Reading Round Up

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 5th Grade

2012-01-23T07:43:00.001-05:00

The Strangest Story EVER. Period.

Usually, in a story, the bad guy gets put in jail, or he escapes to do evil another day. It's not very often that the bad guy in a story gets eaten. But that's what happens. You are not going to believe it, but the 5th graders tell me that it's absolutely true. I'll tell the story and let you decide.

Our story begins with Shelby a cute, little, long-haired guinea pig. She runs in the tunnels, plays in her activity ball and eats guinea pig food, just like a normal pet. But Shelby has a secret. Deep inside the tunnels of her home, she keeps a priceless fried chicken who can shoot laser beams out of its eyes. But wait! It gets stranger!

One day when Shelby is running around the living room floor in her activity ball, Bob, a chicken with painted blue stripes down either side of his body, walks into Shelby's house to visit. Since Shelby is not home, he wanders around and finds the fried chicken with the laser beam eyes. It's love at first sight! (I told you it got weirder!) Bob and the fried chicken decide to elope, which means that they decide to run off and get married.

When Shelby returned, she saw her fried chicken was missing and called her big friend Lisa. Lisa followed the clues, including a note that Bob left, and tracked down the missing poultry. She returned Shelby's chicken, but Bob suffered a different fate. Lisa's favorite food was baked chicken and rice, and she decided to have Bob over for dinner, if you know what I mean.

What a strange and fun story. But a lot of questions remain. How did Shelby get the chicken? Why did it shoot laser beams from its eyes? Did the fried chicken really love Bob or was she just trying to get away from Shelby? And was Bob delicious? You can write some more and find out!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 4th Grade

2012-01-23T07:28:00.001-05:00

The Missing Microphone

Every night, at the end of his concert, Steve threw his microphone into the audience. And every night whoever caught it, gave it back. Until tonight.

Steve was a rock star who had lots of hit songs and the greatest fans in the world. He was not your typical rock star. He was short and bald headed and had buck teeth. Most rock stars are good looking with long hair and seemed perfect in every way. Maybe it was because he just looked ordinary that all his fans loved him so much.

He loved his guitar, and he loved his fans, but most of all Steve LOVED his custom made microphone. A fan in Wisconsin sent it to him. It looked like and ordinary microphone, but on the top of it, the fan had engraved a perfect replica of Steve's buck teeth. Steve used it at every concert.

Like he did every night, tonight at the end of the concert, Steve threw the microphone into the audience, expecting an audience member to sing or shout "We live you Steve!" and give it back to him like they always did. But tonight when tossed it out, he pulled back the cord and the microphone was gone.

BooBoo, a big fan of Steve's, is an old tall guy who smells like a rat. He attended the concert and when Steve tossed the microphone to the crowd. BooBoo caught it and took off with it. The fans booed BooBoo, but he did not stop running until he was home.

Steve called the police, but they said since Steve gave the microphone to someone in the crowd, that no crime had been committed and they could not get involved. So Steve called his friend TooTah, a fat ninja private eye. TooTah interviewed witnesses, followed the clues and went to see BooBoo. When he found BooBoo and the microphone, he offered the tall, smelly guy a deal. TooTah was willing to trade some bacon for the microphone. BooBoo agreed and TooTah took the microphone back to Steve.

Steve was so excited to get his microphone back that he wrote a song about the adventure. It's destined to become a HUGE hit!

What were the words to Steve's new big hit? Why don't YOU write the words to it? What about Steve's other fans? You could write about the guy from Wisconsin, or even another story about BooBoo or TooTah. Have fun!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 2nd Grade

2012-01-23T07:05:00.001-05:00

The Case of the Missing Cheese

It was a big box of cheese and it was full of mice. That's why Layla loved it so much. Layla was a fat grumpy cat who loved to eat cheese, especially when it was full of mice. What made this cheese so special is that the cheese was also stuffed with cat food!

Not too far away from Layla's house lived Bonnie, a big evil tiger, who loved to read books about bad guys (and girls) who stole stuff. Bonnie always cheered when they stole the treasure, but she was always upset when they got caught. And in the books she read, the bad guys ALWAYS got caught. Bonnie knew that SHE was too smart to get caught. So she planned the biggest heist ever. She was going to steal some mice filled, cat food stuffed cheese from a neighborhood cat named Layla.

While Layla was sleeping, dreaming about cheese and mice, Bonnie crept into Layla's house and stole the cheese. When Bonnie woke up, hungry for a snack, she discovered that the cheese was GONE! Oh no! She called her friend Richard and told him what had happened. Richard, a dog who loved to help people, came right over. He sniffed and looked and took notes and said, "I don't know who took the cheese, but I think I know which way the thief went!

Richard followed the clues and the scent and went right to Bonnie's house. Richard and Layla called the police and they arrested Bonnie and got the cheese back. Bonnie went to jail, promising that she would get out and would get away with her crime next time! Layla offered Richard a reward. She said, "You can have a big piece of cheese!" Richard looked at the cheese, filled with mice and oozing cat food, and said, "No thank you. I just started my diet!"

Does Bonnie escape and plot the perfect crime? Is Richard REALLY on a diet? How long does it take Bonnie to eat the cheese? You can write the next chapter and see what happens!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 3rd Grade

2012-01-23T06:48:00.001-05:00

Lizards and Aliens

When he woke up that morning, Johnny did not know that before the day was out he would meet an evil lizard, watch a kidnapping and meet a dancing dog. What a day this would be!

Johnny was a space alien who did not like books. He didn't like to see them. He did not like to read them. He did not like to hear people talking about them. He did NOT like books at all! His best friend also did not like books, but they both LOVED hamburgers!

On this day, while the two friends were talking about hamburgers and carefully avoiding getting near any books, Billy Bob, a giant evil lizard jumped out from behind a tree and kidnapped Johnny's friend! Billy Bob took the friend to his hideout and locked him in the basement.

Johnny called the police and told them that his friend had been kidnapped. He did not tell the 911 operator that the kidnapper was a lizard. The police car drove up in minutes, lights and siren going like crazy. When the door to the car opened, Johnny was shocked to see that the police officer was Rufus, the famous dancing dog! Johnny had seen Rufus on the TV Dancing Show and thought he was GREAT! But instead of asking for an autograph, Johnny told Rufus about his friend.

Rufus asked Johnny to describe the bad guy. As soon as Johnny told Rufus that the kidnapper was a lizard, Rufus said, "This case is already solved! But we have to hurry. Billy Bob, the only kidnapping lizard in the state is very evil. There's no telling what he might do if we don't get to your friend soon."

Off they went to rescue Johnny's friend and to catch an evildoer. When they got to Billy Bob's hideout, they found Johnny's friend safe, but scared. There was no sign of Billy Bob. Billy Bob had changed colors and was blending into the background. He was camouflaged! When they walked past him, Billy Bob pushed them down and ran away, saying, "This is not over Rufus. I'll kidnap another kid soon. You'll see!" And then he escaped, leaving Johnny, Rufus and Johnny's friend to wonder what would happen next.

What DOES happen next. Why don't you write the next adventure? If you were the illustrator for this story, how would Johnny look? What about Rufus?

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - 1st Grade

2012-01-23T06:31:00.000-05:00

The Story of the Missing Story

You don't often hear an adventure about a missing adventure, but that's what happened.

Gabe was a short kid who LOVED to read. His favorite book contained a long adventure story that was very exciting. Gabe had already read the very thick book twice and was reading it again. He was a very smart student and he always had a book with him, but lately he only carried his favorite book.

You can imagine how upset he was when the book disappeared! Gabe was on the playground and when he came back to the classroom, it was gone! It was not in his desk, or on the floor or on any of his friends' desks. It was not anywhere in the classroom.

Gabe did not know that while he was outside a bad guy came into the classroom and took the book because he thought it might be worth a lot of money. When the bad guy got to his car, he looked up the book on the Internet and found out that it was a great story, but that the book was only worth $20. He threw the book out the window and drove away from the school.

As he drove away, Bobby, a 5th grader that everyone knew was a good helper, found the book and picked it up. Bobby was kind of famous for rescuing people who were in trouble, so rescuing a book was kind of fun! Bobby did not know who had lost the book and did not know how to find the owner.

Gabe was worried about his book. He asked Alex a nice girl from his class to help him find it. Alex and her pet lizard made posters that said, "MISSING BOOK! Please Call Gabe if you find it!" the poster included a drawing of the cover of the book and Gabe's phone number and his teacher's name so anyone who found it could bring it to his class.

Bobby saw the poster, brought the book to Gabe's teacher and Gabe got his book back. He went to find Bobby and thank him for being a good guy and Gabe and Alex and Bobby became good friends. They even became friends with Alex's lizard.

Why don't you write a story about one of Bobby's adventures rescuing someone? The story would be very exciting, and it could have danger, a mystery and a big adventure!

Mason Elementary School, Duluth, GA - Kindergarten

2012-01-23T06:11:00.001-05:00

Cute Little Cubs and a Big Daddy Lion

Tony had seen a lot of things, but he had never seen anything so cute! There were four little lion cubs playing in the clearing in the middle of the jungle. They were just adorable. One of them was sleeping in the sunshine, one was stalking a butterfly and the other two were wrestling near the edge of the trees. Tony did not think about where they came from or that they might be part of a family.

The cubs were the children of James a big happy lion who lived nearby in the jungle. James loved his cubs more than anything and would do whatever he had to do to protect them and keep them safe. He had no idea that his precious cubs were about to be "cub-napped"!

Tony called to the cubs and offered them a treat. When the cubs got close to him, he grabbed them and put them in his car. He was so happy to have some cute little lion cubs for pets.

When James went looking for his cubs at lunchtime, he couldn't find them. He roared and roared, but they did not roar back like they always did. James was very worried and very upset. He immediately got in touch with his friend Lizzie, a sweet lady who happened to be Tony's wife. She had just gotten home and discovered that Tony had found the cubs and brought them home, when James called about the missing babies.

Lizzie told James that the cubs were at her house. James wanted to know how they got there and she said, "I'll tell you when you get here." James immediately ran all the way to Lizzie's home and found the cubs. While he was on the way there, Lizzie told Tony that the cubs were part of a family and that he shouldn't have taken them from the jungle. Tony was sorry he had made James afraid.

When James got to the house, the cubs ran to him and hugged him. They told him about their adventure riding in the car with Tony and about having snacks with him. Tony apologized to James and told him that he never thought about the cubs belonging to a family. James told Tony that it was okay, and he told his kids to never, ever go with a stranger, even a nice one. The cubs promised that they would not ever do that again.

Tony and Lizzie invited James and his cubs to come back and visit again, and they did. They all became good friends.

What will Tony, Lizzie, James and the cubs do next? Why don't you write the next adventure?

Taylor Elementary School, 2nd Grade

2012-01-12T21:26:00.001-05:00

The Case of the Stolen Chicken

Person was not a person. Person was the name of a little green pea. Not only was she a little green pea, she was a space alien!

Person's favorite thing in the whole world was her pet chicken. The chicken always wore a skirt, but that wasn't the strangest thing about the bird. The REALLY strange thing was that this chicken had no head! It was still alive, but it had no head!

One night, while Person was watching his favorite television show, a wolf named Wolf used his laser beam eyes and kidnapped the chicken!

When the commercial came on, Person realized the chicken was gone and called her friend 2 Wolf. 2 Wolf was not a wolf. 2 Wolf was a clam. He had antennae that were very helpful in finding missing things. 2 Wolf used those antennae to find the chicken. It was kind of easy, because once they got close, they could hear the wolf talking. He talked ALL the time!

Person and 2 Wolf caught Wolf in a net and rescued the chicken. While they were celebrating, Wolf got out of the net and ran away, promising to come back and get that chicken again.

What happens next? You could write the next story and find out!

Taylor Elementary School, 3rd Grade

2012-01-12T21:02:00.000-05:00

A Different Kind of Dog and Cat Story

Do you like chocolate? Apparently, so do zombie cats!

The cute little fat dog waddled done the path. Her name was Thumbelina and she was headed home. The first thing she did when she got home was to check to make sure her chocolate, peanut butter and strawberry candy was safely put away, where it should be. It was. For now.

That night while Thumbelina was asleep, a zombie cat named Alison slipped into the doghouse and stole the candy. She got away before Thumbelina even knew she was there.

When our chubby little puppy friend woke up and discovered her chocolate was gone she barked and then called her good friend Barton. Barton was a smart friend who had the power to detect. He wants to be a detective when he grows up. He followed the clues straight to Alison's hideout and while the cat was asleep, Barton stole the candy back from the cat!

Barton called the police and they locked her up in the zombie jail. Thumbelina got her candy back, and thanks Barton for his help. What a happy ending (except for Alison, of course)!

What happens next? Write the next chapter!

St. Simon's Elementary School, 1st Grade

2012-01-10T07:15:00.000-05:00

Hey! Where's my Hay?

Weirdo was a big, fat horse. He LOVED hay, especially the thick, yellow yummy kind. He also liked to share. Sharing hay is the beginning of what happened last week when things got very exciting in the barnyard!

Weirdo was eating hay when Kate, a ram who liked to take stuff that didn't belong to her, came by and asked if Weirdo would share his hay. Of course he said, "Yes, I will share with you!"

When Weirdo gave Kate a small pile of hay, she grabbed ALL of the hay and took off running! She thought this was a fun game, but Weirdo did not think so. He called Tom, an old red horse, and asked Tom to help him get the hay back. Tom is the fastest horse in the barnyard and Kate could not escape fast enough.

Tom caught Kate and called the police. Kate asked, "Why did you call the police?" Tom replied, "Because you took something that did not belong to you and that is wrong." Kate began to cry. She was just playing and did not realize she had done anything wrong. Tom asked Kate if she would stop taking things that were not hers, and she promised to change.

When the police arrived, Tom told them to go back to the police station. Everything was alright. Tom then took Kate to Weirdo's barn and she apologized. Weirdo, Tom amd Kate all became good friends and Kate never took stuff again if it did not belong to her.

What will the three friends do next? Write the next adventure or draw a picture to illustrate this story!

St. Simon's Island Elementary School, Kindergarten

2012-01-10T07:02:00.001-05:00

A Strange Way to Make Friends

Losing a dog is usually sad. But this time, losing a dog was the start of a great friendship!

Max was the nicest kid in school. He was polite and respectful, and he played with everyone on the playground. Max has a dog named Pluto. Max is a good dog and he smells great, too!

While Max and Pluto were playing outside after school, a little dinosaur named Donald sniffed Pluto and Pluto followed Donald down the street.

Max was worried when he couldn't find his dog, so he called his good friend John. John was short, had spiky hair, and he was AWESOME at everything! It didn't take John long to follow the trail of the missing dog. He found Pluto and Donald a couple of blocks away, playing in someone else's yard.

John invited Donald to come over to Max's house and they brought the dog back to his owner. Max was so glad to see is missing dog that he hugged him and kissed him!

He and Donald became good friends and Max told Donald that he could come over and play with Pluto any time he wanted to. And that's how a missing dog helped Max make a new friend.

What happens next? Write or draw a story about another adventure that Max and Pluto and Donald and John might have.

St. Simon's Island Elementary School, 5th Grade

2012-01-10T06:39:00.001-05:00

The Case of the Missing Purple Bacon

Think you've seen it all? Well, I thought so too, until I heard this story!

