What have I read lately? A lot, mainly old children's lit. So let's have a few quick reviews.

• Heidi - Unprepossessing little Swiss girl grows up in the mountains, has to live in the city, and converts her city friends to the wonders of the mountains. It's so sincerely written that you don't mind a lot of happenings that would be extremely twee otherwise. Overall, I enjoyed reading this.
• Dear Brutus - Short, sentimental J.M. Barrie play, I like this one because it hits all the expected notes and is enjoyable to read as a short story just as much as a play. It's a quick read but clever.
• Black Beauty - A classic horse story but actually pretty boring? Like, I thought there were supposed to be more exciting parts, but it's basically a tract about animal cruelty. It held the most interest, to me, in its depictions of English life and how horses fitted into society. Black Beauty is such a bland narrator that I couldn't care about his story.
• What Katy Did - A young scamp of a girl with her big family gets into trouble, befalls tragedy, and learns to trust in God and be more ladylike. Resonated with me since I've been laid up with a bum leg for the past few weeks, and Katy's spirit isn't entirely crushed, and she is rather more of a wild child than some of her contemporary spunky female main characters, so I'll allow it.
• What Katy Did At School - A sequel and a pretty entertaining one, all things considered. Katy and her sister Clover go to boarding school and the usual shenanigans are had. Katy is more subdued and so a bit less interesting.
• The King of the Golden River - A charming little fairy tale, not much to it, but delightfully told with a lot of vivid images and plenty of story fairy tale elements.
• Seven Little Australians - Seven Australian children are not paragons of virtue and instead get into scrapes without learning wholesome moral lessons all the time - you know, like real children. I thought that the book was too short; there could have been a lot more to it without the story wearing out its welcome. All of the children were unique and well drawn, and the ending worked.

In conclusion, wow, children in those books are always having horrible things happen to them. Ye gads.

The Best School Year Ever

Title: The Best School Year Ever
Author: Barbara Robinson

What it's about: Woodrow Wilson Elementary is a normal grade school except for one thing: the Herdmans go there. The Herdmans are six kids, one in each grade, and they're the rowdiest bunch of troublemakers you could ever imagine. This book chronicles their outrageous and hilarious antics, as related to us by narrator Beth Bradley.

What I thought: This book has a pretty low reading level, meant for grade school kids, but as I was reading this, I was continuously laughing out loud. Beth Bradley, despite being the most marginal narrator since that guy from The Great Gatsby, has style as she spins us the tales of the wild Herdmans in a very colloquial and matter-of-fact way. The Herdmans themselves are hilarious, especially Gladys and Imogene. The brazen way they commit their crimes and the way that they're bad enough that even the adults recognize it just adds to the absurdity of it all. Don't let the intended audience stop you from picking this one up even if you're an adult.

Overall: Great, hilarious book. Totally worth tracking down and reading.

Frindle

Oh, man, you people. I must love you all a lot if, the day after getting a Wii and Brawl, I am here, writing a book review for this lovely blog. Okay, sure, it's a book aimed at grade school children, and it only took me, like, an hour to read, tops, but still. Also, I've already reviewed one of Clements' books for older readers. That was back in April, and it was Things Hoped For.

Title: Frindle
Author: Andrew Clements

What it's about: Nick is a creative kid who is always coming up with new ideas. When he enters the fifth grade, he is inspired by something his English teacher said and decides to make up a new word. He decides that he'll call pens "frindles". A simple idea soon spirals into something huge.

What I thought: This is simple but cleverly written. It's short, not cutesy, and gives a realistic portrayal of how something like this might actually go down.

Overall: A fun, easy read.