Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Tale of Despereaux


The Tale of Despereaux
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Publisher: Cambridge, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2003.

Plot Description:
            The Tale of Despereaux is the story of a tiny, big-eared mouse who was born with bigger dreams than just being a regular mouse.  He doesn’t want to do regular mouse activities, but instead wants to listen to music and be with his true love, the Princess Pea.  Unfortunately, the other mice can’t understand his desires, and banish him to the dungeon.  It is here he becomes entangled in Roscuro the rat’s evil plan to punish the Princess for a chain of events that banished him forever to the basement and must find the courage he has lacked to save her.

Review:
            This book is a great take on a fairy tale.  The book is very well written, and introduces a lot of new vocabulary to younger readers.  Its narrative engages the reader and encourages them to try to understand the background and reasons behind each characters actions.  It is a fun story about courage and how our actions have consequences beyond what we might imagine. 

Genre: Fantasy

Reading level: 5-6th Grade


Reader’s Advisory:
Personal thoughts-  A fun adventure filled read
Subjects/themes- Adventure, Fairy Tales, Mice, Courage
Awards- 2004 Newberry Medal
Character names/descriptions-
            Dexpereaux Tilling- a tiny big eared mouse who falls in love with the Princess Pea and has to save her
            Princess Pea- the beautiful princess of the kingdom
            Roscuro- a rat who wanted to live in light, but his search for it creates the tragedy that leads to the adventures of Despereaux
            Miggery Sow- a young girl who wants to be a princess, and is led astray by Roscuro
           
Annotation: The story of how one small mouse battled enormous odds to save his true love.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

The Giver

The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

Plot Description:
            Jonas is born into a world where everything is the same. Every family has a mother, father, daughter and son.  Every child goes to school each day and learns their lessons.  Each year marks a new skill learned and a new priviledge given.  No one is ever hungry or has ever known pain.  Everyone wears the same exact clothing and follows all the rules, and everyone is happy.  But when Jonas is selected to become the new Receiver, he meets the Giver, a man who keeps all the memories of a time before sameness.  It is through the Giver that Jonas begins to realize that this world without pain and suffering means a world without real joy or love, a world without humanity.  He and the Giver realize that this type or living can’t benefit the society any longer, and find a way to change things for all.

Review:
            A fantastic book about the choices society makes.  It also really illustrates excellent points about the human condition.  Without pain, we can’t truly appreciate joy, and without hate we can’t truly understand love.  This book shows that while living without certain feelings might be more ideal, because who wants to feel suffering or watch a loved one die, it is a part of what makes us human.  One can’t streamline life, because to do so would take out what makes it most important.  Being an individual and seeing the world for both the good and the bad is what makes life worth living.  Excellently written, thought provoking not only for younger teens but also for those that are older.

Genre: Science Fiction

Reading level: 6th Grade

Similar Books: Bridge to Terabithia

Reader’s Advisory:
Personal thoughts-  Having read this as a child, and then reread it for this course, I found it to be even more thought provoking.  Definitely a book to have a discussion about
Subjects/themes- Society, Relationships, Social Situations, Fiction
Awards- The 1994 Newbery Medal, 1996 William Allen White Award
Character names/descriptions-
            Jonas- 12 years old, is selected to be the next Receiver, a great honor
            Giver- The old receiver of the group, he is entrusted with all the memories of the society, and must pass them to Jonas, along with the wisdom to know what to do with them
Annotation: What would you do if you alone knew what the color red looked like?

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Author: E. L. Konigsburg
Publisher: New York :, Atheneum, 1967.

Plot Description:
            Eldest child Claudia, feeling underappreciated for all her hard work helping with chores and taking care of her brothers, decides to run away on a grand adventure to make her parents truly value everything she does.  Together with her younger brother Jamie, the financial whiz of the two, they take decide to hide in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It is here they discover a beautiful statue, one who’s creator is a mystery.  They decide that their grand adventure would not be complete until they discover who created it, and learn more about themselves in the process.

Review:
            A classic book for many reasons.  Despite it taking place over 40 years ago, the sentiments of the well organized eldest child echo across generations.  It’s sparks ones sense of adventure while demonstrating that your problems don’t disappear if you do.  The overlying theme of the story, that we all are who we are regardless of where we are (or in Claudia’s case-once an organized oldest child, always an organized oldest child).  The concept of keeping ones individuality in the midst of whatever personality you have is one that will ring well with children of all ages.

Genre: Fiction

Reading level:  5th Grade

Similar Books: Island of the Blue Dolphins, A Wrinkle in Time

Reader’s Advisory:
Subjects/themes- Siblings, adventure, growing up
Awards- 1968 Newbery Medal; Library of Congress Children's Book of the Year; ALA Notable Children's Book.
Character names/descriptions-
Claudia- Oldest daughter, unappreciated for how wonderful she is, organizes every aspect of the trip and keeps younger brother Jamie in line
            Jamie- 3rd youngest child, financial whiz
Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler- mysterious seller of the statue who helps Jamie and Claudia return from their adventure with the knowledge that they had one
Annotation: A grand adventure, a mysterious statue, a brother and sister out to discover the truth!

Alabama Moon

Alabama Moon

Author: Watt Key
Publisher: New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2006.

Plot Description:
This book follows Moon, a young boy who was raised in the forest’s of Florida by his father.  When his father dies, he is faced with deciding whether or not to keep to the codes his father taught him –to distrust people and the government and to keep living in the forest on his own- or to learn to embrace the outside world he has had little contact with.  Along the way he learns that while there is both good and bad people and events in the outside world, the relationships he makes along the way are what make life worth living.

Review:
I thought that this book was extremely well written.  It is believably told from a 10 year olds point of view, albeit a very mature 10 year old in terms of survival skills and his own thought process.  The ways in which he learns to deal with loss and confronts a way of life that he has only glimpsed would be interesting to anyone.  I think that it is an excellently told story of the ways in which we must adapt to changing situations and learn to confront that what we have been taught is not always correct.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Reading level: 6th Grade

Similar Books: Hatchet

Reader’s Advisory:
Subjects/themes- survival, wilderness, loss, death, father-son relationships
Awards- CA Young Readers Award 2010
Character names/descriptions-
            Moon- Young orphan who grew up in the woods
            Kit- Friend Moon makes at boys facility who runs away with Moon for the adventure of a 
                    lifetime
            Hal- Bully at the boys facility who Moon befriends
            Wellington- Rich lawyer who builds a huge property in the woods near Moon’s house
            Sanders- The local constable who will stop at nothing to get Moon to jail
Annotation- A young boy learns to survive in the world after growing up in the wilderness.