Its a story about a cow, a piece of cheese and a pig. Oh, and a piece of living purple bacon, too. The bacon was owned by Billy Bob, a cow who also happened to be a jump rope champion. He had owned this particular piece of bacon for a long time and he loved it very much.

One summer afternoon, when Billy Bob was away, Anson, a talking piece of cheese, came to Billy Bob's barn with a sinister plot on his mind and a cardboard box on his head. He tricked the bacon into thinking he (the bacon) was an acorn, and since acorns can't talk back or run away, it was easy for Anson to steal the bacon.

When Billy Bob got home and discovered what had happened, he called Chester, a female pig with arms made out of stereos, and asked her to help.Chester decide that the job of finding the bacon was a task for a professional, so she called the police.

The police sent their best detective, a rainbow pop tart with a cat's head. The detective tracked down the bacon theif and arrested him. The trial is next week.

What happens next? Why don't you or you and some of your friends write the next chapter? Maybe you could write about a jail break, or an exciting trial, or another adventure in the life of Billy Bob, the jump roe champ!

St. Simon's Island Elementary School, 2nd Grade

2012-01-10T06:26:00.000-05:00

Give the Dog a Bone!

Max the Rat was a B-A-A-A-A-D boy! He never did anything the way he should! That caused him and the people around him a LOT of trouble.

For instance, one day at the dog park, a cute little bulldog named Ginger was playing with her bone. This bone was not a squeaky toy, but a REAL bone and it was delicious!

Max the Rat came along, saw the bone, and even though rats don't eat bones, he stole the bone and took off as fast as his little legs would carry him!

Ginger called Stinky Cheese Man, a former burglar who is now working as a finder of lost things, and he was on the case. Stinky followed the clues, found Max and got the bone back.

After he made sure the bone was safely back with its owner, Stinky called the police and had Max put in rat prison for a very long time. Let's hope that Max learns his lesson!

St. Simon's Island Elementary School, 3rd Grade

2012-01-10T06:17:00.001-05:00

The Missing Pet

There are lots of stories about missing pets, but this one may be the strangest!

There was a short, mean zombie named Blackbeard. He was an interesting guy, but he had an even MORE interesting pet. His pet was a green slimy worm!

One day, while Blackbeard was in the same room as the worm cage, a very crafty man named Mr. Kirby (no relation to the Mr. Kirby at the school, of course) snuck into the house and stole the worm right out of its cage! Mr Kirby loved to step on poeple's feet and his hobby was stealing stuff. He wore camoflauge that looked like the wallpaper in the worm cage room to help him steal the worm. He was VERY sneaky.

Blackbeard got on his phone and called John, a former alien space pirate who was now an alien space policeman. John quickly followed the clues, captured Mr. Kirby and rescued the worm. Mr Kirby went to jail to think about what he had done.

St. Simon's Island Elementary School 4th grade

2012-01-10T06:07:00.002-05:00

The Case of the Missing Marshmallow

Billy Bob Joe, Jr. was a very old, very fat acorn. He had a marshmallow that had magical powers! He loved that marshmallow so much!

One night while Billy Bob Joe, Jr was asleep, a stinky hairy squirrel named Joe snuck into Billy Bob's house and stole the marshmallow! I guess Billy Bob was lucky that the squirrel didn't decide to steal him as well!

As soon as Billy Bob Joe, Jr. woke up and saw that the marshmallow was missing, he got on the phone and called his good friend Bob. Bob is an outstanding detective and is as big as Bigfoot. He was on the case.

Bob followed the clues and was soon on the trail of the marshmallow thief. He found Joe and was able to get the marshmallow before Joe had a chance to do anything with it. He was planning to take the marshmallow back to Billy Bob Joe, Jr., but while he was on the way back, he got hungry. Without realizing what he was doing, Bob popped the magic marshmallow into his mouth and ate it!

The doctors are trying to figure out what to do. Will Bob be all right? Will he develop magical powers? Can the marshmallow be found and extracted with surgery? You could write the next chapter in this story!

Goodyear Elementary Assembly #2—1st, 3rd, 5th

2012-01-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

Marcus to the Rescue

Ashley was a very sweet girl who had long, black straight hair. She loved her hair, and she especially loved the way the sun shone on it when she walked outside.

Jamari, who seemed like a nice boy, surprised everybody when he snuck up behind Ashley and cut off her hair. Ashley was so surprised she didn’t even scream until after he had disappeared into the crowd in the cafeteria.

Instead of crying, Ashley called her friend Marcus who was an amateur detective and an expert with all kinds of tape. Marcus found Jamari with Ashley’s hair and took it away from him. Marcus made sure that Jamari went to jail. It took Marcus all afternoon to tape Ashley’s hair back on. When he was finished, no one but Ashley could tell anything had ever happened to her hair.

Goodyear Elementary Assembly #1 –K, 2nd, 4th

2012-01-05T20:14:00.001-05:00

The Horse Thief

Last night, Michelle heard the strangest thing outside her window! Michelle was a little girl who was famous for being poilite and for loving horses. Her favorite horse was a black and white horse that ran fast as the wind. The horse’s name was Windy.

The sound Michelle heard outside her window was the sound of someone stealing Windy. The gate was open and the horse was gone.

Michelle called her friend Robert who was a spy. Robert was tall and handsome, and very sneaky. It turns out that big,old Jack, the meanest thief in town, had stolen Michelle’s horse.

Robert followed the clues and found the horse in Jack’s back yard. Robert snuck into the back yard and stole the horse back. Robert then called the police and Jack went to jail for stealing a little girl’s horse.

Altama Elementary School - Third through Fifth Grade

2012-01-05T20:12:00.000-05:00

The Long Field Trip

Have you ever been on a trip to outer space? If you had been in Mrs. Johns’ class, you would have taken the longest field trip ever!

Mrs. Johns, a very hice, very rich teacher, taught the biggest, baddest, more-boys-than-girls class in the school. While they were out on the playground, Mrs. Hill, who was an alien that looked like a real person, invited Mrs. Johns’ class over to her side of the playground. When they all got over there, Mrs. Hill loaded them up and took them on a field trip to Mars.

It all happened so fast, that Mrs. Johns did not have a chance to stop Mrs. Hill. Mrs. Johns got on the phone and called her god friend Michael Jackson to help. Fortunately, Michael had a spaceship and he helped her get to Mars to get her students back.

It turns out that Mrs. Hill did not mean any harm. She just thought it would be fun to take some kids to her home planet. When Mrs. Johns explained that you could not take kids on a field trip without their parents’ permission, Mrs. Hill apologized.

Michael Jackson had never met a space alien before, and he and Mrs. Hill became good friends. He even did a concert for the school.

Altama Elementary School - Kindergarten through Second Grade

2012-01-05T20:08:00.000-05:00

A Missing Kangaroo

Once upon a time there were three friends playing on the playground. Germaine was a Giraffe, tall and lean. He also had a reputation of being a little bit mean. He had a squeaky toy collection and his favorite was a small, new, noisy kangaroo. While he was at the playground his kangaroo fell out of his book bag.

K. J., a Komodo dragon, who also collected squeaky toys, found the kangaroo and picked it up.

When Germaine discovered that the kangaroo was missing, he asked his nice, short friend Alex to help him find it.

Alex began his search by asking Germaine who was at the playground when the kangaroo went missing. Germaine only remembered two other kids being at the playground. He did not know one of them, but the other was K. J. the Komodo dragon. Alex then asked K. J. if he had seen the missing squeaky toy. K. J. told Alex that he had found the kangaroo near the slide and was going to add it to his own collection. When Alex explained that it belonged to Germaine, K. J. gave it back.

When Germaine found out that K. J. also collected squeaky toys, he invited K. J. to his house to see his collection. Germaine, K. J. and Alex all became good friends.

A Rare Hamburger

2011-11-17T09:34:00.000-05:00

When someone asks for a RARE hamburger, it usually means that the middle of the burger is not cooked. Roosevelt had a VERY rare burger, but it was cooked all the way through.

The reason the burger was rare, which in this case means not often seen or one of a kind, is that this hamburger was the only one ever cooked by Chick-Fil-A! The cows from Chick-Fil-A tell us to eat more chicken, so it is only fitting that the one burger they ever made at Chick-Fil-A was owned by a CHICKEN!

Roosevelt was a very funny chicken, and as you might imagine, thought that he had a very special burger. As a matter of fact, it was his prized possession. He was very upset, of course when his burger fell off a train while he was showing it to a new friend he had just made on the train.

It seemed that it would be gone forever, since the train was going so fast! Jeffrey the lion found the burger and took it home.

Roosevelt called his good friend, Desmond, who happened to be a super powered detective. Desmond gathered information, determined where the burger fell off the train, and began detecting. The clues led to Jeffrey's house and the burger was saved!

Jeffrey, Roosevelt and Desmond became good friends and they had many adventures together.

The End.

Jackson Heights Elementary School, Albany, GA

2011-10-27T15:42:00.000-04:00

by the students at JHES, Albany, GA

To look at him, you would have never imagined that he had a doll. The really mean, really tall boy did not look like the kind of kid who would ever even hold a doll, unless he was aggravating his sister,laying keep away, or threatening to run over the doll with his Big Wheel. But there he was, looking at and holding this blond haired, blue eyed, Barbie doll. Jacob never talked about the doll, but if he had talked, he would have told you that the doll belonged to his sister and that she was away on a long trip. He would tell you that the doll reminded him of his sister and that he carried it with him wherever he went.

Of course, you never SAW the doll. He kept it in his book bag or in his gym bag, so only he could see it and know it was there.

You can imagine how upset he was when he opened his book bag and discovered that the doll was missing! There was a hole in the bottom of the bag! His mom had told him not to drag his bag, but to carry it.

"You're going to wear a hole in that bag, and all your stuff is going to fall out!" She was half right. There was a hole, but not ALL of his stuff fell out. Only the doll.

The only other person who knew about the doll was Schaman, his best friend, who often pretended to be the world's greatest detective. When she wasn't eating (she often told Jacob that eating was a way to "detect" whether or not something tasted good!) Schaman was always reading mystery stories and trying to solve the mysteries before the hero in the story could. Since Schaman was the only one who knew about the doll, AND since she was the only detective he knew, he talked to her about the missing memento.

While Jacob and Schaman were making making posters to help find the missing doll (Schaman had agreed to say it was hers), a girl named Shakira, who was in the fourth grade, found a blond haired, blue eyed Barbie doll in the hall of the school, under the edge of a table the PTA had left out in the hall for selling Fall Festival tickets.

Shakira was a nice girl who loved dogs and had three dogs of her own. She thought her dogs might like to play with the doll and put it in her back pack to take home. The doll would have been chewed to pieces by the dogs if Shakira had not seen one of the posters as she was getting on the bus to go home. She brought the doll back to school the next day and returned it to Schaman, who gave it back to Jacob.

Jacob decided to thank Shakira and tell her that the doll was his, and why he had it. He and Schaman and Shakira became best friends, and while he still missed his sister, having good friends made it a little less painful.

The end.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Swint Elementary School - 4th and 5th Grades

2011-01-06T21:24:00.002-05:00

Rebecca's Ring

Has anyone ever stolen your most valuable possession?

That is exactly what happened to Rebecca, one of the smartest, most helpful girls at Swint Elementary School. She is the kind of student who always does her homework and does it well. Nobody ever believed anything like this would happen to someone so nice!

She had a small, shiny ring she wore everywhere she went. Everyone knew she called it her "lucky" ring. Whether it had any real luck is anybody's guess, but Rebecca liked to think so.

She had just taken her ring off to wash her hands in the art room sink when Jeremiah, one of the meanest, ugliest boys at the school threw a bunch of homework papers at Rebecca and grabbed her ring. He took off and no one saw where he went.

Once Rebecca realized what he had done, she called her very best friend Brianna, who just happened to be a super hero. Usually Brianna was very sweet, but when someone made her angry she REALLY had a nasty temper!

As you could imagine, the theft of Rebecca's ring made Brianna REALLY angry. She used her super powers to find Jeremiah and get the ring back and then she decided to spank him. Jeremiah was upset and embarrassed and he never did anything like that again.

Rebecca was happy to get her ring back, Brianna was considered a hero, and Jeremiah learned his lesson.

The End

Burnette Elementary School

2010-09-30T22:02:00.002-04:00

Who Would Steal a Kleenex? (And who would love a Kleenex so much it would make her sad?)

by grades 3-5

Marie was a tall old lady who was a bit strange. She had a favorite Kleenex that she LOVED so much. It was scented, and that was part of what made it special. But who knows why she loved it so much?

One day, Marie was out at the park enjoying the beautiful weather, when out of nowhere a mean, squatty bully named John pushed her down and just took her Kleenex! How rude!

Marie called her friend Dumbledore who was there in a flash. Dumbledore was a tall, young, and many thought very handsome wizard. He sometimes helped the police catch bad guys.

Dumbledore snuck into John's house and just took the Kleenex back. He used the Kleenex as evidence and got John arrested and sent to Juvy.

Marie got her tissue back, Dumbledore got to help a friend, and John had a really bad day.

The End.

Burnette Elementary School, Suwanee, GA

2010-09-30T21:51:00.002-04:00

Ice Cream, You Scream!

by grades K, 1 and 2

Hannah was a tall girl who had some strange ideas about what was fun. She would pretend she was going to run out into the road in front of trucks. This was very dangerous and she should stop it right away!

Even more than scaring truck drivers, Hannah loved her Silly Bands! Her favorite was a star shaped one that she got as a gift from a mysterious stranger. She used to wear it every day, not on her wrist, but on her ANKLE! I told you she was strange!

One day when she was walking down the sidewalk, a cranky guy named Dorkman grabbed her silly band star and took it right off her ankle! In addition to being cranky and a thief, Dorkman was made of dirt! That's right, he was MADE of DIRT!

When Hannah realized what he had done, she pulled out her cell phone and instead of calling 911, she called her BFF, Hailey. Hailey is a sweet girl who LOVES ice cream!

When Hailey found out what had happened, she went to Dorkman and asked if he would give back the Star band. When he said "NO!" Hailey offered him some ice cream if he would give it back.

Of course, it's hard to say no to ice cream! Dorkman gave back the band, apologized for his bad behavior and he learned his lesson that friends are better than having silly bands. Hannah even shared some of her bands (but not her star) with Dorkman.

The End

Habersham County Young Georgia Authors

2010-05-13T21:41:00.002-04:00

Ben, Bob and a Ball of String

by the Award Winning Habersham Authors

Ben was so happy, he was dancing with his mom! To understand why they were so happy, you have to know the rest of the story.

Ben was a very handsome talking cow. He collected a lot of things, like cows often do, but his most treasured possession was an unusual, microscopic ball of string. He showed it to everyone who visited and it was even featured in an article in the local paper.

Bob, a very clever green cat was reading the paper that day and when he saw the picture of the ball of string, he decided that he would have it for himself. He wanted to eat it!

He ran right up to Ben and just took the treasure! Ben could not believe his eyes!

He called his mom who was a fox (not the animal - she was a beautiful cow) and told her what happened. Unfortunately for Bob the cat, Ben's mom liked to fight. She hunted down the cat and beat him up. Of course he gave her the string ball (although it was a bit soggy with cat drool) and tried to escape.

Ben's mom called the cops and held onto Bob until the police arrived. Bob went to jail, Ben got his string back, and he and his mom were so happy, they were last seen dancing around the farm!

The end.

