Books, Reading, Libraries, and Learning Blog

Book Review of The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906   BIBLIOGRAPHY Yep, Lawrence. (2006). THE EARTH DRAGON AWAKES: THE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE OF 1906. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 9780060275259.   PLOT SUMMARY The Sing family and the Travis family live in 1906 San Francisco. Mr. Sing is employed as the servant of the Travis family. There is a good relationship between the families, and the sons of the families are best friends. The Sing family lives in Chinatown, and the Travis family lives in a different neighborhood on the other side of San Francisco. One morning there is a huge earthquake. It destroys the homes of both families and many others. Many people are killed and injured. Fires break out throughout the city. The Sing family and the Travis family end up finding shelter together. Eventually the fires are put out. The Travis family, the Sing family, and many other people begin r

Book Review of Dead End in Norvelt   BIBLIOGRAPHY Gantos, Jack. 2011. DEAD END IN NORVELT. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN 9780374379933.       PLOT SUMMARY In Norvelt, Pennsylvania its summer 1962 vacation from school for Jack Gantos. As the summer unfolds, he becomes involved with helping his neighbor Miss Volker with her town duties as obituary writer and medical examiner. Jack still manages to get into many adventures. By the end of the summer there is even a murder mystery to solve.                     CRITICAL ANALYSIS This book checks off all the boxes for good historical fiction. The characters are believable and easy with which to identify. While there are many historical references made, including actual events in World War II such as the battles in the Pacific Theater as well as the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, at no time do these references take away from the central plot of the story. The town of Norvelt is central to the plot and the reader really

Book Review of The Storm in the Barn   BIBLIOGRAPHY Phelan, Matt. 2009. THE STORM IN THE BARN. Ill. by Matt Phelan. Somerville , MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763636180.   PLOT SUMMARY The story starts in 1937 Kansas. Families are suffering from the effects of lack of rain and constant blowing dust. One boy named Jack is having a particularly difficult time between having to deal with dust storms as well as neighborhood bullies. One day he finds a creature in a barn. It turns out that the creature is the embodiment of the rain. There is no rain in the land because the creature is staying in the barn. Jack confronts the creature, causing it to ultimately rain on the land. Jack saves the land through his bravery.       CRITICAL ANALYSIS This book provides an excellent description of daily life in the Dust Bowl of 1937 Kansas. There are very few words, but those that are written are succinct and evocative. The narrative includes more than one subplot. There is the surfa

Book Review of The House Baba Built: An Artist’s Childhood in China   BIBLIOGRAPHY Young, Ed. 2011. THE HOUSE BABA BUILT: AN ARTIST’S CHILDHOOD IN CHINA. Ill. by Ed Young. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hatchette Book Group, Inc. I SBN 9780316076289   PLOT SUMMARY The author’s father builds a house to try to keep his family safe from the coming war. The only way he can afford it is for the landowner to let the author and his family live there on a 25-year free lease, which at the end reverts back to the landowner. It is a magnificent home with courtyards, gardens, and a swimming pool. Before the war comes to them, times are good for the family. As the war draws near, it becomes more difficult to get food to eat. Distant family members, and even German refugees, join their home as they flee from the war. Eventually the war ends, and the home becomes the property of the landowner. The family disperses to happily live their own lives.             C

Book Review of The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia   BIBLIOGRAPHY Fleming, Candace. 2014. THE FAMILY ROMANOV: MURDER, REBELLION & THE FALL OF IMPERIAL RUSSIA. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company. ISBN 9780375867828.   PLOT SUMMARY Future Tsar Nicholas II grows from boy to man. He becomes Tsar and absolute ruler of Russia in 1894. He, his wife, and family live the life of luxury. Life is not so good for the millions of peasants and workers in the country. The common people of Russia begin demanding more rights. An organizer named Lenin and a “holy man” named Rasputin appear. World War I breaks out, and Russia suffers terrible hardships. Rasputin influences the decisions made by Tsar Nicholas II until Rasputin is finally murdered. Eventually, the royal family is killed by revolutionaries.             CRITICAL ANALYSIS T

Book Review of The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest   BIBLIOGRAPHY Jenkins, Steve. 1999. THE TOP OF THE WORLD: CLIMBING MOUNT EVEREST. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0395942187         PLOT SUMMARY Mount Everest is highest point in the highest mountain range on earth. These mountains were formed by continental drift. Mount Everest is named for the leader of the first survey team to measure it. Native people called Sherpas help climbers attempt to climb the mountain. The first two known people to climb to the top of the mountain were Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. It is possible that two British climbers may have climbed to the top before them, but they didn’t live to tell anyone. The first person to climb alone and without supplemental oxygen was Rheinhold Messner, considered by many to be the greatest mountaineer of all time. It is very difficult to complete the climb.                         CRITICAL ANALYSIS This book has a wealth of info

