Sunday, April 4, 2010
Pirate's Treasure
Ancient Medicine
From Sorcery to Surgery
Tangerine
written by Edward Bloor
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Japan
Mary McLeod Bethune: Educator
Black Americans of Achievement
Alice: The Agony of Alice
A Year Down Yonder
written by Richard Peck
Friday, April 2, 2010
Loser
Coraline
written by Neil Gaiman
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1989
Genre: Children's nonfiction; biography
Reading Level: Ages 8-12
160 pages
This biography about President Lincoln is a really eye opening read about our historical president. The book starts with his childhood in Kentucky with harsh winters, farming, and very little schooling. It talks about how Lincoln was well liked and known to be comical. At the age of 23 he decided to run for Illinois state legislature. His first political run, and he lost. In the next section of the book it talks about Lincoln teaching himself how to practice law and the many other elections he ran for, some he got, most he didn't. It also talks about his marriage to Mary Todd on November 4, 1842. It goes on to talk about his children, all boys who weren't disciplined because is Lincoln's eyes they were perfect. The next section of the book talks about the slavery conflict, North versus South, and Lincoln's stance to not halt it but do what he can to keep it from spreading. Lincoln is elected president and enacts the emancipation proclamation. The next section talks about the Civil War after the South breaks off. It talks about how Lincoln participated and reacted to all the different battles. The book ends with the story about Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865 in the Ford's theater. Then there are a bunch of interesting quotes from Lincoln that really show his character.
I would recommend this book to a child interested in history.
I feel that the only controversy that could come from this book would be parents complaining about the graphic pictures of the war scenes.
I really liked this book, i don't usually like history books, but this one really enticed me. It was really nice to know that Lincoln was human, and definitely didn't succeed at everything he attempted to do.
My rating 4 out of 5
Love That Dog
written by Sharon Creech
The Greatest War Stories Never Told
100 tales from military history to astonish, bewilder, & stupefy
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Littles Go Exploring
written by John Peterson
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Why Didn't I Think of That? From Alarm Clocks to Zippers
Written by Webb Garrison
The Wizard of Oz
written by L. Frank Baum
William Kidd and the Pirates of the Indian Ocean
written and illustrated by John Malam
Monday, March 29, 2010
Cinderhazel
The Foggy Foggy Forest
written and illustrated by Nick Sharratt
Our Song, Our Toil
The Giver
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Written and Illustrated by Brian Selznick
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of the Beauty and the Beast
written by Robin McKinley
The Great Gilly Hopkins
Written by Katherine Paterson
Gilly is introduced into her new foster home of Maime Trotter and her other foster son William Ernest.
MaimeTrotter does everything she can to make Gilly happy and feel at home but Gilly rebels, is rude, and angry. Gilly dreams of her mother coming to save her from this miserable place as she stares at the only picture she has from her mom. Trotter turns out to be very religious and doesn’t tolerate some of Gilly’s language, or her making fun of William Ernest. Mr. Randolph, the black blind neighbor comes over for dinner, and Gilly acts very prejudice towards him saying she has never touched one of “those” people and doesn’t want to help him walk. Gilly does everything she can to attempt to take control of the house, through manipulation and deceit. Gilly starts school, her teacher is black and Gilly starts hatching the same plan as she has in previous schools, to do her very best and impress the teachers then stop trying and really frustrates everyone. One day Gilly gets a postcard from her mom and dreams even more about her mom coming to get her, or getting enough money to get to her other herself
One day Gilly is asked to go get a book from Mr. Randolphs house to read to everyone and she stumbles across some money and begins to hatch a plan to get the rest. Gilly ends up using William Ernest to get into Mr. Randolphs to get more of the money, which doesn’t turn out to be very much. Gilly starts to notice looks of caring from Trotter, and she doesn’t know how she feels about it and continues to daydream about her mother. Gilly continues to harass her teacher even going as far as making a card that was very insulting, but the teacher being very witty thanks GIlly for finally making her anger come to the surface. Gilly also continues with her plan to find more money in Mr. Randolph’s house, by offering to clean it for him, and since he can’t see her she searches for the money. Out of frustration of not finding any more money she writes her mother complaining about the horrible situation she is in, she exaggerates quite a bit hoping her mother will come save her. Gilly gets desperate and steals money from Trotter and runs away to buy a ticket to go see her mother, unfortunately she gets caught and taken to the police station where Trotter and W.E. pick her up and GIlly only agrees to come with Trotter as W.E. begs and screams and cries for her to come home. After the incident Miss Ellis, a social worker, fights with Trotter about taking Gilly away but Trotter refuses. Trotter makes GIlly return the money and work off the money she gave away, Gilly seems to gain more respect for Trotter and W.E. and Gilly start bonding as Gilly starts teaching him to box and stand up for himself. Trotter, W.E. and Mr. Randolph all get sick and Gilly tends to them, unfortunately around this same time Gilly’s grandmother, who she’s never before met, stops by to check on her because of the letter that Gilly sent to her mom, she leaves promising Gilly that she’ll get her out of there, and Gilly realizes she doesn’t want to leave. Soon after, Gilly is forced to go live with her grandmother, and she finally meets her mom and realizes that her mom doesn’t want her and doesn’t care about her. She continues to stay in contact with Trotter and W.E. and makes the most out of her new life telling them that she is really happy.
I would recommend this to all children.
I'm sure this book is very controversial because of Gilly's behavior, language, prejudice, and other vices.
Part of me really enjoyed this book, and the other wasn't impressed. I thought it was well written and entertaining, but I've liked other books more in the past dealing with the same topics.
My rating: 3 out of 5
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Voyager:An Adventure through Space
Written by John Gustafson
Are You My Rabbit?
Written by Julie Vogel
Children Just Like Me
Full Title: Children Just Like Me-A Unique Celebration of Children Around the World.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Story of Ruby Bridges
Written by Robert Coles