Posted on by TracyC

The Storyteller

Magic Charm Books

The Storyteller by Elizabeth Koda-Callan, 1996.

A young girl (unnamed, like in the other books in this series) who likes reading more than anything is sent to summer camp by her parents. When her parents first suggest the idea, the girl thinks that she might like camp, but then she gets worried that maybe she won’t or maybe she won’t make any friends there. She takes some of her books with her in case she needs something to do.

At first, it seems like camp isn’t going to be much fun after all. While the other kids seem to enjoy the typical camp activities, the girl doesn’t seem to be any good at them and doesn’t enjoy them much. However, she does make a friend, Jenny. When Jenny is homesick at night, the girl reads to her to help her feel better.

During the day, the girl keeps slipping back to her cabin to read while the other campers play volleyball because she isn’t good at the game. The camp counselor catches her reading all by herself, but she understands why the girl feels like she isn’t good at the other camp activities. To help her feel better, the counselor promises her an activity that she will be good at.

That night, while the campers are gathered around the campfire, ready to tell campfire stories, the counselor suggests that the girl read to them out of one of her favorite books. With Jenny’s encouragement, the girl reads to the other campers.

The other campers like the way the girl reads to them by the campfire, and Jenny helps the girl to improve at other camp activities. At the end of camp, the counselor gives the girl a charm shaped like a book as a reward for her storytelling skills.

All of the books in this series originally came with charms like the ones described in the stories. This book originally included a little golden book charm for the reader to wear. The hole in the cover of the book was where the charm was displayed when the book was new. The books in the series often focus on the unnamed main character (who could represent any girl reading this story – the books were aimed at young girls) developing new self confidence, and the charms were meant to be either a sign of their new self confidence or inspiration for developing it. In this case, the charm is a reward for the way the girl used her skills to make camp better for everyone while developing new skills in other activities.

The book is available to borrow for free online through Internet Archive.

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The Silver Slippers

Magic Charm Books

The Silver Slippers by Elizabeth Koda-Callan, 1989.

A little girl (unnamed, like the other girls in this series) wants to be a ballerina. She takes ballet classes, but she never seems quite good enough, like the ballet posters on the walls of her room. She feels discouraged because she is not perfect.

When her ballet teacher tells the class that there is going to be a dance recital and that one girl in class will be chosen to be the prima and lead the others, the girl doesn’t think that she has a chance to be chosen because her dancing isn’t good enough.

The girl tells her mother about the recital and her doubts about being chosen to be prima, and her mother tells her that it depends on how much she wants to be prima and how much she is willing to practice to improve. If the girl is willing to put in extra practice, she still has a chance to be prima. To remind her of her goals, her mother gives her a silver charm in the shape of a pair of ballet slippers.

In order to improve her dancing, the girl has to focus on her goal and give up participating in other activities to find more time to practice. However, her practicing pays off, and she gets the role of prima. On the night of the recital, she is nervous, but her silver slippers charm reminds her of her dream of being a real ballerina and gives her the courage to go on with her performance.

All of the books in this series originally came with charms like the ones described in the stories. This book originally included a little silver slippers charm for the reader to wear. The hole in the cover of the book was where the charm was displayed when the book was new. The books in the series often focus on the unnamed main character (who could represent any girl reading this story – the books were aimed at young girls) developing new self confidence, and the charms were meant to be either a sign of their new self confidence or inspiration for developing it. In this case, the charm is a reminder of the girl’s goals and how much she really loves dancing, giving her the inspiration she needs to persevere even when learning is difficult.

The book is available to borrow for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

The Mystery of the Midnight Visitor

MorganMidnightVisitor

The Mystery of the Midnight Visitor by John and Nancy Rambeau, 1962.

One day, Gabby is going fishing on the beach at Morgan’s Landing. Miss Wellington, a family friend, owns the property along with the old mansion known locally as Morgan Castle. She has given permission to Gabby to fish there, but Gabby is surprised to meet a stranger on the beach as well. This stranger is an old man who says that his name is Admiral Lavendar. When Gabby tells him that he’s on private property, the old man moves on. Then, Gabby spots smoke coming from Morgan Castle!

When Gabby goes to investigate, he finds that someone has shut Miss Wellington in a closet and that there is a fire in the bedroom that had once belonged to Mrs. Morgan, the former lady of the house. He gets Miss Wellington out of the closet, and they call the fire department. The firemen put out the fire and tell Miss Wellington that it was apparently caused by a dropped candle.

 

Morgan Castle was once owned by the wealthy Morgan family that gave Morgan Bay its name. However, the house has become shabby over the years. Miss Wellington inherited the house after Mrs. Morgan died because there were no other Morgans left. However, she doesn’t actually live in Morgan Castle because she has a house of her own. People have been saying that perhaps the house should be torn down because of its poor condition. Miss Wellington doesn’t have much money and says that she would find it difficult to manage the upkeep of the house.

Gabby and his brother Bill and sister Vinny don’t want to see the old beautiful old mansion destroyed, and there is still the mystery of who dropped the candle and why to consider. A small silver box that Gabby found on the beach turns out to be a jewelry box that once belonged to Mrs. Morgan. Mrs. Morgan wasn’t particularly interested in jewelry, but she did own one particularly fine emerald necklace that was never found after her death. Perhaps the person who dropped the candle was looking for it!

To give Morgan Castle a new purpose and prevent it from being torn down, the kids convince Miss Wellington to let them turn it into a Historical, Boat, and Tennis Club, dedicate to celebrating local history and providing entertainment for local people.

At first, the mysterious Admiral Lavendar looks like a likely suspect for the person sneaking around Morgan Castle, but he turns out to be very helpful to the children and their plans. There is another stranger in town who has the knowledge to seek out Mrs. Morgan’s lost necklace.

MorganMidnightVisitorThief

This book is part of a series that were once used as classroom readers.

Posted on by TracyC

The Mystery in Dracula’s Castle

MysteryDraculasCastleThe Mystery in Dracula’s Castle by Vic Crume, 1973.

This is a novelization of a live action Disney movie of the same name and contains photographs of scenes from the movie. The title of the book and the movie is a little misleading because, although the main characters are unaware of what is going on for most of the story, the audience finds out pretty quickly who the bad guys are and what they’re doing. In a way, it’s kind of like a Columbo story where the suspense is in watching the hero figure it all out. Also, there is no real castle or Dracula. Sorry. 😦 In spite of these short-comings, it’s still a fun story, and although the movie has not been released on dvd, it is possible to see it on YouTube (as of this writing).

Alfie and Leonard are spending yet another summer at their family’s beach house in a small town while their mother works on the new book she’s writing. They think this summer is going to be dull, but with jewel thieves in town, it soon becomes apparent that it’s anything but!

MysteryDraculasCastlePicAlfie is an aspiring film maker. Specifically, he wants to make horror movies, and he talks his younger brother into playing the part of Dracula in his latest Super 8 film. Leonard is only a reluctant vampire because he doesn’t like horror movies. He really wants to be a detective, like Sherlock Holmes. Back home, he and his brother saw police investigating the scene of a robbery at a jewelry store, and he’s decided that he wants to investigate crimes like that. Soon after they arrive at the beach house, Leonard adopts a stray dog and names him Watson so that he can be his sidekick.

Alfie laughs at his brother’s detective fantasies, but Leonard gets his chance to prove himself when they become involved with the thieves who robbed the jewelry store. The location that Alfie has picked for his movie is an old lighthouse, which he thinks looks like Dracula’s castle, and that is where the thieves are staying.  With the sheriff’s daughter acting as their baby-sitter and the heroine of their film and the necklace ending up in Leonard’s hands by accident, the thieves struggle to get it back before Leonard realizes what it is and where it came from.

This book is currently available through Internet Archive.  When the movie first aired on tv, it was shown in two parts.  Internet Archive also has the second part of the movie, but not the first (at least, not right now).  Sometimes, you can find part or all of the movie on YouTube.