Lucas' Favourites

Charlie and the chocolate factory

Dahl, Roald., 1916.


Grades 3 - 6. Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!
Date Published:2013

Grades 3 - 6. Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!

Date Published:2013

The City of Ember

DuPrau, Jeanne.


https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=1395. Many hundreds of years ago, the city of Ember was created by the Builders to contain everything needed for human survival. It worked…but now the storerooms are almost out of food, crops are blighted, corruption is spreading through the city and worst of all—the lights are failing. Soon Ember could be engulfed by darkness… But when two children, Lina and Doon, discover fragments of an ancient parchment, they begin to wonder if there could be a way out of Ember. Can they decipher the words from long ago and find a new future for everyone? Will the people of Ember listen to them?. In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.
Date Published:2003

https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=1395. Many hundreds of years ago, the city of Ember was created by the Builders to contain everything needed for human survival. It worked…but now the storerooms are almost out of food, crops are blighted, corruption is spreading through the city and worst of all—the lights are failing. Soon Ember could be engulfed by darkness… But when two children, Lina and Doon, discover fragments of an ancient parchment, they begin to wonder if there could be a way out of Ember. Can they decipher the words from long ago and find a new future for everyone? Will the people of Ember listen to them?. In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

Date Published:2003

Danny the champion of the world

Dahl, Roald., 1916.


Grades 4 - 6. From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG! Danny has a life any boy would love—his home is a gypsy caravan, he's the youngest master car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. But one night Danny discovers a shocking secret that his father has kept hidden for years. Soon Danny finds himself the mastermind behind the most incredible plot ever attempted against nasty Victor Hazell, a wealthy landowner with a bad attitude. Can they pull it off? If so, Danny will truly be the champion of the world.
Date Published:2007

Grades 4 - 6. From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG! Danny has a life any boy would love—his home is a gypsy caravan, he's the youngest master car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. But one night Danny discovers a shocking secret that his father has kept hidden for years. Soon Danny finds himself the mastermind behind the most incredible plot ever attempted against nasty Victor Hazell, a wealthy landowner with a bad attitude. Can they pull it off? If so, Danny will truly be the champion of the world.

Date Published:2007

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Dahl, Roald., 1916.


Nobody outfoxes Fantastic Mr. Fox! Someone's been stealing from the three meanest farmers around, and they know the identity of the thief—it's Fantastic Mr. Fox! Working alone they could never catch him; but now fat Boggis, squat Bunce, and skinny Bean have joined forces, and they have Mr. Fox and his family surrounded. What they don't know is that they're not dealing with just any fox—Mr. Fox would rather die than surrender. Only the most fantastic plan can save him now.
Date Published:2007

Nobody outfoxes Fantastic Mr. Fox! Someone's been stealing from the three meanest farmers around, and they know the identity of the thief—it's Fantastic Mr. Fox! Working alone they could never catch him; but now fat Boggis, squat Bunce, and skinny Bean have joined forces, and they have Mr. Fox and his family surrounded. What they don't know is that they're not dealing with just any fox—Mr. Fox would rather die than surrender. Only the most fantastic plan can save him now.

Date Published:2007

The Giver

Lowry, Lois.


Authorized alberta Ed. The Giver is a science fiction novel that presents a utopian/dystopian future in which colour, pain and variation have been erased. Conformity, good manners, precise language, and work for the common good are the most highly valued virtues. We discover this world through Jonas, a boy approaching the “Ceremony of Twelve,” a coming-of-age ritual in which young people receive life assignments such as birth mothers, caring for the elderly, or nurturers of the young. Jonas finds that his assignment will be something very different: he is to train as the Receiver of Memory under an aging, bearded sage, the only person with access to the history of humankind. Through mental transmission and the laying-on of hands, “the Giver" allows Jonas to experience everything that has been lost to the new society-everything from the colour and warmth of summer sailing and a family gathering at Christmas to the pain of battle and starvation. Jonas begins to realize that while his carefully modulated society avoids the larger tragedies of history, it creates a more subtle kind of horror. Lowry’s 1993 Newbery Medal winner is at once spellbinding and disturbing. Euthanasia, an infant being put to death, and post puberty medication to eliminate sexual urges are all treated with sensitivity and occur only where integral to the plot. These issues may be difficult for some students. Although Jonas’ rejection of these norms provides the central conflict, the story’s resolution creates an open-ended interpretation that encourages critical thinking and debate.
Date Published:2014

