Father and Son Read-Aloud Stories retold by Robert Gould

This collection of well-loved tales (Puss in Boots, The Lion and the Mouse, Jack and the Beanstalk, and more) are perfectly adapted for sharing between the men of the family. Though the core stories remain the same, certain details have been adjusted for the intended readers - for example, when a blonde-haired visitor breaks Baby Bear's chair, he can still look forward to an afternoon in the workshop with Papa Bear, making a new one.

Lara Gurin's artwork appears to be based on photographs, creating a combination of fantasy and reality that perfectly balances the stories they illustrate.

Who Were They Really? by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Do you enjoy Winnie-the-Pooh's stories? How about Peter Pan, Little Women, or the Little House on the Prairie books?

Have you ever wondered how Peter Rabbit got his name, or how Alice had so many adventures in Wonderland?

Ms. Pfeffer has collected the true stories behind these favorite characters, including pictures both of their authors and of their subjects. (Did you know that the real Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends are in New York City? They live at the Donnell Library.) You might be surprised at where some of the stories have come from, and the lives of the people who inspired them.

The Robber and Me by Josef Holub; translated by Elizabeth D. Crawford

When Boniface woke up in a warm soft featherbed, he thought at first that he was in heaven. The last thing he knew, he'd been lost in the middle of the woods on a freezing-cold night. But if he was safe and warm now, with no memory of getting from the forest to this bed, did that mean that it had all been a dream? His father's death, the year with his aunt, the horrid cart-ride with the man who stank to high heaven? And what about the man Boniface thought he remembered - the one with the big black hat who picked him up and carried him out of the forest?

It hadn't been a dream - except maybe the man with the big black hat; no one is sure about that. But Boniface is indeed in the tiny village of Graab (in Germany, you understand), in the house of his uncle, the mayor, and life is about to be very interesting.

His uncle is strict, and the schoolmaster even more so. There's Christian Knapp, who is the son of the local robber and so is always in trouble, but he stands up for Boniface against a bully. And then there's Frederika, his uncle's maid, who is tall and stout and has a loud voice, but Boniface suspects she's actually a very kind person.

But when Boniface learns about several holdups in the area committed by a man in a big black hat, he has a difficult decision to make. Does he help the man who probably rescued him from the forest, and tell his uncle what he knows? Or does he keep quiet and not risk this new family he's found?

The Funeral Director's Son by Coleen Murtagh Paratore

I hear dead people.

No, seriously! You probably think I'm like the kid in that movie, what was it, something about the senses... but I'm not. I just hear dead people, sometimes.

Sometimes. Not all the time. Just... sometimes there's something someone needs to say, or have done, or something like that, before they're ready to catch the big ship in the sky. It's like an anchor, you know, something heavy tying them to the world.

Okay, yeah, I sound crazy. But I'm not. This is just one of my jobs.

Yup, Christopher "Kip" Campbell, messenger for the dead. Also, Christopher "Kip" Campbell, Outdoor Guy for Campbell and Sons Funeral Home. You're welcome anytime. Any day that ends in y. Morning, noon, or night. It's a family business, serving you and your family.

And sometimes I just want to get far away from it all.

Green Boy by Susan Cooper

Long Pond Cay has always been a special spot for twelve-year-old Trey and his brother Lou. Its white sand beaches are always changing, with some new treasure to discover every visit, and there's even a small cave that the brothers have claimed as their own. Lou, who has never spoken in all his seven years, seems to have an affinity with the ospreys - large white birds - who live on the cay.

But the cay is threatened by a group of foreign businessmen who want to build a large hotel and resort there. They're planning to reshape the sea floor and the surrounding cays to create space for tennis courts, restaurants, and even a golf course! They've promised to bring in work and money for the local people, but they're only going to end up destroying the ecosystem of plants and animals that live in the shallow warm waters around the cays.

Trey and Lou's grandfather works hard to fight to save the cay, but the boys have their own fight ahead of them, spurred by a discovery they make on Long Pond Cay. In the time between the changing tides, a doorway opens to a strange land - one full of concrete and noise, fast vehicles and strange rules. And a prophecy that Lou is meant to bring about destruction and rebirth - a prophecy the Government wants to stop and the Underworlders work to make happen...

Cages by Peg Kehret

It was so easy. Kit had already been examining the bracelet for several minutes, and everyone else was focused on Marcia - braggy, annoying Marcia, who had gotten the lead in the class play when Kit wanted it, who had a father who was willing to buy her expensive jewelry, who had everything Kit wanted in the world.

Kit slipped the bracelet into her pocket, turned away... and her life changed forever.

She had come to the mall to escape her alcoholic step-father and her too-forgiving mother, to escape her disappointment at not getting a role in the play - but when a heavy hand falls on her shoulder, Kit discovers that she's locked herself into a worse cage.

The police are called, and so is her mother. She has to pay a fine and appear before a court committee. It's the most frightening thing that has ever happened to Kit. Now she's lying to her best friend and to everyone else she knows, scared silly that someone is going to find out what happened, and sure that she's lost every chance at the scholarship she needs to go to college.

But there is a bright side as well - like the hours she spends at the Humane Society petting and playing with the dogs, and the friend she makes there, who teaches her that cages aren't always made of chain links and metal poles... and that sometimes you are the one with the key.

Strudel Stories by Joanne Rocklin

Mix the dough and spread it thin over the tablecloth, thin enough to see the cloth through it. Then add walnuts and honey, thin sliced apples and warm melted butter, and roll it up carefully. Put it in the oven and let it bake until it is golden and crispy...

...and the whole time, tell stories. Tell about the boy who danced with ghosts and lived. Tell about the girl who found her courage at Ellis Island. Tell about apples that turn to gold, and the greatest moment in baseball. Tell the stories of your family, because as long as you tell them, they will always be a part of you.

When Lori's favorite grandfather dies, it seems like Lori will never smile again. But then her older sister starts making strudel from the recipe Grandpa Willy taught them, and telling the stories just like Grandpa Willy did. And Lori remembers what else Grandpa Willy always told them while he baked: it's the stories that make the strudel sweet, and as long as you tell those stories, your loved ones will never leave you.

Includes two recipes for yummy apple strudel.

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

First off, I should point out that I am indeed a librarian.

But I’m not one of those evil ones Alcatraz is fighting.

At least I don’t think I am.

Maybe I just haven’t been inducted yet?

…

Okay, enough with the self-identity philosophy stuff. Back to the point then, yes?

In an effort to prove to you that I am not one of those evil Librarians, I would like to introduce you to this book, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians.

Of course, if I were one of those evil Librarians, I might be handing you this book in order to see how you reacted to it. Then if you seemed interested, I might have to… Cough, cough, ahem. Sorry. Was I saying something?

Back to the point. (Again.) The first thing you should know is: Everything you think you know is wrong.

Okay. Not everything. But most of it is.

For instance, there are three continents out there that you never knew existed, one of them quite large and smack-dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. How’s that, eh? Guns and elevators are actually quite primitive – swords and stairs are much more advanced inventions. Glass is the most important substance in the world – you can use it to shoot fire, track people, and even create expanding houses. Special things like Talents and Ocular abilities might seem like magic, but are really quite commonplace and can be very powerful if used correctly.

Oh, and dinosaurs are still alive. They’re British, and quite a bit smaller than the museums make them out to be. Librarian trickery, you know.

Oh, that’s right, you don’t know. Well, Librarians rule the world. (At least the evil ones do; I don’t have anything to do with that, unfortunately.) They have all the power, because they control all the information. At least they do in the Hushlands, which is where you and I live. That’s why Alcatraz Smedry is publishing his autobiography under the pseudonym Brandon Sanderson. It’s so people like you will read it and understand how the world truly is, while the Librarians will think you’re simply reading Fantasy.

Oh, are you going to read it? Oh good, I’m glad to hear that. Hmm? What am I doing? Oh, just pulling out my horn-rimmed glasses, that’s all…

((Highly recommended for older readers, due to the high volume of Truths in this story.))

The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean by Alexander McCall Smith

Harriet Bean has always known her father was a little absent-minded. Okay, a lot absent-minded. But that seems to just go with the territory when your father is an inventor, doesn't it? And over the years, Harriet Bean has found ways to deal with her father's cloudy thoughts.