Claudia says, "I enjoyed this story. It was a lot of fun having so many writers in one place helping write this story. Good job y'all!"

What do you think? Write a comment or two below.

Taylor ES, Lawrenceville, GA

2010-03-16T07:55:00.002-04:00

The Purloined Pizza

By the students in the sixth assembly program

Joe said, "Yes! I got it back!"

Joe was excited that he had gotten his pizza back. He was a smelly little boy who worried about everything. He worried so much, his friends thought he might be a little bit neurotic.

Joe had ordered his favorite pizza, with eyeballs and green peppers, and had just paid the delivery guy when out of nowhere, Bob, a squishy little fluffy little...something (no one is sure what Bob is!) snuck into Joe's house and stole the pizza.

When Joe came into the room and saw that the pizza was missing, he called his good friend and neighbor, Charlie. Charlie was a magical flying pig, and he waddled right over to see what was wrong.

Among Charlie's skill and abilities was the power to snort and grant a magical wish. Without using any detective work at all, and wasting no time, Joe asked Charlie to snort twice. Joe wished for his pizza to be returned (which it was!) and for Bob to be tossed into a lava tube (which happened).

As Bob went down the lava tube he vowed revenge on Joe and Charlie, and now Joe had something new to worry about while he ate his pizza. He offered some to Charlie, but Charlie looked at the strange recipe and said, "No thanks. I'm not hungry."

The end

Claudia says, "I'm always hungry, but I think I agree with Charlie on this one. I don't think I would EVER be hungry enough to eat an eyeball pizza! And by the way, THIS was the weirdest story EVER!"

Taylor ES, Lawrenceville, GA

2010-03-16T07:39:00.002-04:00

Kidnapped by a Dinosaur!

By the students in the fifth assembly program

"It was 5:00 in the morning, and I heard a crash in the baby's room."

Ms. Butler was telling me her sad story. I am Ms. Fenwick, her best friend, and as I listened, I could scarcely believe what I was hearing.

Early this morning, Ms. Butler's beautiful daughter Sophia, had been kidnapped! And if that wasn't bad enough, it appeared that the kidnapper was a large purple dinosaur!

"When I came into her room, I saw this big purple tail going out the window. I ran and looked out and there he was. It was that dinosaur from the TV show!"

Since the police would not believe her, I knew it was up to me, since, in addition to being an outstanding and much beloved teacher at Taylor, I was also an undercover spy with mad spy skills. I went straight to the TV station where that show was taped and hid in the corner. Then I saw Sophia. That dinosaur and his henchmen were making her sing the "I love you" song! How cruel!

I did some ninja moves and got Sophia out of there before the bad guys knew what had happened!

When I explained to the police what happened (and showed them my undercover spy badge) they sent Michael Jackson out to the TV studio to arrest that kidnapping dinosaur! He was taken to jail, and they had to run old shows on TV until he got out.

The end.

Claudia says, "What an interesting story! I've always been a little suspicious of that purple lizard. I'm glad justice was served!"

Taylor ES, Lawrenceville, GA

2010-03-16T07:28:00.002-04:00

The Case of the Stolen Lollipop

By the students in the fourth assembly program

"A lollipop has been stolen."

The police radio crackled with the report of the stolen candy. Bob the banana had reported the lollipop missing only moments ago to the police and to his friend, Christian. Christian is a cow, and a distant relative of Hannah Montana, which makes him the most popular cow in fourth grade.

Bob was admiring his lollipop collection when a boomerang, disguised as an apple, flew in his window and snatched up his favorite sucker of all. Of all of his collection, the lollipop covered in the world's grossest sauce was his favorite. And now it was gone!

While the police were following clues, Christian followed his nose and discovered that the gross candy had been taken by Jackson a spaceship filled with three aliens. Christian used a laser beam that he borrowed from Hanna and got the candy back, just before the aliens opened it to eat it.

It took a while for the police to figure out how to get Jackson in jail, but they did it and he stayed there a very long time.

The end.

Claudia says, "That may not be the weirdest story we've ever had, but it's close. Gross lollipops, space aliens and cows related to celebrities - I never expected that!"

Taylor ES, Lawrenceville, GA

2010-03-16T07:10:00.003-04:00

Two Strange Potatoes

By the students in the third assembly program

I like potatoes.

My name is Mike and I am a secret agent. I have lots of skills that help me in my secret agent work. I am also a broccoli.

My best friend is a zombie potato named Layla. She's kind of short (as potatoes go) and she's been one of the "undead dead" for as long as I've known her. Oh, and she LOVES ice cream. Her favorite ice cream is butter flavored and has sprinkles on top. Ice cream, secret agent skills and friendship are all a big part of this story.

The story begins when my phone rings. It's Layla. She's crying and talking so fast I can't understand her. When I get her to calm down, she tells me that just a few minutes ago, she found out that Spud, a super potato bad guy had tricked her out of her ice cream.

"Are you sure it was Spud?" I asked.

She said of course she was sure. He was dressed like a hobo and covered with zits! He had told her a sad story about his mother's funeral and how he needed some ice cream to serve to his out of town guests who were coming to the services.

Since Layla is so nice, she gave him all of her ice cream, along with her sympathy for his loss. About five minutes later, she discovered that she had been tricked. She saw Spud's mother at the grocery store, alive and well.

"Mike, can you help me get my ice cream back?" she asked.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "That's what friends are for."

I tracked down the super potato, got the ice cream back and delivered Spud to the police who put him in jail for ice cream theft.

The end.

Claudia says, "I love a story with ice cream and a happy ending. Although I'm not sure I like butter ice cream, I would try some if I had the chance!"

Taylor ES, Lawrenceville, GA

2010-03-16T06:59:00.002-04:00

Give the Dog a Bone

By the students in the second assembly program

One day, a bone was missing.

The bone belonged to Alice, one of the nicest, sweetest dogs you would ever want to meet. Her favorite bone was a very special, very fat golden bone that she loved very much.

Alice was walking down the sidewalk, carrying her bone in her mouth, when suddenly a mean, selfish alien named Bob ran up and took the bone right out of her mouth! Alice was stunned. She could not imagine why anyone would be so mean!

As soon as Alice calmed down, she called her good friend Naomi. Naomi was the only detective Alice knew, and she was quite nice as well. As a detective she was careful to follow the clues so she could solve the mystery. By the way, Naomi is a fish.

With Alice's help Naomi figured out where Bob went, found the bone and threw it back to Alice. Alice tried to talk to Bob to find out why he was so mean, but when Bob acted ugly again, Alice had no choice but to call the police. They came and put the alien in jail for a long time.

The end.

Claudia says, "What an interesting story. I'd like to find out more about a fish detective, and how she follows clues when she can't leave the water. Hmmm. Interesting."

Taylor ES, Lawrenceville, GA

2010-03-16T06:45:00.002-04:00

Jail Bars and Chocolate Bars

By the students in the first assembly program

Johnny was in jail and said, "I'm going to get Clay and his chocolate bar next time!"

Clay's chocolate bar was the reason Johnny was in jail at the moment. Actually, Johnny was in jail because he STOLE the chocolate bar. Ir was not the chocolate bar's fault.

Clay is a funny kid who likes to read and eat. He had a lot of cool things, but the thing he loved the best was a special chocolate bar that was the sweetest, most chocolaty candy bar ever. Clay was saving it for a special occasion.

Johnny is a very friendly guy, except that he is a thief. He loves to steal stuff. When he found out that Clay had that special candy bar, he decided to take it. He waited until Clay fell asleep and he crept into Clay's house. He grabbed the candy and ran away.

When Clay woke up, he saw that his chocolate bar was not in his usual place. After looking for it everywhere, he noticed that a window was open and saw footprints outside. He called his friend Kai to tell her that his favorite candy had been stolen!

Kai is a crazy space alien who likes to walk on rocks. She followed the clues and the trail that Johnny left behind and found him just before he opened and ate the chocolate. She swooped in and stole the candy bar back from Johnny. Clay called 911 and the police arrested Johnny and put him in jail.

The end.

Claudia says, "That was an interesting story. It had action, an alien, a mystery, and CHOCOLATE! That's my kind of story!"

Crawford County ES 1st Grade

2010-03-04T09:27:00.003-05:00

The Missing Hat
by the 1st Grade

"Aaah! Somebody stole my hat!"

Dr. Seuss was so upset! Someone had climbed up on his house, used a rope to climb down to the window, and broken in to his house. The only thing that was taken was his beloved hand painted, very tall, red and white hat.

Dr. Suess called his good friend Cat in the Hat and asked him to help him find the hat. Cat was on the case. All clues led to a short crazy kid named Joseph, and when Cat found the hat, he used a strange invention to get it back. He made a stick and rope hat catcher invention and used it to snag the hat.

The police asked Dr. Suess if he wanted to send Joseph to jail, and he said no.

As a matter of fact, he decided to become friends with Joseph and even made Joseph his very own red and white striped hat. What great guy that Dr. Suess is!

The End

Claudia says, "I just love a story with a happy ending. It's like having ice cream for dessert after a good meal. Hey I LIKE ice cream. I think I'll go get some."

Crawford County ES 3rd Grade

2010-03-04T09:16:00.002-05:00

The Case of the Missing Laptop
by the 3rd Grade

"I lost my laptop!'

Paul was crying and yelling because Alex, the meanest, grumpiest, ugliest guy you ever saw had just taken Paul's prize laptop computer. Paul's mother had told him never to lay his new computer down when he was out in public, because someone might steal it. Once again, Mom was right.

Paul was not very smart, but for a rat, he was a nice guy. He had decorated his laptop with food stickers, because he loved to eat. In fact, he loved to eat so much that he was the fattest rat around.

Paul called his friend Sally, the detective, to help him recover his computer. Sally was watching wrestling on TV when Paul called, but she turned it off to help her friend.

Sally followed the clues and when she found Alex, she hit him with a chair, just like those guys on the wrestling show always did. When Alex fell over, Sally took the laptop and returned it to Paul.

When Sally went back to arrest Alex, she found that she had not knocked him out. She had only stunned him, and he was escaping. He had hopped into an escape pod and was on his way to Mexico when she got back.

Will Alex be back? Did he learn his lesson? Is he afraid Sally will hit him with a chair again?

The End

Claudia says, "Wow! What an action packed story. Do YOU think Alex will be back? You could write a story about what might happen if he returned."

Crawford County ES 2nd Grade

2010-03-04T09:07:00.002-05:00

A Story about a Zombie, a Smelly Guy and a Blanket
by the 2nd Grade

When the man took the blanket, Caleb tried to run after it. But as everyone knows, zombies aren't very good runners.

Caleb was a zombie of the strangest kind. He ate dog food. He was friends with a super hero. And he had a cute green blanket that had pictures of cats all over it.

While Caleb was sleeping one night, Jeremiah, a smelly thief who was also ugly, crept into Caleb's house and stole the blanket. Caleb loves that blanket and never went anywhere without it. You can imagine how upset he was when it was stolen.

Caleb called his good friend Keith, the superhero, and asked for help. Keith flew high over the city and used his super vision to find and return the blanket. He then went back and captured smelly Jeremiah and sent him to jail.

And everyone (except Jeremiah) lived happily ever after.

The end

Claudia says, "That's a fun (but very weird) story! Good job!"

Crawford County ES 4th Grade

2010-03-04T08:50:00.002-05:00

The Mystery of the Missing Bone
by the 4th Grade

"My bone is missing!" Shousey howled!

Shousey's cries could be heard across the meadow. No one howls quite as loudly as a werewolf, especially a werewolf who has been robbed! And Shousey was a BIG werewolf.

He was howling because someone had stolen his bone. It was not just an ordinary run of the mill bone. Oh no. This bone was special. It was not because it was big (which it was). It was not special because it was bloody (which it -gross!- was). It was because Shousey's mom had given it to him as a gift.

While Shousey wasn't watching, Quinn, a dog who was not known for having a lot of smarts, grabbed the bone and ran away with it. Quinn took it to a secret hiding place where he thought no one could find it.

When Shousey discovered the bone was missing, and after he calmed down, he call his boos and good friend, Jordan. Jordan had a special power. He could see the future. Jordan looked into the future and saw Quinn digging up the bone to enjoy a snack.

Shousey and Jordan went to the hiding place and found the bone. Then Shousey waited for Quinn to return.

When Quinn got there, Shousey was so angry, he grabbed Quinn, took him to the lake, and tossed him in. Normally this would not have been a problem, because dogs are pretty good swimmers. But this lake was filled with hungry piranhas, and they made quick work of their doggie snack.

Shousey was glad to have his bone back, but would he have to worry about being haunted by a dog ghost?

The end

Claudia says, "This was a scary story, and the idea of a dog ghost would be a good idea for the next story about Shousey. What do you think?"

Brown Elementary School, Smyrna, GA

2010-03-01T22:18:00.006-05:00

A BIG Mystery

By the students at Brown Elementary School

Like most 8 year olds, Sam LOVED his Playstation 3. It was all he could think about! He loved to play games on it, but what made it so special was that it was magical. All he had to do was wish for a game, and he could play it - new releases, popular games, and even games that only Sam had dreamed up. This PS3 was no ordinary game system.

But then of course, Sam was no ordinary 8 year old. You see, he was a giant! Not just a tall kid, but a real, huge giant! He was so large he had to have his PS3 controllers specially made to fit his big hands.

One night while Sam was asleep, an 80 foot tall guy named Moracho (which means dark purple in Spanish) reached into Sam's room through an open window and stole Sam's beloved PS3.

When Sam woke up, and saw an empty spot where his game system had been, he called his friend and neighbor Jack. Not only was Jack nearby, Sam knew about Jack's amazing laser beam stun gun.

They tracked down the 40 year old Moracho and used the stun gun to freeze him temporarily while they got the PS3 back. When Moracho got over the stun, Sam and Jack asked him questions about why he stole the game system. He explained that he had never seen a game large enough for him to play before and he took it.

Sam and Jack told Moracho that he should ask if he'd like to play, and they would let him.

They all became very good friends and played lots of video games together.

The End!

I Like what you did to my story idea. You did a GREAT job!

Claudia

Joseph Martin ES, Hinesville, GA

2009-11-16T22:34:00.002-05:00

A Story about Ghost Stories

By the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders

"Where did they go?"

This was the cry that Bob's neighbors heard, when Bob discovered that his ghost stories were missing. These ghost stories were not just a book he checked out from the library, but a collection of ghost stories that he had written and saved over the years.

Bob, in addition to being a writer, was a cool, old guy. One night, while Bob was asleep, Kirsten, a monkey who wears glasses, snuck into Bob's house and stole his stories! She also loved ghost stories, but instead of asking to see them she just took them!

When Bob awoke and discovered the theft of his scary tales, he called Anasia, his good friend. Anasia is a nice old fashioned girl and she believed that you should never take something that does not belong to you!

Anasia has super powers that she doesn't use much, but she used them to find the monkey and the missing pages. When she captured Kirsten, Bob spoke to the thief and discovered that she loved scary stories almost as much as Bob! So he invited her over for banana splits and they swapped scary stories for hours. They even invited Anasia over for snacks and stories as well.

The end.

I love it when a story ends happily! What do you think?

Joseph Martin ES, Hinesville, GA

2009-11-16T22:23:00.003-05:00

It's Only a Dollar!

