The Silver Gate by Kristin Bailey

May8

This middle grade novel has a medieval, feudal setting, and the author kept me guessing all the way through as to whether it would turn out to be fantasy/fairy tale or realistic fiction. In the story, Elric must take care of his sister Wynnfrith after their mother’s death and protect her from the villagers who think that because Wynn is mentally handicapped, she is a changeling child, switched at birth by the fairies and therefore cursed. The narrative follows the journey of the two children through the countryside as they look for a safe home where they can live free of prejudice and persecution and where they can take care of one another.

The writing isn’t sparkly or impressive, but the plot and characterization, especially the characters of Elric and Wynn, carry the story. While I was reading I thought a lot about how we treat mentally handicapped or mentally challenged children and adults now in the supposedly enlightened twenty-first century. Throughout the book, while the majority of villagers and strangers treat Wynnfrith with contempt or else they fear her curse, Elric learns that she is a person with her own ideas and her own strengths and weaknesses, even if her ability to express those ideas is limited. And although the children meet with much cruelty and bullying, there are a few kind people who help them along the way.

For all the talk we give to “diversity” and “acceptance” and “tolerance” in our society, our actions speak louder than our words. How many children’s books and movies feature children of average or below average mental capacity? If the child in the book is autistic or differently abled in some other way, he or she must be a hidden or misunderstood genius, not just a kid of average abilities who again, has some strengths and some weaknesses.

Even worse though than the dearth of mentally handicapped kid characters in books is the disappearance of the actual kids themselves from our society. Although the majority of women who carry a baby with Down’s Syndrome continue to carry that baby to term and give birth, a significant minority (30-40%?) choose abortion. What are we as a society missing when we selectively choose death for the mentally challenged? What does it say about the human beings that we value and those that we don’t when a decision to abort a baby with Down’s Syndrome becomes acceptable and even laudable in the eyes of many people?

I don’t know that one children’s book can change the perception that devalues and degrades those among us who are learning disabled or mentally handicapped, but it’s a start. I would that there were more books like The Silver Gate, books that, without preaching, give mentally handicapped characters a place in literature and treat them with respect and dignity.

Summer Reading: High School

May6

Shaking the Nickel Bush by Ralph Moody. “Skinny and suffering from diabetes, Ralph Moody is ordered by a Boston doctor to seek a more healthful climate. Now nineteen years old, he strikes out into new territory hustling odd jobs, facing the problem of getting fresh milk and leafy green vegetables. He scrapes around to survive, risking his neck as a stunt rider for a movie company. With an improvident buddy named Lonnie, he camps out in an Arizona canyon and ‘shakes the nickel bush’ by sculpting plaster of paris busts of lawyers and bankers. This is 1918, and the young men travel through the Southwest not on horses but in a Ford aptly named Shiftless.” This book is the sixth book in a series of eight autobiographical novels by Ralph Moody, the author and protagonist who had to grow up fast after his father’s death when Ralph was only eleven years old. High schoolers may want to start with the fist book in the series, Little Britches, or just begin with this one, a gripping tale of a young man’s adventures and growth.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. High school is the right time to be introduced to Harper Lee’s great American novel. And then to the movie, which by my exacting standards is just as good as the novel. The story takes place over the course of more than one year, winter summer fall and spring, but it feels like a summertime novel, as Jem and Scout play with the summer visitor, and as they grow and learn about the realities of life in A good follow-up story is I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora, about a trio of rising ninth graders who spend the summer promoting TKAM and preparing for their big move to high school.

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. In the fictional account of the Philadelphia 1793 yellow fever epidemic, Fever 1793, Laurie Halse Anderson illustrates the deadly nature of yellow fever and its effects on the community with a story about Mattie Cook, a girl of fourteen who lives above a coffeehouse that provides her family’s livelihood. Since Mattie’s father is dead, Mattie’s mother, her grandmother, and the black cook, Eliza, run the coffeehouse, and Mattie and the serving girl, Polly, help. At the beginning of the book in August 1793, Mattie worries about her mother’s temper and about how to get a little extra sleep and avoid as much work as possible. By the end of the story, Mattie has been forced to take on adult responsibilities: nursing, providing food for her family, repelling thieves and intruders, and running the coffeehouse. Take a look at this post on Semicolon for more books about fevers, epidemics, and plagues.

Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins. Light summer reading. Fifteen year old Jazz Gardner’s mom tells her that the family is going to spend the summer in India, helping out at the orphanage that Mrs. Gardner lived in before she was adopted. And at about the same time, Jazz realizes that her feelings for Steve, her longtime business partner, have turned into something more than just platonic friendship. Unfortunately, there’s no indication from Steve that he sees Jazz as anything but a friend and a partner. And other girls are after Steve. And the business needs her. And who wants to go to India, anyway?

A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle. I love Madeleine L’Engle, and Ring of Endless Light is one of my favorites. The Austin family is spending the summer with Vicky’s grandfather who is dying. As Vicky writes her poetry and deals with her grief over her grandfather, she also finds friendship and maybe even romance with three very different boys: Zachary, the wild romantic; Leo, an old friend; and Adam, the dolphin researcher.

Summer Moonshine by P.G. Wodehouse. Sir Buckstone Abbott is an English baron with a house he can’t keep up, so he rents out the rooms in Walsingford Hall to an odd assortment of boarders. Then, Sir Bucksone Abbott goes into debt, then into hiding, and leaves his daughter, Jane, to take care of things in his absence. Wodehousian romantic and monetary entanglements, confusion, and ridiculousness ensue. This one is not Bertie and Jeeves and not set at Blandings Castle, but it’s humor from 1937 that translates into the twenty-first century quite satisfactorily. Many high schoolers should be ready to be introduced to Wodehouse, especially those who became Anglophiles, as I did, while reading British children’s literature.

Nonfiction for High School Reading:

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. Subtitled “Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics”, this narrative nonfiction book is for anyone interested in sports stories in general, rowing in particular, the rise of Nazism, the 1930’s, Olympic history, and just plain inspirational stories of perseverance and courage.

Miracle at Philadelphia by Catherine Drinker Bowen. “Over Philadelphia, the air lay hot and humid: old people said it was the worst summer since 1750. . . . In the Pennsylvania State House, which we call Independence Hall, some fifty-five delegates, named by the legislatures of twelve states (Rhode Island balked, refusing attendance) met in convention, and during a summer of hard work and high feeling wrote out a plan of government which they hoped the states would accept, and which they entitled The Constitution of the United States of America.” Catherine Drinker Bowen tells readers, teens and adults as well, all about what took place in “the room where it happened” during that summer of 1787.

Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins. The true story of a young man who decided to walk across the country from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific in search of . . . himself? Meaning? Patriotism? It’s a great story, and I absolutely loved living vicariously through Mr. Jenkins’ journey through the United States of 1979. (Jenkins only made it to New Orleans in the first book, so there’s a sequel, The Walk West.)

More Summer Reading ideas:

Summer Reading, Summer Setting.
Summer Reading: 52 Picks for the Hols.
June: Death in Summer.
Summer Reading: 2006.
Summer Reading List: Summer After High School.

Summer Reading: Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Grades

May5

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. Originally published in 1930, this book is the first in a series of books about a group of adventurous children and a sailboat. Swallows and Amazons introduces the Walker children—John, Susan, Titty, and Roger—their camp on Wild Cat island, the able-bodied catboat Swallow, and their frenemies the two intrepid Amazons, Nancy and Peggy Blackett. The children are living the free range kids’ dream as they camp all by themselves on a small island, cook their own meals, sail their boat up and down the lake, and engage in all sorts of mock-battles and adventures. Sailing, fishing, swimming, camping and piracy form the subject matter, and free-spirited, fun-loving, independent children are the characters.

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson. Twelve year old Henry York is sleeping in his room in his cousins’ house in Kansaswhen he hears a bump on the attic wall above his head. He tries to ignore the sound in this strange-to-him house, but the next night he can’t ignore the two knobs that protrude through the ceiling: one of them is slowly turning . . . It may looks like a cupboard, in an odd place, but Henry and his cousin Henrietta soon learn that the “cupboards” are really doors to another world. This book is the first in a trilogy of fantasy adventures with lots of cupboard doors to explore.

The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars. Fourteen Sara Godfrey feels responsible for her younger brother, Charlie, since Charlie is mentally handicapped and sometimes the victim of bullies who make fun of his disability. When Charlie gets lost, it is Sara who must find him and bring him home. But she needs help. Can the boy whom she despises because he stole Charlie’s watch be the one who helps her find her brother in the end?

