The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire LeGrand

Victoria and Lawrence are best friends. She is a goody-two-shoes who maintains perfect grades and a perfect appearance, he is a semi-slovenly musical prodigy with prematurely (he's 12) greying hair. Their lives progress without incident -- Victoria constantly nags Lawrence to tuck in his shirt and stop humming all the time, and he genially ignores her admonitions -- until one day Lawrence goes missing. Concern for her friend leads Victoria to begin asking questions about where he might have gone and why.

To make matters worse, everyone in the town is acting odd and, after some investigation, Victoria is lead back to a place called The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls. Mrs. Cavendish has run the home for as long anyone can remember and while she seems friendly enough, Victoria is sure that something darker is afoot. When she is taken to live in the home, Victoria is confronted with horrors and challenges she couldn't have dreamed of. Will she save Lawrence before it's too late? Will the two of them escape from Mrs. Cavendish? And, most importantly, will they find out what has been happening to their town and what part The Home and Mrs. Cavendish have played?

This whole book feels like an old episode of the Twilight Zone, or an Edgar Allen Poe short story. Creepiness is well woven into the book, and the ending (which I will not ruin for you here) definitely could have been from a Twilight Zone episode. Nothing turns out quite like you think it will, and every time a character or plot point feels resolved, new complications arise. Check it out today!

Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones

Earwig's lived in the orphanage as long as she can remember.  And she likes it there - not only does she have all the other kids doing what she wants, but the grown-ups, too!  In fact, she likes living at the orphanage so much, it's her plan to never leave.  She accomplishes this by making herself as undesirable as possible when prospective parents come to look at the children.

But one day, a very odd couple come in, and - despite her best efforts - adopt Earwig.  With no other choice, Earwig goes home with her new parents.  But the strange couple turn out to be the witch Bella Yaga, and The Mandrake (Jones never explains what a Mandrake is, but it's clear he's one bad, bad demon).  Earwig has been adopted to be Bella Yaga's slave, helping her prepare the ingredients for her magical potions.

Determined to figure out a way out of her predicament - after all, Earwig is used to telling others what to do, not being told! - Earwig finds opportunities to learn some magic of her own, with the help of Bella Yaga's reluctant familiar, a talking cat named Thomas.  A fun early chapter book.

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt

 
I have a soft spot for neurotic anthropomorphic animals. 

Meet Scaredy Squirrel. He never leaves his nut tree. He’s too scared. What if he met a killer bee? Or a tarantula? Or a shark? 

In the nut tree, every day is the same. Always predictable. Same great view. Same great nuts. And in case anything ever did happen, Scaredy Squirrel is prepared with an emergency kit chock full of hardhats, Band-Aids, and parachutes.

 
He is happy. Until one day, a killer bee appears in Scaredy Squirrel’s nut tree. He jumps in panic and knocks his emergency kit out of the tree, which was NOT part of the plan.  What follows inspires Scaredy Squirrel to make drastic changes to his daily routine.

The illustrations are adorable and the book’s format is fun and unique. The flow of the story is sprinkled with Squirrel’s own diagrams, maps, schedules and lists. 

Scaredy Squirrel is the first in a series books including Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping, Scaredy Squirrel has a Birthday Party, and Scaredy Squirrel at Night.  The books are geared towards children 4-8.

Ben and Me and Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson

Heading out into the world of colonial Philadelphia, Amos the Mouse leaves the church where he was born and finds a fur cap to curl up in for a nap.   As it happens, the fur cap belongs to none other than Benjamin Franklin, one of the USA's greatest and most famous Patriots.  Many books have been written about Franklin's life and achievements, but only Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos tells the story from the point-of-view of his closest friend and companion.



 




Ben and Me is a classic that has been delighting readers for generations. Robert Lawson wroteMr. Revere and I: Being an Account of Certain Episodes in the Career of Paul Revere, Esq. as Revealed by His Horse.   Celebrate the nation's independence with these great books!
another book about a great American Patriot told from an animal's perspective: