The Fox Hunt (The Saddle Club #22)

The Fox Hunt (The Saddle Club #22) by Bonnie Bryant

The horse lovers are going on a fox hunt. It is very ceremonialized, with people playing roles of fox and hounds. It is primarily an excuse to go exploring different areas. In the fox hunt, the practical joker takes the role of the fox. However, she runs into a little girl who fell from her horse and was ignored by the snooty girl. She works to take her back. Shortly thereafter, snooty girl sees her and runs up to her. Alas, she went on land she wasn't supposed to and broke other rules, banishing her from fox hunts. Later, they go on a real fox hunt. However, snooty and friends use meat to draw the hounds off sent to ruin it. They eventually do get back on trail and corner the fox before he goes underground. Eventually, the joker finally decides to tone things down and stop joking, but realizes that she will probably be prevented from going to the circus. Luckily, her friend has tickets for them. It was better than I expected for a series that seems to be excuses for talking about horses. However, it did get a bit muddied in the ending.

Magic Tree House Books 1-8

Magic Tree House Books 1-8 by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie stumble across a magic tree house near their home in Pennsylvania. There are books there. When they look at a book and wish they end up in the place shown. They need the book of their home to go back. They go on some adventures and see they are accompanied by some animals. These often help them, and may be people in disguise. They discover that this is a set up form Morgan Le Fay from King Arthur time. She was a librarian with many books and they are able to help her escape from a curse. The books have some charm, but start to get old when read together.

1. Dinosaurs Before Dark - they see animals including a TRex

2. The Knight at Dawn - they go to the time of knights with 40 pound helmets

3.  Mummies in the Morning - they explore mummies and get lost in false passages in a tomb

4. Pirates Past Noon - they help pirates read a map to find treasure. They leave before getting the treasure due to a storm

5. Night of the Ninjas - they see boy and girl ninjas

6. Afternoon on the Amazon - in the amazon, they need to watch out for dangerous animals

7. Sunset of the Sabertooth - back in the time of sbertooth tigers

8. Midnight on the Moon - a future trip to a moon man before they finally free Morgan Le Fey

Missing May

Missing May by  Cynthia Rylant

Some people live in rural West Virginia and go on some redneck adventures. They try to see a psychic, but she is dead. They long to visit the capitol. Money is in short supply. One guy has a near death experience. This all comes about from the life of the protagonist who was orphaned and was bounced around with different families. She settled on one but then there was a death. It is a case of "different" life.

Junie B. Jones Collection, Books 1-4

 Junie B. Jones Collection, Books 1-4 by Barbara Park

The books in this collection:

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

#2: Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business:

#3: Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth

#4: Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying

Junie B. Jones is an opinionated young girl who is starting kindergarten. In the books she learns that things are a bit different when you start kindergarten. She interprets things a bit too literally. One day she really needs to go to the bathroom. It is an "emergency", so she pulls the fire alarm. When she gets a new baby brother, she hears grandma call him a cute little monkey and assumes that her brother really is a monkey - and has classmates pay her for the privilege of seeing the monkey brother. She also learns to not jump to conclusions. She sees her teacher eat a grape and assume she is a criminal that will go to jail. She tried to hide the secret, but accidentally blurts it out. Junie B. can be funny, but does get annoying.

The Mystery in the Snow: The Boxcar Children Mysteries, Book 32

The Mystery in the Snow: The Boxcar Children Mysteries, Book 32 series created by Gertrude Chandler Warner

This Boxcar children book was a bit confusing. The kids were at a winter snow area where they compete in some games with other kids. However, all sorts of things go wrong and go missing. Through some sleuthing, they find the culprit. A kid that gets dropped off each year wants to spend time with his family instead. He had some elaborate plan to call off the games so he could spend time with family instead. It seems quite elaborate for a kid. It also feels like a very "rich kid" type of activity, yet the kids do not act like rich kids. It all makes it "weird".

