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Necile Saves Baby Claus, by Linda Aksomitis

| sharon

Necile doesn’t know the baby she finds near Magic Forest, and adopts, will grow up to become Santa Claus. Indeed, he’ll spread the magic of Christmas around the world.

Magic Forest and the people world existed side-by-side. But many years ago, those in the people world couldn’t see Magic Forest. However, those in Magic Forest could see through to the other side. Necile has been helping the people world for centuries. Indeed, she built a cairn in the people world and has been sneaking through the barrier to leave food by it, especially during the winter.

One day, Necile finds a baby beside the cairn. The Great Ak has forbidden everyone in Magic Forest to interact with the people, but she takes the baby home anyway. The baby, who Necile names Claus, is allowed to stay and is raised in Magic Forest by the nymphs and elves. When Claus discovers he’s adopted, he wants to learn more about the world he came from. He especially wants to make the children happy, so starts on his lifetime mission to do just that.

This Christmas story beginner reader is based on the book, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by L. Frank Baum. It has vivid illustrations and a grade 2 reading level, to make it easy to help children increase their reading skills with parents looking for easy books. It’s also a great adoption book to share with kids.

This is Book #5 in Linda’s Magic Forest Adventures series. Available in Kindle format on

The Mystery of the Giant Kohlrabi, by Sharon Plumb

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The Mystery of the Giant Kohlrabi, by Sharon Plumb
The Mystery of the Giant Kohlrabi, by Sharon Plumb.
Cover and interior illustrations by Jolyn Michaelis

A top-secret experiment, a Wonder-Gizmo, and a slimy villain — this book has all the ingredients! Nero must battle giant veggies with teeth and swords, broccoli-headed aliens, and a host of oddball relatives to solve this mystery. It’s the perfect recipe for family fun! All with an actual recipe for healthy chocolate treats thrown in. Who could ask for more? ~ Marie Powell, author of Last of the Gifted

“Silly and sweet. Can’t go wrong with giant bugs!”
~ Jolyn Michaelis, Kohlrabi cover artist and illustrator (See more of her monstrous art on her portfolio.)

Clementine grabbed Nero’s arm as they tiptoed through the dark room. “Do you hear footsteps?”
Nero listened. “That’s not footsteps. That’s…slurping!”

When Nero and his family go to help their relatives harvest their top-secret genetically engineered house-sized vegetables, he expects to sleep in a pumpkin house. He doesn’t expect to have to eat rutabaga pie. Isn’t a rutabaga a kind of turnip? Or to encounter vegetables with weapons, or a hidden elevator, or a creepy, crawly foe about to destroy the garden.

It’s a good thing he has his trusty Wonder-Gizmo along. It has an arrow, a claw tool with fold-out fingers, night-vision goggles, and a bug zapper. Even a coward can be brave with an awesome gadget like this. Until things go terribly wrong, and Nero has to confront his deepest fears all by himself. He will need all the courage he has, and lots more he doesn’t, to save the garden, and his family, from a slithery, slimy fate.

Ages 8-12 with STEM elements of aquifers, garden plants and pests, and themes of family, friendship lost and restored, courage and environment. Comes with Creative Writing Ideas for the classroom and a home-tested recipe for Twig’s Kohlrabi Chocolate Chip Cookies. Interior illustrations by Jolyn Michaelis.

Perfect for fans of “Bloom” (Kenneth Oppel), “Music for Tigers” (Michelle Kadarusman), “The Astounding Broccoli Boy” (Frank Cottrell Boyce) and “Beetle Boy” (M.G. Leonard).

Available in print at:

Available in ebooks all over the place!

See reviews and learn more about gardens at Sharon Plumb’s website.

The Turtle and the Rabbit, by Linda Aksomitis

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Turtle and Rabbit decide to race through Magic Forest to Princess Jess’s birthday party. Rabbit can run much faster, but will he win the race?

This easy reader chapter book retelling of the Aesops Fable The Turtle and the Rabbit (Tortoise and the Hare) is set in the old west. It’s a fine summer day, but neither Turtle or Rabbit have anything to do. Luckily, Crow solves the problem by inviting them to a birthday party at the castle in Magic Forest. Rabbit isn’t sure he wants to go until Turtle, thinking that Rabbit is sad his friends have left him behind, says she’ll race him to the party. Crow even bets Rabbit that Turtle will win–they each bet their piece of the birthday carrot cake as a prize. Soon, all the forest creatures hear about the race and the bet.

Rabbit, of course, is much faster, but will he win the race in this beginner reader adventure book? Will he stay focused on the goal, or find other things to distract him since he feels he’s guaranteed to win? Does Turtle really know another way to the castle that might be faster?

This is Book #4 in Linda’s Magic Forest Adventures series. Available in Kindle format on

Sisters of the Wolf, by Patricia Miller-Schroeder

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Author: Pat Miller-Shroeder

Sisters of the Wolf is a thrilling adventure of friendship, culture clash, bravery, and survival set in Ice Age Europe. After being separated from their tribes, Keena and Shinoni must learn to survive as they are pursued by a ruthless hunter in a land rumbling with advancing glaciers and teeming with mighty predators.

This book is available in paperback and ebook versions at:

Published by Dundurn Press. Ages 12-15, Grades 7-9

The Three Little Pigs, by Linda Aksomitis

The Three Little Pigs, by Linda Aksomitis
| sharon

Can the three little pigs build a strong playhouse? Or will it fall in when the bully, big bad Wolf, shouts, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in?”
The three little pigs live in Magic Forest, but they’re always being bothered by that bully, the big bad wolf. After they sneak away to visit the old west town, Gopher Gulch, and find he visits there, too, they decide it’s time to build their own treehouse to keep the wolf out. However, the three little pigs only like to do easy things. Beginning readers will enjoy this easy to read, highly illustrated, retelling of the classic Grimm’s fairytale of the three little pigs & the big bad wolf. Its theme, the benefits of hard work, is based on old west values that still hold true today.

This is Book #3 in Linda’s Magic Forest Adventures series. Available in Kindle format on