This past month I read Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry. The book was published in 1940 and won the Newberry Medal in 1941.
Call It Courage is a historical fiction mid-grade novel. It’s about a 10-year-old boy named Mafatu who is the son of the chief in a Polynesian tribe. Mafatu’s name means stout heart, but he is afraid of the sea. Mafatu is an embarrassment to his father and a laughing stock in his village. One day he leaves his village and heads out to sea in a canoe. Mafatu knows he must conquer his fear. After being thrown about in a hurricane, Mafatu lands on an island far from his home. He must fend for himself and build a canoe to return to his island. But first he proves his courage to himself when he kills a wild boar, a hammerhead shark, and an octopus. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of “man-eaters,” Mafatu returns to his village as a young man filled with courage.
I enjoyed this book and I think it could win the Newbery Medal today. I recommend it to 4th and 5th graders.
List of Recommended Books by Grade:
2nd grade –
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Miss Holly Is Too Jolly by Dan Gutman
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
3rd grade –
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Among the Impostors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
4th grade –
Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry
Louisiana's Song by Kerry Madden
The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
The Golly Whopper Games by Jody Feldman
5th grade –
Benjamin Pratt & The Keeper of the School by Andrew Clements
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
6th grade –
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
7th grade and up –
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Pendragon Book One: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Seventeen Second Miracle by Jason F. Wright
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Moon Over Manifest
The past few books I've read have been older Newbery Medal winners. I decided to see what a current winner looks like. This month I read Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. This book was published in 2010 and won the Newbery Medal in 2011.
Moon Over Manifest is a historical fiction mid-grade novel. It’s about a 12-year-old girl named Abileen and her connection to a town called Manifest located in Kansas. The story starts out with her arrival in Manifest. Abileen's father sends her there when he must leave to work on the railroad. All Abileen knows about Manifest is that her father lived there for a while when he was a child. Abileen searches for clues that her father made his mark on the town. She learns a great deal about a troubled boy named Jinx who helped save the town from a greedy coal mine owner in the early 1900s. Abileen discovers that the town went through a lot of pain in World War I and many of its inhabitants never completely healed from that experience. Through Abileen’s efforts to discover her father’s past, the town takes its first step toward healing. In the end, Abileen finds out that Jinx was indeed her father. Abileen and her father are reunited and hope is restored to all.
This story involves many historical time periods and events: the Depression, World War I, Prohibition, railroad construction, orphan trains, immigration, and Spanish influenza. Ms. Vanderpool uses many different literary tools to weave her story. She uses flashbacks, newspaper articles, newspaper ads, essays, poems, and multiple plot lines. The various plot lines appear to run separately until the end when the reader finds out that all of the plots were related all along throughout different decades of time.
I LOVED this book and I recommend it to 5th and 6th graders.
Jennifer S. Burrows' List of Recommended Books by Grade:
2nd grade –
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Miss Holly Is Too Jolly by Dan Gutman
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
3rd grade –
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Among the Impostors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
4th grade –
Louisiana's Song by Kerry Madden
The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
The Golly Whopper Games by Jody Feldman
5th grade –
Benjamin Pratt & The Keeper of the School by Andrew Clements
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
6th grade –
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
7th grade and up –
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Pendragon Book One: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Seventeen Second Miracle by Jason F. Wright
Moon Over Manifest is a historical fiction mid-grade novel. It’s about a 12-year-old girl named Abileen and her connection to a town called Manifest located in Kansas. The story starts out with her arrival in Manifest. Abileen's father sends her there when he must leave to work on the railroad. All Abileen knows about Manifest is that her father lived there for a while when he was a child. Abileen searches for clues that her father made his mark on the town. She learns a great deal about a troubled boy named Jinx who helped save the town from a greedy coal mine owner in the early 1900s. Abileen discovers that the town went through a lot of pain in World War I and many of its inhabitants never completely healed from that experience. Through Abileen’s efforts to discover her father’s past, the town takes its first step toward healing. In the end, Abileen finds out that Jinx was indeed her father. Abileen and her father are reunited and hope is restored to all.