By the Kindergartners and 2nd Graders at JMES

Tommy was getting ready for school. He was sitting at his desk, remembering the scary sad day when his most important possession was taken. You see, Tommy was a young clown, and he made everyone smile! The thing that brought him joy was a big thick sand dollar that he bought at the beach for just a dollar. The sand dollar reminded him of his trip to the beach. What a fun time that was!

One day while he was holding the sand dollar, it just disappeared! An ugly magician named Uhh used his magic and made the precious sand dollar vanish and reappear in his own hands! What a terrible thing to do!

As soon as Tommy got over the shock of seeing his sand dollar vanish, he called his best friend, Crazy Burglar, who had a very unusual ability. She could make herself look just like a big delicious cheeseburger. She found Uhh and transformed. When he saw the burger (which was really Crazy!) he dropped the sand dollar and started to pick up the tasty burger. Imagine his surprise when the burger changed back into a person who grabbed the sand dollar and ran to the police.

They arrested Uhh and took him to jail. Tommy was thrilled to have his souvenir back, and he lived happily ever after.

The end.

Isn't it nice to have friends? What do you think? Please post a comment!

Fairview ES, Demorest, GA

2009-11-06T12:05:00.002-05:00

We All Scream When Our Ice Cream Gets Stolen II

by the 5th graders

He wrestled with the police. But that was not why the horse ended up in jail. Why was a horse in jail? Let me tell you the story.

Frank Sinatra, a big chubby dog, loved ice cream. His favorite flavor was an unusual kind you could not get at most stores. It was ice cream with a big chewy juicy bone in the middle!

One night while he was asleep, Rocky Balboa, a fat horse, crept into Frank's dog house and stole the ice cream! Frank was furious when he woke up and discovered that his ice cream was gone!

Frank called a woman named Michael Jackson (this story is getting even weirder!), who came to Frank's to help solve the crime. She figured out who took the delicious dessert and tackled Rocky just outside the police station. She got the ice cream back, but Frank was still so upset that he insisted that Rocky get arrested. Rocky was arrested, but because he didn't want to go, he wrestled with the police. And that's the story.

The end

Wow! What a funny story! What do you think?

Fairview ES, Demorest, GA

2009-11-06T11:57:00.002-05:00

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream When Our Ice Cream Gets Stolen!

by the 4th graders

It was early in the morning, and the dew was still on the grass. Suddenly a sad cry split the still morning air. Madison, a very ugly midget who was quite fat, was crying because someone had stolen her chocolate chip chocolate ice cream! GP, another hefty midget who lived nearby, and whose hair was just too long, had broken into Madison's house and stole her favorite dessert!

When Madison calmed down, she called her BFF, Addy, who was an expert marksman. Addy found out that GP had taken the ice cream and she arrived at his house, just in time to see him eat the first bite of the frozen confection. She used her training in explosives to quickly set a trap and blew up the rest of the ice cream. Ice cream flew everywhere!

GP was arrested and went to jail. Madison thanked her friend and they both went to the store to buy some more ice cream!

The end.

Who would have thought to blow up ice cream? I guess if Madison can't have it, Addy wanted to make sure that GP couldn't either! Leave some comments.

Fairview ES, Demorest, GA

2009-11-05T16:15:00.002-05:00

Mysterious!

By the 2nd Grade

Why did Joe go to jail? Well, it's an interesting story. Joe was a tall mean boy who was always happy, especially when he was being mean to people. One of his favorite people to be mean to was a young, grumpy, small boy who loved a Pokemon book. This book was so cool because it contained information about all the Pokemon characters.

Joe climbed down the chimney and stole the book. Joey called his dad, Bill and Bill said he would help. Bill called his girlfriend, Sarah, and told her he was going to help Joey get his book back. Bill looked and looked for the book and when he found Joe, he asked for it back. Joe gave it back but he had to go to jail for stealing. Joey was glad to have his book back and thanked his dad for helping him.

The end.

Ah another happy ending. It's good when dads get to help! What do you think?

Fairview ES, Demorest, GA

2009-11-05T16:04:00.002-05:00

A Love Story

By the 3rd grade

Have you ever lost your girlfriend? Alex knows how you feel. Alex Wingman is a 2 foot tall zombie monster who is in love with Hannah, his pretty girlfriend.

Hannah was kidnapped by Justin, an ugly Teletubby, in broad daylight at the park. Alex heard about it and called 911. The detective they sent asked a lot of questions, and followed the clues to Teletubby Land.

When they found Hannah, and got ready to rescue her, she wouldn't go back, because she had fallen in love with Justin! Poor Alex lost his girlfriend twice. Once to a kidnapper and another when she fell in love with another.

The end.

How sad! What do you think? Leave a comment.

Fairview ES, Demorest, GA

2009-11-05T15:54:00.002-05:00

Hammer Time!

By the 1st grade at FES

"John Henry's hammer is missing!" No one could believe it, but it was true! Someone had stloen John Henry's hammer. John henry was a big, mean guy and he loved that hammer! He used it at work to drive nails and even used its magic power once to knock down a mountain!

But sure enough, it was gone. It seems that during the night, someone snuck into his house and took it. When he discovered it was missing, he called 911. They sent over a detective who followed the clues and found out that the hammer had been taken by Hello Kitty, a nice, but very large, cat. The detective told John Henry about Hello Kitty and together they went to her house and took it back.

Surprisingly, she and John Henry became good friends after that, and she never took his hammer again!

The end.

Cool story. We'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment!

Fairview ES, Demorest, GA

2009-11-05T15:31:00.002-05:00

Spiderman's Mom is COOL!

By the Kindergarten classes at FES

Spiderman took off his mask. He was very tired. He had become so grumpy that he had started becoming a bad guy. He used to fight bad guys and now he was becoming one!

He looked over his treasured collection of stuff and saw his favorite, his big green web. He went to bed, but when he woke up, he saw that someone had flown into his upstairs window and had broken into his house. He raced down to his treasure room, and he could not believe it! Someone had stolen his big green web!

He called his mom and asked her to come over and help him solve the mystery. She was a big woman who loved to cook. She also loved to solve crimes. As soon as she arrived at Spidey's house, she checked the video she had hidden in the upstairs hall and discovered that Green Goblin was the thief!

She hunted him down, chopped his flyer in half with a butter knife and got the web back. Spiderman and Green Goblin became friends after that, and they both decided to become good guys.

The End

I like a happy ending. What about you? Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Statham Elementary School

2009-09-08T05:49:00.002-04:00

Big Bob's Book

By the kids at SES

Bob liked unicorns. Bob was a BIG space alien who looked like a donkey, and he like unicorns. But the thing he loved the most was a book that always read, entitled, Breathe In, Breathe Out.

One day while he was reading it, Jake, a talking zombie with 25 legs, jumped up in Bob's face and stole Bob's book! Jake then ran deeper into the woods to hide.

Bob called his best friend Charlie, who has a long tongue and wears a helmet. Charlie knew just what to do. He got his laser gun, and went to Jake's not-so-secret hideout. He used the laser to scare Jake into giving the book back, and Jake escaped into the woods. He had gotten away!

UNTIL...

His mother heard about what he had done and he got in BIG trouble!

The end.

Primrose Schools of Mansell and Jones Bridge, Roswell/Alpharetta, GA

2009-08-04T06:59:00.002-04:00

Case Solved!

By the Primrose Writers

It was an ordinary day -- or, was it?

It seemed like any other day to Chloe, the funny, brown horse that everybody liked. Chloe loved to read, and she was always talking about her newest favorite book.

This week, she was telling everybody about a new book of princess stories, and the really funny story about a boy who wanted to marry the princess, but he kept getting thrown out of the castle. Not asked to leave, but literally thrown OUT of the castle - the door, the window, the attic, etc.

On this day, while Chloe was away from home, Bob, a weird, evil dude who loves donuts made himself very small, and snuck into her house. While he was there, he decided to steal something. He didn't take food, or money, or her video games. He stole her book!

After he stole the book, he walked down the street in the Florida sunshine, very happy about the bad thing he had done. He was certain he had gotten away with it!

Chloe discovered her book was missing and asked her next door neighbor, Billy Bob Joe, a handsome detective, to come over to help her look for ir. Billy Bob Joe knew that Chloe was allergic to strawberries, so he was very surprised to find a wad of strawberry gum on the floor, near where she kept her book. He realized it was a clue!

He took it to his lab and using a very complicated scanner, determined that the gum had been chewed by the notorious bad guy, Bob. The cops had been looking for a way to arrest Bob, but he had never left any clues behind. This was the break they had been looking for.

They found Bob in his hideout, trying to read the book, and they arrested him. He went to jail for a long time!

The End.

What do you think? These kids wrote quite a good story!

Northlake-Barbara Loar Library in Tucker, GA

2009-07-22T07:20:00.002-04:00

Cats and Dogs

By the Northlake Readers

How did a cat end up locked in a room at the county jail? Read this story and find out!

"Oh no!" said Billy Bob Joe, a cute little chihuahua dog. "My favorite bone is missing!" Billy Bob Joe's favorite bone was no ordinary chew toy. In fact, the gray bone was covered in diamonds and pictures of horses.

Billy Bob Joe called his good friend Earth, the squirrel, and told him about the missing toy. Earth got right on the case and began following the clues.

First, he looked at the video surveillance film and saw that while Billy Bob Joe was sleeping, a cat snuck into the stage where he lived and took the bone. Earth asked some of his detective friends if they recognized the cat, and one of them did. It was the mean, orange, cat named Barney. Barney had fangs and was wanted by dogs everywhere for stealing stuff.

Earth knew if he solved this case, he'd be famous! He followed the tracks from the stage to Barney's hideout and even though Earth was scared of cats, he did something very brave.

Earth snuck into Barney's hideout while Barney was asleep and, using lightning fast skills, switched the stolen bone for a fake bone. When Barney woke up and realized he'd been tricked, it was too late. The police had surrounded him and were ready to take him to jail.

And THAT"S how a cat ended up in a room at the county jail.

The end.

What a cool story. What do YOU think? Leave a comment.

Tallahassee/Leon County Library, Tallahassee, FL

2009-07-19T20:58:00.003-04:00

Cubby's Rock

Written by the 2:30 Library Writers

Cubby screamed all the way to his lungs because he missed his rock!

Of course, this was no ordinary rock. It was green, magical, and shaped like a teddy bear. Cubby was no ordinary monster. He was very nice, not too smart, and a little bit freaky. He had had this rock since he moved to Pluto many years ago, and it was his favorite possession in all the universe.

Earlier today while Cubby was taking a walk, Moldywart, a hillbilly with purple ears, walked up to Cubby and began talking to him. Moldywart asked if he could see Cubby's rock, and when Cubby gave it to him, Moldywart walked away with the rock.

When Cubby realized he had been tricked, he called Alice the bull. Alice was Cubby's best friend. She could fly, and she had magical powers. When Cubby described Moldywart, Alice knew who it was and where she could find him.

When Alice found Moldywart, she walked up to him and asked for the rock. Of course, he said, "No!" Alice used her nose whistle and enchanted Moldywart to make him give the rock back. Alice took the rock to Cubby, and he was very happy.

When Moldywart came out of his trance, he was very angry. He ran to Cubby's cave, snatched the rock out of Cubby's hand and went to hide out in a dark hole where he could not be found.

The End

I wonder what happens next? Leave us a comment with your ideas!

Tallahassee/Leon County Library, Tallahassee, FL

2009-07-19T19:14:00.003-04:00

The Case of the Missing Video Game

Written by the 10:30 Library Writers

The story you are about to hear is a very nice story. It is a story about Luke, a hamster who likes to eat tacos. Luke plays video games in his cage all day long. His favorite video game works like a good radio, playing his favorite songs.

Luke was very surprised one day to see a small robot roll up to his cage. The robot opened the door, extended a long claw in to the cage, and grabbed Luke's video game. The robot belonged to LaShanna, a big, black, mean cat. LaShanna lived in a theme park, and that's where she took the stolen game.

Luke called Owen, a motorcycle-riding policeman. Owen followed the clues, and they led him to LaShanna's hideout. Owen tricked the cat into giving him the video game back. Then he arrested her and took her to cat jail.

The End

What do you think of our story?

Mamie's Place Children's Library, Alexander City, AL

2009-07-17T07:14:00.002-04:00

(Mamie's Place is the only free standing children's library in the state of Alabama, and is a VERY cool place. They only have books and materials for kids, and their staff schedules a full calendar of very fun activities for their patrons. The decorations were also very creative and fit the theme for the summer of 2009! Find out more here.)

Give a Dog a Bone

By the Kids from Mamie's Place

Tom's owner gave him a special bone for Tom's birthday. Tom was a tall dog who was always in a good mood. When his owner gave him this bone, he was in an even better mood. The bone was a chew toy bone that was as big as a tree.

Just yesterday, Judy, the big fat cat, walked onto Tom's farm, and saw the bone. She knew she must have it! She came up with a plan to steal the bone, and it WORKED!

She knew that dags can be tricked pretty easily into looking at something that is shiny or moves really fast. So she threw a stick, and while Tom looked away from his birthday present, she took it and ran away. Fortunately for her, she is also very tall and was able to carry such a big bone.

Tom started barking and woke up a tiny wizard who lived on the farm, named Tom Sawyer. When Tom Sawyer complained about the noise, Tom the dog explained what had happened. Since they had been good friends for a long time, the wizard offered to help.

He went to Judy's home and, using his magic, made a giant cat toy appear, just outside her door. Then he rang the doorbell. When she saw the toy, she forgot about the bone and ran outside to get it. Tom Sawyer then made the bone disappear and reappear on Tom's farm. As soon as the bone vanished, so did the cat toy!

When Judy saw she had been tricked, she began complaining and yelling and threatening the wizard, so he turned her into a tiny frog, and rode on her back to return to Tom's farm.

Everyone (except Judy) lived happily ever after.

The End.

What a fun story. Can you draw some pictures to illustrate it? Make a comment in the box below. We LOVE feedback!

Prattville Autauga County Library, Prattville, AL

2009-07-17T06:59:00.002-04:00

Flamey and the Magic Pearl

By the Prattville Kids

Have you ever heard of Flamey, the ugly pretty girl?

Pretty was the way she looked, but ugly was the way she acted. As a result, she had no friends, and no one liked her. She didn't seem to care about anyone or anything except a big, shiny, magic pearl that her grandfather had given her many years ago. She took it with her everywhere, attached to the back of her pet hippo.

She was visiting Disney World, when the wierdest thing happened. Ghost Rider (the guy from the comic book who rides a motorcycle and has a flaming skull) rode up behind Flamey, and stole the pearl right off the hippo's back. Then he roared away, frightening everyone in the park!

Flamey called on the world's top detective and finder of stolen things, General Greevis, a tall mean man with four arms. The general, promised to do his best and he set off on his mission. He rode a pony to Ghost Rider's lair and got the pearl. When he brought it back to Flamey, she didn't even say "Thank you." She was that ugly (in the way she acted).

Ghost Rider was arrested and went to jail, but most people don't believe he'll stay very long. When you have a flaming skull and super powers, it's hard to keep you in jail.

The End.

There were lots of surprises and unexpected turns in this story. What do YOU think?

St Simon's Public Library, St. Simon's Island, GA

2009-07-15T22:31:00.002-04:00

Flower Power

By the St Simon's Writers

There was once a magical flower. It was a big, pink flower that was owned very happily by Midori. Midori was a huge talking plant that lived outdoors in beautiful Lexington, Kentucky. She loved the magical flower so much that it was all she thought about.

