has never been over the mountain before. Then the little blue engine said ‘ i think i can i think i can’ and tried her best to go over the mountain. They were up  up up and faster and faster until they reached the top. They all cheered as the little blue engine went down the mountain repeating “i thought i could’. Theme is to always keep trying. I loved this book because it was simple and teaches a good kindness lesson. 

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein (Fantasy) 

Summary: It was bed time for the chicken, but he wanted a bed time story. Papa was going to read Hansel and Gretel but didn’t want the chicken to interrupt. Hansel and Gretel were going to go into the house, but the chicken interrupted and told them that she was a witch and they didn’t go in, so that was the end. Papa told the chicken to stop and he said he will for the next story. The next story was Little Red Riding Hood and he interrupted by telling Little Red to not talk to strangers, so she didn’t talk to the wolf and the story was over. Papa was mad that the chicken interrupted another story and wasn’t getting tired, so he made him go back to bed and try one more story. The next story was Chicken Little but the little red chicken told chicken little that the sky wasn’t falling; it was only an acorn, and the story was over. He said he was going to be good and fall asleep for the next story but they didn’t have anymore. Papa had the idea for the chicken to tell him a story. The chicken’s story was about trying to put Papa to bed, but nothing was working. During the chicken’s story, there was snoring and it was Papa interrupting this time. The chicken said goodnight and they last ‘the end’ picture was the two of the asleep. Theme is to not interrupt stories if you want to have them read to you. This story was really cute and funny, plus the pictures were well done; I liked it. 

The Magic Hat by Mem Fox (Fantasy)

Summary: Appeared a magic hat from out of town. The magic hat spun through the air and sat on the head of a toad, baboon, bear, kangaroo, and a giraffe. Then a wizard appeared with a sign that said STOP. He took a wand from his beard and turned all the animals back into people who were dazed and confused. Then when no one was looking, he walked out of town wearing the magic hat that made all the magic where ever it went. Theme is to believe in magic. This book was short and a little strange but funny, with good pictures. 

Swimmy by Leo Lionni (Fantasy)

Summary: In the corner of the sea all of the school of little fish were red expect one black one who swam faster was named Swimmy. One day a tuna fish swam through the school and ate all the red fish but Swimmy was fast enough to escape. He swam by myself, scared and lonely, until he found a rainbow jellyfish, a lobster, some strange fish, seaweed, an eel, and some sea anemones. Then he found a school of fish just like his old one, but they were too scared to move. Swimmy then came with the idea to all swim together like the biggest fish in the sea to scare the big ones away. They all swam close together and Swimmy was the eye of the fish. They swam in the cool morning water and the midday sun and chased all the bigger fish away.  Theme is to accept how you are, no matter what color. I liked this book because the pictures are amazing and the story is really cute. 

Chapter Books

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (Fantasy) 

