Free Fall by David Wiesner

Setting: Dreams, Unknown land
Characters: Boy, Dream world characters
Theme: You can go anywhere in your dreams

This story is a simple and effective picture book that has no words so it is open for interpretation. As far as I can tell, the story is a boy who falls asleep and goes into a dream world that has many of the books and things that are in his room. He wakes up to all those same things in his room with a smile on his face.

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

Setting: House
Characters: Sally, Boy, Cat in the Hat, Fish, Thing One, Thing Two Mother
Theme: Don't do what you're not supposed to, There are good parts in everyone

On a rainy day Sally and her brother are bored. Suddenly the Cat in the Hat comes in and offers to entertain them while their mother's away. The fish tries to stop him, but before you know it the house is being messed up. Then the Cat introduces Thing One and Two who make even more of a mess. Then they have to clean up before their mother comes house to the mess. The Cat helps with one of his machines. When their mother gets home, she asks what they did and they tell her it was a boring day.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

In this story, Mrs. Frisby's son, Timothy, gets sick and she need to help him get better or he will die. Finally she is directed to the rats of NIMH, who her husband died helping, to help her move her home somewhere safe and warm. These genetically engineered and escaped rats help her because they owe her for her husband's sacrifice. Mrs. Frisby goes to many lengths to save her son, and ultimately, it pays off. They get their home moved in time and Timothy lives. The rats of NIMH are forced to leave though because scientists are after them and Mrs. Frisby doesn't see them again.

Epossumondas by Coleen Salley

This story is about a possum who has no common sense. He takes things from his aunt's house to his own house is silly ways and always gets yelled at by his mother. In the end, he steps on all of his mothers pies after a big misinterpretation.

Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith

Henry loves chocolate! But one day he starts to break out in brown spots, and they turn out to be chocolate spots. Henry runs away because he doesn't know what else to do. He hitches a ride with a trucker and the truck gets hijacked. They make it away safely and the trucker convinces him to go home to his family. He does go home and finally gets cured of his chocolate fever.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett

In the town of Chewandswallow it always rains food. That's where they get all of their food. One day there was a giant food storm and it rained giant food. The people escaped on bread boats and arrived in another place to make a home. There they lived a life like anyone else.

Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel

An anthology of a few stories, Frog and Toad are great friends and do anything to make each other happy. Their friendship is seen clearly through each story and the acts they do for each other.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss and Peeta from district 12 are thrust into the Hunger Games where they must kills others to be the last one to survive. The rules eventually change to favor to winners. In the end, it's Peeta and Katniss who would win, but they decide to change the rules so that they must kill each other. Instead, Katniss decides that they should kill themselves. Before they do so, the games end and they both win, but not without upsetting President Snow who is out for revenge. Katniss made him look stupid, and he will get back at her, perhaps in the next book.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry just found out he's a wizard. He sets off on the many adventures he will have in the coming year. While all of this is going on, Voldemort, the wizard that tried to kill Harry when he was a baby, is after him to finish what he started. Harry is also trying to figure out what the sorcerer's stone is. Him and his two friends finally find themselves up against Voldemort in the end and ultimately prevail.

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Wilbur is taken in by a young girl and befriends a spider who writes things about him to save him from being slaughtered for food. He eventually gets entered into a fair, and his spider friend, Charlotte has babies and dies. Wilbur is very said, but happy to see all of the little babies that reminded him of his great friend.

Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe

Harold the family dog tells the story of the rabbit that was brought home and named  Bunnicula. Chester, the family cat, soon decides there is something weird about this rabbit. Pointy fangs point straight to a vampire bunny. Chester becomes scared for the safety of the family, but when Chester tries to tell the Monroes what's going on, he is completely misunderstood. Chester eventually goes so far that Harold has to save the bunny.

Doctor De Soto by William Steig

Setting: Dr. De Soto's dentist office
Characters: Dr. De Soto, Mrs. De Soto, Fox
Theme: Trust your instincts

Dr. De Soto was a mouse dentist. He had all kinds of patients and treated them all well. He treated small and big animals, but he didn't treat any animals that were dangerous to mice. One day, a fox came to his door begging to be seen. Dr. and Mrs. De Soto decided to help him. Turns out, he had a rotten bicuspid that needed to be taken out. While Dr. De Soto was working on his tooth, the fox's mouth slowly started to close. Dr. De Soto had to put him to sleep to work on his tooth, but then he was talking in his sleep about how he liked to eat mice. Once he was awake, Dr. De Soto said he would have to come back the next day to get a replacement tooth. The couple were worried the fox would eat them the next day so they came up with a good plan and went to bed for the night. The next day, they put the new tooth in while the fox was deciding in his mind that he was going to eat them. Before he could eat them, Dr. De Soto said he had pain medicine that would allow the fox to never have a toothache again. The fox agreed to the medicine, and Dr. De Soto put some stuff on his teeth and had him shut his mouth. Then the fox couldn't open his mouth! Dr. De Soto said it would be like that for a few days. The fox tried to say thank you and left. In the end, Dr. and Mrs. De Soto out-foxed the fox and took the day off.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

Setting: Home, School
Characters: Mother, Father, Chrysanthemum, Victoria, Mrs. Chud, Mrs. Twinkle, Joe, Rita
Theme: Individuality, Be yourself