One night while Midori slept, Sylvester Sly and his partner Quigley (tow of the biggest, meanest boys you'll ever meet) snuck up to Midori and plucked the magic flower and ran like crazy!

Midori woke up and saw the boys running away, but she could not chase after them. So she called her good friend Findlay. Findlay is a magic baby, who is as nice as those big boys are mean.

Findlay used a spell to make Sly and Quigley fall asleep and he got the flower back. He used his magic to reattach the flower, and Midori was so happy!

The story did not end well for the flower thieves, though. They ended up in jail.

The End. What do you think of our story? Leave a comment.

Decatur Public Library, Decatur, AL

2009-07-15T18:08:00.002-04:00

The Day Ben Lost His Necklace

By the kids at the Decatur Library

Ben LOVES his necklace. And why not? It's beautiful, it's pink and white, and it's magic! Ben is a very large, very nice monster who wears clothes, just like a person. He lives downtown in Atlanta, where he has lived since December, 2026, when he graduated from college.

The day he lost his necklace was terrible! While he was sleeping, a mean, ugly wizard named Johnny used a magic spell to make the necklace float out of Ben's apartment. Johnny had a lot of magical power, but he wanted more. That's why he was stealing the necklace.

Ben woke up as the necklace was floating toward the window, and when he saw it, he called for Muu Muu his amazing dog (who, by the way, thinks he is a cow). Muu Muu saw the necklace, and jumped up and caught it just before it sailed out the window to the wizard.

Johnny disappeared in a puff of smoke, and as he vanished he shouted, "You haven't seen the last of me! I'll get that necklace if it's the last thing I do!"

The End.

But there's no doubt that Johnny will be back. What do you think will happen when he comes back? Leave a comment below.

Clarkston Public Library, Clarkston, GA

2009-07-14T22:08:00.002-04:00

A Scary Night in Paris

By the Clarkston Kids

If you are afraid of things that go bump in the night, you should put this story away.

It's a story of danger and magic and family ties. Shaya was a very pretty lumpy old lady. She had a small family - her husband, their son and daughter, and their cute little dog. She loved them more than anything! She was so frightened when she got a phone call saying they had been kidnapped.

Shaya was on a roller coaster in Walla Walla, Washington, when her family was kidnapped from a street in Paris. Of course, she immediately came home and found out what had happened. Ben, a tall evil fat man, had used a helicopter to abduct her family.

Even though the police were trying very hard to find them, Shaya knew that she needed more help. So she called Leon, her friend who is a walking skeleton and has magic powers. Leon used his magic to find Ben, and put a tracker on Shaya to help capture him.

They were able to get her family back, but in the craziness of the rescue, Ben escaped in his chopper and got away.

What would Ben do next? You decide. Leave a comment below.

Flat Shoals Library, Decatur, GA

2009-07-14T21:47:00.002-04:00

The Adventures of Super Monkey Man

Have you ever seen a Super Monkey save a family of monkeys? If you had been in Atlanta this morning, that's exactly what you would have seen!

Our story begins when John, a monkey who loves bananas and ice cream, was returning from a walk when he saw something shocked him! A mean, meat-eating werewolf named TJ was kidnapping John's family!

John had a big family, and they knew lots of circus tricks, but none of those tricks could help them escape from TJ. It would be up to John to rescue them. Fortunately, he didn't have to do it alone. John called on his good friend, Super Monkey Man!

Super Monkey Man is an amazing super hero in a cool costume with a picture of a banana on his chest. He flew like a rocket and swooped in to rescue John's parents just in the nick of time - just as TJ was about to close his deadly jaws around them. Super Monkey Man was so fast, he was able to rescue the rest of the family.

Unfortunately, TJ escaped, promising to return another day.

The End.

This is out first werewolf story! What do you think?

Paulding County Recreation and Parks Day Camp

2009-07-14T21:34:00.002-04:00

Another Story about Another Bob

By the Mt. Tabor Day Campers

Bob had some chocolate that was so thick and creamy, that he didn’t want anything to happen to it – but something did.

Bob is a short, fat grumpy guy who loves chocolate. He likes dark, milk, semi-sweet and even white chocolate. But his favorite chocolate was a special batch of thick and creamy chocolate that he had made at the chocolate factory where he worked and lived. You see, ever since 2012, people usually lived at the place where they worked, in tents inside the factory.

One night while Bob was asleep, Ben, a tall skinny, ugly guy with a big butt crept up to Bob’s tent, cut a hole in it and got away with Bob’s favorite chocolate. He took it back to his house and hid it in the cabinet.

When Bob awoke and discovered the missing chocolate, he screamed and cried, and then he called his best friend Harold, who was bald-headed and had a long mustache. Harold reviewed the security tapes and saw who got the delicious snack and devised a plan.

The plan was pretty simple - Harold would wait until Ben was gone and would sneak into Ben's house and steal it back. In the place of the chocolate, Harold put an apple pie, that looked just like rich and creamy chocolate! The trick worked, and when Ben ate it, he got really sick, because he was allergic to apples. He learned his lesson, and never stole anything again.

The End.

That was an unexpected ending! What do you think?

Town and County Library, Clayton, AL

2009-07-14T21:30:00.000-04:00

Have a Ball!

By the kids from the Clayton Town and County Library

“Somebody stole it!” Bob shouted! “They stole my red and blue glitter ball! The one that could float in the air like magic!” Bob was a short, happy kid who had a little sister.

“Calm down,” said Max. Max was Bob’s best friend. Max was very tall. As a matter of fact, he was taller than his house! “I’m sure we’ll find it. Tell me what happened.”

Bob told Max about how he went to sleep with the ball on his bedside table, and when he woke up it was gone. He looked all over the house for it, in case it rolled away, but it was not there.

Max came over to Bob’s house, which was on the beach, and the first thing he noticed were footprints in the sand outside Bob’s window. He followed the footprints until he came to the hideout of the evil Blake, a kid who was as grumpy as an ogre (and as ugly as one, too!).

Max had a plan. He waited until Blake went to sleep and snuck in the window, and got the ball back. He took it to Bob, who said they should call the police. When the police went to Blake’s hideout, they discovered that he had escaped, without a trace, and was long gone.

The End.

Will Blake come back? What makes the ball float? How does Max stand up in his house, if he’s so tall? Use your imagination to answer these questions, or leave us a comment.

Dunwoody Library, Dunwoody, GA

2009-07-09T22:00:00.000-04:00

Hearts of Glass

By the Dunwoody Writers

Brandon had just finished lunch when he discovered that his glasses were gone! These were not reading glasses, but magical drinking glasses that were very old and had hearts painted all over them. These glasses had the power to turn themselves into hippopotamuses. If you think the glasses were unusual, you have to know their owner.

Brandon was tiny - only two inches tall, but he had hands that were as big as elephants. He had owned these glasses for a long time, ever since his grandpa gave them to him when he was very young and had moved into the castle with the rest of his family.

The glasses were taken by a giant with tiny hands, who was always angry. Her name was Madison and she used an arrow to take Brandon’s prize possessions. She shot the arrow and it came back with the glasses! It was like magic!

Brandon knew who to call. His friend Avery, a long haired hippo, was a great detective. She sniffed the air, follows the clues and found the glasses. When she returned the glasses, Brandon surprised her by turning into a big dog.

The end.

That was an unexpected twist! What do you think?

Dade County Library, Trenton, GA

2009-07-09T21:58:00.000-04:00

Revenge!

By the Trenton Readers

On a dark day in New York, something happened. The year was 2017, and there was almost no crime because people had finally learned how to get along. Everything was going well until Samantha decided to take Zachary’s R2-D2 remote control model. Zachary was old with long brown hair and he loved this robot. He had owned it since he was a kid.

Samantha was a very pretty girl with green eyes who was very funny and always played jokes on people. But no one thought it was funny when she took the robot. She used her magic powers to make the robot float out of Zach’s house and float into her bike basket. Then she took off, her long brown hair flowing behind her.

Zach called Kiara, his best friend and told her about the robot abduction. Kiara was very nice, and she told Zach not to worry. With a twinkle in her pretty blue eyes, she said, “I’ll use my skills as a finder of things to hunt for your prize robot.” She was so nice she didn’t even call it a toy, because she knew how much he loved it.

Kiara found the robot and returned it to Zach, but he was so angry about Samantha taking it, he began plotting to take something of hers to get even. What happens when Zach seeks revenge is where our next story begins.

The end.

Can you figure out what would happen next? Why don’t you write the next story?

LaFayette Library, LaFayette, AL

2009-07-05T20:45:00.002-04:00

Zoe Returns!

by the LaFayette Readers

One foggy night, she came back to steal something else.

Zoe Cortez, the meanest black cat that ever lived, stole--yes stole--Nicole's fluffy brown teddy bear. Nicole was a fluffy white guinea pig and she loved her little brown teddy bear so much, even though he was missing an eye.

Zoe opened the door to Nicole's cage and used her magic eyes to move the bear to her den. Nicole was frightened but was very glad that Zoe did not eat her. Once Zoe was gone, she called Biggie, a guinea pig cousin. Biggie is a spy and has a nose like a bloodhound.

Biggie sniffed until he found a trail for the bear. The trail led to Zoe Cortez's den in a small town in Alabama. Biggie used a grabber to take the bear and brought it to Nicole. Biggie was about to use the grabber to capture Zoe, too, but Zoe escaped and promised that next time the bear would be hers.

H. Grady Bradshaw Memorial Library, Valley, AL

2009-07-05T15:55:00.003-04:00

(This library is in my hometown! It opened the month I graduated from high school and when my wife and I moved back there sfter college, we visited it often!)

The Horse Thief

by the Valley, Alabama Writers

Something bad happened to Jacob. That was unusual because Jacob, the funny looking teenager who was always in a good mood, usually had a good day every day. Jacob loved horses; he even had two horses of his own. One of the horses was brown and the other one was white, but both were as fast as an airplane.

In a castle not too far from Jacob's farm, there lived a huge, fat monster named Joseph. He was quite frightening as he had one red eye and one green eye. He was also very clever. He dug a tunnel from his castle to the pasture of Jacob's farm and built a trap door near the watering trough. When Jacob's horse went to get a drink of water, they fell through the trap door and Joseph stole them.

Jacob couldn't believe his eyes! He had just been looking at his two horses and then they seemed to vanish into thin air. He called his good friend Beth who was very nice and a great basketball player. Only Jacob knew that she was also a secret agent.

Beth found the trap doors and followed the tunnel back to the castle. She came back to Jacob's farm and they came up with a plan to get the horses back.

Beth went to Joseph's castle pretending to be a lady who wanted to buy some horses. Joseph showed her Jacob's horses and while he was counting the money Beth gave him for the horses, Beth wrapped a chain around him so he couldn't get away. Jacob called the police and got his horses back.

The end.

Wow! A tunnel to steal the horses! What a clever idea! What do you think?

2009-07-01T22:31:00.000-04:00

Book List for Reading Round Up!

Some of you have asked about the books used and referred to in the show. Here they are!

Book List for Reading Round Up!

If your library does not have these titles, books LIKE these are great! Info in parentheses tell why the book was chosen. The following titles are used or referred to in Reading Round Up! in no particular order:

Fun with Words and Punctuation

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (beautiful language, Caldecott winner)

It Figures!: Fun Figures of Speech by Terban, Marvin; Maestro, Giulio (makes linguistics fun!)

"CDB! (Stories to Go!)" William Steig (clever wordplay)

Max's Words by Kate Banks (Georgia Book nominee)

Eats, Shoots and Leaves (the children’s version) by Lynne Truss (makes punctuation fun!)

Interesting Characters

Agatha’s Feather Bed by Carmen Deedy (GA author)

How I Became a Pirate by David Shannon (popular children’s author)

The Boy of a Thousand Faces by Brian Selznick (beautiful artwork, he won a Caldecott medal)

The Writing Process

What Does an Author Do? by Eileen Christelow (excellent picture book about what authors do)

Writing Magic by Gail Levine (a book for kids on writing by the author of Ella Enchanted)

Books to Movies

Shrek by William Steig* (the story of the REAL Shrek)

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Newbery Award winner)

Classic Tales Retold

A Handful of Beans by Jeanne Steig and William Steig (Six classic fairy tales retold)

Johnny Appleseed by Will Moses (American folklore)*

Picture Books

Tuesday by David Wiesner (Caldecott Winner)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Caldecott Winner)*

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg (this book is just amazing!)*

Folk Tales – regional and well known*

Hook Moon Night: Spooky Tales from the Georgia Mountains by Faye Gibbons (GA ghost stories)

New York’s Bravest by Mary Pope Osborne (America’s first urban tall tale hero)

Whoppers: Tall Tales and Other Lies by Alvin Schwartz (US folktales)

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark retold by Alvin Schwartz (scary legends)

Alice Nizzy Nazzy: The Witch of Santa Fe by Tony Johnston (Russian, adapted to US)

The Frog Who Wouldn’t Laugh by Egan and Alger (Australian folklore)

Akimba and the Magic Cow by Anne Rose (African folklore)

Iktomi and the Boulder by Paul Goble (Native American folklore)

Lucky Jack and the Giant, retold by Janet P. Johnson (African American folklore)

Series

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (chosen because of the great opening line!)

Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keane (adventure!)

The American Girl Series (historical fiction)

Other Books

Books about the earth (We talk about geography very briefly)

Magic Books (There are a couple of magic tricks in the show and kids will usually want to check it out!)

*These books also have some interesting characters!

Newborn Library, Newborn, GA

2009-07-01T22:06:00.000-04:00

Sena Escapes Jail

by the Newborn Library Kids

At a deserted train station, John's lucky hat wasn't so lucky. John was a smart, sneaky little guy who always wore a blue hat that was very oddly shaped. He told everybody that it was his lucky hat. He was walking through the train station when suddenly his hat disappeared. Nobody took it; it just disappeared.

In the fish pond near the train station there lived a fish who was big like a shark whose name was Sena. Not only was he very large, but he was a magic fish. He had just used his magic to make John's hat vanish and reappear in the fish pond on his own head.

John called his good friend George, a short, funny-looking police officer and asked him what he should do. John could see Sena swimming around wearing his hat and laughing under the water. George told John to stand on one side of the pond and make faces at the giant fish. When Sena came to the surface to stick his tongue out at John, George grabbed the hat right off Sena's head.

Using an underground tunnel that led from the fish pond to the river, Sena escaped and has not been heard from since.

These kids did a great job! Leave us a comment!

Newton County Library, Covington, GA, 2:00 PM

2009-07-01T20:59:00.000-04:00

Who Would Steal a Snake?

If your name is Elizabeth, you might be offended by this story. You see, Elizabeth is a really brave little girl who stays up late, and she is a thief.

But of all the things she has stolen, the strangest may be a poisonous snake that is as fat as a tire. The snake belongs to Tony, a panda bear who lives in Covington, likes to eat carrots, and has a lot of unusual pets.

To show how brave she was, Elizabeth just grabbed the snake and ran away with it. Tony yelled for her to stop, but she would not. So Tony called Lucas, a walking rock, and asked him what to do. Lucas said to call the cops, and 10,000 police officers showed up to help. They captured Elizabeth and rescued the snake.

Of course with that many policemen around, Elizabeth went to jail.

This was a dangerous story with a happy ending. What do you think?