Summary: Fern Arable woke up in the middle of the night from a thunderstorm to walk outside to the barn to see her dad with 11 new baby pigs.  The one was a runt and wasn’t strong enough to feed so her dad was going to kill it, but Fern rescued it.  The two of them were inseparable. Fern named him Wilbur, feed him through a bottle and sang to him. The pig was getting too big to be a house pet, so they sent him to the Zuckerman’s farm. Wilbur didn’t want to be there because the other animals made him feel invisible. On the farm there was a horse named Ike, two cows named Bitsy and Betsy, leader of the flock of sheep named Samuel, and two geese Golly and Gussy who all ignored Wilbur. Wilbur wanted someone to play with so he asked the rat named Templeton. He didn’t want to play because all he did was be rude, gnaw, spy, eat and hide. That night while he said Goodnight to everyone, one voice finally answered him and told him they will meet tomorrow morning when the sunrises. When he woke up he meet the big gray spider named Charlotte. No one in the barn liked her as well, calling her names and being scared of her, but Wilbur didn’t seem to mind.  Wilbur and Charlotte could talk for hours. One day in the summer, Fern’s brother, Avery came into the barn and tried to capture Charlotte in a jar but Wilbur stopped him by tripping him. This made Avery step on Templeton’s rotten egg and stink up the barn, but Charlotte wasn’t complaining. Templeton told Wilbur some bad news after he saved Charlotte’s life.  Charlotte explained to Wilbur that Spring pigs are usually killed before Christmas to make ham and bacon but she promised him that she will save his life. Over night Charlotte thought of a perfect plan. She spun her web to make the words “Some Pig”, people came from all over the world to see it but soon forgot about it.  To live pass Christmas, Charlotte had to make another web with the word “Terrific” to save Wilbur’s life. The second word wasn’t enough and people came and gone, but the smokehouse was still getting prepared for the Christmas feast. To think of a better third word, Templeton looked through his stash of newspaper and found the perfect word, Radiant. Mr. Zuckerman announced to the third crowd that he was putting Wilbur into the County Fair.  Everyone thought he was saved from being a part of a meal.  Charlotte was getting weaker and weaker as the days went on, but he still made it to the fair to help Wilbur through the whole thing. Templeton also came for the food but he was tricked into helping for more words. At the fair, Fern was off with another boy and Wilbur was sad that she was growing up and the pig, Uncle, sat next to him was even bigger and stronger than himself. The next morning, Wilbur woke up to the word Humble. He didn’t think he deserved all of these words. He realized that Charlotte was sitting on something round and white. This was called a Magnum Opus and it held her eggs. Such great news was ignored when Wilbur realized the 1st place ribbon on Uncle’s pen. The judge’s decided the winner before seeing Charlotte’s web, losing them the competition. Right before they all went home, the judges saw the web and awarded the Zuckerman family with 100$, a handsome medal for Wilbur. While getting ready to go home, Charlotte was too weak to get into the car and this made Wilbur upset, but Charlotte was calm about her death and gave him her eggs to take care of. Back at the barn, Wilbur saw his first snow fall and waited for Charlotte’s 514 children to be born. One spring day, all the spider hatched and went on their way. This made Wilbur feel like he was losing his friend all over again. But after all the Goodbyes fading he heard three small voices say “Salutations!”. He told the three small spiders about their mom and told them that they will be best friends. Theme is friendship and kindness. I loved this book because it shows through animals, that anyone can be friends, no matter what size, shape or color. 