Kavik the Wolf Dog by Walter Morey. “When Andy Evans stumbles upon the snow-covered wreckage of a small plane, he’s shocked to find a survivor. Should he put the gravely injured dog out of his misery? The look in the animal’s eyes says he’s not ready to die. It turns out that Kävik’s a champion sled dog, and soon he makes a full recovery. When his rightful owner finds out Kävik is alive, he wants the dog back. But Kävik has other ideas.”

Holes by Louis Sachar. Stanley Yelnats is sent to a juvenile delinquent camp for a crime he didn’t commit. Call it bad luck. The curse of the Yelnats family. Every day the boys are sent into the hot Texas sun to dig holes. It’s supposed to build character, but Stanley soon discovers that there’s more than character development going on at Camp Green Lake.

Ash Road by Ivan Southall. This one takes place in January, summertime in Australia. A small group of children are cut off by a raging wildfire in the wilds of the Australian outback. They have only two elderly adults to help them, or perhaps it is the children who must help each other to get them all out of danger.

Summer is also an excellent season for nonfiction readers to find just the right books for encouraging their particular hobby or interest. Here are a few nonfiction suggestions, but really, nonfiction covers the world and everything in it. If my library patrons will let me know what they’re interested in exploring this summer, chances are I’ve got a book for that!

The Swamp Fox of the Revolution by Stewart H. Holbrook. In summertime, thoughts in the United States turn to freedom, and the Declaration of Independence, and the American fight for independence. We often think first of George Washington and thomas Jefferson and the other “founding fathers”, and I have a quite an array of good books about those men and events. However, Frances Marion, The Swamp Fox, is a lesser known hero of the Revolution, but one who should appeal to kids who like to read about war and dashing exploits. “With little assistance, he organized a group of backwoodsmen into a fighting brigade that carried on an almost private war against the redcoats and Tories during the American Revolution. Marion’s daring raids on their outposts and supply trains so troubled the British, who could never catch him, that in time they called him The Swamp Fox.”

Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis. Journalist Richard Tregaskis was with the U.S. Marines when they landed on the Japanese-held island of Guadalcanal in August, 1942. He was “embedded” with the troops before that was a thing. Mr. Tregaskis spent seven weeks dodging enemy snipers and sharpshooters, eating military rations, sleeping in tents, and chronicling in his diary the island’s takeover by American forces. Guadalcanal Diary is a classic in World War II nonfiction and just the book for challenging your World War II-obsessed child to read over the summer.

Light Action! Amazing Experiments With Optics by Vicki and Josh Cobb. Maybe your middle grade nonfiction reader is more interested in science than in war and revolution. Light Action will give the reader lots of ideas for summer science fun. The young scientist can learn about and experiment with blocking light, bending light, bouncing light, prisms and color, making light waves, polarized light and light waves. These experiments might keep a middle schooler busy for a good part of the summer, using only a few simple materials and pieces of equipment: aluminum foil, paper, glass jars and bowls, a magnifying glass, a light source, sunshine, etc.

Experimenting With Time by Robert Gardner. Or if experiments in light and optics are not your thing, then maybe time and time-keeping devices would be of interest. Investigate body temperature, heart rate, breathing rate and how they relate to time and time measurement. Build an analemma, a water clock, or a sundial. Measure velocity or reaction time. Some of these experiments and demonstrations are a little complicated and require more specialized equipment, but for kids who are interested in the way time works, this book is a treasure trove.

Steven Caney’s Kids’ America. Maybe you just need an all-purpose, stave off boredom, project and information book full of activities, tales, legends, and adventures—enough for the entire summer and more. Tap dancing, magic weather forecasting, panning for gold, hobo sign language, genealogy, frog jumping, jug bands, gardening, whittling, game night and as I said, more. I love exploring this book. It’s sort of like Pinterest, but much more manageable, written for kids, and computer-free.

Summer Reading: Fourth and Fifth Grades

May4

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. The link goes to an interview with my then-eight year old daughter about her impressions of this award-winning book about India Opal Buloni, her smiling dog, and her preacher daddy. First line: “My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog.”

Some Summer by Jean Vandevenne. Charlie Scott and his friends decide to use their summer vacation and some scrap lumber, nails, and some old tools to build a clubhouse. But Aunt Essie comes to visit from Florida, and she has other plans for Charlie’s time and energies. It’s going to be “some summer” if all Charlie gets to do is mow grass and pull weeds for Aunt Essie!

Half Magic by Edward Eager. What if you found a magic coin that gave you only half of what you wished for—half invisibility, half of a rescue, halfway to wherever you wished to go? Four siblings—Jane, Mark, Katharine, and Martha— do find such a coin, and it propels them into a summer full of adventure and imagination and humor and plain fun.

Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright. Summer has a magic all its own, but this summer is different in many ways. Portia Blake and her younger brother Foster are going to the same place they always go in the summer, to visit their cousin Julian. However, this summer they’re going all by themselves while their parents spend the summer in Europe. And this summer Portia and Julian discover a deserted resort town next to a nearly dried up lake. And this summer the children also become friends with the eccentric Minnehaha Cheever and Pindar Payton, elderly sister and brother who are the only inhabitants of the ghost town across the lake. What other “magic” will the children conjure up as they listen to tales of long ago and explore the remains of Gone-Away Lake?

Leepike Ridge by N.D. Wilson. My then-ten year old son’s review of this Tom Sawyer-like tale. This take-off on Tom Sawyer, Robinson Crusoe, and The Odyssey should appeal to boys especially. It has caves, tunnels, hidden treasure, wild water rafting, and wilderness (sort of) survival. There are bad guys, good guys, dead guys, blood, raw food, and near-dismemberment. What more could a boy want in a book? (Girls, too)

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit. “The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning.” So begins the timeless (really, timeless) tale of Winne Foster who stumbles up on a family, the Tucks, who have discovered the secret of eternal life. Would you want to live forever? Would it be a blessing or a curse to never grow old, never die?

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall. The Penderwick sisters—Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty–along with their absent-minded professor father, are spending their vacation in a cottage called Arundel in the Berkshire Mountains. When they meet the boy next door, Jeffrey, they think they have found a a great new summer friend, but Jeffrey’s mother almost spoils both the friendship and the summer with her arrogant and overbearing ways. The Penderwicks are a delightful family, and Jeffrey does become a good friend, but it takes patience, joy, perseverance, and forgiveness to make the summer both memorable and exciting.

Rules by Cynthia Lord. Twelve year old Catherine just wants a few rules to be followed–for herself, but especially for her younger brother, David, who is autistic. Catherine wants her life to be normal. She also wants a friend, but “normal” and friendship and David may not fit together, may not follow the rules that Catherine has written in her little notebook. Then, she meets Jason, a paraplegic, who does therapy at the same clinic as David and Kristi, the girl next door. Can one or both of them be the friends she has been looking for?

Some kids just prefer nonfiction reading. Don’t make them read all fiction when they are more enamored of the true stories that surround us.

In Woods and Fields by Margaret Waring Buck. This book takes the reader on a walk through the woods and fields in each of the four seasons “to look for wild flowers and to watch the birds and other mammals.” Nature exploration at its best.
In Yards and Gardens by Margaret Waring Buck. Ms. Buck describes all of the most common birds, trees, flowers, vegetables, insects, and mammals that are found in typical yards and gardens. This book is a treasure for the budding naturalist.

Sketching Outdoors in Summer by Jim Arnosky. Nature lovers and artists will enjoy the encouragement and illustration that this book by prolific nature artist Jim Arnosky has to offer. “These summer sketches are about things I love doing, as well as things I enjoy drawing,” says Mr. Arnosky, as he shares pencil sketches of garden, pastures, woods and pond.

Hobby Collections A-Z by Roslyn W. Salny. Summer is a great time to start a hobby or maybe a collection. This older book gives kids lots of ideas for starting a new collection from buttons to keys to leaves to playing cards. At the end of the book, there is an “A-Z List of Additional Things to Collect.” The book is pre-internet, and some of the suggestions about where to find items for your collection reflect that low-tech approach. But that’s all to the good, as far as I’m concerned. Kids have plenty of time to get connected; why not give them a book with some non-internet, low technology things to do. Like collecting coins or postmarks or roadmaps?

Summer Reading: Second and Third Grades

May3

Some homeschool moms asked me to make a set of summer reading lists for different age groups to help them choose books for a summer reading club. These are the books from my library that I chose to recommend. Maybe you can find a few titles that will be a welcome addition to your summer reading.

