Mystery of the Roman Ransom

Author: Henry Winterfeld
Lexile measure: 660
Language:  Mild name calling (like "stupid"), no swearing or profanity
Violence: This is about someone attempting to murder one of the kid's fathers (a Roman Senator), but no actual killing takes place in the story.  A character gets locked in the catacombs and is sent to be eaten by a lion (the lion ends up being a tame one).  Grave robbing.
Big Kid Mature Topics: ancient Roman society (gods, drunkeness, beating for poor performance in school).  Mild and subtle romantic elements, not essential to the story.
Illustrations: frequent black and white drawings
Plot:   moderately complex.


The text is not technically difficult, but this book assumes quite a lot of prior knowledge of Roman mythology and background culture.  However, it is an entertaining read, and lacks the graphic violence and language common in a lot of reading these days.  This book is a good one for teaching or reinforcing ancient Roman history.  The one thing that makes this book pretty scary for the younger set is the whole idea of losing a parent.  I decided not to let my daughter read it yet.  

My Father's Dragon

Author: Ruth Gannett
Lexile measure: 990
Language:  Acceptable
Violence: The protagonist is "whipped" by his mother for disobedience
Big Kid Mature Topics: after he's whipped, he runs away.
Illustrations: frequent shaded paintings
Plot:   moderately complex, but somewhat repetitive.

This is a very short book.  My daughter read it on the way home from the library, but she liked it.  The characters aren't very deep, the plot doesn't go into great detail, but its actually perfect for preschoolers and kids beginning to read.  I would not recommend this for older children because it is so very simplistic (how did he know to bring all this stuff to pacify all the different animals he meets?)  Another plus, it has short chapters so its a nice easy read-aloud for adults  :)

Judy Moody & Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt

Author: Megan McDonald
Lexile measure: 560
Language:  Acceptable, no potty language or overt swearing, but there is some pirate language
Violence:  Pirate language, but no actual violence, guns, or use of swords.  They kind of mention stuff like walking the plank and skull and crossbones, but its mostly in the context of characters showing off their ability to talk like a pirate.
Big Kid Mature Topics: competition/winning/losing, money, glorification of pirates
Illustrations: Frequent color pictures--rare in this length of book.
Plot:   complex, but interesting because of the puzzles.


This was a fun book.  This is also a good book for gifted kids because its about a treasure hunt with hints they have to figure out.  Some are riddles, some are puzzles, but nothing requiring calculations.  Its like an activity book and story rolled all into one.   This isn't one I would read as great literature--the book isn't about the characters or the plot or any great moral struggle, but about the puzzles--but its still fun reading and mind stretching in a way.  This is a good one to read on vacation, just for the enjoyment of it.

Little House in the Big Woods

Author:  Laura Ingalls Wilder
Lexile measure: 930, but generally an easier read than Little House on the Prairie
Bottom line:  Classic for a reason, this series may bother some children who are sensitive about animals being killed for food or other realities of pioneer life.
Language:  Acceptable, no potty language or swearing
Violence:  Food preparation, including butchering of baby animals--not gory, but matter of fact.  Pa regularly carries a gun for hunting and in case of attack by wild animal.  In one story, Pa is chased by a panther and the horse is scratched up.  Laura also gets whipped when she hits her sister--the context is not a whipping out of anger, but of discipline by a loving parent. Another child is also whipped for lying, and that same child is stung all over by wasps.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   smoking, one uncle has returned "wild" after running away to join the army during the Civil War.  He doesn't really do anything very wild other than dancing and playing the bugle.  Also, many comments about how golden hair is prettier than brown hair, with a section dealing with why this isn't so.
Illustrations:  Black and white drawings with shading, every few pages.
Plot:  moderately complex


This book may not be for the sensitive young reader, but mine had no problem with it, even though she won't even let me kill a bug in the house.  Actually, she ran around the house using a stick as a gun for a while, which was a little disturbing (but she stopped after a couple of weeks).  And later, she told me that she wished she had "golden" hair even after persistent reassurances that we love her hair the way it is.  I think the writing is excellent children's literature and appropriate for all ages, but I know some kids just can't take some of the story, so "parental guidance is advised"  :)

Update:  I think my little girl may be obsessed.  When talking about the local Indian restaurant (as in, food from South Asia), she comment on how it has a lot of "buffalo meat"!

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #12: Sabertooths and the Ice Age

Author:  Mary Pope Osborne
Lexile measure: unknown, companion book is 590
Bottom line:  Fluffy nonfiction with black and white drawings.
Language:  Acceptable.
Violence:  sickness, extinction, hunting
Big Kid Mature Topics:   evolution is taken as a stated fact, many ice ages taken as fact, see violence above, burial rituals
Illustrations:  Black and white shaded drawings, most pages
Plot:  nonfiction.

I had heard things about the Magic Treehouse series and pretty much decided they were not worth my time, but my daughter pulled this off of the shelf at the library, so I read it.  This book was pretty much as I expected it to be--not terrible, but not really anything very special.   It is factual, but not terribly over the head of most kids obsessed with extinct animals.  There are incomplete sentences, but I wouldn't say it is any worse than some of the classics.  There is a picture of two kids riding a sabertooth tiger, while the book states that one would never want to encounter one of these beasts because of its ferocity.  All in all, kind of fluffy, but probably a little more sophisticated than Rainbow Magic Fairies.  Of note, unlike the fiction series, the Fact Trackers do not contain any "magic".

Dr. Dolittle

Author:  Hugh Lofting
Lexile measure: 920 (but it could be less depending on which book you pick)
Bottom line:  These are fun, timeless stories, but the Lexile is an accurate reflection of the skill needed to understand these books.
Language:  Acceptable.
Violence:   Sick animals and sick people (he's a doctor!).  A brief mention of poisoning, rejected out of hand. One of the later books involves a murder trial.
Big Kid Mature Topics:   Poverty/irresponsible spending is a key plot device. Casual smoking is present but not a big part of the story.  He talks about "the land of the White Men" .
Illustrations:  Black and white line drawings/lithographs, every few pages.
Plot:  complex.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think these come as separate books and we may have picked up a collection.  Initially my daughter did not like this book, so I picked it up, thinking she wouldn't take this one from me before I could read it.  WRONG.  (Hopefully she won't go for Gilgamesh next week.)  Anyways, she likes it now.  So, I'm thinking, maybe its difficult for younger kids who have less life experience and smaller vocabularies.  This is a good one for bedtime reading aloud.  It has short chapters, for those summer nights when you let your kid stay up just a little later than usual...