The Flash

Synopsis - Barry Allen, aka The Flash, aka The Fastest Man Alive is a police forensic scientist who has an alter-superhero ego called The Flash. He runs around Central City solving crimes and taking down super villains.

Wandering Falcon - "I'm not a huge fan of the Flash (I prefer superheroes without superpowers) but these books were pretty good."

Optimus Prime - "I really like Weather Wizard and believe me he did none of the crimes that day. I also liked Fire and Ice. Fire and Ice, they are opposites, but when Captian Cold and Heat Wave shot at each other and end up making a two story building don't you think about running through because half of you will become ash and dust and the other side will become so frozen and cold it will make you break into a hundred thousand pieces. So unless you have a force field you can't get through. And trust me a big suit of armor will not help one little bit because one side will melt and your shoulder will get burned a lot lot lot and the other side will freeze so much that your armor will break. But actually maybe by that point in time you could have gotten through to the other side and survived."

Bumblebee - "I liked The Attack of Professor Zoom! I liked when Captain Cold froze the volcano. And, I liked the robots."

The Flash**

1. The Attack of Professor Zoom
2. Captain's Cold Arctic Eruption
3. Gorilla Warfare
4. Wrath of the Weather Wizard
5. Captain Boomerang's Comeback!
6. Trickster's Bubble Trouble
7. Clock King's Time Bomb
8. Master of Mirrors!
9. Ice and Fire
10. Killer Kaleidoscope
11. Shell Shocker
12. Shadow of the Sun

** These books are not numbered, so they are listed in the order that we read them.  Also, for these books I have not listed an author since they are too much like comic books with multiple authors, illustrators, and creators.

Scooby-Doo Mystery!

Synopsis - Once again (after this series and this series) Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo go around stumbling upon - and solving - mysteries.

Wandering Falcon - "I gotta say, I was pretty bummed after we finished our last two Scooby-Doo chapter book series so I was so pretty excited to discover this one! Then I was bummed when I found out this series only had three books. However, I gotta say, they weren't as well written as the last two series we read so maybe that was why there was only three? However, despite that, they were pretty good. It was just a big letdown that there were not more. Maybe one day they'll make more - and if so we will read them - but I doubt it since the last one was written almost three years ago."

Optimus Prime - "The books are amazing."

Bumblebee - "I LOVED 'Pirate Cove,' the hotel was creepy, and Ice Giant (SPOILER) used salt."

Scooby-Doo Mystery by Kate Howard

1. The Hotel of Horrors
2. The Frozen Giant
3. The Haunting of Pirate Cove

The Magic School Bus

I just gotta ask, who doesn't absolutely love Ms. Frizzle?!?!?!? I'm pretty sure "no one" is the correct answer!

Synopsis - This series follows around Ms. Frizzle and her class as they go on wacky, outrageous - and completely implausible, often overnight on the other side of the world - science-based field trips.

Wandering Falcon - "I loved Ms. Frizzle as a kid (even though I was a bit too old for her) and I love her even more as an adult! Some of the books were better written than others, and some seemed to overlap a bit (like "Twister Trouble" and "Electric Storm" which both covered thunderstorms and tornadoes in their own ways) but overall they were very enjoyable and even taught me some things I had no clue about. And the amount of random information my kids retained is unreal!!! Bumblebee STILL goes on about the first full moon after Christmas and how that's the only time of year some plant or animal in Australia's great barrier reef lays it's eggs - and we read that book months ago. Optimus Prime STILL goes on about their bat adventure even though we must of read that book almost a year ago now! They were very good books and my boys all loved them."

Optimus Prime - "They are good. Okay, they are great. I liked the bats!"

Bumblebee - "I LOVED all of them! Especially the dinosaur one!"

The Magic School Bus Chapter Books by Eva Moore (EM), Jennifer Johnston (JJ), Anne Capeci (AC), Rebecca Carmi (RC), Judith Stamper (JS), Nancy White (NW), Martin Schwabacher (MS), and Gail Herman (GH)

1. The Truth About Bats (EM)
2. The Search for the Missing Bones (EM)
3. The Wild Whale Watch (EM)
4. Space Explorers (EM)
5. Twister Trouble (EM)
6. The Giant Germ (EM)
7. The Great Shark Escape (JJ)
8. Penguin Puzzle (EM)
9. Dinosaur Detective (JS)
10. Expedition Down Under (RC)
11. Insect Invaders (AC)
12. Amazing Magnetism (RC)
13. Polar Bear Patrol (JS)
14. Electric Storm (AC)
15. Voyage to the Volcano (JS)
16. Butterfly Battle (NW)
17. Food Chain Frenzy (AC)
18. The Fishy Field Trip (MS)
19. Color Day Relay (GH)
20. Rocky Road Trip (JS)

My Little Pony

Synopsis - Each pony gets their own book that follows them around as they face whatever difficulty is currently going on in their life.

Wandering Falcon - "They were cute books. Some of the problems seemed pretty ridiculous and blown completely out of proportion but it IS a kids series. However, they did deal with some real issues like bullying or discovering a hidden talent (in Fluttershy's book), respect or helping your friends (in Applejack's book), and helping your family out or being true to yourself (in Pinkie Pie's book)."

Optimus Prime - "I liked Twilight, Applejack. I loved Fluttershy. Sometimes Rarity is a brat about stuff. She whines. I think Rainbow Dash is awesome! Pinkie Pie is the most funniest pony ever! I like Spike. My very favorite character is Princess Luna and Zecora."

Bumblebee - "I loved the Rarity one! I loved the copycat! I absolutely, really, really, really loved Twilight since she's my favorite character. I loved the Rainbow Dash dares. Pinkie Pie had her nurse a baby balloon!"

My Little Pony*

1. Fluttershy and the Fine Furry Friends Fair
2. Pinkie Pie and the Rockin' Ponypalooza Party!
3. Applejack and the Honest-to-Goodness Switcheroo 
4. Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell
5. Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity
6. Rainbow Dash and the Daring Do Double Dare

* These books are not numbered, so they are listed in the order that we read them. Also, for these books I have not listed an author since they are too much like comic books with multiple authors, illustrators, and creators.

Superman

Synopsis - Clark Kent, survivor of the planet Krypton, comes to Earth as a baby and is raised human. While growing up he learns that our sun gives him super powers. As an adult he works as a reporter for a major newspaper and on the side he uses his super powers to fight evil as Superman.

Wandering Falcon - "Superman's always been meh to me - I was more of a Batman fan - but these books were really good."

Optimus Prime - "I liked them. I liked the guy who shocked people and took their energy (Parasite). I like Lois Lane."

Bumblebee - "I like Superman. And there's lots of stuff I like. I like the part where he threw one of his enemies into space. And I liked to robot with kryptonite (Metallo)."

Superman*

1. The Menace of Metallo
2. Last Son of Krypton
3. The Stolen Superpowers
4. Museum of Monsters
5. Toys of Terror
6. Under the Red Sun
7. Meteor of Doom
8. The Deadly Dream Machine
9. The Shadow Masters
10. The Shrinking City
11. The Deadly Double
12. Bizarro is Born
13. Little Green Men
14. The Kid Who Saved Superman
15. Live Wire!
16. Super Villain Showdown
17. Parasite's Power Drain
18. Prankster of Prime Time
19. Cosmic Bounty Hunter
20. Deep Space Hijack

* These books are not numbered, so they are listed in the order that we read them. Also, for these books I have not listed an author since they are too much like comic books with multiple authors, illustrators, and creators.

Batman

Synopsis - (Do you really need this synopsis?) Bruce Wayne's parents are killed when he is a child, so as an adult he becomes Batman and goes on to fight super villains and crime in Gotham City.

Wandering Falcon - "I love Batman! (Who doesn't?!?) I'm glad we read these books, especially since my kids loved them too! Now they want me to find a new Batman series to read to them..."

Optimus Prime - "All of them were great! Bat-Mite was my favorite!"