Newton County Library, Covington, GA, 11:00 AM Show

2009-07-01T20:52:00.000-04:00

A Brand New Fairy Tale

By the Newton County 11:00 Readers

In the deep, dark forest, the troll stole the treasure. The treasure belongs to Wren, a very funny unicorn who lives in the forest in New York. At the time of the robbery, she kept the gold coins and jewelry in an old black treasure chest in the back of her cave.

Cameron is the grumpy troll who stole the treasure. He is quite frightening, with green skin and big ears. Even though trolls are usually no good at sneaking, somehow Cameron snuck into the unicorn’s cave, and stole the gold.

When Wren saw that her gold was missing, she called the police, and they sent over Detective Flap Jack, a magical police officer who was a part time pirate on weekends. Flap, as his friends called him, used his magic to find the treasure and float it back to Wren’s cave. He then called the Troll Recovery and Apprehension Service Headquarters (T.R.A.S.H.) Truck to take Cameron to jail, where he had a long time to think about what he had done.

Wren was happy to have her treasure back and offered Flap Jack a reward, but since policemen are not allowed to take rewards, he asked her to make a donation to a favorite charity in his honor, which she did.

The End.

What do you think? Pretty cool story, huh? Leave us your thoughts below!

Fairburn Branch, Fairburn, GA

2009-06-30T22:59:00.000-04:00

A Bandit Gets Robbed!

By the kids at the Fairburn Library

This story is about a bandit named Ice Cord and it ends with everyone being happy! Ice was as mean as a bull - as a matter of fact, some say that he was the meanest guy in China! He loved ice cream, though. He loved vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, and he ate it all the time.

Jeremiah, who was a sweet little cow, also loved ice cream, but he didn't have any. So he waited until Ice Cord had dipped a big bowl of chocolate ice cream, and while ICe was looking for a book to read, Jeremiah, who was VERY small, tiptoed in and took the ice cram, bowl and all!

The bandit called his friend Ariel, who is smart, cute, and very nice and told her about the missing dessert. She used her magic powers to shrink very small and she found Jeremiah, just as he was about to eat the stolen treat. When Ice Cord found out about how hungry Jeremiah had been, he decided to forgive him and bought ice cream for everybody!

The End.

I LOVE a happy ending! What do you think?

Jackson/Butts County Library, Jackson. GA

2009-06-30T14:41:00.000-04:00

The Amazing Crystal (The Jewel, not the Burger!)

by the Jackson Library Kids

Sam was a little boy who had the coolest crystal in the whole world! The crystal had super powers and it was really big! It was one of the few things that made Sam smile. Sam always seemed upset when he was away from his crystal. Some say he was upset because he had purple troll hair. Others say it was because the crystal's powers made him unhappy when he to be away from it.

Whatever the cause of his unhappiness, you can imagine how upset he got when he discovered that someone stole his crystal! Miss Kristin (who happened to be at the show today!) is a beautiful, talented, and smart thief, sneaking into Sam's house at night to get it while Sam slept.

Sam called his friend Mr. Wade, a very funny friend (who also was in attendance at the show!) to help him find the missing crystal. After a long chase, he caught Miss Kristin and got the special jewel back for Sam.

After a brief stay in Juvenile Jail, Miss Kristin was a changed person and never stole again.

What do you think about the story? We love comments!

Boaz Library, Boaz, AL

2009-06-30T06:52:00.000-04:00

Where Did the Dino Go?

By the Boaz Kids

Warning! This is not a story for grownups! You'll just get confused and wonder what this world is coming to. Do not read past this point!

Well, you did it anyway didn't you? Don't say you weren't warned.

This is a story about Sallie, an old girl who was as mean as a cow. And this is a story about Rose, a cute, but very large, puppy. And about a plastic toy dinosaur. And more.

Sallie loved her dinosaur toy very much, so you can understand why she was upset about it's disappearance. While she was watching, Rose ran in and grabbed the toy with her mouth and ran off with it. Rose wasn't a thief - she just loved to carry fun things in her mouth and sometimes chew them to bits.

Sallie called her best friend Orange, who happens to be a penguin, and told her what happened. Penguin knows that dogs sometimes hide under the porch to stay cool, so that's where she went. When she found Rose and the toy, Orange boxed with the dog until Rose gave up.

When Orange brought back the dinosaur and a very confused puppy to Sallie, they tried to decide what to do. Then Sallie had an idea. "Why don't we all go to Festus' Restaurant and have a big glass of iced tea?" And they did.

The End.

Well, we tried to get you to skip this one. What do you think?

Trion Branch Library, Trion, GA

2009-06-29T18:23:00.000-04:00

A Tiger, a Boy and a Bear News Bear

By the Trion Writers

“It’s a mystery!” Josie said. “It was right there when I went to sleep, and now it’s gone!” Josie the tiger cub was talking to her good friend Marty, who was the best boy detective in Trion. She was talking about her latest invention, a machine that makes bones for dogs to chew.

When Marty suggested that someone might have stolen it, Josie just laughed. She was so sweet that she could not imagine anyone stealing something that did not belong to them. In fact, Phil, a grumpy old bear who was always hungry, had taken her invention last night while she was sleeping. He just came in through a window of her house and made off with the bone maker. When Marty investigated the scene, he discovered bear fur and a couple of honey stains, and decided that Phil would be the number one suspect. Josie and Marty track down the bear to his cave and found the invention, but Phil was not going to give it up without a fight. Marty suggested a football game challenge, with the winner getting the machine.

It was a great plan until Phil won. Josie said it was no big thing, because she could invent another, and besides, Phil did not have the instructions or the power cord. He would not even be able to use the machine he stole! Even when bad guys win, they are still losers!

That was a different ending! What did you think?

Chattooga County Library, Summerville, GA

2009-06-29T18:20:00.000-04:00

That’s a Lot of Lunch Money!

By the Summerville Readers

There was a sweet little girl named Sarah who knew karate and had super powers. It would be wise to be her friend.

Fortunately for her, Mary, a tall girl with a pet lion and a pet bear, was Sarah’s best friend. Mary’s job was to keep up the lunch money for her whole school, and she had about $1,000.00 in a box at her house on the beach, waiting until school started on Monday.

While Mary slept on Sunday night, George, a big, invincible monkey, who could turn invisible when he wanted to, crept into Mary’s house. He found the box of money and stole it, box and all.

When Mary awoke, she discovered the theft, and called her friend Sarah. If they couldn’t find the money quickly, the kids at the school would not have lunch today! Mary and Sarah, whose powers included being able to become invisible and extreme sneakiness, snuck into George’s house to get the money. What a surprise when they discovered that the house was not empty! George had turned invisible and was being very still until he decided to attack the girls.

Just as George tried to slap them, Sarah whirled around and used her laser beam eyes to make George visible. The girls were able to capture George and he was sent to Jungle Jail, and the kids had lunch, right on schedule!

Another story with a happy ending! Leave us your comments.

Primrose of Roswell, Roswell, GA and Primrose of Alpharetta, Alpharetta, GA

2009-06-26T22:22:00.000-04:00

Another Cheesy Story

By the Older Explorers of Primrose Schools

Someone was about to steal someone else’s cheese.

Our story begins with Steve, a fat, brown mouse who was as smart as a math book. Steve collected cheese and as far as he was concerned, the smellier the better. His favorite piece of cheese was a big chunk of rotten cheese that smelled like rotten milk.

Bert was a mean, evil hippo who was also an inventor. And he liked to eat smelly cheese. Bert invented a robot mouse that climbed up the side of the dormant volcano where Steve lived, and stole his smelliest cheese chunk.

Steve called his friend Vinot (pronounced Vee-not) and asked for some help. It was easy to follow the trail of the cheese (one only had to sniff the air to figure it out), and in a few minutes, they had found Bert and the stolen stink. The crawled under Bert and got the cheese, but before they could arrest him, he climbed into a rocket ship and escaped to another planet.

The End

Ooh! If Bert escaped, he might come back in another episode. Leave a comment or e-mail me if you have an idea for the sequel! Tommyjohns@magictj.com

Paulding County Public Library, Dallas, GA

2009-06-26T22:20:00.000-04:00

Unexpected

By the Dallas Library Readers

Something was about to happen to Griffin that he did not expect, and that he would not like. Griffin was always in a good mood. As a matter of fact, some of his friends said that he was the most pleasant person in New York City, which was a pretty cool accomplishment for a 10 year old boy. One day, he was playing his favorite video game (Yugio World Challenge 2008) on his favorite game system (his Nintendo DS), and the unexpected happened!

Captain Hook, of Peter Pan fame, had snuck into Griffin’s apartment while Griffin was focused on the game. Hook leaped out in front of our young friend and grabbed the game, fresh batteries and all. Then he took off down the fire escape, and went to his ship.

Griffin called 911, and was quite surprised when they sent over the famous Sherlock Holmes, who was on vacation to visit the Statue of Liberty. Holmes had volunteered to take a few cases while he was in the US. After he arrived at Griffin’s apartment, he listened to the description of the robber, and followed the clues to the pirate ship. Hook denied it, but when Holmes heard the game beep in a cupboard, he discovered that Hook was a liar as well as a thief. Holmes solved the case, got the DS back and took Hook to jail.

The End

Another story with a couple of celebrities! Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Hart County Library, Hartwell, GA

2009-06-26T22:13:00.002-04:00

Mickey, Rickie and the Cheese

By the Hartwell Library Creative Kids

The day that the cheese was stolen was the worst day ever. The cheese in question belonged to Mickey, who was a timid old man. Mickey lived in a small apartment in Downtown Atlanta. When he moved in, back in July of 2207, he was the only purple person in the building, but as time went by, more and more purples, as they preferred to be called, moved in.

Mickey lived a simple life, and did not need a lot, but he had a few possessions that were very important to him. The strangest among these items was a large piece of old, moldy sliced cheese. No one knows why he loves it, but he does.

Joe Mickey, who is as ugly as a rat, and VERY clever, wanted that piece of cheese. So, he pretended to be Mickey’s friend. He came over to play video games and even brought cupcakes once! The whole time he was acting like Mickey’s friend, Joe Mickey was plotting to steal his cheese. One day, while he was visiting, he just put the cheese in his back pack and walked out with it.

Mickey was very upset about his cheese, but even more upset about being betrayed by his friend. That is why this was the worst day EVER!

Mickey called his twin sister, Rickie, and asked for her help. She had a great plan to get even with Joe Mickey. She called him up and invited him to a tea party. Joe Mickey was very excited, because he thought this might be like a date. What a surprise when he got there and Mickey and Rickie confronted him and made him give back the cheese.

They had also called the police and Joe Mickey was arrested and taken to jail. Mickey was sad because he had been tricked, but he was glad to get his cheese back. It’s nice to have a smart sister!

The end.

That story had a different twist. What do you think?

Columbiana Public Library, Columbiana, AL

2009-06-25T07:50:00.000-04:00

A Very Strange Story

By the Columbiana Kids

When Bob stepped into his time machine that morning, he knew something bad was going to happen. He was on his way to the library, carrying his big, silk, pink polka dotted purse over his shoulder. This was the bag he carried his books in whenever he went to the library. Bob was a good looking man, with bushy brown eyebrows over blue eyes and a shaved head.

While he was time traveling, Frankie, a rich girl, who always carried a suitcase full of things she had stolen from others, set her evil plan into motion. Frankie had discovered a way to get into the timestream and take items from people who were traveling. When she saw Bob's purse, she decided she had to have it. So, she grabbed it by the strap and pulled it right out of his hand.

When Bob got to his destination and found he had been robbed, he called Timmie, a panda who is always very helpful, and who, by the way, is a great architect. Timmie knew exactly what to do. Fashioning a long fishing pole out of bamboo, Timmie snagged the purse from Frankie's bag, causing all the stolen items to fall to the floor. The police saw the chaos and arrested Frankie, solving several crimes with one arrest. Timmie was hailed as a hero, and Frankie changed her ways and used her talents for something much more productive.

The End

I like a story that ends well for everyone. What do you think? Leave us a comment.

BB Comer Library, Sylacauga, AL

2009-06-25T07:16:00.000-04:00

The Case of the Missing Gold

By the Kids at the BB Comer Library

Beware! There is a gold thief in this story!

Bob is a weird looking, very muscular space man who is always kind to others. Years ago, he found a big chunk of gold, and he keeps it in his house in Georgia. It's in a box, and he looks at it every morning.

One night, while Bob was asleep, a hairy, scary, gray haired musty smelling bad guy named Billy broke into Bob's house and stole the gold. When Bob woke up, he went to the box, opened it up, and looked inside, expecting to see his gold. "Oh no!" said Bob, "My gold is missing!"

He called Annie, his friend with super powers, and asked for her help. Annie has been a spy for several years, so she knows how to follow a trail and use clues to solve a mystery. Once she found it, she used telekinesis to move the gold back to Bob's box, and called the police to put Billy in jail. Now Bob locks the box every night to make it harder for a thief to get his gold.

The End

What a fun story (for everyone but Billy!). Claudia loves the fact that the hero was a girl with super powers! What do you think?

Alma/Bacon County Public Library, Alma, GA

2009-06-23T22:01:00.000-04:00

Space Vegetables

By the Alma Readers and Writers

What would you do if you were in outer space and someone robbed you? That very thing happened to Mr. Potato Head just last week. Mr. Potato Head was wearing his mustache and hair disguise so no one would recognize him while he was taking his beautiful diamond to the vault. This diamond was huge and it was as shiny as the sun!

Mr. Onion Head, a grumpy robber in a bad mood, snuck into the bank at night and stole the diamond! It was easy to get away, since all of this was taking place in outer space, where there is no gravity. The alarms went off and Sgt. Pluto, a bald headed police officer who always wore a hat, was called to the scene of the crime.

Pluto watched the surveillance tape and discovered the criminal's identity. He then went to Mr, Onion Head's house and stole the diamond back. The thief was apprehended and taken away to jail, where he learned his lesson and became a productive member of society.

Mr. Potato Head had some very nice things to say about how quickly the police, especially Officer Pluto, solved the crime.

I love a story with a happy ending!

How about you? Let us know what you think!

Appling County Library, Baxley, GA

2009-06-23T21:49:00.000-04:00

This Train Has Left the Station!

By the Baxley Writers Guild

Why would Bowser want a toy train?

Nobody knows for sure, but it seems that he wanted a train bad enough to steal one from Mario, the famous video game guy. Mario was running through Lava Land and pretending he was a train. He was carrying his toy train that he bought from Wal-Mart, and was making train noises. All of a sudden, Bowser, his big spiky shell gleaming in the light from the lava, ran up and pushed Mario right into the molten, red hot lava!

Fortunately, Mario had an extra life, but by the time he recovered, Bowser had gotten away with the train. Mario called the lovely Princess Peach to ask for help. She was the picture of poise and grace, decked out in her beautiful pink gown, but she got right to work to help track the missing train.

She got into her jet (apparently these video game characters have a LOT of money!) and, using her hands and arms, swooped down and got the train from Bowser to bring it back to her friend. Bowser escaped, but he promised to return to get the train another day, on another level.

The End

Can you write what happens next? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Book List for Reading Round Up!

2009-06-23T21:43:00.001-04:00

Some of you have asked about the books used and referred to in the show. Here they are!

Book List for Reading Round Up!

Fun with Words and Punctuation

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (beautiful language, Caldecott winner)

It Figures!: Fun Figures of Speech by Terban, Marvin; Maestro, Giulio (makes linguistics fun!)

"CDB! (Stories to Go!)" William Steig (clever wordplay)

Max's Words by Kate Banks (Georgia Book nominee)

Eats, Shoots and Leaves (the children’s version) by Lynne Truss (makes punctuation fun!)

Interesting Characters

Agatha’s Feather Bed by Carmen Deedy (GA author)

How I Became a Pirate by David Shannon (popular children’s author)

The Boy of a Thousand Faces by Brian Selznick (beautiful artwork, he won a Caldecott medal)

The Writing Process

What Does an Author Do? by Eileen Christelow (excellent picture book about what authors do)

Writing Magic by Gail Levine (a book for kids on writing by the author of Ella Enchanted)

Books to Movies

Shrek by William Steig* (the story of the REAL Shrek)

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Newbery Award winner)

Classic Tales Retold

A Handful of Beans by Jeanne Steig and William Steig (Six classic fairy tales retold)

Johnny Appleseed by Will Moses (American folklore)*

Picture Books

Tuesday by David Wiesner (Caldecott Winner)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Caldecott Winner)*

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg (this book is just amazing!)*

Folk Tales – regional and well known*

Hook Moon Night: Spooky Tales from the Georgia Mountains by Faye Gibbons(GA ghost stories)

New York’s Bravest by Mary Pope Osborne (America’s first urban tall tale hero)

Whoppers: Tall Tales and Other Lies by Alvin Schwartz (US folktales)

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark retold by Alvin Schwartz (scary legends)

Alice Nizzy Nazzy: The Witch of Santa Fe by Tony Johnston (Russian, adapted to US)

The Frog Who Wouldn’t Laugh by Egan and Alger (Australian folklore)

Akimba and the Magic Cow by Anne Rose (African folklore)

Iktomi and the Boulder by Paul Goble (Native American folklore)

Lucky Jack and the Giant, retold by Janet P. Johnson (African American folklore)

Series

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (chosen because of the great opening line!)

Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keane (adventure!)

The American Girl Series (historical fiction)

Other Books

Books about the earth (We talk about geography very briefly)

Magic Books (There are a couple of magic tricks in the show and kids will usually want to check it out!)

*these books also have some interesting characters!

Franklin Memorial Library, Swainsboro, GA

2009-06-23T21:29:00.000-04:00

Book Thief!

by the Swainsboro Library Kids

Christopher was sleeping in the park on Mars. Christopher is a small alien who looks like a frog, and he LOVES books! His favorite book is one on World War II, and he caries it everywhere. While Christopher was taking a nap in the park, Jack, a giant alien who looks like a tiger, slipped the book out from under him and took off.

When Chris awoke and discovered that his book was gone, he called Laney, a very nice police officer, who happened to be a monster. All the clues pointed to Jack as the thief, because he was known to steal books from people in the park.

Laney followed the trail of tiger paws and when she found Jack, he was reading the book! She asked him to return it, and he refused. A scuffle ensued and Jack was handcuffed (or paw-cuffed since he was tiger-like) and taken to jail.

Christopher was quite happy to get his book back.

The end.

How did we do? Leave a comment!

Atmore Regional Library, Atmore, AL

2009-06-22T10:42:00.000-04:00

Dogs, a Dragon, and a Big Red Ball

By the Atmore Writers

In a space center in Virginia, there was a space dog that had a red ball. Her name was Jennifer, and she was a big beautiful dog who was as black as night. She loved play with and chew on her brand new, shiny red ball.

She was playing with the ball on the lawn of the space center when it just vanished! A sneaky green and red dog named Jack used his magical powers to make the ball disappear and reappear in his hands. He ran away as fast as he could.

Jennifer began barking like crazy and her good friend April showed up at her side in a puff of smoke. April is a magic red dragon, who is as skinny as a snake. When Jennifer told her what had happened, she realized that magic had been used to make the ball vanish. That could only mean that Jack was nearby. He was the only magician in Virginia who would do a thing like this.

She used her jet pack and magic wand and, quick as a wink, she had the ball back. Jennifer was so happy she cried. The space police were able to catch Jack and they put him in dog jail. Would he learn his lesson? Would he escape? You can write the next chapter!

What do you think about the Atmore kids’ imagination? Leave us a comment below!

The Library of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Atmore AL

2009-06-18T21:37:00.000-04:00

Fast Cars and Grumpy Giants

By the kids at the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Library

George used to be Nicholas' friend. Now that George was a butter knife carrying maniac, it was difficult to be friends with him. Of course anyone who knew Nicholas would tell you that the giant who was as grumpy as a shark was not exactly the easiest guy to be friends with either.

Their friendship met its end on the night that George stole Nicholas' favorite car, a super cool convertible with shiny wheels and flames that fired out of the tail pipes. Nicholas called Chris, the magic detective who lived across the street and Chris was on the case.

He used his magic and got the car back, and Nick was so happy that he cried. George cried too, but mostly because he had to go to jail for 25 years.

The end.

What do you think? Post a comment and let us know!

St. Mary's Public Library, St Mary's, GA

2009-06-18T19:22:00.000-04:00

Give the Dog a Bone!

By the St Mary's Gang

Have you ever heard the story of Rumbo the dog? It's a story filled with magic, mystery, danger and suspense.

Rumbo, the cute little pink-haired dog who lived in the desert, had a collection of bones. His favorite was a dinosaur bone that was green and chewy. He loved that bone more than any other. He was chewing on the dinosaur bone in an alley one evening, when Andrew, a smart magician, who was usually a pretty good guy, used his magic to make the bone disappear!

Rumbo was amazed that the bone vanished and even more amazed when he saw it reappear in Andrew's hand. When Andrew vanished in a cloud of smoke, Rumbo was stunned speechless.

Rumbo barked for his friend Bailey, a dog who was as big as an elephant, and asked for his help. They saw Andrew and chased him, but when Andrew threw the bone into a lake, the dogs stopped chasing him and jumped into the lake.

While swimming after the bone, they were pulled underwater by MERMAIDS! Bailey and Rumbo were fighting for their lives! The details here are sketchy, but somehow, the dogs escaped with the bone and got to shore.

Andrew was arrested, but did not stay in jail long, because - well, because he's magic, of course. As he disappeared, he was heard to shout, "I'll be back!"

The end.

What an exciting story! What do YOU think? Let us know below.

Taliaferro County Library in Crawfordville, GA

2009-06-17T00:14:00.000-04:00

A Honey of a Story or I Can't BEAR to Look!

by the Crawfordville kids

(Cool Fact:Taliaferro County is the smallest county in Georgia, with about 2,000 residents. Local businessman, John F. Holden, formed the library for the use of the "Ladies of Crawfordville" in 1916. The library was deeded to Crawfordville upon Mr. Holden's death in 1936. It was his desire that "Crawfordville should have a public library where the people of the town might have an opportunity to meet in a social way and readily get books to read. I have also believed that the people of Crawfordville, especially the ladies and young people, ought to have a place convenient for the purpose of having entertainments in a social way, and it is my wish that the building be used for this purpose." Today the library is used by all ages.)

Once upon a time, there was a giant ferocious bear who wanted to have all the honey in the world. His name was Hagunatee and he was as tall as a 20 story building. He loved every kind of honey, but his favorite was honey straight from the hive. Hagunatee fell asleep eating honey one night and while he slept, Greg, who was as tall as a house, very brave and so strong he could pick up a mountain, snuck into the cave where Hagunatee lay sleeping and stole the bee hive! Hagunatee woke up and chased Greg down the mountain and through the forest.

When Tristan, a tall magician with a long beard, heard Hagunatee bellowing about his missing honey, he decided to use some magic to get it back. He even used a little magic to beat up on Greg and teach him a lesson.

Hagunatee was so happy, he celebrated by - you guessed it - eating more honey!

What an interesting day we had. Three great stories in three very cool libraries! Let us know what YOU think!

Thomson-McDuffie County Library in Thomson, GA

2009-06-17T00:03:00.000-04:00

The Case of the Missing Food

By the Thomson Readers

This is a story about a tall, grumpy lady - sort of. Her name was Iteonna, and she wasn't always grumpy - just when she got hungry. She was quite tall and loved to eat bananas. As a matter of fact, she loved to eat all kinds of food. She liked chicken, hot dogs and spaghetti.

One morning, Hailey, a happy old woman who walks with a cane, met up with Iteonna while they were walking through the park. When Hailey got to the parking lot she saw that there was food in someone's car, and since she was hungry, she took it, and hurried off as fast as she could go.

It was Iteonna's car, and it was her food that was taken! Iteonna called Demiteri and asked him to help her find her food, since Demeteri is known far and wide as a great detective. he simply followed the clues to Hailey's house and took it back to Iteonna.

When Iteonna found out that Hailey took the food because she was hungry, she invited Hailey to come to her house for a meal. They became good friends and still are to this day.

Two stories in a row with happy endings for everyone! I like this library system! What do YOU think? Please leave a comment below.

Mary Willis Library, Washington, GA

2009-06-16T23:50:00.000-04:00

A Tale of Two Cows

By the Washington Library Kids

(Cool Fact: The Mary Willis Library is the first free library to open in Georgia, and has been in operation since 1888! And it's still FREE! When you get to town, look at the big door on the corner. It looks like a castle door!)

The mean cow and the nice cow had trouble. Ben was a really nice brown and purple cow. He didn't have much, but he did own a really special golden bell that was covered with scratches. It was said that at night, ghosts would come out of the bell!

Ben lived in China and loved to take long walks. On a walk one day, Kim, a really mean cow, bumped Ben with her horns, and knocked the bell off of Ben's neck. She picked up the bell with her horns, and took off as fast as her cow legs could carry her.

Ben went to ask his friend, mack the golden eagle, for help. Mack began flying all over the countryside and spotted the bell as Kim was trying to put it on. Mack swooped down and grabbed the bell and took it back to Ben.

In an unexpected twist, Ben and Kim met and became good friends.

The End.

Wow! A story with a happy ending for ALL the characters! Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!

Banks County Library, Homer, GA

2009-06-16T23:31:00.000-04:00

Three People and a Big Bowl of Popcorn

By the Banks County Writers

Once, in the city of love, there was a grumpy old man who loved buttery, chocolate popcorn. His name was Bob and he lived in Paris, France. He was not just grumpy, he was very very grumpy!

As Bob was walking past the Eiffel Tower last week, when Alex, a cute little wolf who wears clothes, bumped into Bob and took off with his popcorn. This made Bob even grumpier than usual!

Bob called Miss Teri (pronounced like mystery) and asked for her help. Everyone knows Miss Teri because she is the prettiest blue detective in all of France. She set a trap for Alex and caught him with the popcorn before he had a chance to eat any. Alex was sent straight to jail, and Grumpy Bob was almost happy to get his popcorn back.

The End.

Pretty cool story! Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Waycross/Ware County Library, Waycross, GA

2009-06-13T19:56:00.000-04:00

The Case of the Wal-Mart Diamond

By the Ware County Library Kids

(Cool Fact: This library is the largest library in the largest city in the largest county in the largest state east of the Mississippi!)

It was a cold December day when Jack, the space farmer, went to Wal-Mart. Jack was an interesting character, because he could turn invisible. The problem was that Jack was a thief. He had stolen many things in his career as a criminal, but the one item he treasured most was a priceless canary diamond. He could not sell it, because people would know that he stole it, so he carried it with him everywhere, because it was so beautiful.

On this fateful December day, Deece Duece, a sneaky thief who was as small as an ant and always wore black, was in Wal-Mart and saw Jack. He knew that Jack always carried the diamond with him, so Deece went to aisle 17 and got some sleeping gas, used it on Jack and stole the diamond.

When Jack awoke, he called his good friend El Kabong, who was famous for wearing a mask and cape and carrying a guitar, which he used to stop evil doers. ElKabong grabbed a grenade and blew up Deece and got the diamond back.

After the smoke cleared, it became obvious that Deece had somehow escaped BEFORE the grenade exploded, and got away. When El Kabong found out that the diamond he had retrieved was stolen, he gave Jack a stern talking to and Jack returned the jewel to its rightful owner and abandoned his life of crime. It was just too dangerous.

The End.

That was a pretty good story. What do you think?

Folkston Library, Folkston, GA

2009-06-12T13:37:00.000-04:00

The Gold Thief from the Sewer

By the folks in Folkston

There was a very tall man from Folkston, Georgia who had lots of gold and he loved it very much. His name was Billy Bob and he was as big as a house. He was very old and had been collecting gold coins for most of his life. The gold coins were from different countries all over the world.

While Billy Bob was at the store, a thief named Robin, who was also very big, went through the sewers and came up into Billy Bob's house through the toilet. He went straight to the gold and grabbed it and took off the way he had come in.

Billy Bob saw that his gold was gone and that his toilet was broken and he got very angry. He called his friend John, a talking hippo, and asked him to come over. When John saw what was wrong he went straight home and got Jim, his gold sniffing dog.

It didn't take long for Jim to find the coins and Robin, and justice was served. Robin went to jail and Billy Bob was so happy that he bought ice cream for himself and John. He gave Jim a bone, since dogs aren't supposed to have ice cream.

The End

These kids did a great job! Leave a comment and let them know what you think.

Hays Library, Fort Stewart, GA

2009-06-11T21:24:00.000-04:00

The Missing Necklace and the Alien Mom

By the kids on base at Fort Stewart

There was an old woman who had a necklace that she always wore, but someone stole it while she was sitting at a bus stop in Washington, DC. Her name was Elizabeth, and she was as sweet as honey. The necklace was shaped like a heart, and it was made of gold, but the reason Elizabeth loved it so much was that it was a gift for her from her mom.

While she was sitting at the bus stop, a bully named Lazar (rhymes with bizarre) snatched the necklace off her neck and ran away with it. Most people would call the police, but not Elizabeth. She whipped out her cell phone and called her mom. She knew her mom could help get the necklace back before a police officer even got finished writing a report.

You see, Elizabeth's mom was a three eyed alien named Clarice and she wore a disguise so she would look like regular mom. When she found out what Lazar had done, took off her mom costume and went after Lazar at lightning speed. When Lazar saw the alien, he dropped the necklace and turned himself into the police! He served a few weeks in jail and changed his ways. He never stole again, and he stopped being a bully.

Elizabeth was so happy to get her necklace back, she cried. Her mom had helped her once again. Aren't moms wonderful?

The end.

What do you think? How did we do? Leave a comment!

Long County Library in Ludowici, GA

2009-06-11T21:04:00.000-04:00

The Missing Chapters (Part One)

By the fine writers at the Long County Library

It was a big wedding party in Downtown Ludowici, and it was taking place at Jeffrey's house on a Thursday night. Jeffrey was a secret agent who was strong and had shiny teeth. His best friend was a guy named Joshua who was as tall as a tree, and very smart.

Joshua had written a book and he carried the only copy ever made with him everywhere he went. It was a book of scary stories, and it was special and magical, because if the stories ever got out of the book, they would come true.

At the party, there was also a girl who looked like a pixie, and had bronze hair. Her name was Alice, and she had heard about Joshua's book from a friend. She loved to read, and she was always curious about things she did not understand or believe. She bumped into Joshua at the party, and unbeknownst to him, she slipped his book out of his pocket.

When Joshua discovered it was gone, he got Jeffrey to help him look for it and figure out what had happened to it. They reviewed the surveillance tapes and saw that Alice bumped into Joshua and quickly left the party. She must be the thief!

Josh was furious, but he was also scared for the town. He knew what could happen if his book fell into the wrong hands! The pair tracked down Alice and the book, but it was too late. Alice had already read the book and torn out nine chapters, and hidden them in a secret compartment. Alice went to jail, but told the townspeople that she would never tell where she had hidden the pages. This could spell the end of life in Ludowici as we know it!

Then, on Saturday morning, the first of the missing chapters started to come true. What happened next is hard to describe.

The End of Part One.

Can YOU write the next chapter? And the rest of the missing pages? Give it shot. Remember to make it scary, and to use descriptive language to let the reader know what's happening!

Use the comment box below to share your ideas!

Blackshear Library, Blackshear, GA

2009-06-11T20:45:00.000-04:00

Warning! Watch Your Stacks of Gold!

By the Blackshear Library kids

It was the first of October in Kenya, Africa. Jet Li, a martial arts master, was in his home, admiring a 7 foot tall stack of gold he had gotten at the store a long time ago. Though he was able to break boards with his bare hands and fight several men at the same time, Jet was a peaceful man. He was only 4 feet tall, and the gold he was admiring seemed like a mountain to him.

while he was looking at the gold, a wizard from another story came in and cast a spell on Mr. Li. It was Severus Snape! He froze Jet Li with a wave of his wand, and Jet was powerless to stop what happened next. Snape, who many thought looked like a dragon, use a spell to shrink the gold until it was no larger than a vitamin pill. And then he swallowed it and walked right out of the room!

When the freezing spell wore off, Jet Li was as angry as a charging buffalo! He called his good friend and world famous spy, James Bond (the real one, as played by Sean Connery), and tols James what happened.

Bond tracked Snape to his hideout, cut him open (fortunately, wizards heal very fast) and got the gold back. Snape was sent to jail and when the spell wore off, Jet Li had his huge pile of gold once again.

Since there are no wizard proof jails in Africa, Snape soon escaped and is roaming around looking for more gold to steal. If you have any 7 foot stacks of gold, you've been warned!

Jesup Library, Jesup, GA

2009-06-10T21:55:00.000-04:00

A (VERY) Different Kind of Monster Story

By the kids at the Jesup Library

In the year 2060, there was a monster named Wolff, who was as hairy as a bear. He looked like the boogyman, and he was very scary. He played a lot of video games and while playing a new version of Halo in his X Box, he won a shiny golden toad. He loved that golden toad so much!

Brianna, a 6 year old girl who was as pretty as a flower, broke into Wolff's castle and took his prized toad. When Wolf found out it was gone he was so angry he could eat a horse. But instead, he called Mike Bismo, who is big and tough and is as large as a dinosaur. Mike was only on the case for a few minutes, because he found the toad just outside the castle wall, as he was leaving to go find it.

Brianna was never heard from again, but Wolff was very happy that he had his toad back.

The End.

Have you ever seen a story where the monster was the victim and a sweet little girl was the "bad guy?" That's one reason this story was very different from usual. Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Homerville Library in Homerville, GA

2009-06-10T21:45:00.000-04:00

A New Paul Bunyan Story

By the young writers at the Homerville Library

CC and Paul Bunyan went scuba diving. They had been to the Georgia coast a couple of times before, but this was the first time that either of them had ever been scuba diving. Paul Bunyan was a famous lumberjack who was as tall as a giant. CC was a girl who had given Paul his legendary super sharp, double sided axe. She also had thew ability to find any axe she had ever made.

Christie, a girl giant who often took things that did not belong to her asked Paul if she could borrow the axe, but she never returned it. Paul was pretty upset, but fortunately he was on vacation with his crew, including CC, who could find the axe.

They went scuba diving after CC went to see Joe the Axe salesman, and he told her that this big double sided axe had been spotted on the floor of the ocean. They found the axe and Paul was as happy as a bee. They never saw Christie again, but all's well that ends well.

The End.

This is the first story that has used a person from a tall tale. Will there be more? Check back often to see if another library uses this idea!

Ida Hinton Library in Darien, GA

2009-06-10T21:44:00.000-04:00

The Stone Teddy Bear – Part One

By the Darien Authors

One morning, a monster named Jason woke up and his teddy bear was missing! His teddy bear was named Jason (just like his owner). Jason (the bear) was made of stone, but he was very important to Jason (the monster). Jason (the monster) could shoot lasers out of his eyes and had razor-sharp teeth. Jason (the monster) knew that anyone who would steal his teddy bear would have to be a pretty scary creature.

As it turns out, Jason (the monster) is right. Chuckie, an evil ghost vampire, who could move very fast, zipped into Jason and Jason’s home and took the stone teddy bear. He was planning to chop up the bear and see if it had any special powers. He took it to his secret hideout, next to the Braves stadium in downtown Atlanta.

Jason (the monster) called his brother, Bloody Jerry, and told him about the missing teddy bear. Jerry immediately began his search for Jason (the teddy bear). Jerry had excellent hearing and he followed the echo of the footsteps from Jason’s (the monster AND the teddy bear) house to Chuckie’s secret hideout. He rescued the bear just in the nick of time, but Chuckie escaped, setting up the chance for a sequel.

A sequel? You could write the next story. Add a comment below.

Brunswick/Glynn County Library

2009-06-10T21:42:00.000-04:00

BFF’s are Worth More than Gold!

By the kids at the Brunswick Library

She was very poor, but she had a very generous rich friend. Her name was Brinny, and everyone knew that she was a VERY smart girl. To look at her you might think that she was just a big New York girl who wasn’t very pretty. But to those who knew her, she was something special.

Her BFF was a hockey player named Jessie who also grew up in NY. Jessie’s friendship was more valuable to Brinny than anything. All of that was put in danger when a boy named Joey knocked on Jessie’s door. When Jessie answered it, Joey grabbed him and tossed him into a bag and kidnapped him!

Brinny had just text messaged Jessie with a simple question, and when he didn’t answer, she got worried. She went to his house, discovered he was missing and called the Marshal, a tall skinny man who, coincidentally was named Marshall. Marshal Marshall was an expert detective followed the clues and found Jessie swimming in the middle of a pond. When the Marshal went looking for Joey, he discovered that Joey had been eaten by an alligator.

Marshal Marshall was happy he solved the mystery, Brinny and Jessie were happy that they were BFF’s again, and the alligator was happy and full.

The end.

What do you think about our story? Leave a comment and let us know.

Stevenson Public Library, Stevenson, AL

2009-06-06T19:59:00.000-04:00

(Claudia writes: Depot Days is a big annual celebration in Stevenson, AL that features a lot of fun stuff, activities and FOOD! Funnel cakes, hot dogs, onion rings, and more. The night we visited the library, they asked us to perform outside on a rail car for the Depot Days attendees, and it was homemade ice cream night. For 50 cents per bowl, you could eat chocolate, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, chocolate, peach, and chocolate ice cream made by the folks there. It was so delicious that - well, let’s just say that we now owe Monica Davis, the librarian several dollars for ice cream!)

Another Doggone Good Mystery

By the Depot Day Readers of Stevenson Library

In 1892, Truitt Davis made a picture of his dog, Gordon Annabelle Max. He got the photographer to print it out as large as possible and put it in a frame. He loved his dog and he loved this great photo of his dog almost as much.

You would think that a guy who loved a dog would be a kind sweet person. But this is not the case with Truitt. He was grumpy as all get out, and some say that he had been wrinkled like an old man since he was just a boy.

During Depot Days, on Homemade Ice Cream Night, while everyone was downtown watching Claudia the Hippo and her helper, Tommy Johns do a show for the library, Katie, a pet rock on questionable character, slipped unnoticed into Truitt’s house and took off with the picture of Gordon Annabelle Max, frame and all.

Truitt was beyond upset. The first thing he did was to call the town’s police chief, a space alien named Umm, and reported the missing picture. Umm rode over on his motorcycle, his long brown hair flowing behind him, and went to work. He snuck up to every home in town and peeked in the windows until he got to Katie’s where he saw the famed photo of Truitt’s dog hanging over her fireplace.

Umm was ready to haul her off to jail, but Truitt surprised everyone by forgiving her and asking Umm to let her go. Some people thought Truitt was a changed man, but most believe it was because he had just eaten some delicious vanilla ice cream left over from the ice cream social the night before.

The End.

(Any resemblance between the characters in this story and anyone real person is the fault of the children who attended the show. Don’t blame us!)

We love comments. Let us know what you think!

Gardendale Library, Gardendale, AL

2009-06-06T17:37:00.000-04:00

Elizabeth "Collars" a Criminal

By the Gardendale writers of strange and unusual stories

"Aaaah! My collar is missing!"

Fluffy was talking about her beautiful collar, the one that helped her go to sleep at night, the one that made her talk in the night. (I told you it was a strange story!) Fluffy was a big pretty dog whose fur was as white as snow. She had had this collar since she came to this farm as a puppy, and could not imagine trying to get to sleep without it.

She barked and barked until Elizabeth, her girl, came to see what was wrong. Elizabeth was young, and though she was short, she was as big as a mountain. Sometimes people were frightened by her size, but she was as sweet and gentle as an April rain.

Elizabeth's first thought was that Alex, a mean, grumpy bully who makes kids eat rotten cheese was the thief. Elizabeth began following Alex, and heard her brag to one of her bully friends that she had taken the collar while Fluffy was sleeping, and had run away with it.

When Elizabeth, stepped out of hiding and confronted Alex, she dropped the collar and tried to run away. Elizabeth caught her and took her to the police who put her in a military prison.

Of course Fluffy was overjoyed to get her collar back and immediately put it on and took a nap.

The End.

That was a doggone good story, don't you think? Post a comment and tell us if you had fun at the show!

Trussville Library

2009-06-06T17:04:00.000-04:00

Fast Cars, Fast Cows

by the Trussville team of writers

One night, in the suburbs, there were two cows. One was a big, mean, green cow named Bellum. She loved fast cars, and she loved one fast, blue race car more than any other.

The other cow was named Milkie, and she was brown and liked to argue. Milkie was waking around just north of Birmingham, when she got an idea. She wasted to go to Trussville to see some of the kids who had signed up for the Summer Reading Program.

This would have been a very long walk, and she was not looking forward to it. Then, it happened. She looked in Milkie's driveway, and she saw Milkie's race car. It was blue. It was fast. And it was right there!

She hopped in the car (which is a funny sight to see!) and drove off. Bellum heard the engine fire up and was shocked when she looked out her window at the rear of her race car speeding away!

She had been texting her BFF Fred when this happened, so she sent a message that said, "Help! Car gone. ROTFC" (which means, of course, Rolling on the Floor, Crying).

Fred was a really nice cow, and he went on a search for the missing car. He saw Milkie as she returned to town from the neighborhood, and when he started to chase her, she stopped, hooped out of the car (which is even funnier than watching her hop in) and ran away, never to be seen or heard from again.

Fred took Bellum to pick up her car, and she was so happy! They raced back home and parked the car in the garage, and locked it up, so this would not happen again.

The end.

Cows driving! What a crazy idea! Leave a comment, and let us know what you think!

Lena Cagle Library in Bridgeport, AL

2009-06-04T00:16:00.000-04:00

A Flowery Mystery
by the very imaginative kids at the Lena Cagle Public Library

(On a personal note, we are very excited about what happened after this story was written. Mrs. Brown, the librarian at the LCPL, presented Roosevelt Rat and Claudia the Hippo with their very own library cards! We will post a photo soon! Thanks!)

And then it happened! Daffodil awoke and wondered why it was suddenly so extremely cold. She shivered as she rolled over and tried to cover up. Imagine her surprise when she opened her eyes and discovered that her shell was missing!
Daffodil was a very nice turtle who looked a little like a troll. Her shell, however was BEAUTIFUL! It was black and had pictures of gorgeous flowers painted on every section of the shell.

Crockadolly, a silly alligator who lived next door to Daffodil in their apartment building in downtown Atlanta, saw how pretty the shell was and wanted it for her own. So she waited until Daffodil was asleep and carefully slid the shell off our turtle friend, and took it home to try it on.

When Daffodil discovered the reason for her chilliness, she called Samantha, a very feathery chicken who managed their apartment building and told her about the incident. Everyone thought that Sam was very very nice, so they were quite shocked when she found the shell in Crockadolly's apartment, pecked the alligator until she let it go, and then - GASP! - ran off with the shell, leaving her job, her friends, and a very cold turtle behind.

As of this moment, Samantha the chicken has not been located and no one knows what has become of the shell, but there is a rumor that it has been seen on eBay. (Really! type in Painted turtle shell and you'll see!)

The End

Leave a comment! We'd love to hear from you!

Sewell Library in Bowdon, GA

2009-06-04T00:02:00.000-04:00

Sherlock Holmes Rides the Range

by the Bowdon Readers

In 1811, in a small town in Canada, there was a girl named McKenzie, and she LOVED ghost stories. She loved to hear them, she loved to tell them, and she loved to make them up. But most of all, she loved to read them. Her favorite book of ghost stories was Scary Stories to Tell After Dark by Alvin Schwartz.

Everyone in town knew of her love for scary ghosts stories, even the bad guys in town. John Wilkes Boothe (a rascal and an evildoer, even when he was young) broke into McKenzie's house and took her favorite book, just to be mean. He wasn't even going to read it!

Next door to McKenzie's house was a little bed and breakfast where the famous cowboy detective Sherlock Holmes was spending a few days on vacation. Like most small towns, everyone knows everything that happens in town, and it wasn't long before Sherlock was on the case. (He later moved to England and got a job with Scotland Yard.)

Sherlock followed the clues and discovered that mean old Boothe had taken the book, but Boothe would not tell anyone where he hid it. He went to jail and did not get out until early 1865.

McKenzie was quite sad about her lost book until she went to a friends of the library sale and found More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by the same author! She now had a new favorite book and she lived happily (and a little scarily) ever after.

The end.

Let us know what you think - especially if you helped write this story!

Northside Branch Library, Atlanta, GA

2009-06-02T19:02:00.000-04:00

That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles

by the Northside Library Writers

There was a chair that thought she was special. Her name was Laura, and she was pink, soft, fluffy, and very comfortable. Her favorite thing to have on her table was a big plate of huge, warm, delicious chocolate chip cookies.

She had been riding through Atlanta on a bus, and when she returned home, she discovered that someone or something had taken her latest plate of cookies! She was so upset. She got on the computer and sent an e-mail to her good friend Grace, a 3 year old yellow chair who was also the most helpful chair in the neighborhood.

Grace went around asking questions of the neighbors and found out that while Laura was away, one of the neighbors saw a blue chair named Ashton sneak into Laura's house and leave a few minutes later. Further inquiry determined that Ashton lived alone in a small house down the street and that he was always upset and jealous, because he thought he was the only chair that lived in that area. Ashton had heard that he had brothers and sisters, but had gotten separated from them when they were young.

When Grace went to talk to Ashton, two things happened. First Ashton discovered that he was not alone, and Grace noticed a strong resemblance between Ashton and Laura. Could it be that they were brother and sister?

After she did a little more detective work, she told Laura that she had some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that the cookies were eaten, and were gone forever. The good news? Grace had found Laura's brother! The reunion was such a happy one, that they had a party and invited all the furniture in the neighborhood to come over and celebrate!

What a happy ending! And of course the main food served at the party was - you guessed it - huge, warm, delicious chocolate chip cookies!

The End

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