Thimbleberry Stories by Cynthia Rylant. Nigel Chipmunk lives on Thimbleberry Lane, and he visits his friends Dipper the hummingbird, Little Owl, Copper the butterfly, and Mudpuppy the salamander. The friends enjoy the days of summer with tea parties and gardening and picnics as they learn to know and help one another.

Mystery in the Pirate Oak by Helen Fuller Orton. Similar in style and reading level to The Boxcar Children series, the mysteries by Helen Fuller Orton are more intriguing and more varied in characters and plot than The Boxcar Children mysteries. Mystery in the Pirate Oak tells the story of Chad and Ellie Turner and their search for a missing silver box hidden long ago in the old oak tree in the nearby meadow. Grandmother Hale is hopeful that if the box could be found it might have something in it that would provide enough cash to fix her leaking roof and have the old house painted. Can Chad and Ellie find the sixty year old silver box before someone else does and before summer vacation is over?

Julian’s Glorious Summer by Ann Cameron. When Julian’s best friend Gloria rides up on her bicycle, Julian is not happy. He doesn’t know how to ride a bike, and he’s afraid to try. To get out of the situation, Julian claims that his father will be forcing him to work day and night for the entire summer. Unfortunately for Julian, his father hears about Julian’s story and decides to make it true. Julian will have work from dawn to dusk. How can such a mess of a summer become “glorious”? Read it and find out. There are several more books in this series about Julian and his family if this one hits the spot.

McBroom’s Wonderful One-Acre Farm by Sid Fleischman. Josh McBroom, teller of tall tales, has been deceived, cheated and bamboozled; his eighty acres of farmland turns out to be eighty acres stacked on top of one another—one acre square. But maybe there’s a good side. That one acre of topsoil is some of the best farmland anywhere, with soil so rich that seeds immediately spring up into plants and even nickels grow into quarters. Can McBroom and his wife Melissa and their family of eleven red-headed, freckle-faced youngsters make a fortune from his one-acre farm? This book includes three McBroom stories: McBroom Tells the Truth, McBroom and the Big Wind, and McBroom’s Ear. You can get these funny tall tales in individual volumes or all together in this one book. Either way, these tall tales are sure to tickle your funny bone.

In Aunt Lucy’s Kitchen by Cynthia Rylant. The Cobble Street Cousins, Lily, Rosie, and Tess, are staying with their Aunt Lucy for the summer. Their summer plans include a cookie company, which leads to their meeting all the neighbors and finding ways to brighten up the neighborhood. This series tells sweet stories about creative, community-minded girls doing fun and imaginative things together. It’s on the easier end of the scale as far as reading level is concerned, for those second and third graders who are still working on basic reading skills.

Penny Goes to Camp by Carolyn Haywood. Carolyn Haywood is an almost forgotten author who still has much to say to children in our day, even though her books were published in the 1940’s and 1950’s. In this one, nine year old adopted brothers Penny and Peter go to summer camp for the entire summer while their parents are away on an extended business trip. THe boys meet an Indian chief, go on camping trips in the woods, and participate in a pretend-circus and a boat crew race. Penny’s and Peter’s adventures are sure to spark lots of ideas for summer fun, even for those who don’t have the advantage of a summer camp like theirs.

Betsy’s Busy Summer by Carolyn Haywood. Another Carolyn Haywood gem in which Betsy and her neighborhood friends fill the hot summer days with fun and adventure. From watermelon party to lemonade stand to the next-door neighbor’s new swimming pool, these children find fun and friendship through the long, hot days of summer.

Some children just prefer nonfiction books about real people or animals or science topics or math or art. If so, don’t make them read ALL fiction just because that’s what is usually on the summer reading lists. Try some of the following titles to get nonfiction fans reading the stories that will make them smile.