Hatchet

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

A boy is on a bush flight to visit family in the Canadian wilderness when the pilot has a medical emergency. The boy tries to radio for help. However, the signal is not strong and they only make erratic communication. Eventually, the plane crashes and only the boy survives. He initially hopes to be rescued and dreams of burgers. Then he starts to struggle with the resources he has. (The hatched is one important tool.) He is able to survive until he is finally rescued. It is a familiar survival story told fairly well.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr, illustrated by Eric Carle

This was first published in a "different form" in 1967, and then newly illustrated in 1992. I'm not a big fan of the illustration style. However, the text is great for kids. It's rhythmic and follows a pattern that young ones love to follow.

Mike Fink

Mike Fink by Steven Kellogg (Author, Illustrator)

Mike Fink was a precocious child in early America. He was almost a perfect shot with a rifle and was strong, especially for his small size. He wanted to run keelboats down the Mississippi River. He challenged one gruff man, and was defeated, getting thrown to the rockies. There he trained by wrestling bears. In his rematch with the man, he won. He was then able to use his strength to run keelboats. He was the strongest of the boatman. However, steamers soon plied the river. He challenged them to a duel. The steam boat destroyed the keelboat, but fink was able to beat the steamboat captain. This is a legendary tale that I had heard before. The story is well told and illustrated in this story.

The Berenstain Bears and the Big Red Kite (Cub Club)

The Berenstain Bears and the Big Red Kite (Cub Club) by Stan Berenstain (Author), Jan Berenstain (Author)

The Berenstain Bears go to a kite flying contest. The bears have a homemade kite, while others have fancy store-bought kites. At first, the bears feel bad that their kite is not as fancy. However, when the wind starts gusting, the other kites fail and "big red" is the only one to remain. This is told in a nice rhyming style, making it a better Berenstain Bear book.

Itchy, Itchy Chicken Pox (Hello Reader!, Level 1)

Itchy, Itchy Chicken Pox (Hello Reader!, Level 1) by Grace MacCarone (Author), Betsy Lewin (Author)

A kid gets chicken pox and suffers and works through remedies before finally getting better. The sing-song meter and rhyme make this a joy to read. It also leads to conversations with kids that have no idea what chicken pox is.

The Amelia Bedelia Treasury: Three Books by Peggy Parish

The Amelia Bedelia Treasury: Three Books by Peggy Parish by Peggy Parish (Author), Fritz Siebel (Illustrator), Barbara Siebel Thomas (Illustrator)

Amelia Bedelia (1963)

Thank You, Amelia Bedelia (1964)

Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower (1966)

These are the first Amelia Bedelia book. She takes everything literally and gets in all sorts of trouble because of it. However, she is also a great cook, and the delicious food always manages to save her. The third book is a bit different. Here, it is the literal understanding of "shower" and the spray with water that helps cure a headache. The food is incidental. These originals are better than the derivatives.

The Rainbow Fish

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister translated by J. Alison James

The rainbow fish has beautiful glittery colorful scales. Other fish ask for one, but the rainbow fish does not want to share. He ends up miserable and alone. Finally he learns to share and gives away all his scales, but finds himself much happier.

The pictures do have pretty sequins that glow. The story is ok.

Disney Princess Little Golden Book Favorites (Disney Princess)

Disney Princess Little Golden Book Favorites (Disney Princess) by Michael Teitelbaun,Sue DiCicco,Teddy Slater,Ric Gonzalez,Ron Dias,Karen Kreider,Darrell Baker

This collection has three books:

The Little Mermaid

Beauty and the Beast

Aladdin

The stories seemed very familiar - probably because we have these adaptations of Disney stories in other collections. It is a long read.

This is My Family (Golden Books)

This is My Family (Golden Books) by Mercer Mayer (Author), Gina Mayer (Illustrator)

Critter introduces us to his family. They have challenges, but also happy times. Dad works in an office with a dot matrix printer with all the perforated things attached. It is a typical critter book.

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole (Author), Bruce Degen (Author)

This is one of the "real" magic school bus books by the original authors. It includes a lot more "side notes" than the spin off books. In this one, they go in the school bus to visit the planets of the solar system. At this time, Pluto was still a planet. It felt a little odd that they just let their teacher stay stranded in space. I guess it is fiction.

The Berenstain Bears Learn to Share

The Berenstain Bears Learn to Share (Berenstain Bears/Living Lights: A Faith Story) by Stan Berenstain,  Jan Berenstain,  Mike Berenstain

Sister likes to play alone. However, she learns she can have more fun by sharing. All the neighborhood kids have a lot of fun sharing and playing together. However, things get miserable once they start fighting together. A religious message pops in to mention they should share. The message feels a little bit forced in a general "sharing message". Like other "poetry" bear books, this one does struggles in the rhythm.

The Berenstain Bears' Home Sweet Tree

The Berenstain Bears' Home Sweet Tree by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

The bears treat us on a tour of their tree. The rhymes and rhythm sometimes work, but often seemed forced. It is not too long, but doesn't have much too it. It seems the bears have a little bit of a hoarder instinct to them.

Poor Things

Poor Things by Alasdair Gray

Poor Things is mostly a narrative on the position of women in Victorian society, based on modern (er 1990s) mentality. It goes about it in in a complex way with multiple layers of framing and indirection. The narrative is initially a series of documents regarding some men and their experiments. There was a Frankenstein-type operation used to make the subservient woman. However, she ended up being unfaithful and falling for other men. There was another document from the woman, showing her point of view. She had grown to play an important role in medical society. There were later details opf real people and their roles in medicine and society. All of this complexity is used to serve to tell the story of Belle and her awakening and rising up in a society that attempts to subjugate her.

Stranger Among Us

This was an awful movie. It is some interesting subject matter, but the execution fell flat on it's face. The lead was supposed to be a "tough girl cop". However, she came across as a dumb blonde that was playing cop. She goes undercover within a Hasidic Jewish diamond cutting community to locate a missing man and missing diamonds. She discovers he has been killed and then sets up a sting for some Italian thugs. She ends up shooting one. This was the second time in the movie where some bad guy had got the best of her and she ended up killing him. Is this a real cop?

The more interesting part is the way that this orthodox community is portrayed. They are treated with respect. Their beliefs are out of touch with modern society. However, in watching you get a strong respect for their society, and feel that it is society that is more out of touch. The "touch girl cop" tries to convince them of the joys of carnal modern life, but they will have nothing of it. The son of the religious leader is happy to marry the girl that his father found for him. Ms. Tough Girl Cop just can't see how somebody can do that. He sees no problem with it. After all, he has rejected a few others. After writing to his fiance for some time, he is convinced that she is the one true person for her.

Then the plot holes come up. The engaged guy appears along with Tough Cop. (A no-no according to one of the commandments.) They even kiss. Yet, he still goes to meet his fiance with no issue. Later he pinpoints the true perpetrator of the murder. (What use was the cop here?) She does have the bright idea to give him the gun when they approach the murderer (a girl that had ingratiate herself in the Jewish community.) The cop gets knocked out, but the Jewish man shoots the bad girl. Then next thing you know it, he is meeting his fiance and the wedding occurs. Wait! He shot (and likely killed) a member of the community. He was alone with another woman (again!) And yet, the marriage just goes along as before. Wouldn't there be some concern and trauma here?

As if the plot holes were bad enough, the lead "tough dumb blonde cop" is often smoking and swearing. Is that supposed to make her tough? Alas, it just makes her even more fake. It was nice to see a movie where somebody goes into an utlra-orthodox community and comes away respecting it rather than pulling somebody away. Alas, the rest of the movie was just plain bad. 

The End of History and the Last Man

The End of History and the Last Man created quite a stir when it was published shortly after the end of the cold war. The book is primarily a response to Marx's belief that history would end with the Communist revolution. This didn't happen. Instead, Fukuyama argues that a modern system with democracy and capitalism as the base has emerged as the primary system in the world.

The book is quite dense and explores many different forms of political rule and economy. War and territorial aggrandizement are no longer preferred means of growth. In past times people were willing to risk death to become rulers. Those that wanted the easier life became servants. Now things have moved more economical with people choosing what to do and optimizing for it. Economies where the government pretends to pay people have workers that pretend to work. Included in the afterward is time looking back at the decades following the publication.