Authorized alberta Ed. The Giver is a science fiction novel that presents a utopian/dystopian future in which colour, pain and variation have been erased. Conformity, good manners, precise language, and work for the common good are the most highly valued virtues. We discover this world through Jonas, a boy approaching the “Ceremony of Twelve,” a coming-of-age ritual in which young people receive life assignments such as birth mothers, caring for the elderly, or nurturers of the young. Jonas finds that his assignment will be something very different: he is to train as the Receiver of Memory under an aging, bearded sage, the only person with access to the history of humankind. Through mental transmission and the laying-on of hands, “the Giver" allows Jonas to experience everything that has been lost to the new society-everything from the colour and warmth of summer sailing and a family gathering at Christmas to the pain of battle and starvation. Jonas begins to realize that while his carefully modulated society avoids the larger tragedies of history, it creates a more subtle kind of horror. Lowry’s 1993 Newbery Medal winner is at once spellbinding and disturbing. Euthanasia, an infant being put to death, and post puberty medication to eliminate sexual urges are all treated with sensitivity and occur only where integral to the plot. These issues may be difficult for some students. Although Jonas’ rejection of these norms provides the central conflict, the story’s resolution creates an open-ended interpretation that encourages critical thinking and debate.

Date Published:2014

James and the giant peach.

Dahl, Roald.


Grades 4- 6. From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG! Roald Dahl was a champion of the underdog and all things little—in this case, an orphaned boy oppressed by two nasty, self-centered aunts. How James escapes his miserable life with the horrible aunts and becomes a hero is a Dahlicious fantasy of the highest order. You will never forget resourceful little James and his new family of magically overgrown insects—a ladybug, a spider, a grasshopper, a glowworm, a silkworm, and the chronic complainer, a centipede with a hundred gorgeous shoes. Their adventures aboard a luscious peach as large as a house take them across the Atlantic Ocean, through waters infested with peach-eating sharks and skies inhabited by malevolent Cloudmen, to a ticker-tape parade in New York City. This happily ever after contemporary fairy tale is a twentieth-century classic that every child deserves to know. And Lane Smith's endearingly funny illustrations are a perfect match for the text. "All the gruesome imagery of old-fashioned fairy tales and a good measure of their breathtaking delight." —Kirkus Reviews "A stunning book, to be cherished for its story, a superb fantasy." —The Chicago Tribune "The most original fantasy that has been published in a long time...[it] may well become a classic." —San Francisco Chronicle.
Date Published:2007

Grades 4- 6. From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG! Roald Dahl was a champion of the underdog and all things little—in this case, an orphaned boy oppressed by two nasty, self-centered aunts. How James escapes his miserable life with the horrible aunts and becomes a hero is a Dahlicious fantasy of the highest order. You will never forget resourceful little James and his new family of magically overgrown insects—a ladybug, a spider, a grasshopper, a glowworm, a silkworm, and the chronic complainer, a centipede with a hundred gorgeous shoes. Their adventures aboard a luscious peach as large as a house take them across the Atlantic Ocean, through waters infested with peach-eating sharks and skies inhabited by malevolent Cloudmen, to a ticker-tape parade in New York City. This happily ever after contemporary fairy tale is a twentieth-century classic that every child deserves to know. And Lane Smith's endearingly funny illustrations are a perfect match for the text. "All the gruesome imagery of old-fashioned fairy tales and a good measure of their breathtaking delight." —Kirkus Reviews "A stunning book, to be cherished for its story, a superb fantasy." —The Chicago Tribune "The most original fantasy that has been published in a long time...[it] may well become a classic." —San Francisco Chronicle.

Date Published:2007

The unadoptables

Tooke, Hana 1985


Neil Gaiman meets Hans Christian Andersen in this delicious fairy tale full of mysterious spirits, daring escapes, and a beautiful message about the power of found families. In all the years that Elinora Gassbeek has been matron of the Little Tulip Orphanage, not once have the Rules for Baby Abandonment been broken. Until the autumn of 1880, when five babies are left in outrageous circumstances; one in a tin toolbox, one in a coal bucket, one in a picnic hamper, one in a wheat sack, and finally, one in a coffin-shaped basket. Those babies were Lotta, Egg, Fenna, Sem, and Milou. And although their cruel matron might think they're "unadoptable," they know their individuality is what makes them special--and so determined to stay together. When a most sinister gentleman appears and threatens to tear them apart, the gang make a daring escape across the frozen canals of Amsterdam. But is their real home--and their real family--already closer than they realize?
Date Published:2020

Neil Gaiman meets Hans Christian Andersen in this delicious fairy tale full of mysterious spirits, daring escapes, and a beautiful message about the power of found families. In all the years that Elinora Gassbeek has been matron of the Little Tulip Orphanage, not once have the Rules for Baby Abandonment been broken. Until the autumn of 1880, when five babies are left in outrageous circumstances; one in a tin toolbox, one in a coal bucket, one in a picnic hamper, one in a wheat sack, and finally, one in a coffin-shaped basket. Those babies were Lotta, Egg, Fenna, Sem, and Milou. And although their cruel matron might think they're "unadoptable," they know their individuality is what makes them special--and so determined to stay together. When a most sinister gentleman appears and threatens to tear them apart, the gang make a daring escape across the frozen canals of Amsterdam. But is their real home--and their real family--already closer than they realize?

Date Published:2020