This story involves many historical time periods and events: the Depression, World War I, Prohibition, railroad construction, orphan trains, immigration, and Spanish influenza. Ms. Vanderpool uses many different literary tools to weave her story. She uses flashbacks, newspaper articles, newspaper ads, essays, poems, and multiple plot lines. The various plot lines appear to run separately until the end when the reader finds out that all of the plots were related all along throughout different decades of time.
I LOVED this book and I recommend it to 5th and 6th graders.
Jennifer S. Burrows' List of Recommended Books by Grade:
2nd grade –
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Miss Holly Is Too Jolly by Dan Gutman
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
3rd grade –
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Among the Impostors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
4th grade –
Louisiana's Song by Kerry Madden
The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
The Golly Whopper Games by Jody Feldman
5th grade –
Benjamin Pratt & The Keeper of the School by Andrew Clements
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
6th grade –
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
7th grade and up –
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Pendragon Book One: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Seventeen Second Miracle by Jason F. Wright
Friday, March 2, 2012
Sarah, Plain and Tall
I found another wonderful Newbery Medal winner from a couple decades ago to feature this month. It’s Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan. This book was published in 1985 and won the Newbery Medal in 1986.
The story is about a family living on the prairie in colonial times. The family consists of the father, Jacob, a daughter, Anna, and a son, Caleb. The mother of the family died after giving birth to Caleb several years earlier. The entire family misses the mother and thinks about her often. The father decides to put an ad in the newspaper for a wife. The children are surprised, but thrilled. A woman, named Sarah from Maine, answers the ad and comes to live with the family. The family and Sarah spend a month getting to know each other and the author gives hints of Jacob and Sarah’s blooming love. Sarah teaches the family about the sea and living on the coast and the family teaches Sarah how to ride a horse and drive a wagon. In the end, Jacob and Sarah get married and the family is complete again.
This story is wonderful. It deals delicately with the pain of losing a mother and paints a rich and colorful picture of both the sea and the prairie.
I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to 2nd graders.
The story is about a family living on the prairie in colonial times. The family consists of the father, Jacob, a daughter, Anna, and a son, Caleb. The mother of the family died after giving birth to Caleb several years earlier. The entire family misses the mother and thinks about her often. The father decides to put an ad in the newspaper for a wife. The children are surprised, but thrilled. A woman, named Sarah from Maine, answers the ad and comes to live with the family. The family and Sarah spend a month getting to know each other and the author gives hints of Jacob and Sarah’s blooming love. Sarah teaches the family about the sea and living on the coast and the family teaches Sarah how to ride a horse and drive a wagon. In the end, Jacob and Sarah get married and the family is complete again.
This story is wonderful. It deals delicately with the pain of losing a mother and paints a rich and colorful picture of both the sea and the prairie.
I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to 2nd graders.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The View from Saturday
I am still on a Newbery Medal kick. I can't stop reading Newbery Medal books now that I've started. But I'm certainly not wasting my time! These are the books that hook you in the beginning, waltz you through the middle, and inspire you in the end. This month I read The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg. This book was published in 1996 and won the Newbery Medal in 1997.
The story is about four 6th graders and a teacher. The story begins and ends at almost the same moment in time and each character takes a turn telling a part of the story from his/her point of view. The delivery of this story sets it apart from any other book I've read. The story takes its readers into the past for answers and allows them to live in the present at the same time. It's complicated and absolutely wonderful.
First we meet Mrs. Olinski, the teacher. She has chosen four of her 6th grade students to compete in the New York State Academic Bowl. Not only have they beat the 7th and 8th grade teams at their school, they have beat all but one of the 7th and 8th grade teams in the state and now they are facing Maxwell to battle for the state championship.
Next we meet Noah who is too smart for his own good sometimes. We learn about a time when he visited his grandparents and ended up being the best man in a wedding.
Then we meet Nadia who is struggling with her parents' divorce. We learn about when she visited her grandfather and began to accept her new life-style migrating back and forth between her parents.