Book Review of We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball BIBLIOGRAPHY Nelson, Kadir. 2008. WE ARE THE SHIP: THE STORY OF NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL. Ill. by Kadir Nelson. New York, NY: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group. ISBN 9780786808328. PLOT SUMMARY Baseball began in mid-1800’s America. African Americans had to build their own league to play the game professionally. Everyone involved were African Americans: players, coaches, referees, owners, and all support staff. The focus of the league were the outstanding players, who would have been stars of the white major leagues, had they been allowed to play. The 9 th Inning (last chapter) is devoted to Jackie Robinson, the man who finally integrated the major league, thanks notably to the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey. Once the major league began accepting black players, the Negro League was effectively ended.          CRITICAL ANALYSIS From the foreword by Hank Aa

Book Review of Insectopedia   BIBLIOGRAPHY Florian, Douglas. 1998. INSECTOPEDIA. Ill. by Douglas Florian. New York, NY: Voyager Books, a trademark of Harcourt Books, Inc. I SBN 0152163352   PLOT SUMMARY Caterpillar eats leaves and turns into a butterfly. Dragonfly terrorizes the bug population. Daddy Longlegs, “how’d you get those legs to grow?” You’re lucky if the army ants “miss your place.” Inchworm never picks up speeding tickets. Praying Mantis swallows other bugs “religiously.” The black widow doesn’t wear denim. Io moth has fake eyes. Whirligig beetles whirl. Weevils are evil. The walkingstick looks like a twig or stick. The hornet kills insects. Treehoppers hop. Mosquitoes feast on you. Monarch butterflies are the royalty of the bug world. The giant water bug father carries the mother’s eggs. Termites live in a mound. Crickets can be listened to for free. Locusts eat grain and grass. Ticks are parasitic. A mayfly lives only a day or two.     CRITICAL ANALYSIS Douglas Florian’s

Book Review of Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir BIBLIOGRAPHY Engle, Margarita. 2015. ENCHANTED AIR: TWO CULTURES, TWO WINGS: A MEMOIR. Ill. by Edel Rodriguez. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. ISBN 9781481435222 PLOT SUMMARY The story begins in 1947, the year the author’s parents meet. The story continues years later after the author’s parents have gotten married. The 1950’s are an interesting time for the author. As a child, she goes to Cuba to meet her mother’s family. She discovers how strong they are in their own ways. She and her family travel from place to place, California, Cuba, Mexico. She lives with her mother, father, and sister. At school she is confronted by questions about her family as the Cuban Revolution rages. In 1960, the author and her mother travel to Cuba to be with her mother’s family. Later, they return to the U.S. The Cuban Revolution continues, and the Bay

Book Review of Words with Wings BIBLIOGRAPHY Grimes, Nikki. 2013. WORDS WITH WINGS. Honesdale, PA: WordSong, an imprint of Highlights. ISBN 9781590789858       PLOT SUMMARY Gabriella is a “Daddy’s Girl” who must move across the city and start going to a new school. Gabby has a connection to words that sends her into daydreams. The word “fly” allows her to escape her parents’ fighting. The words “concert” and “Scrabble” conjure happy memories of her parents before her dad moved out. Gabby’s daydreams now interfere with her daily tasks, both at home and at school. She tries to stop daydreaming. Her teacher notices and talks to her about it. He explains that there are right times and wrong times to daydream, and that she shouldn’t give up daydreaming completely. Gabby learns to pay attention when she should, and daydream when it’s the right time to. One day her teacher realizes that daydreaming can be an inspiration for writing. Gabby starts to regularly write her daydreams and be

  Book Review of Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Color BIBLIOGRAPHY Sidman, Joyce. 2009. RED SINGS FROM THE TREETOPS: A YEAR IN COLORS. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 9780547014944 PLOT SUMMARY A cardinal sings its bird song throughout the year, as the narrator comments on the colors of the changing seasons. Spring is red, green, yellow, purple, white, blue, and pink. Summer is white, yellow, red, green, blue, and purple; but it is also turquoise, azure, cerulean, brown, gray, and black. Fall is green, brown, red, yellow, purple, black, and white; but it is also orange. Winter is all the colors of the other season, and winter ends with the color that spring began with- red.        CRITICAL ANALYSIS Joyce Sidman uses colors to highlight the seasons of the year. Her narrator is accompanied by a cardinal. The cardinal provides the constant color red throughout the tale, as well as its bird song, “ cheer-cheer-cheer .” W