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien

Summary: Family of mice lived underground of a vegetable garden owned by a man named Mr. Fibbs Gibben. Mice move here when the living is hard and there aren’t enough food in the woods. Their house was a hollow cinderblock that was roomy and nice. Mrs. Frisby was single but was great a taking care of her children. Mrs. Frisby’s son Timothy became sick on a day in February. She wanted more and different food, but the grass area was a place for cats, but instead she searched around her house for anything. At the edge of the woods there was a stomp with a whole. There was something that looked like a leaf. She waited to see if there was anyone was there and saw it was corn, but she didn’t know why it was there because it was no where near the cornfield. Mrs. Frisby thought it was an animal that was shot, but she wanted the food and thought the animal wouldn’t miss it. She brought some corn home for breakfast, going back later for more with her children’s help. Theresa(the oldest) came first, then Martin (goodlooking one), then Cynthia(the dancer). Mrs. Frisby asked where Timothy was and asked Martin to get him, but he came back and said that he didn’t want the surprise food and didn’t feel good at all; plus, his forehead was warm. All of the children started to talk about moving day, but felt sad because they might not move if Timothy felt bad still. Timothy was always the first one of the season to catch a sickness and was not good at getting better. They offered him food, but he didn’t want any and fell asleep. The morning after they went to get more food, but on their way back, Theresa was sitting there with Timothy and crying. He could barely breathe and couldn’t talk. He was getting a lot worse. At the end of Chapter one they realize that Timothy must have medicine. Mr. Ages was a white mouse that lived across the farm behind a bricked walled house. Mrs. Frisby had to go into the winter and risk the trip to help her son, because he needed help. She was a fast as she could be and tried not to step on dried leaves and tried to find hiding spots just incase. From the seeds and leaves around Mr. Ages house, he made powders the saved the dying. He saved Timothy from a spider bite some time ago when Mr. Frisby was alive. There was no answer at Mr. Ages house so she waited for a half and hour and when he showed they talked about Timothy. She described Timothy’s symptoms and Mr. Ages said that he has pneumonia and needs to be kept warm. He took three packets of medicine and gave them to Mrs. Frisby. She asked if he will get better. He said that he will get better, but he might get it back if he gets cold again. In the beginning of Chapter three, Mrs. Frisby had to try and pick a safe and fast way to get home. The cat was called Dragon, he grew into his name as he turned to a scary monster that froze his victims where they stood. She thought about Timothy instead and how he was so nice to his youngest sister who was all over the place. As she was thinking this, she saw a crow that was trying to fly, but he had a string caught on his foot and couldn’t get out. He picked up the string because it was shiny and didn’t think he was going to get caught. As Mrs. Frisby was tried to get the string off the crow’s feet, he crow started to yell because the cat was coming closer. The string was cut loose and there was no where to hid so the crow told Mrs. Frisby to climb on top of his back to fly away to safety. The crow dropped off the mouse to her house. The crow named Jeremy told her that if she needed any help that he would be there. Chapter 4: When she got back she mixed the packets of medicine and woke up Timothy. The next couple of days he slept a lot still but he was a lot better. As Mrs. Frisby went back to the stomp where they found the food but could only think about moving day because if the groundhog sees his shadow and spring is coming, they have to move or the people will find them in the garden. Moving day also scared her because Timothy wasn’t allowed to move much and can’t be in the cold. On the way through the woods, she saw a shrew that she was friendly with. They talked about the owner of the garden and how he plows the winter ground before it was spring. As she was thinking about getting the key for the solution, she heard a horrible loud sound that shook her whole body. Chapter 5+6: She watched as Mr. FibbsGibbin and his sons Paul and Billy were setting up the trackers, but he turned them off and talked about ordering a new one and starting in 5 days. This worried Mrs. Frisby because Timothy needed 3 weeks to recover before moving and being in the cold. She saw the cat, but he was not giving her any attention and instead laid there and fell asleep. Behind the cat she saw a bunch of rats marching in a line and were carrying a long electric cable to the rose bushes, where their hole was. The rats were close to Dragon, but no one moved. Mrs. Frisby discovers that the farmer plans to start plowing in five days (earlier than she expected), and she doesn't know what to do. Jeremy tells Mrs. Frisby that she should ask the wise old owl what to do, and he would fly her there to see him. Chapter 7+8: At first the owl is reluctant to help Mrs. Frisby until he finds out that she is the widow of Johnathan Frisby. The owl suggests she seek help from the rats that live under the rose bush. Chapters 9+10: Terrified but brave, Mrs. Frisby goes to the rosebush to ask the rats for help. She meets a large rat named Brutus who doesn't want to let Mrs. Frisby see Nicodemus, but eventually he does when Mr. Ages tells him that she is the wife of Johnathan Frisby. Chapter 11-13: Once inside, Mrs. Frisby learns that the rats have electricity, lights, and an elevator underground. She meets Nicodemus, the rat leader, and then is taken to the library to wait for him. She also starts learning about the Plan of the Rats of NIMH. While in the library, she meets a girl rat named Isabella, who starts to tell her some things about life in the rat colony. Isabella also tells her about Jenner, who deserted the colony because he didn't agree with the Plan. Mrs. Frisby doesn't get to ask Isabella any more questions because Nicodemus comes in with Mr. Ages. They talk to Mrs. Frisby about moving her house and about the dangers of the cat, Dragon. She agrees to put powder in Dragon's food.  Chapters 14-17: Mrs. Frisby learns that her husband died putting powder in Dragon's food. Nicodemus also tells her about NIMH. He explains how the rats were caught and taken to a laboratory and given injections to speed up the training process. He tells the story of how Justin, a young rat, tried to escape one day.  Chapter 18-20: Nicodemus continues telling his story to Mrs. Frisby and includes how the rats learned to read, how reading signs helped the rats escape from NIMH, and how they escaped with Johnathan and Mr. Ages. He explains how they found a place to live, the Boniface Estate.  Chapter 21-23: Mrs. Frisby returns to the children and tells them the rats will help. She goes back to the rats the next day, and they show her the Main Hall and reveal their Plan. They want to become self-sufficient and live without stealing food. Nicodemus continues his story about Boniface Estate and a toy truck full of useful stuff they found, which was the catalyst for the Plan. He also explains how and why Jenner did not agree with the Plan.  Chapters 24-26: Mrs. Frisby goes to put the powder in Dragon's food bowl. While she is in the house, Billy, the farmer's son, catches Mrs. Frisby, using a colander as a net. He decides to keep Mrs. Frisby as a pet. While she is being held captive, she overhears a conversation about the Public Health Service coming to the farm to get the rats of NIMH. Justin comes and rescues Mrs. Frisby. When they get to the moving site, a shrew is standing in the way of allowing the rats to move Mrs. Frisby's house. After all the confusion is straightened out, the rats successfully move the mice's house.  Chapters 27-Epiloque: Mrs. Frisby goes to a meeting with the rats to discuss the men that may be coming for them. They devise a plan to fool the men if they are from NIMH and decide the time has come to move. A doctor came to get the rats, but they outsmarted him and escaped. Mrs. Frisby watches the scene unfold. It is thought that Justin died when the doctor tried to capture the rats. In the epilogue, Mrs. Frisby finally tells her children the truth about the rats of NIMH. Theme is telling the truth and survival. I liked this book more in the beginning than the end, but overall it is a really good book for children because it’s entertaining and interesting. 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (Fantasy)

