Ursula Vernon, the creator of the Dragonbreath series, has another winner with Castle Hangnail! This book is twice the length of the Dragonbreath books for twice the fun.

Castle Hangnail is a proper ‘evil’ castle, full of dark dread because it is in need of a new master or mistress. If a new master does not come forward soon the Board of Magic will decommission the castle. Bedecked in a silver vulture necklace, 12 yr. old Molly knocks on the castle door to fill the position. Majordomo, the castle’s guardian, answers the door questioning whether 12 yr. old Molly is or should be the new mistress. He has his misgivings about her qualifications, but Molly does have an official invitation in her possession. There are five tasks the Board of Magic insist the new master must complete. Molly starts by looking for a book of spells in the castle’s library so she can prove she is a wicked witch. Soon, Molly discovers a spell for turning a cow into a dragon. She substitutes a word here and a hair there and is able to turn a local farmer’s donkey into a dragon.  The old cranky farmer makes up his mind to retire from farming and move to the big city to live with his daughters. This fulfills two of the tasks Molly needs to complete.

When the Castle Hangnail’s plumbing falls apart, through no fault of her own, Molly , as master of the castle, must get it repaired. The plumber’s bill is enormous. Molly enlists the help of the moles living under the castle’s grounds. The moles search for hidden treasure (36 old coins and 9 glass bottles, etc.) in exchange for some of Molly’s magic. Meanwhile, a real estate developer tries to buy the castle from Molly. No way. Two days later, the real estate developer breaks into the barn. Molly catches him trying to light matches and set the hay on fire. Molly’s shadow spell causes him to run away in fear.

Now three of the four tasks are completed. Suddenly, Evil Sorceress Eudaimonia shows up to claim the castle for herself. It was her invitation Molly gave to Majordomo, after all. Molly and her castle’s five minions ban together to fight off Eudaimonia. Molly uses her dark shadow to terrify Eudaimonia and take over the castle once and for all. The Board of Magic installs Molly as the master of Castle Hangnail.

Now all Molly has to worry about is whether or not her parents will let her stay there. After all, Molly is only 12 yr. old, but Molly’s friend and minions have a plan for that.

Fast paced, always wondering what will happen around the next corner, and minions that include: a pair of Minotaurs (Angus & Cook), a talking sewing stuffed doll (Pins) with a pet goldfish, and a talking walking suit of armor (Sir Edward), helped out by the castle’s bats and moles make for an exciting read!

Ahoy, mateys!  A selection of well-loved Mother Goose rhymes have been taken over by pirates!  Black Beard and scallywags stomp and roar about pirates and treasures.  “Yo-ho, pirate! Have ye any gold?  Yes, sir!  Yes, sir!  Three bags told!”  Grab your eye patch and parrot and join in some swashbuckling sea chanteys!

In this adventure of Loula, she overhears her mother say, “I can’t live with that MONSTER anymore!” and Loula immediately assumes she is talking about Loula’s dog, Mister, a Great Dane.  Loula knows Mister is a little too undisciplined most of the time and is determined to change his behavior – and quickly!  She enlists the help of Gilbert, the family chauffeur, and they take Mister through a series of lessons so Mother will allow him to stay.  Villeneuve’s water color and ink illustrations are amusing as they show each attempt and failure of trying to teach Mister some manners.  When they wearily return home, they discover Mother carrying a monstrous Venus Fly Trap out of the house!

A boy can’t wait for his father to return each summer.  His dad was a great pirate and would tell tales of the crew and their terrific adventures aboard their ship called Hope.  One summer, his father did not return home.  After receiving a telegram, his mother told him they were going to take a trip to see his dad.  They did not end up at the sea as he expected.  They ended up in Belgium.  He learned his father was a miner, not a pirate, and the mine in which he had been working collapsed, killing many.  His father was not dead, but the boy’s faith in his dad, the pirate, did.  When his father returned home to stay, the boy loved him as much as before, but still did not understand why his dad lied.  Later, when a letter arrived saying the mine was closing, the boy’s family returned to Belgium.  The boy noticed, for the first time, his dad’s boarding house was named “Hope”, which shook when the wind blew, like a ship on the seas.  His father had always wanted to be a sailor but could find no jobs on the sea.  When meeting his dad’s old friends, the boy noticed the similarities between them and the “sailors” in his dad’s stories.  Then he knew, his dad was, and always had been, a great pirate.  Imagining life on the seas had saved his dad and his “crew” when they had to find work underground.  An author’s note tells how, after WWII, many Italian workers could only find work as miners in Marcinelle, Belgium.  In 1956, a coal mine fire is remembered as one of Italy’s worst mining catastrophes.  Quarello’s expressive pencil and watercolor illustrations are a great match with this poignant tale of the love and imagination of a young boy’s father.

This book follows a child and her mother on a visit to an apple orchard where they take apples through the cider making process. They pick apples, wash them, put them in a shredder, help press the apples, then fill the jugs with cider. Then they attend the festival where there are many different kinds of apple dishes including muffins, pie, cobbler, fritters and more. Sweet illustration help describe the cider process.

Zig is a small, blue creature who lives in a lonely, rainy world. He grabs hold of a red umbrella and is carried away by the wind to a faraway place. He meets a tiny bird that needs his help to conquer a big roaring creature and free the tiny bird’s friends. The bird is so grateful for Zig’s help that a friendship develops, and Zig isn’t lonely any more. This book has very colorful illustrations.

The school dance is going to start, but Little Piggy is worried because all the other animals can moonwalk, cha-cha, boogaloo, etc… But Little Piggie is told by his Daddy, his Mummy, his grandma and grandpa, and his brother and sister that, “Us piggies, we’ve got no moves.” Soon Little Piggie believes what his family has told him. With a heavy heart, he attends the dance and watches the animals move to the music. Suddenly, his tail begins to twitch and twirl, and he starts moving across the floor joining the animals in their dances, and discovers he has a dance of his own. This is a great story to encourage students to disregard negative comments that others might say, and believe in themselves.

It is the day before the vegetable competition at the local harvest fair, and Max Monroe and the ghost of his great-uncle work together as a detective team to solve the mystery of the Zamboni sisters’ missing giant zucchini. They investigate people around town including Mr. Jordan who really wants to win the contest this year, and Edwena Whacker who makes the most delicious zucchini bread. Together they find clues to solve the mystery. This fun little mystery book is book two in the Ghost and Max Monroe series.

Dandy is very worried about the fifth grade spelling bee because his family has a history of winning the contest. When Dandy steps on stage and starts spelling, crazy things happen to interrupt him. The speakers buzz loudly, the microphone cuts in and out, and then thousands of bees swarm the auditorium making it impossible for Dandy to compete. Malcolm, his best friend, realizes that the contest is being haunted and the boys go into action to stop the spelling bee specter. This is book number 19 in the Ghost Detectors series. This is a fun story of the two ghost detector friends.