Bumblebee - "The one with Nightwing and Robin in it, I think it was ridiculous that Batman acted like a criminal!"

Batman*

1. The Fog of Fear
2. Poison Ivy's Deadly Garden
3. Five Riddles for Robin
4. Fun House of Evil
5. Emperor of the Airwaves
6. My Frozen Valentine
7. The Revenge of Clayface
8. Catwoman's Halloween Heist 
9. Bat-Mite's Big Blunder
10. The Puppet Master's Revenge
11. Mad Hatter's Movie Madness
12. Harley Quinn's Shocking Surprise
13. The Man Behind the Mask
14. Arctic Attack
15. Catwoman's Classroom of Claws
16. Two-Face's Double Take
17. The Maker of Monsters
18. Robin's First Flight
19. Scarecrow, Doctor of Fear
20. Killer Croc Hunter

* These books are not numbered, so they are listed in the order that we read them.  Also, for these books I have not listed an author since they are too much like comic books with multiple authors, illustrators, and creators.

Wonder Woman

Synopsis - Princess Diana of the Amazons becomes Wonder Woman and fights against evil, and the gods who try to destroy humans.

Wandering Falcon - "I've never been a big Wonder Woman fan (I'm not a big fan of Superheroes with special powers, I like the regular human superheroes) so I didn't know much about her until we started reading these books. They were pretty interesting. I'm still not a big Wonder Woman fan, but I'm glad we read them."

Optimus Prime - "They're fine."

Bumblebee - "I liked them all!!! The special one is the one where Princess Diana becomes Wonder Woman (he means "The Trial of the Amazons"). The Queen calls her Princess Diana."

Wonder Woman*

1. Monster Magic
2. Dr. Psycho's Circus of Crime
3. Rumble in the Rainforest
4. Attack of the Cheetah
5. Sword of the Dragon
6. The Fruit of All Evil
7. Creature of Chaos
8. Trial of the Amazons

* These books are not numbered, so they are listed in the order that we read them.  Also, for these books I have not listed an author since they are too much like comic books with multiple authors, illustrators, and creators.

Troll Hunters

We finished off Troll Hunters a few weeks ago.

Synopsis - Four kids - Pablo, Zak, Thora, and Louise - find themselves fighting against an army of underground trolls coming to the surface to take over the world. Along the way they meet Dr. Hoo, who guides them and tells them about their special powers based on the constellations in the sky.

Wandering Falcon - "This series started out really strong, and I really liked it, but then book three happened. I'm not sure what happened, I mean, yes there was magic and stuff from the beginning, but all of the sudden the magic just got crazy. However, come book four things got better again."

Optimus Prime - "They were scary."

Bumblebee - "I liked them. I liked the kid Thora."

Troll Hunters by Michael Dahl

1. Skyfall
2. Dark Tower Rising
3. The Lava Crown
4. Fallen Star

Ghost Detectors

For the record, we have NOT finished the Ghost Detectors series. I have no idea how many books are in it, what I do know is our library only has the first six and book seven is currently going on amazon for $25 new/$42 used. Ummmm, yeah, no, I don't think so. If our local library ever gets more, we'll read them. If not, we'll call it good at six.

Synopsis - Malcolm loves science, ghosts, and ordering new gadgets from the back of magazines. Most of the gadgets are fake, but one day he orders a specter detector that can really detect ghosts. This leads him and his best friend Dandy to investigate local hauntings.

Wandering Falcon - "Okay, I really wanted to like these books and I really didn't. As we read on they started to grow on me but they were definitely aimed towards young kids. The passages on Cocoa's make-up misadventures were funny."

Optimus Prime - "They were okay. The two kids were good at doing it."

Bumblebee - "They were good. The ghost dog was named Spooky and he was silly and he just yip, yip, yiped whenever he appeared."

Ghost Detectors by Dotti Enderle

1. It Creeps!
2. I'm Gonna Get You!
3. Tell No One!
4. I Dare You!
5. Draw!
6. Don't Read This!

Pokemon Junior

So, last night we finished up the Pokemon Junior series.  Well, that's one more thing marked off my life goal list...