Summary: The story begins with a description of the Dursleys, an utterly normal family in England, who are left with baby Harry Potter on their doorsteps. Aunt Petunia's sister Lily married James Potter and became a powerful couple in the wizard's world. They were killed by the evil Voldemort, leaving Harry with a large scar on his forehead and legacy as the only wizard to escape Voldemort alive. Head wizard Albus Dumbledore decides to have Harry grow up with the Dursleys until he is ready to attend Hogwarts, the premiere magic school in England. At age 11, Harry is whisked away to Hogwarts by the giant gamekeeper, Hagrid, to find himself lost amongst a new world of magic and power.  Hagrid takes Harry to Diagon Alley, where he retrieves some of his inheritance from Gringotts, the wizard bank, and purchases his books, wand, and robes from the Leaky Cauldron and Ollivanders. On the train to Hogwarts at platform Nine and Three Quarters, Harry meets his new friend Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Everyone is amazed to meet the famous Harry Potter. On the train Harry also meets Draco Malfoy, a boy with whom he develops a distrust and hatred. At Hogwarts, the children meet Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell, all professors and wizards. At the opening banquet, the Sorting Hat decides in which house the children live, sorting Hermione, Neville, Ron, and Harry into Gryffindor, and Draco Malfoy into Slytherin, the house run by Snape and known to have schooled Voldemort in years past.  Hermione busies herself with studies, Ron with chess, and Harry with learning about his family and powers. He becomes an expert at flying and is allowed to play Quidditch for Gryffindor's team. Draco Malfoy continually tries to get the Gryffindor kids in trouble, by setting them up and dragging them away from their beds at the wrong time. One day, Ron and Harry come across a large troll and rescue Hermione from death. From then on, the threesome spies on Snape and Quirrell and seek to discover the secrets at Hogwarts. They realize that the Sorceror's Stone is hidden by a three-headed dog at Hogwarts and is the secret to eternal life created by Nicholas Flamel. They believe Snape is the culprit behind the evil and try to stop him from destroying Harry and Hogwarts.  Meanwhile, Hagrid keeps an eye on Harry and looks out for him. They visit Hagrid and meet his new pet dragon, Norbert. Norbert causes problems for everyone, as dragons are illegal animals. The three send the dragon away to Romania under Harry's Invisibility Cloak and are discovered out of bed doing so. They are branded and punished with detention and stricken of fifty points each. As detention the kids must help clean up the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid. They find a unicorn slaughtered, with its blood scattered across the ground, and are frightened by an evil spirit. The good centaur Firenze flies Harry away from danger in the forest as soon as he discovers who Harry is.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover that Voldemort tricked Hagrid into revealing the method by which to get past the three-headed dog and to the Sorcerer's Stone. They rush past the dog, and through the chambers to stop Voldemort from killing Harry. Ron gets everyone past the life sized Wizard's Chess board, while Hermione breaks the riddle that allows Harry to proceed to the ultimate chamber under ground. He sees the Mirror of Erised, the same mirror that shows the hopes and dreams of the person who looks inside. He finds Quirrell in the chamber without his stutter. He admits to hosting Voldemort and trying to destroy Harry in the forest. When his turban is removed, Harry sees a double face on top of Quirrell's head - it is Voldemort, and he wants to use Harry to get the Stone and then kill him. Harry discovers the Stone in his pocket and tries to kill Voldemort/Quirrel until he blacks out.  Harry awakens in the infirmary to Dumbledore congratulating him. He saved the Stone, Hogwarts, and his own life. Because of his bravery and that of Hermione, Ron, and Neville, Gryffindor wins the House Cup for the year. Harry must go back to the Dursleys for the summer, but looks forward to all the magic he will practice and learn in the future. Theme of this book is survival and wizardry. I do not like this book because I thought it was boring and too long. 

Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel (Fantasy)

Summary: “Spring”: Frog went to Toad’s house and tried to get him up and out of bed to see the April sun shining on the melting winter snow, but Toad only wanted to sleep. Toad didn’t want to wake up until May, so Frog ripped off the all the pages of the calendar to have May showing and woke up Toad again to go have some fun. “The Story”: One day in summer Frog wasn’t feeling well, so Toad was going to tell him a story while he was resting. Toad couldn’t think of a story so he walk outside to come up with one, when that didn’t work he tried to stand on his head to find a story. He was on his head for a while, but that didn’t work. Toad tried to think of a story by pouring water on his head and banging his head on the wall, but Frog was already starting to feel better and gave the bed to Toad and wanted to tell him a story instead. The Frog told the story of everything the Toad tried to do to get a story and by the end the Toad was fast asleep. “A Lost Button”: One day Frog and Toad went for a long walk. During the walk Toad’s feet started to hurt and he realized he lost a button on his jacket. They retraced their steps to find the button. Frog cried out to Toad that he found it but it was black not white and put it in his pocket. Then a sparrow flew down and asked if he was missing a button he found but it had two holes not four. In the dark path they found another button, but it was too small. Next a raccoon came up to Frog and Toad with a button but it was square, not round but he took that one and put it in his pocket with all the rest. They found another one in the mud but it was too thin. Toad started to get mad that there were so many buttons but none of them were his and ran home. There, on the floor, was his button. Toad took all of the buttons he found that day and sewed them on his jacket and give it to Frog the next day. Frog was so happy about his new beautiful jacket that he jumped for joy, and none of the buttons fell off because Toad sewed them on really well. “A Swim”: Frog and Toad went to the river for a swim. Frog didn’t wear a bathing suit, but Toad did and didn’t want Frog to see him wearing it, so he made Frog close his eyes until he was in the water. The played in the water all afternoon until a turtle came along the riverbank.  Toad told Frog to tell the turtle to go away because Toad thought is looked funny in his bathing suit. Everyone including some lizards, a snake, two dragonflies and a field mouse wanted to see Toad in his funny bathing suit. Toad didn’t want to get out of the water but he started to get a cold. When he got out of the water everyone, even Frog laughed at him. Toad asked Frog what he was laughing about and he said that he did look funny. Toad said of course I do and picked up his stuff and walked home. “The Letter”: Frog went over to Toad’s house to find him sadly staring at his mailbox. Toad was sad that he never gets mail, so Frog said bye and rushed home. At home, Frog started to write a letter to Toad.  He gave it to Snail to take it to Toad’s house and put it in his mailbox right away. Frog ran back to Toad’s house and told him to look and wait for the mail, but Toad didn’t want to and the Snail hasn’t come yet. Toad asked Frog why he was looking at the window and Frog told him that he was waiting for the mail because he sent some. After four days of waiting, the Snail finally made it to Toad’s house and gave him the letter. This made Toad very pleased to have it. Theme of this book is friendship. I loved this book because it was one of my favorites when I was little. It has great picture and simple but perfect stories for little children. 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Fantasy)

Summary: Main character Katniss lives in the world where they are the ‘Hunger Games’ at the Capitol.  Where two people from each of the 12 Districts fight to the death for the winner to become famous.  Katniss’s sister Prim was picked during the reaping but she took her place as tribute`. Katniss and the boy from her district Peeta start to fall in love and fight for the new rules that two people from the same District can win together.  They end up winning after killing their peers and surviving explosions and deadly animals (trackerjackers).  Gale Hawthorne is Katniss’s friend from home. Effie Trinket is the district escort, Haymitch Abernathy is the mentor for the district, Cinna is the stylist, Rue is one of the children from District 4 that Katniss draws a liking to. Caesar Flickerman is the interviewer. At the end of the book, Haymitch tries to make Peeta and Katniss look more like a couple by telling her what to do during the many interviews.  On their way back home, Peeta gives her flowers and this makes her think about Gale.  Peeta and Katniss start to argue about what Haymitch was doing and how Peeta now thinks their whole relationship was a fake, but Katniss is just confused more and more when she gets closer to home.  At the end of the book, Peeta grabs her hand and says “One last time for the audience”.  She doesn’t want to lose him already but is still confused about Gale. Theme of this book is survival, love and friendship. I loved this book, but at the end I started to lose interested because it was very predicable and started to bore me. 

