Big Nate in a Class by Himself

If you love Diary of a Wimpy Kid, then you will love this book as well. Written in a similar format (cartooning and self-depricating humor in a middle school setting), kids will eat this up. For fun, go to http://www.bignatebooks.com/ to play games and other book related activities.

Nate is a likable troublemaker who can't seem to catch a break and manages to offend or gross out almost every adult at his school. When he opens a fortune cookie, his fortune tells him "Today you will surpass all others." He is desperate to find out what will happen and tries to take control of his destiny by being the best at everything.

This book was very funny and surely a hit with boys and girls! I seemed to think it would reach a slightly younger reader than DoaWK.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie Bucket is incredibly poor and lives with his mom, dad, and both sets of grandparents (the foursome happens to share one bed and spends the entire day in it!). Every birthday he is spoiled by receiving one chocolate bar that he manages to make last for a month. With Mr. Wonka, the elusive town chocolate factory owner and candy inventory, opening a contest for five individuals to go inside the secretive factory, Charlie is stunned to learn he has one of the prized Golden Tickets.

George's Marvelous Medicine

George is left alone with his horribly mean grandmother while his parents are out. He is responsible for giving her medicine at eleven o'clock. After a morning of torment,, he decides to make his own medicine with a little bit of everything from his house (except from the forbidden medicine cabinet). We're talking shampoo, paint, horse pills, flea powder, and more. When the clock strikes 11:00, George can't wait to give the old hag what she deserves!

Edward the Emu

This post was written by my buddy Allison!!

Edward the emu was bored and wanted to be somebody else. He went other animals cages, like the lion, seals, and snakes. He heard the person (visitor) say that "emus are the best" so he went back to his cage. He saw somebody took his place then he wanted to be hisself again.

Great job Allison!

The Magic Finger

An eight-year old girl sees her neighbors head out for another hunt. She asks them kindly not to, but the Gregg family goes anyway. In her anger, she sees red, her finger twitches, and a spell is cast on the family as they shoot at some ducks. Magically, the four ducks take on a human role, while the family takes on the duck role. It's a classic Freaky Friday "spend the day in another's shoes" type story that leads the family to a lesson. The promise not to hunt or harm animals anymore.

This is a fairly quick read (25 minutes) and can be used for a character changing lesson. The Gregg family manages to change their behavior based on what the ducks say to them. Also, concerning the teacher who turned into a cat in the beginning of the book and never changed back, a good discussion point is why the Greggs did, but the teacher didn't. That could be a good Tribes lesson.

The Enormous Crocodile

The enormous crocodile has a reputation for being very nasty. He is hungry and decides he is going to each a child in the town. He travels across the river, through the jungle, and to the town while encountering animals advising him against it. His travels make him more hungry, and more determined to munch and crunch a child. He thinks his clever tricks will work out, but he does not count on some heroes stepping in to ruin his plans.

Esio Trot

Mr. Hoppy is in love with his downstairs neighbor, Mrs. Silver. The only troubles are his shyness and her love for Alfie, her pet tortoise. Eager to win her affection, he learns of her hope for Alfie to grow to twice his size. Seizing the opportunity, he teaches her a made up spell in "turtle language" which she uses three times a day to magically make him grow. In the meantime, he plots to trade out similar looking tortoises that are bigger in size.

Roald Dahl is a great example for humorous tales and this story is a quick read.