It's mostly full of book series I want to read on my own, with my husband, or to my kids...

Synopsis: Ash and his Pokemon Pikachu travel around the world finding adventures on a quest to make Ash the best Pokemon trainer ever.  They are accompanied by friends Brock (or sometimes Tracey) and Misty with their Pokemon, and are constantly running into Team Rocket (Jessie, James, and their Pokemon Meowth) who are on their own quest to steal rare Pokemon.

Ash Falcon: "I loved the Pokemon t.v. show when I was a teenager so when I found these books I was thrilled.  I'm even more thrilled now that I have my kids hooked on Pokemon too.  These books are super easy, and I look forward to them reading them on their own in about a year.  My only complaint is there are only 15 books.  5/5!"

Optimus Prime:  "Good.  Awesome about Raichu and Bulbasaur and the mankeys.  The books were fun.  I liked the Pokemon books."

Bumblebee:  "The books were good and great.  I liked Raichu because he shot Team Rocket off the boat and into the water.  He was a good Pokemon.  I wonder why Team Rocket kept doing bad things like trying to steal Pikachu.  I wonder why Victor wanted to surf on Humungadunga?  I liked the Pokemon books."

Pokemon Junior by Bill Michaels, Sarah E. Heller, Gregg Sacon, & Tracey West (author's initials in parentheses)

1. Surf's Up, Pikachu! (BM)
2. Meowth, The Big Mouth (BM)
3. Save Our Squirtle (BM)
4. Bulbasaur's Bad Day (BM)
5. Two of a Kind (SEH)
6. Raichu Shows Off (SEH)
7. Nidoran's New Friend (GS)
8. A Pokemon Snow-Down (SEH)
9. Snorlax Takes a Stand (SEH)
10. Good-bye, Lapras (GS)
11. Bellossom's Big Battle (SEH)
12. The Snubbull Blues (SEH)
13. Hoothoot's Haunted Forest (TW)
14. Pichu's Apple Company (SEH)
15. The Wobbuffet Village (SEH)

Scooby-Doo! and You

I'm feeling kind of sad, because this is it for Scooby-Doo chapter books!  Oh, sure, we'll reread them some day, but not anytime soon...

Synopsis - Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy, and their dog Scooby-Doo travel around the country solving mysteries and unmasking monsters.  These books are told from the point of view of either Fred, Velma, or Daphne as they investigate the mystery, and the solution to the mystery is kept as a separate chapter to see if you can solve the mystery on your own.  There are questions at the end of the chapters to review the suspects and clues to help you solve the mystery.  Each book is a stand alone book and they do not have to be read in order.

Ash Falcon - "I loved the books - of course!  I liked the idea of trying to solve it on your own.  Every time we reached the end we'd go around the room and say who we thought did it and why.  A couple of books the answers were sneaky (there was a book where two of the suspects did it together, and in one book none of the suspects did it - the victim did).  A couple of the books were also kind of poorly written, which was unfortunate, with a solution thrown together that didn't make any sense, but I suppose there are bound to be misses in anything.  I wish there were more books!  I'd give the series a 5/5."

Optimus Prime - "They were great, perfect, and all kinds of great and happy stuff.  They were fun!"

Bumblebee - "Just good, that's all.  I liked trying to find out who it was - at least we got one!"  (He got quite a few, so I don't know why he's saying "at least we got one!")

Scooby-Doo! and You by Jesse Leon McCann, James Gelsey, Vicki Berger Irwin, Jenny Markas, Tracey West, & Suzanne Weyn (author's initials in parentheses)