But despite all of her experience, Harriet Bean still finds it hard to believe that her father can have forgotten to tell her about her aunts - her father's five sisters!

It takes some coaxing, several days, and an entire plate of scones, but Harriet eventually learns about Veronica, who was incredibly strong; Japonica and Thessalonika, the twins who could read minds; Majolica, who was alway very bossy; and Harmonica, who sang as sweetly as a nightingale and was a ventriloquist to boot.

Now as you can probably imagine, such exciting descriptions made Harriet Bean determined to meet her aunts (finally!). There's just one problem - her father doesn't know where any of them are! He only has the address for Veronica, and that's 10 years old.

But Harriet Bean isn't going to let that stop her - well, would you?

Vampire Island by Adele Griffin

Lexie, Hudson, and Maddy all have the same kind of troubles that you and I do.

Lexie has a deep and near-hopeless crush on Dylan Easterby, the cutest boy in her seventh-grade class. But with her too-long fingers and her love of poetry, she's afraid he'll never like her back.

Nine-year-old Hudson cares about the environment. He cares a lot about the environment. But his attempts to educate his fourth-grade class backfire in a way that gets them all recycling but but doesn't make them very friendly.

And eleven-year-old Maddy is convinced that there is something very strange going on in the house across the street. She's sure the von Kriks are up to something shady; she just hasn't figured out how to prove it yet.

But the three siblings are also different from you and I. Lexie is extremely strong, fast, and agile. Hudson understands what animals are saying, and he can transform into a bat at night. And Maddy is having a hard time sticking to the all-fruit, all-veggie diet her family has been on for the past four years...

A Dog on His Own by Mary Jane Auch

Humans can't be trusted.

They just can't. They'll let you down every time.

Like this morning, when K-10 is just minding his own business and two guys trick him, trap him, and take him to the animal shelter.

Which, okay. Isn't entirely all that bad. When you're in, you get two squares a day and a comfy place to sleep where no one can sneak up on you. And K-10 has his own patented technique for getting adopted right quick - he's never spent more than one night at a shelter in his life.

But there's something different about this shelter stay. It all starts with Tucker, the old dog in the cage next to K-10. Now, K-10 himself would rather spend as little time as possible with humans, but some dogs aren't like that. Some dogs actually like living with people. Tucker's one of those kind of dogs - and his time at the shelter is nearly up. K-10 might not have any use for humans, but dogs have got to stick together, so he helps Tucker get adopted by, even K-10 has to admit, a pretty nice old guy.

And then there's Pearl, a tough old lady of a black Lab with an escape plan and a sharp tongue. And Peppy, a high-pitched, high-energy Chihuahua who thinks he's bigger than he is. K-10's a loner, a tough guy, a need-nobody, but... he can't leave those two on their own. They'll get eaten alive out there in the world!

Zucchini Out West by Barbara Dana

Zucchini loves living with Billy.

Billy is a quiet, shy boy who loves animals. He has a list next to his bed of all of the endangered and threatened animal species in the world. He told Zucchini he wants to help shorten that list, to help save the lives of all of those animals, but he isn't sure yet how to do it.

Right now, Billy has two problems. One is his shyness. He never quite gets the courage to ask people questions, and sometimes he'll talk himself out of doing things because he thinks he'll be stupid.

The other problem is Zucchini. Now, Zucchini is Billy's best friend, but he's also a ferret. He's a small tan ferret with a cold nose, a black mask, and black feet, which is where the problem really starts. There are three different kinds of ferrets in the world, and one of them is endangered: the black-footed ferret. It's one of the rarest mammals in the world, and it's illegal to own one. So if Zucchini really is a black-footed ferret, he and Billy won't be able to stay together anymore.

The only way to know for certain is to ask one of the experts on ferrets. Billy has the chance, on a family vacation, to talk to the scientists who study ferrets and ask them questions about saving endangered animals, about ferrets, and about Zucchini in particular. If only he can pull his courage together...