Chrysanthemum's parents thought she was so perfect and need the perfect name, so they chose Chrysanthemum. She grew up and loved her name. When she started school, people giggled at her name. She was very upset. Victoria teased her the most and said she should change it. Chrysanthemum told her parents all about it, but they told her not to worry, her name was perfect. The next day the kids continued to tease her. They said she lived in the dirt with the worms because she was a flower. She went home, again upset, and her parents said that they kids were just jealous. She had a nightmare that night that she actually was a flower. The next day, she took the long way to school. In school that day, they met their music teacher, Mrs. Twinkle. She had assigned roles for the class musical and gave Chrysanthemum the part of a daisy. Everyone continued to tease her until the teacher came over to ask what was so funny. Mrs. Twinkle said her name was long and a flower also. The class was shocked. Her name was Delphinium. She was also having a baby, and if it was a girl she was thinking about naming her Chrysanthemum. This made Chrysanthemum so happy. Mrs. Twinkle did end up having a baby girl that she named Chrysanthemum.

Swimmy by Leo Lionni

Setting: Ocean
Characters: Swimmy
Theme: Be original, be brave

Swimmy lived in a school of read fish, but he was a black fish and swam faster than the others. One day, a tuna ate all the red fish, and he escaped. He got to see a jellyfish, a lobster, strange fish, seaweed, an eel, and sea anemone. He ran into another school of red fish, and he told them that they needed to go see all the cool things that were in the ocean. They said they were afraid of being eaten, so Swimmy had them form into one big fish and he was the eye. They scared away all the big fish!

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

Setting: Train track
Characters: Little Train, Shiny New Engine, Big Strong Engine, Old Engine, Little Blue Engine
Theme: Perseverance, Believing in yourself

 The Little Train was carrying lots of goof thing for girls and boys. There were toy animals, dolls, a toy clown, food, and lollipops. The Little Train had to carry these things to the kids in the town on the other side of the mountain, but then the engine broke down. They saw a Shiny New Engine and asked it if it could pull them over the mountain so they could deliver the toys. He said no, he was a passenger engine only. He was too good to pull them, and he went off to the roundhouse to rest. Then they saw a Big Engine and asked him. He said no, he was a freight engine. He pulled machines and was too important to pull them. Then they saw a rusty Old Engine and asked him, but he was too tired. Everyone was very sad. Then a Little Blue Engine came along and asked what she could do. She had never been over the mountain but tried to help anyway. She said, "I think I can," over and over and she succeeded. She finally said, "I thought I could."

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

Setting: Bedtime, In their home
Characters: Papa, Little Chicken
Theme: Little kid's reactions to stories

It was bedtime and Little Chicken wanted a bedtime story, but her Papa made her promise not to interrupt. First he read Hansel and Gretel, but Little Chicken interrupted and told Hansel and Gretel the lady was a witch. So Papa read another story, this time it was Little Red Riding Hood. Little Chicken interrupted again and told Little Red Riding Hood no to talk to strangers. Papa read another story, Chicken Little, but chicken interrupted and told Chicken Little that it was just an acorn that fell on him and no the sky. They finally ran out of stories, so Papa had Little Chicken tell him a story. It was about putting Papa to bed, but Little Chicken was interrupted by Papa's snoring. They both finally decided to go to sleep at the end of the story.

The Magic Hat by Mem Fox

Setting: Town
Characters: Townspeople, Wizard
Theme: Don't take what you have for granted, Have fun

 A magic hat floated into a town and landed on a man. It turned him into a toad. Then it landed on a man and turned him into a baboon. Next it landed on a man and turned him into a bear. Then it landed on a lady and turned her into a kangaroo. Lastly it landed on a man and turned him into a giraffe. Finally, a wizard appeared and said, "Stop!" He turned everyone back to normal, and then he left with the hat. He put the hat on and turned into a boy.

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

Setting: Jerome Horwitz Elementary School

Characters: George Beard, Harold Hutchins, Mr. Krupp, Dr. Diaper, Robots, and Captain Underpants.

Theme: Comedy

George and Harold go to Jerome Horwitz Elementary School and play lots of pranks and jokes. They also write the Captain Underpants comics which they copy at school and sell on the playground. Harold would draw them, and George would write. Their principal, Mr. Krupp, did not like them and their pranks. George and Harold pulled a bunch of pranks at one of the football games, and Mr. Krupp caught them on tape. He blackmailed them into doing things for him like doing like washing his car. They also had extra homework and had to behave in school. The boys saw an add for a hypno-ring and ordered it so they could get the tape from the principal. They showed up in Mr. Krupp's office and used the ring. It worked, and they got the tape back and replaced it with a dragon sing-a-long tape. Once they got the tape back they thought it would be fun to mess with the principal and make him act like different things. They had him act like a chicken, a monkey, and Captain Underpants. Then Captain Underpants ran off, and they had to chase him so they wouldn't get in trouble. Captain Underpants stopped robbers and went after two robots that stole a giant diamond. They were taking the diamond to Dr. Diaper who was going to put the diamond in a laser machine that would blow the moon to pieces. Those pieces were going to crash into all the major cities. While Dr. Diaper had Captain Underpants tied up, the boys used fake dog poop to distract Dr. Diaper. They beat up the robots and blew up the laser machine. After that, they went back to school and turned Captain Underpants back into Mr. Krupp by pouring water on him. Mr. Krupp showed the video to the football team, but it was just the sing-a-long video and led the football team to change their name. Now every time Mr. Krupp hears a snap, he turns back into Captain Underpants.