The Ember Stone: A Branches Book (The Last Firehawk #1) (1)

My son (age 5) absolutely loves these books. He is a pretty early reader so sometimes books can be over his head or too scary for him, but he was obsessed with these books from the beginning. He let our 9 year old neighbor read them who wasn’t really interested in reading and his mom said it was pulling teeth to get him to read chapter books. When he started reading these, he couldn’t put them down. His mom couldn’t get him to play outside because all he wanted to do was read this series! My niece (age 7) also borrowed this series and is also obsessed and wants to “start a book club” to talk about this series! I cannot say enough good things about it! Kids of all ages rave about it and gets them interested in reading!! Worth every penny I spent on the whole series and there are a lot of kids anxious for the next book to come out!

{My thoughts} – This is a new series to me through the Branches beginner chapter books that have been released through Scholastic. I wasn’t quite so sure about it because at first glance it appears to be a book geared more specifically towards boys. However, I quickly learned that the story within the pages can be geared towards both boys and girls as long as they are interested in reading about an adventure. Tag is an owl that dreams to be one of the owls of Valor. He wants to be able to fight for the animals and do what he feels is right and brave. Him and his friend Skyla end up going on a mission to save an egg from some bats that are very bad. They work with a Vulture names Thorn and Thorn is after a stone called the Ember Stone. The egg they rescue happens to hatch and out pops a baby Firehawk, the last of its kind. According to the story the Firehawk, that becomes known as Blaze, is the only animal that can actually locate the stone. Eventually, Tag, Skyla and Blaze go on an adventure to try and find it before Thorn can. If you’d like to know what happens you’ll need to read the book. I really enjoyed this story and the illustrations that go along with it. I am sure that and child that enjoys reading about animals and adventures will also enjoy the book and it’s series.

This book was great because it felt like you were there. It gave you some options to imagine what the next book will be like. It was very imaginative. I liked the adventures. It had great word pictures. I liked the fire hawks. If you like fantasy, I recommend this book.I love how there’s different pieces of the stone which will lead to different books in the series.

My almost 6 year old began this series a month ago. It was a slow start but by the third book he was hooked and we had to slow him down. He would read to his Dad and then beg to read to me before bed. He did not want to stop. Books 8 and 9 arrived today. He saw them in the car, opened them, and started reading. He read both books in one day and noticed that there is a 10th book. It is on pre-order. This is a great series for fantasy fans.

My child who loves the dragon masters series absolutely loved this book.

I have a rising 2nd grader who just turned 7, and she is supposed to be reading for 15-20 minutes a day over the summer. I can get her to read, but it often feels like she's just trying to get it over with and get back to playing. This is a series she is excited about. She finishes one chapter and does not want to stop. She reads for 20 minutes and then comes back later the same day wanting to read more. She reads a chapter to me and then I read a chapter aloud to her. I barely pay attention to the story, but she's really in to it, so I have to give it 5 stars.

My adventurous 8-year old daughter enjoyed this book! Owls in armor, what more could you want?

Kids love these books

This is the first book my 7 year-old has shown an interest in reading to herself. It's fun and straightforward.

We had already read two different unrelated Scholastic book series. Scholastic first chapter books work for us as they have lots of pictures (usually one per page) and yet the storyline is always captivating. We want to introduce chapter books without many pictures, but these books are perfect for the transition from picture books to chapter books (picture books are rather expensive if you need a new one every night). They LOVE the characters and even more so LOVE guessing what will happen next. Whenever possible we use the Kindle edition and broadcast it to our TV via our Amazon Firebox (via wireless projection) so that everyone can see the text and the pictures. Unfortunately not all the books are available for Amazon Kindle, so some books we had to buy as hard paper and we are running out of space in our bookshelves as we have sooo many books, so we prefer electronic copies. Electronic copies also allow us to share it onto their Amazon Fire tablets for kids. Again, loved all of our kids and we have different ages and "grasp of the world".

Loves these early chapter book series. I purchased it for a six year old. The reading is pretty easy to moderate for a six year old. Loves the series

This book is gorgeous. Designed for younger readers who are just starting to read alone, the fantasy story is fun and easy to read, and every page is packed with the most beautiful illustrations. Well worth seeking out.

My son really enjoyed this series. It's a great introduction to the genre of fantasy while still being appropriate for kids. Maybe a little scary for kids under 5.