REVIEW: The Wizard of Oz (Great Illustrated Classics) by L. Frank Baum

 

Title: The Wizard of Oz (Great Illustrated Classics)
Author: L. Frank Baum
Pages: 240
Publisher: Playmore Publishers
Date Published: August 22, 2000 (Original Pub. 1977)
Format: Hardback
Source: Bought

Goodreads ~ Amazon

Dorothy, a farm girl from Kansas, is whisked away by a cyclone to a mysterious and magical land called Oz. There she makes unforgettable friends: a talking scarecrow, a man made out of tin, and a cowardly lion afraid of his own shadow. Dorothy and her new friends follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City where they hope to have the famous wizard grant their wishes. But their path is thwarted by a wicked witch! Can Dorothy and her friends reach Oz and have their wishes granted?

The wizard gets Dorothy home. Dorothy sings and dances and makes new friends. She takes Toto with her. Toto is her dog. I liked The Wizard of Oz because Dorothy killed the Wicked Witch. I liked her friends.

Emma - Age 5


The Wizard of Oz was about getting to the Wizard and getting back home to Kansas. She makes friends with a scarecrow, a tin man and a lion and she meets some mice and winged monkeys. She got a whistle from the mice and a golden cap from the winged monkeys. She realizes that the Wizard is not really a great Wizard and she couldn't fly back home to Kansas because Toto ran off. I like that she finally got to kill the witch and she gets the ruby slippers. The scarecrow gets his brains, the tin man gets a heart and the lion gets some courage.

Jessica - Age 8

Mom's Thoughts
I enjoyed reading this book to the girls.  The Great Illustrated Classics are a great way to introduce children to the classics since the adaptations are more child friendly.  Emma enjoyed the fact that even though this was a thick chapter book it still had pictures on every page.  We were all a little amazed at how different the book is compared to the movie, which we've seen countless times.  I'd be interested in reading the entire Oz series.

REVIEW: Zombie Dog by Clare Hutton

Title: Zombie Dog
Author: Clare Hutton
Series: A Rotten Apple Book #2
Pages: 192
Publisher:  Scholastic, Inc. 
Date Published:  August 1, 2012
Format:  Paperback
Source:  Bought

Goodreads ~ Amazon

Rotten Apple Books: Unexpected. Unforgettable. Undead. Get bitten!

Becky's family has moved right next door to the creepy, abandoned McNally house. Rumors fly around school about the ghosts and monsters that live there, and Becky isn't sure what to believe. Even her mischievous dog, Bear, stays away from it.

When Becky starts hearing mysterious howls coming from next door, paired with an awful smell, she starts to wonder if the rumors might be true. Snarls and glowing eyes confirm it--something is over there, and it's not happy. Worse, Becky's parents are blaming Bear for all the unexplained damage around their property. Can Becky stop this creature before it's too late?

The house beside Becky has rumors about monsters and ghosts.  Weird things start happening and then there is a rotten smell from next door.  Zombie Dog was a scary book.  I liked when they discovered the zombie next door.  Nate and Becky were trying to put it to rest.  They tried Bear's ball because Becky had thrown away the zombie's ball and the zombie was mad about it.  When they found the zombie dog I got nervous.  I think this book was really good and very scary.  I think anybody that hears about this book should read it.  They will probably get freaked out! 

Jessica - Age 8


Mom's Thoughts
Jessica loves Monster High, but the books are geared more towards middle/high school grades.  We picked this book up (along with book #1, Mean Ghouls) at the book fair thinking that it would be similar.  In reality, these books are more like Goosebumps or Fear Street books.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just an FYI.  I don't think Jessica would have chosen them had she known how spooky they would be, but she really enjoyed Zombie Dog!  I thought the story was great, too.  Jessica and I are looking forward to reading Mean Ghouls next.  I recommend these books to anyone that enjoys spooky stories.  I think they are aimed more towards girls, but I see no reason why boys wouldn't enjoy them, too.

Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop

We are super excited to be hosting a giveaway for our first ever hop!!! *Mikey is doing the happy dance right now*  

We want to say thank you to very nice people at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and The Elliot Review  for putting this together for everyone!!

So everyone knows that we are huge Goosebumps fans.  In fact, our long time wish is to meet R.L. Stine and have dinner with him.  Then we will talk about all of his wonderful books and give him some of our ideas about Goosebumps.  (Oh it will happen...eventually)

We have already started school here :(  We aren't exactly jumping for joy for it either, well Mikey is but he is always jumping anyways.  

Anyways, we really wanted to giveaway a Goosebumps book that we have read and just know that everyone else would like these too.  So we are giving away 1 used paperback copy of Piano Lessons Can Be Murder by R.L. Stine.   Here is the book blurb of it:

Practice till you drop . . . dead. When Jerry finds a dusty old piano in the attic of his new house, his parents offer to pay for lessons. At first, taking piano seems like a cool idea. But there's something creepy about Jerry's piano teacher, Dr. Shreek. Something really creepy. Something Jerry can't quite put his finger on. Then Jerry hears the stories. Terrifying stories. About the students at Dr. Shreek's music school. Students who went in for a lesson . . . and never came out.    -Goodreads summary

You guys can enter below and remember that if you are under 16 you need to make sure you have a parent/or guardian's permission.    Hope ya'll enjoy your last days....of freedom too!  





a Rafflecopter giveaway And don't forget to go to the other blogs on this hop and check out their awesome giveaways!

Let's have some fun with books!

So I have decided to make this new blog for all the books that might be better suited for the kids to read.  I will even have my sons do some reviews on books that they believe others might enjoy too.  If anyone has a book that they would like us to read and review please feel free to comment below or send me a message in the Contact Me area.  I can't wait to get started on this blog for the younger ones and I hope everyone will enjoy this journey as much as I know I am.