Keeker and the Sugar Shack: Book 3 in the Sneaky Pony Series

Yet another delightful book in the Keeker series; our tale starts with Keeker getting more and more desperately bored during mud season in Vermont. Keeker's mom wisely realizes that her daughter needs to get out of the house, and immediately. When Keeker learns that an older woman has bought a spooky farm down the road, Keeker becomes certain that she must be a witch, and decides to sneak over and spy on her to prove it. As always, the illustrations by Maja Andersen are priceless, and several made my daughter and I bust up laughing... particularly when Keeker and Plum try to "hide." This is a funny book, with wonderful language, and like all the books in this series, an ideal first chapter book for girls (I'm not sure how much appeal it would have for boys). You'll want to read all seven.

We were looking for some beginning chapter-books that were reasonably intelligent, nonviolent, not filled with weird messages, unpleasant behavior, violence or issue-oriented anxieties... The "Keeker" series was perfect, about a bright-eyed, sometimes silly little girl nicknamed Keeker who lives on a farm with her parents and various animals, including a mischievous Shetland pony named Plum. This is the third book in the series, in which Keeker becomes obsessed with a mysterious old lady who has bought a nearby abandoned farmhouse: surely she must be a witch! Keeker's pony, Plum, has to put up with Keeker's wild imagination, and there's more overt slapstick than in the previous volumes. Mostly just silly... and I mean that in a good way. Not the best book in the series, but worth reading if you like the other books. (ReadThatAgain!)

My daughter is [...] and in the second grade. She loved this book (as well as the others in the series). As a mom, I really like the main character...she's a curious and silly little girl who loves her pony. Many kid chapter books for this age group involve stubborn little girls who sass authority and constantly use the words dumb and stupid. Very nice to have a cute little book where the story doesn't focus on the character's bad attitude, but chooses instead to focus on her love for her sweet, sneaky pony! My daughter is in 2nd grade but reads on a 5th grade level so this was an easy, quick read for her.