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey (Fantasy)

Summary: Characters George Beard and Harold Hutchins are responsible best friends that live next to each other and are in the same fourth grade class at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School who love to draw comics. These comics included the all-time greatest hero; The Amazing Captain Underpants. In the comics, the Captain was the super hero who saved the school from the Inedible Hunk. Mr. Krupp the meanest school principal in history did not like children in general, but especially Harold and George and their comics. The BIG prank that got the boys in trouble was putting pepper in the cheerleaders pompoms, bubbles in the bands instruments, filled the football with helium, replaced the football players lotion with itching cream, glued the bathroom door shut and put Sea-Monkey in the lemonade all at one football game. Mr. Krupp blackmailed the children by taping them doing every prank and made the boys do anything he wanted them to. After weeks of following his rules, the boys bought a 3D hypno-ring that made the principal think he was Captain Underpants and ran away to fight crime.  While chasing the Captain, they fought off some robbers, robots and the evil Dr. Diaper that was trying to take over the world with his Laser-Matic 3000 and Diaper-Matic 2000. The boys changed Mr. Krupp back into himself and took the blackmail, but whenever he hears snaps, he turns back into Captain Underpants. Theme is imagination vs. reality. I love this book because it is really entertaining and fun to read.

Traditional Books

Picture Books

Tom Thumb: Grimms’ Tales Retold/Illustrated by Eric Carle (Traditional Lit./Folk/Fables) 

Summary:  Eric Carle brings to life four tales written by the brothers Grimm with his gorgeous illustrations and charming retelling of the classic stories. These tales capture the interest and imagination of children and adults alike, showing that while we might wish and wander, we should be grateful for what we have and where we are in life. Theme is about Tom and his adventures. I liked this book because it was wonderfully redone and re-illustrated. 

The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka (Traditional Lit./Folk/Fables) 

Summary: Starts with the ended of the first book, “Kissed the frog, turned into a Prince and they lived happily ever after” but the really weren’t so happy because they they were too different. The Prince was jumping on things and wanting to go to the pond, but the Princess didn’t want to. All the Prince wanted to do was run away. One day, the Princess wished that he was still a frog and he got the idea to find a witch that could turn him back. The witch he found didn’t think he was the Frog Prince because he wasn’t a frog, but she wanted to cast a spell anyways so he doesn’t wake up Sleeping Beauty before the 100 years are up. The Prince didn’t stick around to see which spell she was making, so he left to find another witch. He told the second witch that he didn’t want to wake up Sleeping Beauty, but wanted to be a frog. The witch didn’t want a Prince to save Snow White so she gave him a poison apple, but he knew better and ran to the third witch. She said sure and let him into the gingerbread house. The Frog asked the witch if she knew Hansel and Gretel and she said she was expecting them for dinner. The Frog knew his fairy tales and ran to someone near a tree. This person was a fairy godmother and she was about to go meet with a girl for a ball (Cinderella), and was going to try to help him. She turned him into a carriage. He thought he was an idiot because he wasn’t with the Princess and scared and stuck in the forest. At midnight a clock from faraway turned to 12am and he ran back home. The Princess was mad that he was late, but he was happy to be home and with the one he loved. They kissed and both turned into frogs and lived happily ever after. Theme is to realize there is always more to the story and it doesn’t really end after “the end”. I loved this book because it ended nicely and there were many old stories in it as well. 

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock by Eric A. Kimmel (Traditional Lit./Folk/Fables) 

Summary: Anansi was walking threw the forest one day when something caught his eye. He said “Isn’t that a strange moss covered rock?” And all of the sudden something hit his head and he woke up an hour later, said that again, and it happened a second time. After this time while his head was still spinning, he had figured out what happened. He thought this was a magic rock that would knock you out if anyone said that, so he went walking until he was at Lion’s house who was on his porch with a lot of yams. Anansi loved yams but was too lazy to get them himself. So in the forest he got the Lion to say the same thing and when he was out, Anansi took all of his yams. The Lion was sad that his yams were gone, but Anansi was happy and thought it was a great trick. So he did it again with the Elephant to get his bananas. After getting the bananas, he played this trick on the zebra, rhino, giraffe, hippo, and all the others expect for Little Bush Deer. She watched Anansi play the trick on everyone and decided it was time for him to learn a lesson. So she collected coconuts and waited for Anansi to come over. So in the forest, and said she couldn’t see anything when Anansi was trying to trick her too look and say something about the rock. She tricked him to say ‘strange moss covered rock’ and down fell Anansi. The Deer went back to the house and got the animals and walked to Anansi’s house to get back their stuff. When he woke up, no one was around and his house was empty; He still didn’t learn his lesson. Theme of this book is to respect and be nice to others and their belongings. I liked this book because it was interesting and fun to read.

