Well, most of the short stories are decidedly on the preachy side (never mind whether written for children or adults) -- and of course it didn't help in the least to have Simon Vance as a reader, highlighting that fact even further -- but the poetry is lovely, even if occasionally a bit derivative (of Shakespeare, no less).

And it's got a star prominently on the cover, so I'm claiming this as my book for Epiphany.

(Task: Read a book featuring three main characters, about traveling on a journey to a faraway place, a book that’s part of a trilogy, with a star on the cover, with the word “twelve” or “night” in the title, or concerning kings or spices.)

"'What's up, Dogger?' I asked lightly, trying to make it sound a little bit -- but not too much -- like Bugs Bunny."

Take note, Ms. Wright: This is how you do pop culture references -- you want them to have a topical and period adequate connection to whatever events you're in the process of describing.

And then, just a little later, we get to:

"Then there was curare.  It , too, had an almost instant effect and again, the victim died within minutes by asphyxiation.  But curare could not kill by ingestion; to be fatal, it had to be injected.  Besides that, who in the English countryside -- besides me, of course -- would be likely to carry curare in his kit?"

Flavia is 11.

And a certain teenage boy comes to mind whose story Kathryn Harkup tells in A Is for Arsenic ... and who, like Flavia, also owned his first chemistry set before he'd actually turned "-teen" and used it to poison his stepmother.  I guess it's a good thing Flavia is the narrator and heroine of this series ...

(I'm about 35-40% in now, but going back to the very beginning -- I listened to this in the car today:)

"Mr Dursley blinked and stared at the cat.  It stared back.  As Mr Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror.  It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive -- no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.  Mr Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind."

So you think cats can't read maps, can they, Uncle Vernon?

(And her name wasn't even Professor McGonagall ... well, not that I was ever aware, at least!)

And yes, that is a map of London, too.

What was supposed to be the best vacation ever began going downhill quickly when they realized that their mountain cabin was a crumbling old shack in the woods. There were weeds growing inside the "cabin" and the rowboat was half sunk in the muddiest lake that you have ever seen. Things went from bad to worse. But they did not forget to take pictures with their camera and a few days later, when they had the film developed, they passed the pictures around and laughed so hard they almost cried. Every so often they look at those pictures and have an absolutely wonderful time enjoying the worst vacation that they ever had. One good activity would be to have students write about their worst vacation, or break from school, that they experienced. Ask them if they can laugh about it now.  

Lexile Measure: AD700L

This story is about how well behaved Clifford is and how he is so loved because of it. This book tells about many, many good manners. One thing that I like about this book is how out in the margins of the pages it list the manner that is also in the story on that page. This is a great book for younger students. You could read this at the beginning of the year and have a class discussion about the types of manners and behaviors you expected.

Guided Reading Level: M