Next we meet Ethan who lives in the shadow of a talented older brother. We learn about how he found his place in school and the world through friendship.
Finally we meet Julian who recently moved to the US. We learn about his upbringing on a cruise ship.
These four kids make up the team, called The Souls. They are intelligent kids, but Mrs. Olinski knows that they work well as a team for other reasons. They are different races and practice different religions, yet they are tolerant of each other. They are unrelated, yet they have become family. And they are individuals, yet they respect each other as human beings.
I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to 6th graders.
The story is about four 6th graders and a teacher. The story begins and ends at almost the same moment in time and each character takes a turn telling a part of the story from his/her point of view. The delivery of this story sets it apart from any other book I've read. The story takes its readers into the past for answers and allows them to live in the present at the same time. It's complicated and absolutely wonderful.
First we meet Mrs. Olinski, the teacher. She has chosen four of her 6th grade students to compete in the New York State Academic Bowl. Not only have they beat the 7th and 8th grade teams at their school, they have beat all but one of the 7th and 8th grade teams in the state and now they are facing Maxwell to battle for the state championship.
Next we meet Noah who is too smart for his own good sometimes. We learn about a time when he visited his grandparents and ended up being the best man in a wedding.
Then we meet Nadia who is struggling with her parents' divorce. We learn about when she visited her grandfather and began to accept her new life-style migrating back and forth between her parents.
Next we meet Ethan who lives in the shadow of a talented older brother. We learn about how he found his place in school and the world through friendship.
Finally we meet Julian who recently moved to the US. We learn about his upbringing on a cruise ship.
These four kids make up the team, called The Souls. They are intelligent kids, but Mrs. Olinski knows that they work well as a team for other reasons. They are different races and practice different religions, yet they are tolerant of each other. They are unrelated, yet they have become family. And they are individuals, yet they respect each other as human beings.
I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to 6th graders.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Mr. Popper's Penguins
This month I decided to return to reading quality older books. I dug deep and found a winner. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater was published in 1938! It was nominated for the Newbery Medal in 1939. It did not win the award but remains a Newberry Honor book which is still a prestigious title to hold. Any author will tell you that it truly is an honor just to be nominated for a Newbery Medal.
Mr. Popper's Penguins is cute, light-hearted, and interesting. At the very least, readers of this book will learn about penguin care and believe me, it sounds expensive.
The story is about a man with a great fondness for visiting exotic places. The problem is that he has never left his hometown of Stillwater. He has a wife and two children and works as a house painter. From the sounds of it, he's a talented painter, but he is always dreaming of traveling the world instead.
After writing a letter to one of his favorite explorers in the South Pole, Mr. Popper receives a package in the mail. It's a penguin! Mr. Popper names the penguin Captain Cook. Mr. Popper and his family do their best to accomodate such a complicated pet by making alterations to their refrigerator and by buying plenty of canned shrimp.
The entire Popper family adores Captain Cook, but after a while Captain Cook becomes depressed. In a desperate attempt to help Captain Cook, Mr. Popper writes a letter to a zoo, asking for advice. The zoo, in turn, sends the Poppers a female penguin that also seems depressed. The Poppers name the new penguin Greta. Both penguins soon perk up and have 10 baby penguins. The Poppers must now invest a great deal of money into creating a suitable habitat for 12 penguins in their basement.
As the Popper's begin to go into debt, they decide to turn the interesting habits of the penguins into a show. The Poppers and the penguins travel the country doing their show and earn enough money to be comfortable.
In the end, the penguins relocate to the North Pole and Mr. Popper goes with them, finally living out his dream of visiting exotic places.
I enjoyed reading this book, and I recommend it to 3rd or 4th graders who love animals.
Mr. Popper's Penguins is cute, light-hearted, and interesting. At the very least, readers of this book will learn about penguin care and believe me, it sounds expensive.
The story is about a man with a great fondness for visiting exotic places. The problem is that he has never left his hometown of Stillwater. He has a wife and two children and works as a house painter. From the sounds of it, he's a talented painter, but he is always dreaming of traveling the world instead.