Cat Running by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Fast Cat Kinsley, the fastest runner at Brownwood School. She took first in the Play Day races last year, even though she was only a short skinny fifth-grader then. But she beat out all the boys, even the sixth-grade ones, from Lincoln and Elmwood too.

Cat loves running. It makes her feel free, the way her legs burn and her lungs ache and everything seems to kind of fade away. She can forget about bossy Ellen and teasing Cliff, about frail Mama and stern Father, about the fact that she won't be running in the Play Day races this year...

And that's all Father's fault, and he'd better know it. Every other girl at school will be wearing slacks for Play Day, but Cat will be stuck in a dress, because Father is too old-fashioned and too stubborn and won't pay a dime for anything Cat wants. Won't he feel guilty when Brownwood loses the games and don't get the prize money to buy new gloves and bats for the kids to play with.

But Browntown School does win, and all because of That Zane Perkins. He's a newcomer to school, one of the Okies who set up camp down by Mr. Otis' farm looking for work after the great dust storms out in Oklahoma and Texas chased them out of their homes. He wears shirts and overalls that are patched and worn and too big or too small, and he runs the Play Day races barefoot! Cat's refusing to run because she'd have to wear a dress instead of slacks, and that Zane Perkins runs it barefoot, like he doesn't know any better!

Cat hates that Zane Perkins. She'll hate him 'til the day she dies.

But she doesn't hate little Sammy Perkins. And when Sammy needs them, Cat just might have to team up with that Zane Perkins in a race against time itself...

Ellie McDoodle: New Kid in School by Ruth McNally Barshaw

This is the end. At least that's what Ellie thinks. Goodbye familiar house. Goodbye familiar school. Goodbye friends. Goodbye life. Ellie's family is moving for her dad's job, and even worse than being "the new kid" she now has to share a room with her sister Risa.

But then she finds the library, and woods to explore. School is still not so great. Teachers get her name wrong, and some of the students play "new kid bingo." How will Ellie make it change?

All fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid should definitely give Ellie McDoodle a try. Its illustrated journal format is fun to read. This book is the second in a series. See also Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel.

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Just imagine...

You are a girl, an orphan your whole life, who has gone from family to family and finally to an orphanage, helping and living, but never been part of your own family. You have red hair and freckles and are awfully thin, all of which you are sadly aware of and wish could be changed.

Just imagine...

You are taken from the orphanage on a train to a tiny little village in the countryside and told that Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert want to adopt you. But when you arrive at their house, a beautiful spot called Green Gables that just feels like home... you find out they wanted a boy, not a girl.

Just imagine...

For some reason, just for some reason, though you're never quite sure why in particular, Matthew and Marilla decide you will stay with them, in this lovely house with its white-flowered cherry trees, and its cheerful little brook, and the shining lake beneath the bridge.

Just imagine...

You make a perfect friend in Diana Barry, who lives just on the other side of the Haunted Wood, and a perfect enemy in Gilbert Blythe - which is all his fault because he pulled your hair and called you "carrots." And maybe you aren't Lady Cordelia Fitzgerald of Idlewild, but you are Anne Shirley of Green Gables, and that indeed is so ever much better than being Anne Shirley of nowhere-at-all!

Just imagine...

Rosa, Sola by Carmela Martino

Rosa is very excited: her mother is going to have a little bambino, a little baby! Rosa has been an only child all her life, and she's a little jealous of her best friend AnnaMaria, who has a baby brother and two little sisters. But it's okay now, because Rosa is going to be a big sister herself now, with a baby brother or sister of her own to take care of!

On Rosa's tenth birthday, Papa and Uncle Sal rush Ma to the hospital while Rosa and Aunt Ida stay home, praying for Ma and for the baby. The next day at school seems to drag on, until Rosa comes home to find Aunt Ida crying. The baby died, Aunt Ida tells Rosa, and suddenly everything is wrong.

Ma is sick, Papa is angry, and Rosa feels guilty, because she was the one who prayed so hard for a little brother. With her family all in pieces, Rosa feels even more sola - even more alone - than she did before. There has to be something she can do to bring her family back together!