Israel Putman: Fearless Boy by Augusta Stevenson.
Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer by Augusta Stevenson.
Tom Jefferson: Boy in Colonial Days by Helen Monsell.
Anthony Wayne: Daring Boy by Augusta Stevenson.
Dan Morgan: Wilderness Boy by Bernice Bryant.
Molly Pitcher: Young Patriot by Augusta Stevenson.
Betsy Ross: Designer of Our Flag by Ann Weil.
These patriotic biographies are all titles from the series Childhood of Famous Americans, and they’re perfect for summer reading, especially the particular titles listed here since the Fourth of July holiday turns minds toward American independence and the Revolutionary War just in the middle of the summer. As he series title indicates, these somewhat fictionalized biographies emphasize the childhood of these famous Americans (and many more), but there is some reference to their adult accomplishments. And the reading level is just right for confident second and third grade readers. I can imagine a summer project for avid readers to read as many of the books in this series as they can find, but they won’t run out since there are over two hundred titles in the series.

All Upon a Stone by Jean Craighead George.
All Upon a Sidewalk by Jean Craighead George.
These two short books pack a lot of story and a lot of information into a small package. All Upon a Stone chronicles the adventures of a tiny mole cricket as he crawls to the top of a big stone in the woods beside a stream. All Upon a Sidewalk is about a yellow, Lasius flavus, who has a mission to perform for the queen ant. Both books give naturalists a new viewpoint as they look at the world from the perspective of a tiny insect.

Summer Reading: Kindergarten and First Grade

May2

Some homeschool moms asked me to come up with a set of reading lists for a summer reading club they are planning to host. Actually, there will be several “clubs” for different age groups. So, this list of ten of the best easy readers and easy reader series is for children coming out of kindergarten or first grade, emergent readers who are just beginning to read independently. If you can help these children find a favorite series of books, a favorite author or a favorite subject or genre, they will devour that particular set of books, get lots of reading practice, and go on to become confident readers. Therefore, many of these books are part of a series or a set.

The Secret Three by Mildred Myrick. Three boys form a secret club together, with a secret handshake, signals, and coded messages. They explore the beach and the lighthouse and become great friends over the course of the summer.

Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. Nate the Great uses all the clues on the beach to find Oliver’s boring, disappearing beach bag. If you like this Nate the Great mystery, there are many more books in the series, beginning with the one titled simply Nate the Great.

Harry by the Sea by Gene Zion. Similar to Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag, Harry the Dog finds that it is easy to get lost on the beach. There are three or four Harry books, beginning with Harry the Dirty Dog.

Suprises: poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins. An easy-to-read book full of poems, many of which are quite appropriate for summer, including “In August” by Marchette Chute, “Change in the Weather” by Ilo Orleans, and “Sun for Breakfast” by Norma Farber. Lee Bennett Hopkins has edited and collected several small books of simple kid-friendly poetry for the rhyme and rhythm loving kids among us.

Dodsworth in London by Tim Egan. Dodsworth (the mole) and his friend the Duck visit London via hot air balloon. Unfortunately, the Duck is lost, confused with another duck, and Scotland Yard must be called to save the day. Other books in this easy reader series are Dodsworth in Tokyo, Dodsworth in Rome, Dodsworth in New York, and Dodsworth in Paris.

Least of All by Carol Purdy. Raven Hannah, the youngest child in her large farm family, is always told that she’s not big enough to help and to do the things she wants to do. So, Raven Hannah uses the summer days while her parents and brothers and grandmother are all busy to teach herself to read the Bible—proving that she is big enough to do something special.

Little Bear’s Friend by Else Holmelund Minarik. “One summer Little Bear makes friends with a girl named Emily. But when summer ends, Emily must leave. Little Bear is very sad—until he finds a way to stay close to his new friend even when she is far away!” All of the Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik are delightful, but this one is a particularly poignant reminder of the brevity of summer and the strength of friendship.

Some children just prefer nonfiction books about animals or science topics or math or art. If so, don’t make them read ALL fiction just because that’s what is usually on the summer reading lists. Try some of the following titles to get your nonfiction fans reading the stories that will appeal the most.

Fireflies in the Night by Judy Hawes. A boy captures fireflies in a jar and learns all about them when he visits his grandparents on summer nights.

Let’s Get Turtles (A Science I Can Read Book) by Millicent E. Selsam. Billy and Jerry decide on a turtle as a pet, and they learn to feed and care for their turtle. Lots of information about turtles is woven into the story of two boys and heir new pet.

Terry and the Caterpillars (A Science I Can Read Book) by Millicent E. Selsam. Terry finds a caterpillar, and her mother helps her to deduce and investigate the needs and

All of the above are librarian and kid-tested, high interest, and easy to read. If your rising kindergartener or first grader is reading beyond the beginning reader stage, take a look at tomorrow’s summer reading list for second and third graders.