The Lion and The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (Traditional Lit./Folk/Fables) 

Summary: There are more pictures than words. The first page is an owl ‘who’ing, the second is the owl screeching at the mouse and trying to go after him. The mouse goes into his hole and goes through the back door to hide in the tall grass. Then he crawls up what looks like a hill, but it is a lion. The lion holds him and looks like he was going to eat him, but lets him go back to his nest of babies. Then the lion walks off and people in a car show up with a net and hammers. They catch the lion in the net. The lion  GRRRRRRs and the mouse hears it and tries to help him by nibbling threw the net. The lion falls to the ground and looks like he says thank you to the lion. The mouse walks home to her family and the lion goes back to his family. Theme is helping others. I love this story because it was short and sweet with little words and wonderful illustrations.  

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (Traditional Lit./Folk/Fables)

Summary: Four little rabbits named Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail and Peter lived with their mother underneath the root of a big fur tree. Their mother told them to beware of Mr. McGregor’s garden because their father was baked into a pie by hopping in there.  All of Peter’s siblings went to pick blackberries, while Peter went straight to Mr. McGregor’s garden and ate his lettuce, French beans, and radishes. While looking for some parsley he ran into Mr. McGregor! He chased after Peter with his rake yelling, “Stop thief!”. While running away, Peter forgot where he entered, lost his shoe and his new blue jacket got caught in a gooseberry net. Peter got himself out of his jacket and ran to the tool-shed and jumped into a can.  Mr. McGregor looked for in the flower pots until Peter sneezed and ran off with him chasing behind. Peter tried to get into the door but it was locked and the mouse could not help him with the pea in his mouth and Peter was so upset he cried. He past the white cat that was watching gold fish and went into the wheelbarrow for a better look.  In the wheelbarrow, Peter saw Mr. McGregor racking onions and the fence he entered the garden right across the way. He ran across the garden as fast as he could and didn’t look back at Mr. McGregor who started running after him. He ran under the fence and back home. Peter’s mother was cooking dinner and wondered why he lost his clothes again. Peter was sent to bed with some camomile tea while his siblings ate their milk and blackberries. Theme is to also follow the directions. I love this book because it’s a classic but I still think it could of ended differently. 

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner (Traditional Lit./Folk/Fables)

Summary: The first pig built his house out of straw. The wolf knocked on his door and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me come in!” The pig said, “Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin.” So the wolf said, “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in!” So the wolf blew the house in and was supposed to eat the pig, but he was blow out of the story. The second pig’s house was made out of sticks. The wolf and pig said the same thing, when the first pig told the second pig to climb out of the story because it was safe.  The wolf was supposed to eat the second pig, but looked confused because he was not there. The last pig made his house out of bricks.  The first two pigs got the third pig out of his house and pushed down all of the story pages with the wolf in them and folded the one he was in so he couldn’t escape. They folded it into a paper plane and rode it like a ride until it crashed. They then found another story, The cat and the fiddle and run around those pages. The next story had a dragon in it, that followed them out of the story as well as the cat and the fiddle. They next found a page with a nice brickwork building, and put the wolf as well as themselves in this story.  They messed with the letters, had soup “and they lived happily ever aft”. The end of the book the one pig was made the letters like what is in quotes above. Theme is how to stick together and get out of bad situations. I liked this book because it was so different, but it would be very confusing for smaller children and more for older children that would understand what was going on.

The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett (Traditional Lit./Folk/Fables)

Summary: Aloo-ki, a small little girl wondered into a family of polar bear’s igloo and drank from the biggest bowl, too hot; then the middle-sized bowl, too cold. The small bowl was just right. The next room she found three pairs of boots. The last and smallest pair wasn’t too fancy or big. In the next room she found three blankets and wanted to take a nap, but the first bed was too lumpy, the second was too soft, but the last day was just right. The bears came back and realized their soup was sipped or gone and their boats were missing or messed up.  The bears ran to their bedroom to find the parents beds to be messed up. They found Aloo-ki in Baby bear’s bed, just before she got up and ran between Papa Bear’s huge furry legs. She ran outside to her huskies and road off waving thank you to the bears as they all waved back. Theme is to ask before you borrow someone’s things. I liked this book because it was a spin-off of Red-Riding-Hood. 

