I have seen The 39 Clues series of books all over the book stores. I have not read any, or really heard much about them. Just wondering if anyone out there could review one of the books or the series?

I have picked up the first book in the series from my daughters Scholastic Orders, but have yet to read it. I will probably read it first before I give it to her.

I am also curious about how the cards work with the book and website? Do you think it is a ploy to get parents to buy more cards? And can you just enjoy the books without having to use/buy the cards?

Julie (the girl in the book) saves lots of money and “rob[s] her little brother’s piggy bank”, to have a total of $100. Yep, I said robbed. In the end she does pay him back, but she does not get in trouble for taking it.

With the money she wants to buys lots and lots of makeup. Her mom says “oh, no!” but she “didn’t pay any attention” and she goes and buys makeup.

She then puts on all the make up and her parents, postman, etc are shocked. She has black lips, green cheeks, puple hair, etc.

Eventually she takes off the makeup and everyone agrees she is beautiful without it; even Julie agrees in the end.

Then she goes on to sell her makeup to her friends for $300 (not a bad little profit) and from that she gives her brother back his money.

Not sure what this teaches kids.

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In this story brother and sister bear can’t keep their room tidy. They always argue about cleaning it and it just gets messier and messier. Finally, mama bear has had enough and gets a big box and starts picking up all the stuff off the floor and puts it in the box (assuming it is going in the garbage).

The kids start getting upset until Papa bear comes in and calms things down. Together everyone agrees that there needs to be some storage solutions, and Papa bear (being a carpenter) sets to work to build the kids some shelving, a big toy box and a peg board.

The kids tidy up and even pitch a few unwanted toys and everyone is happy.

It is a nice book that is probably geared towards older children. My 3 year old like listening to it, and so did my 6 year old. It would be a reasonable high reading level (I am guessing level 3 maybe).

Did my kids tidy up after listening to the book?  Ahhh, no.  But at least the idea was planted in their heads, that tidying makes things easier to find and less likely to get broken. And that their mom is not the only one who makes their kids clean up.  Maybe one day they will tidy up all on their own. lol

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One of the many Little Miss and Mr. Men books.

I find most of the stories a bit too long to hold my children’s attention.

My son (3.5) wanted me to read this book to him tonight. He sat and listened intently, and asked some questions too. hmmm.

The gist of the story is that Little Miss Birthday loves birthdays. She loves getting the right present for her friends. The problem is Mr. Wrong. She just can’t find the perfect present for him. All the things she thinks of are well… wrong.

In the end she does find the right present, but you will have to read the book to find out what the perfect present for Mr. Wrong is.

It is a nice book. I think a lot of the humor goes over the kids heads. I don’t think my 6 year old catches it all. But at least it is entertaining for the adult reader.

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Animal Ark is a vet clinic. Mandy parents run the clinic and Mandy and her friend James are often there to help out.

In this story “Mandy and James discover a stray cat and her kittens behind a house. But the next time they visit, she’s moved her family into a trailer on Sam Western’s’ camp site. Sam Western has no patience for animals – particularly cats. If Mandy and James can’t temp the cats out of the trailer, Sam Western will handle them himself.”   (taken from the back of the book)

These are great books that teach more than just how to care for animals. This books shows how you can’t always “judge a book by it cover”.  Sam Western and some of his workers turn out to be not as terrible as Mandy thinks.

Overall these are nice books.

Scholastic Reading Level 4

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Good Halloween story. And also could be used to discuss peer pressure and being true to yourself.

The book is about how babymouse wants to be something scary for Halloween but the cat tells her that girls are not suppose to be scary they are suppose to be pretty. Babymouse caves and dresses pretty, she also invites people she does not like to her party. She goes trick-or-treating with the cat and her friends and not her true friend. The cat decides to toilet paper yards, steal candy, and egg houses. Babymouse is told to join in, and she does.

In the end Babymouse realizes that the cat and her friends are not who she really wants to hang out with.

As a parent it was disappointing that Babymouse joined in on the egging, toilet-papering, and stealing candy. It was not until she went home that she got up the courage to say no to the mean cat.

A fun book. My daughter had a hard time understanding that babymouse was daydreaming in parts. It was not that clear. She liked the book though. This is the second Babymouse book she has brought home from school.

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If your child has been bullied it may help them discuss it when looking at the different situations in the book. If your child had not been bullied it is a great “what if…” book.  ”What if this happened to you? What would you do?”   What if this was happening to one of your friends, what would you do?”

The book starts out by saying that bullies usually look like everyone else. Bullies don’t always hurt your body – they can hurt your feelings as well. It also talks about how adults can be bullies too.

It does not offer solutions other than saying it is good to talk to someone about being bullied, and that feeling good about yourself is probably the best way to stop bullying.

I would say this book is a good overview of bullying. It would be a great discussion starter for school or home. I think if your child is being bullied this book will not give them a lot of answers, but it might give them some comfort knowing they are not alone.  The back of the book has some other resources that might help.

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In this book Thea is teaching a course in journalism at her old school. She meets 5 female students who end up on an adventure when another student disappears. There are lots of clues to be discovered and solved. There seems to be more full page pictures (some with clues) in this book than the Geronimo books.

This is a strong female book. Not terribly girly, but the main characters are girls. All of the girls (except one) does not fit the stereotypical girly-girl. It is a great mystery book, and I think boys would enjoy the book even though there are not as many male characters. It might be a nice change for them to see a female being the hero in a book.

I know there is one more Thea Stilton book out there, I am hoping that there will be more in the future. I like the strong female role modeling for my daughter.

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Buy Thea Stilton and the Dragon’s Code

Each book in the series seem much the same. Jack Frost is the bad guy who usually takes something that belongs to the fairies, and the girls; Rachel and Kirsty, need to help get them back.

The fairies help the girls, or vice versa. Jack Frost has goblins who are in each book. They tend to do Jack Frost’s bidding, and the girls and fairies have to be on the lookout for them.

The Jewel Fairy Series (1-7) is about Rachel and Kirsty helping the fairies get the seven jewels stolen from Queen Titania’s crown back. Each different book has a new adventure and a new jewel for the girls to find.

These are good stories for young girls, that have nothing scary or really too worrisome in them. The goblins in the story are kind of goofy and funny at times.

These books are ok, but they have no substance and repeat the same general plot over and over in each book. My daughter loves them, but as a parent I am bored of the same plot. I guess it is fluffy reading for kids. lol

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Buy Emily the Emerald Fairy

I love reading these, and get frustrated when I read a couple chapters to my daughter and then she reads ahead, and I have to catch up.

Very clever books. Geronimo Stilton is the owner of the Rodent Gazette newspaper. He gets in many exciting adventures, but he would prefer to stay at home. He is a bit of unadventurous mouse. But adventure always seems to find him.

The back of the book says:
“Cheesecake! A mysterious one-eyed rat was trying to steal the Rodent’s Gazette from under my snout! There was only one mouse who could save the paper – Shif T. Paws, my crafty businesss manager. Shif booked me onto the infamouse TV game show The mousetrap. If I won, The Rodent’s Gazette would be saved. But if I lost – SQUEAK! – those scary TV rats would chop off my tail!”

There are 4 main characters that are in each book. Geronimo; who is smart and loves to read. You could say he is kind of a nerd. Thea; Geronimo’s sister who is also smart but a lot more adventurous. Trap; Geronimo’s cousin who is the typical annoying sibling-type. And Benjamin; Geronimo’s nephew who he adores. Benjamin seems to find solutions to problems when the adults can not.

Scholastic Reading Level: 3

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