Saturday Review of Books: April 29, 2017

Apr28

“I hate to read new books. Contemporary writers may generally be divided into two classes: one’s friends or one’s foes. Of the first we are compelled to think too well, and of the last we are disposed to think too ill, to receive much genuine pleasure from the perusal, or to judge fairly of the merits of either.” ~William Hazlitt

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Texas History: A Brief Tour

Apr27

A couple of homeschool moms asked me to put together a reading list for Texas history so that they could do a (brief) literature-based Texas history unit. Well, the list grew a little longer than the request, but here are a few not-to-be-missed gems for children and adults who are making their way through Texas’s colorful and fascinating history.

TEXAS Unit Study:

Indians Who Lived in Texas by Betsy Warren. This is a nonfiction book, only 46 pages, but it is an introduction to the study that gives students a good overview of the Native Texans who lived here before the coming of the European explorers.

Walk the World’s Rim by Betty Baker. Read aloud fiction about the tragic story of a Native American boy named Chakoh and of Esteban, the slave who accompanied Coronado on his search for the Seven Lost Cities of Cibola.

Easter Fires by Wilma Pitchford Hays. A fictionalized version of the beginning of the custom of lighting bonfires at Easter time among the Indians of the Southwest. This short book also tells the story of how the Tonkawas were introduced to the wonderful story of Easter and of God’s son, Jesus.

Biography of early Texas heroes. Choose one (or read them all):
For younger children, grades 1-3:
A Picture Book of Davy Crockett by David Adler.
Davy Crockett: Young Rifleman by Aileen Wells Parks.
Stephen F. Austin: The Son Becomes Father of Texas by Mary Dodson Wade.

For older children, grades 4-8:
Wilderness Pioneer: Stephen F. Austin of Texas by Carol Hoff.
Make Way for Sam Houston by Jean Fritz
James Bowie by Shannon Garst.
Texas Yankee: The Story of Gail Borden by Nina Brown Baker.

Johnny Texas by Carol Hoff. “In the early days of Texas history, ten-year-old Johann comes from Germany with his family to settle in this vast land and soon grows to love his new home.” In the sequel, Johnny Texas on the San Antonio Road, Johnny travels over 600 miles to Mexico and back on the old San Antonio Road.

Nonfiction about the Alamo: Remember the Alamo by Robert Penn Warren OR Inside the Alamo by Jim Murphy OR The Valiant Few by Lon Tinkle.

Head to the West by Carol Hoff. Early German immigrant settlers come to Texas through the port of Galveston.

Caleb’s Choice by G. Clifton Wisler. In 1858 Caleb Dulaney feels an obligation to help the runaway slave who saved his life even though the Fugitive Slave Law makes it a crime to assist a runaway slave. Mr. Wisler wrote several other good books set in frontier days in Texas. If you like this one, check out Buffalo Moon or Winter of the Wolf or All for Texas.

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Classic boy and dog story takes place just after the Civil War.

Texas Rangers: Legendary Lawmen by Michael Spradlin. This picture book packs in a lot of story and information about the men who were Texas Rangers. I have a couple of other books that are longer with more stories about the Rangers for kids who are particularly interested: The Texas Rangers (Landmark history) by Will Henry and The Real Book about the Texas Rangers by Allyn Allen.

Cowboys of the Wild West by Russell Freedman (nonfiction) OR The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones by Helen Hemphill (fiction). Cowboy life and times.

Galveston’s Summer of the Storm by Julie Lake. (fiction) The Galveston hurricane of 1900, still the deadliest single-day event in U.S. history.

Moonshiner’s Gold by John Erickson. Fourteen year old Riley and his younger brother discover moonshiners have set up a still in a deserted canyon on their family property. How can they protect their single mother, outwit the outlaws, and get them to leave without violence? Great action-packed adventure with engaging characters and a lot of history sneaking in through the back door. John Erickson is known for his Hank the Cowdog series, but this stand-alone adventure is just a good as the Hank books and should be just the right reading level for most sixth graders.