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

Clementine is having a not-so-good week. She tries to help her best friend and ends up making a big mess - okay, make that two big messes. She keeps getting sent to the principal's office for things that really were great ideas, even if they didn't work quite right. And to top it all off, she just knows that her parents are planning to get rid of her and just keep Spinach (Also known as Radish, Pea Pod, Zucchini - Well, if Clementine is named for a fruit, shouldn't her brother be named for a vegetable? It's only fair!) because he's the "easy one."

Clementine knows she really is the "hard one." Her room is never clean, her best friend is mad at her, and she talks too much and too fast and too loud. In fact, Clementine's not sure that even winning the Great Pigeon War is going to save her from being sent away. To top it all off, her parents have been having some really mysterious conversations lately...

A warm, funny story in the tradition of Amber Brown and Junie B. Jones.

100 Days and 99 Nights by Alan Madison

Meet Esme. At seven years old, she's already lived in Kenya, Korea, and Germany. That's because her dad, August Aloysius McCarther the Third, is a sergeant in the United States Army. That means that Esme, her little brother Ike, and their mom and dad go to live wherever the Army tells them to, whenever they are told to. It's their duty, which Esme knows means doing something that no one in the whole entire universe really wants to do.

But on the other hand, traveling all over the world has given her the chance to collect her bedzoo: thirty-one stuffed animals running the length of the alphabet (Aardvark to Zebra, with the eXception of X, because there are no animals that start with X) that remind her of all the places she's been and all the people she loves.

Besides, their family is always together, with their everyday routines that make life so good. Like making pancakes on Saturday morning, or movie nights on Fridays. Esme's Dad always has silly words or strange sayings - what does "than you can shake a stick at" really have to do with anything? - and he is, Esme knows, the strongest, bravest person alive.

But then one Saturday Dad tells them he has to go away for a tour of duty - one hundred days and ninety-nine nights in a faraway place. And gradually Esme learns that her Dad isn't the only strong, brave person in the family.

Gypsy Rizka by Lloyd Alexander

Rizka lives on her own in a vardo, or gypsy wagon, outside the town of Greater Dunista. She's skinny as a smoked herring, generous with all she has (which in truth is nothing at all), and can whistle every birdsong she's ever heard. She wears a pair of homeless breeches she rescued; boots cracked and split, hardly a memory of their former selves; and an old army coat so outnumbered by patches the original garment surrendered. She lives by her wits (and those being very quick wits, she makes rather a good living) and she unofficially manages the entire town.

After all, someone has to keep Chief Councilor Sharpnack too occupied to think of ways to increase his power or make trouble for Rizka herself. Then there's Mayor Pumpa and Merchant Podskalny, who are forever quarreling; someone has to keep their squabbles from causing trouble for the rest of the town. And if it weren't for Rizka, at least two beautiful romances in the little town would be doomed before they even began.

It's a good thing she has the able assistance of her big mustard-colored cat, Petzel; her apprentice, Sofiya; and the amiable town blacksmith, Big Franco. Dealing with General Hatvan's need for intelligence or soothing the effects of the Zipple - a yearly soft, cajoling breeze with uncomfortable effects - could easily become too big of a job for one person, even one so clever as Rizka herself.

And besides, Rizka won't stay there forever: she's half gypsy, after all. When the chiriklos birds return, so will the gypsies - and Rizka's father. And then Rizka will be able to spend the rest of her life with her true family.

The Barn by Avi

It's 1855, and nine-year-old Ben is called home from school to find that his father had suffered a 'fit of palsy' as Dr. Flanagan diagnoses it. Ben isn't sure what a palsy is; all he knows is that his father - always tall and broad and strong, with a joke or a story for every minute of the day - is now lying on the bed limp and small, not moving or speaking or even seeming to recognize his children.

Ben's older sister Nettie - 15 years old and ready to marry - and brother Harrison - 13 and nearly a man himself - are almost sunk with despair. Since their mother had died several years earlier, there are only the three of them now to work their claim and care for their father. And neither of the older children are convinced that their father will long live.

Only Ben believes stubbornly that their father can and will recover - and he believes that the thing that will cure his father is building the barn Father always said he would build one day. It will be long hard work, just the three of them, but Ben is convinced that they can do it - and that they can have their father back.