Chapter Book

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (Traditional)

Summary; Four children- Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy were sent away from London because of the World War. The were sent to a big house and decided to look through it. There was a big wardrobe in a room and Lucy walked into it and looked around the coats. A moment later she was in a forest of snow, she was excited and scared at the same time. There was a light that she followed and then saw a fawn, with human top and goat bottom. Thomas was the fawn and asked her how she came into Narnia. They both went off through the woods to have tea in his cave. The fawn started to talk about the White Witch and how she is the one that is having winter all the time and no Christmas. The witch made Thomas be the one to find a human and bring her to the witch, but he didn’t want to, but he also didn’t want to be turned into stone. Lucy left and ran back to the wardrobe and went to the siblings to tell them about what she found. There was nothing behind the coats when the others looked to see with Lucy was talking about. While playing hide-and-seek, Lucy went to the wardrobe. Edmond followed her to Narnia. The witch greeted Edmond and asked what he was. She realized he was a Son of Adam and helped him out of the cold into her carriage. Edmond told her about Lucy and the rest of her family when he ate the enchanted food she gave him. She told him that she wanted to meet the others and would give him more food and make him the prince of Narnia, bribing him into being tricked. Edmond found Lucy and they talked about how the Witch was evil and he could turn someone into stone. Ending from the people in the house, all of the children hid into the wardrobe and they all went to visit the fawn, Thomas, but he was arrested because of disobeying the Queen. A beaver showed up and said that Alsan in on the move, making Peter feel brave and adventurous, Susan felt like music was walking by, and Lucy got the feeling like at the beginning of summer, but Edmund only felt mysterious horror. Mr. and Mrs. beaver and the children ate dinner at the beaver’s house and talked about Thomas being turned into stone. They talked about Alsan, the King, the Great Lion, who has came back to Narnia and must be seen by the humans to stop the Queen/Witch before she turns everyone to stone and take over Narnia. Edmund then was no where to be seen, the beaver said he was under his enchantment and was on the way to the Witch’s house. When he arrived at the castle, he walked passed the gate and to the wolf to let him in. The Witch was not happy that he came alone, but he was sure to tell her that they are not far behind. In the meantime, the others were getting tired and stopped for the night until they were woken up by Father Christmas.  He as come at last because the Witches’ magic is weakening and he gave them all presents. Peter and sword and shield, Susan a bow and arrow and Lucy a bottle of healing liquid and a small dagger. Edmund was having a horrible time, not getting his food and wished he was with the others. Suddenly the witch stopped the sled and turned everyone into stone and this made Edmund feel bad for someone other than himself. He then suddenly felt a lot less cold and realized he could see grass and the Witch’s winter was disappearing.  The others then found the Lion, Alsan.  Peter went up the King and said We have come. Alsan welcomed all of the him but realized that there was a child missing. All of the sudden, at the stone table, were wolves attacking Peter and Susan, and he didn’t feel brave but he tried to help and killing them. Alsan then yelled to the rest of the animals and told them to flee. Edmund all of the sudden felt someone un-tying him and he fainted realizing that the Witch was gone. The Witch soon appeared and wanted to kill or would ruin Narnia. The Witch and the Lion talked and everyone waited. After they were done, they left and went to sleep; expect for Susan and Lucy, who talked and watched the sad Alsan walk into the woods. They asked to walk with him and he said yes if they were going to stop if he asked. He then stopped and they were told that he was going to leave and should not be followed. The girls cried but the Witch captured him and he didn’t growl or cry. They realized he was a sacrifice. As the girls cried they heard a loud crack and it was the stone table that was broken in two and Alsan’s body was gone. Susan thought it was magic and Alsan appeared behind them and explained the magic. He explained that if a innocent person was killed instead of a traitor, that the table would crack and death would start to work backwards. He started to feel his strength to come back to him. They got on his back and started to go to the Witch’s castle to a courtyard full of statues. Suddenly the all the statues started to crack and the people appeared and they all went to fight the Witches battle. Most of the enemies were dead in the first charge and all that was left was the Witch. Peter was badly hurt and was then healed by Lucy’s magic potion. After Peter was up, Alsan announced him as the new King of Narnia. At dinner the all were crowded and the animals and other cheered during the feast. When the Kings and Queens noticed Alsan was gone, they didn’t worry because he would be back. They all ruled over Narnia together. They were told that the white stag that grated wishes was seen in the woods, so they sent out for a hunting party. As they saw the lamp post, they were surprised that they found the wardrobe and rolled back into the room in their own clothes.  It was the same hour of the same day and told their Grandfather about Narnia.  He said “Once a King and Queen of Narnia, Always a King and Queen of Narnia.” He told them that they might be able to go back, but not for awhile. Theme is family, working together and imagination.  I liked this book because it was a fun one to read and the story was great for an imagination.