Book Review of The Three Pigs   BIBLIOGRAPHY Wiesner, David. 2001. THE THREE PIGS. Ill. by David Wiesner. New York, NY: Clarion Books, a Houghton Mifflin Company imprint. ISBN 0618007016   PLOT SUMMARY Three pigs go into the world to seek their fortune. According to the storyline, two of the pigs were eaten by a wolf. However, a subplot shows them leaving the story to safety. Then all three pigs leave their original storyline and go playing and exploring in other storylines. They encounter characters from children’s rhymes and rescue a dragon from a fantasy folk tale by taking him out of his original storyline. Then the cat from the children’s rhyme joins them. Finally, they all return to the brick house of the third pig. The wolf is dealt with, and they all live happily ever after.   CRITICAL ANALYSIS This is an example of breaking the fourth wall, and of crossover fiction. The pigs break out of their original storyline to move to other storylines. Eventually, they

  Book Review of Swamp Angel   BIBLIOGRAPHY Isaacs, Anne. 1994. SWAMP ANGEL. Ill. by Paul O. Zelinski. New York, NY: Dutton Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc. ISBN 0525452710   PLOT SUMMARY Angelica Longrider was an unusual baby born in 1800’s Tennessee. When born, she was taller than her mother, and a giant by the age of 12. She performed incredible feats of strength. She became known as Swamp Angel after rescuing settlers in a swamp. She later fought a massive bear. She threw it so high in the sky that she had to use a tornado to lasso the bear to bring him down to earth. The dust they raised as they fought gave the name to the Great Smokey Mountains. To avoid drowning in a lake during the fight, Swamp Angel drank a lake dry. They fought for days and nights. They even fought in their sleep. They snored down forests while they slept, and it was a giant tree crushing the bear that ended the battle. The people of Tennessee had a massive feast consuming th

  Book Review of The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!   BIBLIOGRAPHY Scieszka, Jon. 1989. THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS! Ill. by Lane Smith. New York, NY: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group. ISBN 9780451471956   PLOT SUMMARY The wolf in the story of the three little pigs tells his version. The wolf was making a birthday cake for his grandmother. He ran out  of sugar, so he went to his neighbor, the pig, to borrow a cup. Unfortunately, he accidentally sneezed, the straw house fell down, the pig died, and the wolf didn’t let the pig’s carcass go to waste. Then he went to the next pig’s stick house to try to borrow a cup of sugar. The same thing happened again. At the third house, he was insulted by the pig who said mean things about the wolf’s grandmother. This made the wolf try to blow the house down. He was unsuccessful. He was arrested. The newspapers made up the story that we know as the traditional story. The wolf claimed his innocence, but he remain

  Book Review of Anansi and the Talking Melon   BIBLIOGRAPHY Kimmel, Eric. 1994. ANANSI AND THE TALKING MELON. Ill. by Janet Stevens.   New York, NY: Holiday House. ISBN 0823411044   PLOT SUMMARY Anansi the Spider gets inside one of Elephant’s melons to eat it. Once inside, Anansi decides to trick Elephant into thinking the melon can talk. Elephant decides to show the “talking” melon to the king. Along the way, other animals join in to go to the king with Elephant and the “talking” melon. When they get to the king, Anansi insults the king. The king angrily throws the melon all the way back to Elephant’s house. Elephant returns to his home and tells the melons he will not listen to them anymore. Anansi answers him from a “talking” banana where he is hiding from Elephant near the melons.             CRITICAL ANALYSIS This story is a traditional “trickster” story, specifically from the African region. Anansi is the archetype of the “trickster.” The plot revolves around

  Book Review of Are You My Mother?   BIBLIOGRAPHY Eastman, Philip. 1960. ARE YOU MY MOTHER? Ill. by P.D. Eastman. New York, NY: Beginner Books. ISBN 0394900189   PLOT SUMMARY A baby bird hatches while the mother is gone getting food for the baby bird. The baby bird falls out of the tree and goes in search of his mother. During his search, he asks a kitten, a hen, a dog, and a cow if they are his mother. Later, thinking that they are his mother, he calls out to a boat, a plane, and an earth-moving machine that he names “Snort.” Finally, he is luckily placed back in his nest by “Snort.” Just then, his mother returns, and they are happily reunited.                       CRITICAL ANALYSIS This book teaches children about curiosity and the power of perseverance and determination. The simple language is easy for beginning readers to follow. Most of the beginning pages have only one simple sentence. Slowly, as the story progresses, the number of sentences per page increases