1. The Case of the Lost Lumberjack (JLM)
2. The Case of the Glowing Alien by (JG)
3. The Case of the Wandering Witch (JG)
4. The Case of the Haunted Hound (VBI)
5. The Case of the Theater Phantom (VBI)
6. The Case of the Doughy Creature (JM)
7. The Case of the Bigfoot Beast (TW)
8. The Case of the Wrestler's Ghost (TW)
9. The Case of the Creepy Camp (JLM)
10. The Case of the Freaky Oil Fiend (JLM)
11. The Case of the Mad Mermaid (JLM)
12. The Case of the Spinning Spider (VBI)
13. The Case of Headless Henry (JM)
14. The Case of the Leaping Lion (JM)
15. The Case of the Monstrous Mutt (JM)
16. The Case of the Terrifying Pterodactyl (JM)
17. The Case of the Angry Alligator (JG)
18. The Case of Dr. Jenkins and Mr. Hyde (JG)
19. The Case of the Purple Knight (JG)
20. The Case of the Seaweed Monster (JG)
21. The Case of the Singing Ghost (JG)
22. The Case of the Television Monster (JG)
23. The Case of the Living Doll (TW)
24. The Case of the Batty Vampire (SW)

Dinosaur Cove

We have (finally) finished the Dinosaur Cove books!  I am a bit sad to see them go since Bumblebee really liked them...

Synopsis - Dinosaur Cove follows the adventures of best friends Jamie & Tom and their dinosaur friend Wanna.  Jamie & Tom find a hidden tunnel that leads to the past where they can visit real dinosaurs.  While there they meet a Wannanosaurus and become friends with him.  Together they travel around and observe dinosaurs first hand.

(Note - This series has quite a few books spanning over four series with a few extra double length books as well.  However, only the six books of the first series (the Cretaceous Adventures) and the first three books of the second series (the Jurassic Adventures) have been published in the U.S., and they have been published as one series - not two.  None of the other books or series have been.  You can get them used online however at this time we are not doing that for two reasons.  #1 is that they only came out a few years ago and I want to see if they will change their minds and release the rest since there is customer demand.  #2 is I figured we could use a break from Dinosaur Cove for a bit and focus on the stack of books that we currently have sitting on our bookcase waiting for us to read - including more Scooby-Doo books, more Pokemon books, and some Magic Tree House books.  We will eventually get around to buying them and once we do and read them I'll put up a new, revised, posts - one for each series.  So for now, this post is only about the books released in the U.S.)

Ash Falcon - "These books were amusing and a very light read.  They were pretty ridiculous, though, so if you are reading them to your kids prepare for some eye-rolling on your part.  Let's just say that you have to suspend your disbelief (in regards to dinosaur reality) a bit while reading them.  I'd say a 4/5."

Optimus Prime - "The books were good, but #8 was scary!  Remember the monster [plesiosaur] was biting holes in the board?"

Bumblebee - "They were really, really nice and all of them were good!  #8 was my favorite."

Dinosaur Cove by Rex Stone

1. Attack of the Tyrannosaurus
2. Charge of the Triceratops
3. March of the Ankylosaurus
4. Flight of the Quetzalcoatlus
5. Catching the Velociraptor
6. Stampede of the Edmontosaurus
7. Saving the Stegosaurus 
8. Swimming with the Plesiosaur
9. Tracking the Diplodocus

Scooby-Doo! Mysteries

After doing a Spiderwick post it seemed only natural to do the same for the one Scooby-Doo series we have finished off, especially since we will be starting The Magic Tree House in a couple of days (which last I checked had 50 books) so I really want to shorten our list.

Synopsis - Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy are in high school (mentioned a few times) and travel around the country with their dog Scooby-Doo running into - and solving - mysteries where ever they are.  Each book is a stand alone book and they do not have to be read in order.

Ash Falcon - "I loved Scooby-Doo as a kid, I loved Scooby-Doo as a teenager, and I still love Scooby-Doo as an adult.  I bought these books back when I was in high school.  I read them (and loved them) back then and I loved reading them to my boys.  They are wacky, they are silly, they make you roll your eyes at their outrageous plots (a giant stuffed animal that terrorizes a store, a seaweed monster that wants to scare away a town's pelican, a giant cactus that wants to prevent a music video production, a basketball team's mascot come to life to destroy the team - come on, these plots are ridiculous!), but most of all they are fun and they made my kids imaginations run away to some awesome places.  Except for book one which was only so-so I would totally give this series a 100/5."

