Shaun the Sheep: Little Sheep of Horrors

Shaun the Sheep: Little Sheep of Horrors put out by Aardman Animations is a fun group of short videos about Shaun the Sheep. It's perfect around Halloween time, and is appropriate for all ages. Despite its name, it's more fun than scary, so it's ideal for little kids to watch.

In the first video, Shaun and his other sheep pals have a bit of a worry when Timmy goes missing (all he did was take a detour into the farmer's house) so they have to go find him. In doing so, they, and Bitzer the dog, get into all sorts of senanigans, trying to get to Timmy, and trying to keep the farmer from finding out they're all in the house. Do they get Timmy out successfully without getting caught? Watch the movie and find out! There are several other episodes included with the first, and they're all just as fun!

The Outsiders By S.E. Hinton

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is one of my most favorite books.

Ponyboy is the narrator, a Greaser who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960s. The Socs (pronounced shoshes) pick on Ponyboy's social class, which creates all sorts of problems. One night, when a few Socs are trying to drown Ponyboy, his friend Johnny defends him, and one of the Socs ends up dead. This begins a difficult time for Ponyboy and Johnny as the two teenagers, not knowning what to do, end up on the run. How will the story end? Read the book and find out.

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

Another book I remember enjoying as a child, and still enjoy, is The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole, his friend, end up drawn into Narnia when they're trying to escape bullies at school. They end up on a trip to the north of Narnia to rescue the king's son. (King Caspian was a friend of Eustace in the previous book.)

Prince Rilian has been taken by an evil witch who has a plan to take over Narnia, and the kids, with the help of their marshwiggle friend Puddleglum, find this out on their adventures. But will they succeed in rescuing the prince, or will the evil witch, who can turn into a giant snake, stop them?

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

One of my favorite books in the Narnian series is The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis, first published in 1955. Not the first book written, but the first chronologically, which tells the story of friends Diggory Kirk and Polly Plummer. The story starts in the late 1800s (when Sherlock Holmes was still living on Baker Street) and the two friends meet when Diggory and his ill mother move in with her brother and sister, Uncle Andrew and Aunt Letty, an old bachelor and old maid, living in London.

Diggory's father is away in India, and isn't able to be in England to help his family. Diggory and Polly, in their explorations of their row of houses, accidentally end up in Uncle Andrew's private study. Without their consent, he sends them off on an adventure into other worlds where they end up meeting Jadis, the evil queen in a place called Charn, and accidentally bring her back to London. In their attempts to get her out of our world, they accidentally take her to Narnia, a new world just beginning. But fotunately, Aslan the great lion and creator of Narnia, has a plan to deal with Jadis.

Bear Lake Arts Council Writers Workshop

The Bear Lake Arts Council Writers Workshop in Montpelier, Idaho today was great fun!

I got to teach some really fun classes (Writing Different Cultures, and Suspending Reader Disbelief) and take some great classes from several authors including Gregg Luke, Josi Kilpack, Tristi Pinkston and others. I got to see old friends and meet new ones. I hope more come next year!

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl follows the adventures of a father and son (the mother died when the son was a baby) on their various adventures, including getting back at a pompous fellow with far too much money named Victor Hazel.

Will they be able to pull off their trick? (It involves a lot of pheasants.) Well, maybe they can with the town policeman and the vicar's wife and baby son on their side! (Even after the baby was pecked at by several pheasants.) But Victor Hazel is a pretty nasty man! Read the book and find out what Danny and his father are able to pull off!

Fablehaven book 1, by Brandon Mull

Fablehaven, book 1 by Brandon Mull begins the exciting careers of Kendra and Seth Sorenson when they first go to Fablehaven, a magical preserve that their dad's parents are caretakers of.

The two, mostly because of Seth being an idiot, get into all sorts of trouble and danger, and find themselves in a situation where they need to rescue others. When the rescue operation goes awry and Kendra is the only one who can do anything to save the others, will she just give up? Or will she find a way to save everyone? This is a great middle grade book, but anyone who enjoys magical adventures would like it.