Stuart Little by E. B. White

Imagine, if you will, that you have been born to a perfectly normal family in New York, complete with a father, mother, and much bigger brother. He's much bigger, you see, because you are only about two inches tall - two inches and a quarter, at full growth. And, for some reason, you look a bit like a mouse.

What would your life be like? Would you have to climb a ladder to get to the bathroom sink, and turn it on with a hammer? Would you get into competitions with the family cat? Would you pay your bus fare in tin-foil nickels so you could go sailing on the model boats on the pond in Central Park? Maybe you'd make friends with a small beautiful bird who comes to visit, and worry about her if she disappeared one day. Perhaps you might take a journey by miniature motorcar, or discuss the Chairperson of the World with school children.

Whatever you might do, it would probably be more difficult and a great deal more exciting than doing the same thing at human size. Don't you think?

Jake Drake, Class Clown by Andrew Clements

Jake Drake really likes school. In fact, he considers it his job - a full-time job, of course - and his teachers are his bosses. He's had some really great bosses over the years, and one boss who wasn't actually great really, but he learned a lot from her!

During Jake's second grade year, Miss Bruce came to teach his class. Miss Bruce was a student teacher - that means she was still in school, studying to be a teacher, and she was practicing with Jake's class. But there was one other thing that made Miss Bruce different from any of Jake's other teachers: Miss Bruce never smiled! She never smiled, she never laughed - she never even grinned!

But one day, entirely by mistake, Jake learns that Miss Bruce does smile - and even giggle! And he makes a life-changing decision: he's going to help her smile during class. And how is he going to do that? By becoming the class clown, of course!

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli

Do you like stories of knights on horseback, or ladies in beautiful long gowns? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the very old days, in England during the times of ladies and knights and honor and courage?

If you have, I would like to introduce you to my young friend Robin. He is only ten years old, but he lives in those grand old times and has several adventures that are both ordinary and at the same time truly brave.

You see, Robin grew up as an ordinary young boy, the son of Sir John de Bureford, living with his mother and father and expecting that soon after he turned ten - as he is now - he would go to live with another lord of the realm as his page and learn from that lord all the skills he would need to be a brave and honorable knight - to fight, to speak, to lead people, to rule his own lands.

But not long after he turned ten, while his mother and father were away serving the King and Queen in the war, Robin fell very ill. Even when he recovered, he was too weak to walk around on his own. How on earth would he be able to serve as a page now? How would he even get to Lord Peter's castle?

With the help of Brother Luke and the minstral John-go-in-the-Wynd he will do it, but even then it's not an easy path. Robin will have to overcome challenges like learning to use crutches and dealing with robbers along the road. And even when he gets to Sir Peter's home, Robin will have one last challenge that will take every bit of skill he's learned over the past few months - but if he can overcome it, he will earn a reward befitting a truly noble knight.