Optimus Prime - "I really, really, really (followed by about ten more "really's") liked these books!  My favorite was the one with the fangs - the vampire!"

Bumblebee - "Do you know who my favorite is?  The Hoopster Horror!  I liked the books."

Scooby-Doo! Mysteries by James Gelsey

1. Scooby-Doo! and the Haunted Castle
2. Scooby-Doo! and the Mummy's Curse
3. Scooby-Doo! and the Snow Monster
4. Scooby-Doo! and the Sunken Ship
5. Scooby-Doo! and the Howling Wolfman
6. Scooby-Doo! and the Vampire's Revenge
7. Scooby-Doo! and the Carnival Creeper
8. Scooby-Doo! and the  Groovy Ghost
9. Scooby-Doo! and the Zombie's Treasure
10. Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Strikeout
11. Scooby-Doo! and the Fairground Phantom 
12. Scooby-Doo! and the Frankenstein Monster
13. Scooby-Doo! and the Runaway Robot
14. Scooby-Doo! and the Masked Magician
15. Scooby-Doo! and the Phony Fortune Teller
16. Scooby-Doo! and the Toy Store Terror
17. Scooby-Doo! and the Farmyard Fright
18. Scooby-Doo! and the Caveman Caper
19. Scooby-Doo! and the Rowdy Rodeo
20. Scooby-Doo's High-Flying Adventure
21. Scooby-Doo! and the Ghostly Gorilla
22. Scooby-Doo! and the Vicious Viking
23. Scooby-Doo! and the Karate Caper
24. Scooby Doo! and the Seashore Slimer
25. Scooby-Doo! and the Bowling Boogeyman
26. Scooby-Doo! and the Headless Horseman
27. Scooby-Doo! and the Deep Sea Diver
28. Scooby-Doo! and the Sinister Sorcerer
29. Scooby-Doo! and the Witch Doctor
30. Scooby-Doo! and the Gruesome Goblin
31. Scooby-Doo! and the Virtual Villain
32. Scooby-Doo! and the Hoopster Horror
33. Scooby-Doo! and the Cactus Creature
34. Scooby-Doo! and the Scary Skateboarder
35. Scooby-Doo! and the Monster Menace

Spiderwick

Okay, still really busy and won't be online until at least the day after tomorrow, however while updating our Reading List/Book Series We Have Read pages (which I do 2-3 times a week) I realized that the second one was getting rather long...  So, since we finished Spiderwick first, here is a post about the series, along with our opinion on the books and a list of the books so I can delete them from the page (however, the page will carry a link to this post - at least for now).

Synopsis - Spiderwick by Holly Black follows the "true" story of the Grace children (oldest Mallory, followed by twins Jared and Simon) after they move to an old house owned by their mother's family.  Their mother and father are recently divorced and they lack the money to remain in the city where they used to live.  While exploring the house Jared finds a book written by his great-great-uncle Arthur Spiderwick, which gives details about the different types of fairies that live in the region.  Chaos ensues as different fairies try to steal the book for different reasons, the kids try to find Arthur Spiderwick, and they try to stop Mulgarath's plot.  Some of the book is slightly graphic (cats get eaten, etc.)

Ash Falcon - "It was a cool story line but I've already read Fablehaven (by Brandon Mull) which was an awesome story line (admittedly, geared towards older children) and this felt a bit like a watered-down version of that.  However, two things that this series does have going for it is the kids come from a divorced family - which is something that I have not come across in all of the books I have read to my kids (and we read A LOT!) and the main character - Jared - has some anger issues because of the divorce.  So it was neat that the story line explored this aspect of family life.  Actually, embarrassingly, my kids had no idea what divorce was before this book.  I would give it a 4/5."

Optimus Prime - "I really, really liked the books and I liked the end of the bad guy."

Bumblebee - "I really, really, REALLY liked the books!  I really liked Thimbletack the brownie!"

Spiderwick by Holly Black

1. The Field Guide
2. The Seeing Stone
3. Lucinda's Secret
4. The Ironwood Tree
5. The Wrath of Mulgarath
6. The Lost Chapters