Miss Bee's Books

Henry York has just moved to Henry, Kansas where he and his cousin Henrietta have discovered something very curious in his attic bedroom. A strange thump in the night has dislodged the plaster on the wall above his bed, exposing a curious set of compass dials. The more they chip away at the plaster, the more they discover: specifically, 99 cupboards, the key to their late-grandfather’s room that has been impossible to open for two years, gateways to other worlds, and that Henry York is not at all who he thinks he is. In N.D. Wilson’s 100 Cupboards, he lays the foundation for a new world-hopping fantasy series that has amazing potential, but also some serious flaws. I drank in fantasy books when I was younger. I'd go to the library and scan the shelves for cool covers with dragons or flip through their pages in search of the word "faery". I could explain to you in detail why it was ludicrous that J.K. Rowling suggested a "witch" was the female equi...

"Pascal had always thought freedom would be like Joshua and the walls of Jericho in the Bible... God would raise up Joshua to blow a horn; and colored people would all shout. And those walls would come tumbling down forever. That would be freedom!" But apparently, Pascal has been free... for two years. Two years ago President Lincoln freed the slaves, but the Masters are still buying and selling them. Pascal's Mama was just murdered for asking for more food for the starving slaves. And now the War Between the States is over. And he is free? But what is freedom? Throughout Harriette Gillem Robinet's Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule Pascal struggles to answer that very question. Does owning land make you free? Does going to school make you free? Does having gold make you free? Or is it something deeper? Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, the text follows Pascal, his brother Gideon, and their family of friends through the...

Owen Birnbaum is 57 percent fatter than the national average for boys his age. Owen Birnbaum is one point short of being a genius. Owen Birnbaum has a sister named Jeremy. Owen Birnbaum is a bully magnet. In SLOB, Ellen Potter tells Owen's story through his brilliant, cynical point of view. Hilarious, yet somewhat sad, twelve-year-old Owen begins his story on a day only slightly less bearable than every other day. When he goes to his recycled-sock lunch box and pulls out his eco -friendly Oreo cookie container, however, his day gets a whole lot worse. The Oreos are gone! Now this may not seem like a big deal to you, its just three dumb cookies. But for Owen its devastating. In a world of bullies, gym teachers, and psychopath new-kids with a burned face and a switchblade in their sock, sometimes eating three dumb cookies is all a kid can do to keep it together. He has to find out who took them. As we follow Owen on this quest to find the thief, however, we find out...

In his 1989 Newberry Medal winning anthology, Joyful Noise , Paul Fleischman weaves together a series of insect-themed poems. Each of these poems is written with two voices in mind, often creating a cacophony of vocals, not unlike the sound of insects buzzing. This work is often labeled as the companion piece to his 1985 work, I am Phoenix, an anthology of two-voice poems inspired by a day in the life of birds. The styles and execution of the two-voices vary from poem to poem. While some poems have a steady meter and rhyme scheme, others are written in free verse. In some poems the two voices are used to represent two different characters, as in "Honeybees" where the two perspectives of Worker and Queen Bee are juxtaposed or "Book Lice" where two book lice share their romantic "opposites attract" tale. In other poems like "Whirligig Beetles", "Cicadas", and "House Crickets" the two voices are made to mimic the sound of ...

One of the most honored children's writers in America, Virginia Hamilton brings us an amazing, well-researched collection of animal folk tales from African American, West Indian, and African tradition. This collection is broken up into three sections based on their place of origin; each section begins with a brief background on the stories, characters, and dialects used in the section. At the end of the collection are further explanations of each individual story. Hamilton discusses everything from the origins of the characters and their metaphorical meaning to the purpose of the story to excerpts of the story in their original dialect. This collection of animal folk tales can be further broken down into 3 main subgenres. While (as the title indicates) all of the stories are trickster tales, in which the main character plays tricks on those in power, this collection also includes a number of pourquoi tales and some beast tales. A pourquoi tale is one that explains how certa...

A piece of debris, a barnacle-covered underwater camera, washes up on shore and opens up a whole new world. In David Wiesner's Caldecott Medal winning book, Flotsam, a normal day at the beach turns into a discovery of a lifetime. In this brilliant work, Wiesner creates an incredible underwater world depicted solely through rich watercolor illustration. This book is a feast for the imagination, the breathtaking visuals transport us to another undersea world, presenting us with images that only lead to more questions. Every time we turn the page there is more to discover and because there are no words, more to explore. This work is fantastic inspiration for writers, each picture on the camera can lead to limitless narratives about the worlds Wiesner created. Not only can this work lead us to explore Wiesner's illustrations, but it can also inspire us to think outside of the box for ourselves. Can we imagine our own new worlds? Or think of other kooky explanations for the...

Stewart has a problem! An obnoxious little molar in the back of his mouth that nags, whines, and demands.... SWEETS. It just won't leave him alone! Stewart would love to be an average, everyday, good kid, but that darn tooth! It makes him destroy his cousin's wedding cake, shout out in class for peanut butter cups, and steal other kids' gummy bears at the movies. Poor Stewart! When that pesky tooth interrupts the story to demand that Stewart eat a bag of cookies Stewart has had enough and decides to cut him off cold turkey. It's an epic battle between tooth and boy in this wonderfully illustrated book by Margie Palatini and Jack E. Davis. This book is just plain fun, and so easy to relate to! Who hasn't had a craving they just can't quench? Or munched down on one too many chocolate candies? And of course it has the wonderful messages about eating right and controlling our diets. Davis' tragically comic illustrations are not confined to the side of the pa...