Sometimes, I discover books to read to the class when I read great books with my own children – although they are in Grade 3 and love to read independently, I still read to them everyday!  Check out some of the books we’ve read this fall – maybe one will interest you!

This is one of the Magic Shop Books by Bruce Coville. Last year I read Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher to my class and our book club read The Skull of Truth – also engaging, hard to put down books in the Magic Shop series. In The Monster’s Ring, Russel Crannaker buys a “monster’s ring” from a strange magic shop he stumbles upon.  He follows the instructions that come with the ring – whispering a magic chant and twisting the ring on his finger.  All of a sudden, he is sprouting horns, growing claws and speaking in a husky, snarling voice. He realizes that with the ring, he has the power to turn back and forth between boy and monster.  Will he be cautious and follow the special instructions to not use it on the night of a full moon or will the urge to outpower Eddie, the school bully be too much for Russell? Every chapter ends in a cliff hanger urging you to read on.  If you dare . . .

Ms. Hong has many of the Magic Shop titles in our school library.

We love Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine books and delight in the fun illustrations by Marla Frazee. So when the latest Clementine book was released, we had to read it!  In Clementine, Friend of the Week, Clementine is thrilled to finally have her turn as Friend of the Week in her classroom.  She gets to do special jobs like be the line leader, feed the fish and collect the lunch money but what she is really excited about is the book her class is going to write about her.  But then, as she thinks about it, she begins to get a little nervous.  What will her classmates say?  How will she get everyone to say amazing things?  In typical Clementine fashion, she has some very interesting ideas about how to get the best Friend of the Week booklet ever.  But then, something happens that just might spoil her plans. . .

This book is in my collection at home but we have the other three Clementine books in our classroom collection.

When I was pregnant with my children I read my Grade 3 class Silverwing. They loved it!  In fact, many went on to read the next book in the series Sunwing which was at the Scholastic Book fair that year.  I remember thinking – when my children are in Grade 3, I am going to read them Silverwing . . . So the night before the first day of this school year, we started.  And . . . they loved it too!  For me, it was just as great on the second reading.  The main characters are Shade, a young Silverwing bat and Marina, a Brightwing bat Shade befriends on his journey to find his colony after he was lost in a storm on the winter migration south to Hibernaculum. On their way they meet Goth and Throbb, two huge, bat eating,  jungle bats who threaten Shade’s chances of ever finding his colony again.  This book is an award winning fantasy that is impossible to put down.  Perfect for readers and listeners eight years old and up! And the first in a series – look for all of these books in the school library.

This is the book we have just started.  After reading the first chapter, we are hooked. In the first eighteen pages of this book,  Piper McCloud a nine year old girl who lives with her Ma and Pa on a farm, decides to take a running leap off of her roof and discovers that she can fly!  This isn’t a big surprise since she has been able to float and hover in the air all of her life. But actually flying is a whole new experience!  We can’t wait to find out what is going to happen next.

Happy reading!