Fantasy for kids

Still waiting for my library books to come in from the other libraries. For now, here's some more kids' books.

CHILD OF AIR by Grace Chetwin
I wanted to read this one because I enjoyed her books about Gom of Windy Mountain. This is set on a different world, but it has much of the same feel, though written for a younger age group. Mylanfyndra and her older brother Brevan live with their grandfather away from most of the townsfolk on their mesa. It is only after his death that they learn why and what secret he had been holding since they were babies.

The only thing I didn't really like was the very ending; it was too abrupt. Seriously, I turned the last page expecting one more to finish wrapping it up, and it was simply done. The last few paragraphs do conclude it, but I felt it was too quick. It needed just a bit more in reflection or something. Other than that, it is well worth reading, a good story for intermediate readers, 10-12 year olds primarily would be my guess. That's one book off my overall TBR list. Too bad I just added about 3 more today.

TWO SILLY TROLLS by Nancy Jewell, pictures by Lisa Thiesing
This is an adorable picture book for very young readers. It says for K-3, but my son is in 1st, and I think he finds it a bit under him in reading level and story complexity. But that might just be him, too, considering he's been listening to me read Boxcar Children and Magic Treehouse books to him the past couple years. In any case, this I Can Read Book is simple and charming with its 5 micro stories about Nip and Tuck, the two silly trolls who start off the first story with a mushroom home until a bear cub sat on it.

GRANDPA WITCH AND THE MAGIC DOOBELATOR by Ethel and Leonard Kessler
My son really liked this one, even though the reading level wasn't much more complex than the silly trolls story. I think he just got a kick out of the fact that anytime Grandpa Witch messed up, he got a black cat. And once you get a cat, you can't send it back. The Doobelator doesn't really come in until the second half of the story, but Grandpa Witch and his two grandchildren, Wanda and Willy are cute as they prepare for Halloween night.

Glad to see that despite my 2 month absence, some of my readers are still here. If anyone has any other spec fic kid books they want to recommend, you can either just list them in the comments below, or email me your brief reviews to dapperdragon (at) gmail (dot) com. When I get a few of them, I'll do up a post just of your reviews. I know at least a few of you have kids of your own, so please share any favorites.