The Beaver IMAX movie

Seen it yet? My kids love it and we stream it right in with Netflix.

(Ah, Netflix streaming. A blessing and a curse. It was here that my boys discovered 66 episodes of Go Diego Go! To think I had heretofore been able to avoid the chirpy theme song by saying, "Oh, it's just not on right now." Ah, the good old days.)

Hey Michelle, hope I can find that list for you. Check the May 2008 posts---I was transferring all my book posts from the family blog onto this blog because Kristen C said she wanted all the book stuff in one place and I thought that was a good idea. There's a Age 10-14, especially for girls, and one especially for boys. Is that "the list"? If not, I'll keep looking. I just looked at the list and it seems rather small actually, but maybe it was grander when I posted it.

And then we also had a bunch of people chime in when I was looking for my friend Amy's 1st grader in Dec. 2010. Might be a little young, depending on where your daughter is, but there might be something there for you. But that was post-family blog posting, so that might not be it.

Oh! That Michelle!

Well, I'm flattered. So nice to have you coming by! I'll see what else I can find for you, then. I'm in a bit of a book lull---no reason really, just one of those ho-hum, what I'm reading really isn't worth recommending. But I'm sure to get to something good soon.

Yeah! Michelle in Colorado! Identified!

Hey Michelle in Colorado

Hi.

You've commented twice and I just wanted to say that's so nice of you.

Who are you? Have we met in person? Or do you know Meg in Sheridan? Because Meg in Sheridan also comes here and I think she's great even though we've never met except for here.

So welcome. You are one of 2, maybe 3 people who actually read this blog who aren't related to me genetically.

:)

Hail to the Chef by Hyzy

Just read the second in the series, Hail to the Chef, which followed Hyzy's State of the Onion.

Not bad. Couldn't analyze it in a lit class, but a fun read, and I'll cruise into the third book shortly.

Life After Magic Treehouse, Take One

I gave my oldest son the Magic Treehouse books, the complete set, for Christmas. Along with all the A to Z Mysteries by Rob Roy. There you go, 75 books. That should hold ya.

He came to me around Valentine's Day and told me he had read them all.

Drat. Now what do I do?

So I begin my Life After Magic Treehouse quest. Started him on Magic Schoolbus and Boxcar Children and the Puppy Place series. And started asking around for what do after that. So here's a list from my friend Kristen, who has five children older than my Jacob. She's a good source. Here are her suggestions as to what her oldest son liked. She wrote:

He was reading Harry Potter by the first grade. He liked mysteries, so he read a lot of Boxcar Children, Hardy Boys, Cam Jansen, Secrets of Droon, Bailey School Kids (I think that's right), maybe some Geronimo Stilton. Maybe not quite 6th grade, but there are a lot of them to keep him busy. He liked the Choose your own adventure books too and Encyclopedia Brown. He also liked the Redwall books -- very long books and he liked them so much he dressed up as one of the characters for Halloween in 1st or 2nd grade ( which of course no one knew who he was.) Maybe more for girls, but the Ramona books and Junie B. Jones are fun.

Life after Magic Treehouse, Take Two

Here's the response I received when I asked my cousin, who was reading Michener's novel Space by the time he was 12. He said,

" Is he old enough for A Wrinkle In Time? Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites? Watership Down? The old Hardy Boys are total fluff but harmless and fun for a kid. I'm not sure about the newer versions of Hardy Boys, but the ones available in about 1980 were great. I'll have to think on this some more. I think you are smart to keep him off the computer for a while. I personally think it's better to let a young mind and brain develop its connection to people, and the written word, before being rewired by computers."

and

"The Great Brain! (very fun series set in pioneer Utah no less.) Encyclopedia Brown. My Side of the Mountain / Far Side of the Mountain / Frightful's Mountain. (those last four are from his wife)."