Magic Treehouse: Dinosaurs Before Dark (Book 1) by Mary Pope Osborne

Magic Tree House Book 1 Dinosaurs Before Dark
(c) 1992 by Mary Pope Osborne

Magic Treehouse Dinosaurs Before Dark begins the fantastic series of over thirty books by Mary Pope Osborne.

In the first book, Jack and Annie find the magic treehouse for the first time, and are transported back to the time of the dinosaurs! As they explore, Jack finds a mysterious medallion in the grass with the letter M on it, and they wonder what it could mean. But before long, their attention is diverted by a dangerous T-Rex! How do they escape this ferocious monster? Read the book and find out!

Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary

Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary is a sweet story about Ramona during her 4th grade year. She’s worried that the family might have to move if her dad can’t find a job in Portland, and she doesn’t want to have to leave her school and her friends, and she’s worried about her mom too, and the baby inside that’s slowly making her mom’s stomach bigger and bigger. But what secret is her Aunt Bea keeping, and what does it have to do with her best friend Howie’s Uncle Hobart? This is a fun book that kids will enjoy reading, and adults who enjoy fun children’s stories will like it as well.

Ramona Forever  (c) 1984
by Beverly Cleary

The Wyrm King by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

Wyrm King, The (2009)
by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

The Wyrm King (Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles #3) by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black is the last book in a three book series that follows the Spiderwick books. Nick, his stepsister Lauri, his brother Jules, and the three Grace kids have a race against time to stop the hydras that are starting to create sinkholes all over Florida. Will bringing the giants back from the ocean help get rid of the hydras? Will finding the source of all the hydra eggs help stop them? Read the book and find out!

This is a fun novella aimed at young readers, but any age who enjoys a good fantasy will enjoy this book.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen

False Prince, The (c) 2013
by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen is an exciting book for middle grade readers and high schoolers. Sage, an orphan, is picked up off the streets and saved from punishment for stealing some meat, but the guy who saves him, Conner, is not doing him any favors. Sage quickly realizes that Conner has some sinister and dishonest plans for him and three other boys; passing one of them off as the prince lost four years before. When Conner callously kills one of the boys, Sage knows that Conner is a bad guy who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Will Sage and the other two boys survive their imprisonment in Conner's house? Will the two boys Conner doesn't pick meet the fate of the first boy? And who knew an astounding twist will come toward the end?

If you like adventures with plucky teens as the protagonists in fantastical worlds, then you'll enjoy this book!

Henry and the Clubhouse by Beverly Cleary

Henry and the Clubhouse
(c) 1962 by Beverly Cleary

Henry and the Clubhouse by Beverly Cleary is an enjoyable series of chapters following Henry Huggins as he juggles the responsibilities of his paper route and his desire to have a clubhouse for himself and his friends. (Guy friends, no girls allowed!) But what happens, when little Ramona, angry about this dictum, decides to lock him in his precious clubhouse? And is there any Henry can get Ramona to stop pestering him in other ways? Like many of Beverly Cleary's other books, the story doesn't have a main story goal or question, though there is the theme of his paper route and the clubhouse running through it. Each chapter is its own short story following the other chapters in chronological order as Henry works through one conflict after another. Kids and adults who like to remember what it was like to be a kid, would enjoy this book.

Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary

Henry Huggins (c) 1950 by Beverly Cleary

Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary is a fun book for kids, especially those who love their pets. Henry Huggins is on his way home from the swimming pool, when a skinny, hungry dog begs him for a taste of his chocolate ice cream cone. He wants the dog to come home with him (it doesn’t have a license, so it can’t possibly have an owner) but he can’t ride the bus with a dog unless it’s in a container of some kind. So what does he do? He puts the dog’s lower half ina paper bag and wraps the upper half of the poor creature in a huge amount of packing paper in an attempt to get the dog on the bus, and all the way home. This begins Henry Huggins’ adventures and misadventures with his new dog Ribsy. Even as an adult, I enjoyed the story as much as I did when I read it as a youngster.

The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis

The Horse and His Boy (c) 1954
by CS Lewis

The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis is an enjoyable tale about Shasta, a human boy, Bree, a male horse, Aravis, a human girl, and Whin, a female horse. Both Whin and Bree are talking horses from Narnia, kidnapped when they were foals, and taken to Calormen, a country to the south of Narnia. Shasta is pale skinned despite the fact that everyone around him has dark skin, and he wonders why. When he meets Bree and Bree tells him that he must be from Narnia, or possibly Arkenland and especially after he overhears the man he thought was his father discussing selling Shasta as a slave with another man, Bree and Shasta decide to run away together. On their journey, they meet Whin and Aravis. Whin’s story is much like Bree’s, and Aravis is running away to escape an arranged marriage. The four team up, but will their combined forces be enough to make it through Tashban, and across the wide desert to reach Arkenland, and Narnia?

I recommend this delightful tale to readers young and old who enjoy adventurous journeys, narrow escapes, and characters with lots of courage.