After writing a letter to one of his favorite explorers in the South Pole, Mr. Popper receives a package in the mail. It's a penguin! Mr. Popper names the penguin Captain Cook. Mr. Popper and his family do their best to accomodate such a complicated pet by making alterations to their refrigerator and by buying plenty of canned shrimp.
The entire Popper family adores Captain Cook, but after a while Captain Cook becomes depressed. In a desperate attempt to help Captain Cook, Mr. Popper writes a letter to a zoo, asking for advice. The zoo, in turn, sends the Poppers a female penguin that also seems depressed. The Poppers name the new penguin Greta. Both penguins soon perk up and have 10 baby penguins. The Poppers must now invest a great deal of money into creating a suitable habitat for 12 penguins in their basement.
As the Popper's begin to go into debt, they decide to turn the interesting habits of the penguins into a show. The Poppers and the penguins travel the country doing their show and earn enough money to be comfortable.
In the end, the penguins relocate to the North Pole and Mr. Popper goes with them, finally living out his dream of visiting exotic places.
I enjoyed reading this book, and I recommend it to 3rd or 4th graders who love animals.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Since the holidays are upon us, I wanted to find a holiday themed children's book that I could recommend this month. I found Miss Holly Is Too Jolly, by Dan Gutman. It is a beginner chapter book about a boy named Arlo. The book is in the My Weird School series. It's a light-hearted and fun holiday story that will get any reader laughing.
Arlo is in elementary school and his teacher, Miss Holly, is putting on a holiday show. Arlo and his buddies have to participate even though they don't want to. Of course, everything that can go wrong does. Emily kisses Arlo under the mistletoe (YUK!), Arlo gets a dumb hat from his Secret Santa, Arlo makes Emily fall off the stage, and the principal is dangling from the ceiling at the end of the show. It's a hilarious mess!
Dan Gutman tells his holiday story with great voice, lots of action, and many clever puns that adults and children will love.
I recommend this book to second grade boys.
Arlo is in elementary school and his teacher, Miss Holly, is putting on a holiday show. Arlo and his buddies have to participate even though they don't want to. Of course, everything that can go wrong does. Emily kisses Arlo under the mistletoe (YUK!), Arlo gets a dumb hat from his Secret Santa, Arlo makes Emily fall off the stage, and the principal is dangling from the ceiling at the end of the show. It's a hilarious mess!
Dan Gutman tells his holiday story with great voice, lots of action, and many clever puns that adults and children will love.
I recommend this book to second grade boys.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
The Midwife's Apprentice
I decided to continue reading quality, older books this month. The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman was published in 1995. It won the Newberry Medal in 1996. This book is fantastic! It's a feel-good, root-for-the-under-dog, historically unique tale.
The story is about a homeless girl with no name in medieval times. She is found in a dung heap by a midwife. The girl becomes the midwife's apprentice and is called Beetle, as in dung beetle. The midwife is greedy and unkind, but Beetle appreciates having a roof over her head and food in her belly. As Beetle gains confidence, she begins to watch the midwife in order to learn the trade. Beetle adopts a real name for herself, Alyce. When Alyce's midwife skills are put to the test, she fails and runs away. After many months, Alyce decides to go back to the midwife to become her apprentice again. In the process, she learns about courage and determination.
This book is interesting and a quick read. I highly recommend it to 5th or 6th graders.
The story is about a homeless girl with no name in medieval times. She is found in a dung heap by a midwife. The girl becomes the midwife's apprentice and is called Beetle, as in dung beetle. The midwife is greedy and unkind, but Beetle appreciates having a roof over her head and food in her belly. As Beetle gains confidence, she begins to watch the midwife in order to learn the trade. Beetle adopts a real name for herself, Alyce. When Alyce's midwife skills are put to the test, she fails and runs away. After many months, Alyce decides to go back to the midwife to become her apprentice again. In the process, she learns about courage and determination.
This book is interesting and a quick read. I highly recommend it to 5th or 6th graders.
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