I know that’s more than the five books than the mom who started all of this Texas history listing asked me for. And I have lots more great Texas living books on my shelf: Texas Tomboy by Lois Lenski, Winnie’s War by Jenny Moss, We Were There at the Battle of the Alamo by Margaret Cousins, Holes by Louis Sachar, The Underneath by Kathie Appelt . . . OK, I’ll stop.

Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!

Henry and the Chalk Dragon by Jennifer Trafton

Apr26

“Henry Penwhistle’s bedroom door was the sort of door where adventures began.”

And that’s the sort of first sentence that makes me think that this book is going to be a great adventure. Immediately, I am reminded of a wardrobe door into Narnia, or Bilbo Baggins’ front door that led him out onto the road to all sorts of interesting and dangerous places.

“And one day, on top of all the ghostly shapes and squiggles and smears, Henry drew a dragon. . . . [I]t made him think of exotic creatures and perilous places. This dragon was everything a dragon should be: fierce and fearsome and full of fire.”

A door and a dragon. Yes, this story is definitely headed in the right direction.

“[H]e whirled past the overflowing book chest with its stirred-up soup of favorite stories–stories about wild things and unlikely heroes, chocolate factories and tiny motorcycles, buried giants and mock turtles.”

Did you get all of those kidlit allusions? If not, you need to read some more very good children’s books.

I could go on for a long time, quoting sentences and passages from this awesome, adventurous, artistic story and then commenting about how awesome, adventurous, and artistic each quotation was, but now I’m only on page three. And the book has 223 powerful pages. So if I quoted from every page this blog post would become a book—a partially plagiarized, partially fangirling, bloggy book. And you don’t really want to read that when you could be reading Henry and the Chalk Dragon.

Suffice it to say, Henry draws a chalk dragon on the back of his door, but he’s not prepared for the chaos that ensues when the chalk dragon comes alive and goes to school with him. The plot is rather dream-like, for lack of a better word; the things that happen are kind of random, don’t always fit together or follow strict rules, but I didn’t care. The writing is just so good, lots of memorable descriptions and quotes, but not overwritten in the way I felt last year’s Girl Who Drank the Moon sometimes was. And Henry and the Chalk Dragon feels like a children’s book, not trying to push the envelope into YA territory. But it also doesn’t talk down to its intended audience; the story talks about important things like the difference between “real” and “true”, and the importance of friendship and chivalry and art, and what to do when you’re afraid (BE BRAVE) or laughed at (FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT), and the many different kinds of smiles. Oh, and the allusions to classic children’s books are a delight.

I read the book, and then I wanted to go back to the beginning and read it again. But I waited about a week to let the new wear off (or come back again), and now I’m reading Henry and the Chalk Dragon for the second time. I’ll just leave you with few more excerpts to whet your appetite, and then you can be done with this very long, but real blog post, and you too can go and read the truly admirable, original, and applauded Henry and the Chalk Dragon.

“Dragons aren’t scary—well, they are, but they’re a good kind of scary. They’re the kind of scary you want to be scared of. People are the bad kind of scary, he thought. Dragons can only eat you, but people can laugh at you, and that is like being chewed to death by a smile.”

“There is a kind of fear that squeezes your heart with an icy hand and freezes you into a popsicle. But there is another kind of fear that is thrilling and hot, that makes your fingers tingle and your toes tickle each other inside your shoes until you want to leap over the Empire State Building. Henry was afraid with this kind of fear, and it felt good.”

“Miss Pimpernel had at least a hundred different kinds of smiles. Henry thought she must keep them in her gigantic purple purse and pull them out at night to count them, like a pirate grinning as she counted her pieces of silver. She could be his teacher for ten years, and he would never finish learning all the names of all of her smiles. Right now she was wearing her Be-Nice-to-Me-I-Haven’t-Had-My-Coffee smile, which wasn’t her happiest. Still, there were worse.”

“There are many things in this world that do not belong. A volcano does not belong in a bathroom. The Indian Ocean does not belong in Iowa. Ketchup does not belong on chocolate cake. But most, most of all, a teacher’s smile does not belong on the face of a fearsome dragon. When the You-Are-the-Apple-of-My-Eye smile is stretched between two glittering dragon eyes, believe me, you do not want to be the apple.”

Trust me. There’s much more fearsome, smiley, arty goodness where that came from.

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This book may be nominated for a Cybils Award, but the views expressed here are strictly my own and do not reflect or determine the judging panel’s opinions.