Children's Book

Another great adventure in the Enchanted Forest. The Wizards have stolen King Mendanbar's sword but he cannot leave the Enchanted Forest to get it back & only a member of his immediate family can touch it without problems, so Cimorene (now his wife & expecting their first child) & several friends from the 1st two books go to save it. In the meantime, the wizards take over the castle & put King Mendanbar into some kind of in-between world. No one can get by their spell surrounding the castle to help him, so now we must wait for the baby to be born, grow up, & find a way to save the King. Third in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. From Listening Library and Random House; Performed by a Full Cast. NFM

My kids and I are loving this series. In this installment, we meet Mendanbar the King of the Enchanted Forest, who goes to see Kazul, the King of the Dragons, and meets Princess Cimorene, who is now Kazul's chief cook and librarian. Kazul is missing, so off to find her then save her from the Wizards they go. We run into old friends, like Morwan the witch, and meet new ones, like the magician Telemain. Great cast of characters. Second in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles (quartet). Performed by Words Take Wing (full cast). From Random House, Listening Library, and Scholastic. NFM

My kids and I are really enjoying this series (we read the last one first). Summary: Princess Cimorene doesn't like the rules that she's supposed to follow, so she runs away and by luck ends up as the Dragon Kazul's princess. Knights keep trying to rescue her -- they can't believe that she doesn't want to be rescued (but as Morwen the witch points out, you'd think that more princesses would run away to be a dragon's princess as they're almost guaranteed a good match LOL). Cimorene helps the dragons fight the wizards. First in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, read by Words Take Wing (full cast) from Listening Library (couldn't tell who the print publisher was). NFM

(A children's book, full-cast recording) Four children find a charm that grants exactly half of what they wish for. We enjoyed it but not as much as we expected to based on recommendations and the back blurb. There are some funny scenes and loving scenes. The children are well-portrayed. As with the full-cast recording that we listened to last week, I enjoyed the effects: it's really nice to have so many very distinct voices. Long enough that it does count as one full-length book. NFM

Little Willy has a big job to do.  When his grandfather falls ill, it is up to Willy alone to save thier farm from the tax collector.  But where can a ten-year-old get five hundred dollars in a hurry?  Then Willy sees the poster for the National Dogsled Race.

Edited from the back: Daystar never thought he'd be walking through the Enchanted Forest with a magic sword, a fire-witch and a baby dragon. Or that he alone held the power to release the King of the Enchanted Forest. Lots of adventure. The kids and I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed the full cast effect, too, b/c the voices were so distinct and dramatic (but not overly so). Fourth in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Long enough that it does count as one full-length book. NFM

Three children's books "reviewed" as one for the auto-counter. All unabridged audio.

I'm enjoying the Beverly Cleary books very much -- there's stuff I appreciate as a grown-up that I'm sure I didn't get when I was a kid. The Animal Rescue Club was short. The kids liked it. Read by Neil Patrick Harris, Stockard Channing, Andy Paris NFM

Three children's books combined to equal one full-length book. The actual titles (to fill in that blank in my title line) are The Best Halloween Ever, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and The Best School Year Ever. I highly recommend them all, especially if you have the time to discuss the children in the books with your own.

There are six Herdman children, one to each grade at Woodrow Wilson School. None of them are ever held back, so you're stuck with whichever one you've got. Beth, the narrator, is "stuck" with Imogene. Now, the Herdman's steal whatever they can, go to anything

# 1-- Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus