Byrd and Igloo: A Polar Adventure by Samantha Seiple

 

So this was a very interesting story about Admiral Byrd and his flights over both the North Pole and the South Pole.  Although I had heard of Byrd I didn't really know all that much about him and the book did provide some insights into his life and adventures.  The title also mentions Igloo who was Byrd's dog who joined him on many of his adventures.  What I liked were the facts about the expeditions and the photographs.  What I didn't like was the use of Igloo as a narrator almost.  Igloo wasn't there for everything so it couldn't always be told from his "point of view" and it just seemed odd to me at times for a non-fiction book to be told from a dog's perspective.  I appreciated the fact that the dog was important to Byrd and was there a lot of the time but it just seemed disjointed at times.  

That being said, I would consider buying the book for my library because I think my students would enjoy the dog aspect and the photographs and wouldn't be bothered by what bothered me.

I am going to refrain from a ribbit or croak because I think it has elements of both and I am feeling wishy washy.

Being Henry David by Cal Armistead

 

I really liked this book...  It starts with our main character waking up at Penn Station in New York having no idea who he is or why he is there.  All he has to go on is a copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau which is sitting next to him.  New York City doesn't work out well for him.  Two teenage runaways help him out but then also get him into trouble with a drug pusher.  "Henry" as he is calling himself decides to travel to Walden Pond hoping that being there will help him figure out who he is.  Once her gets there he meets some new friends.  One is a librarian and historian named Thomas who lets him stay at his house and helps him figure out who he is.  You see Henry or "Hank" is really Danny and he caused an accident and is running away from the pain of it all.  

Danny really struggles throughout the book with the "beast" inside him.  He has to decide whether to face what he did or continue to run away.  I really enjoyed the last few chapters as Danny runs away again but then comes to terms with what happened.  The fact that he goes to Maine and Mt. Katahdin specifically made it that much better for me.  I loved the tie ins to Walden and the insight into this troubled boy.

Unfortunately as much as I liked it the language will prevent me from having it in my grade 1 - 5 school.  I will be giving it to the jr. high with high recommendations :)

Ribbit....

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo

 

Oh how I love Kate DiCamillo.  This was a wonderful book full of quirky characters, delightful vocabulary, and a lot of heart.

It all starts when Flora's neighbor, Mr. Tickham, buys his wife Tootie a new vacuum cleaner, the Ulysses 2000x.  When Tootie goes to try it out she ends up sucking up a poor unsuspecting squirrel.  Enter Flora who witnesses the terrible event and rushes out to save the squirrel.  The squirrel, once revived, proceeds to lift the vacuum cleaner up in order to get at some food that was also sucked up.  Flora realizes that the squirrel is now a potential "superhero" and takes the squirrel, whom she names Ulysses, home. 

Several quirky characters arrive on the scene as Flora and Ulysses explore Ulysses new "powers".  This was such a fun romp.  I loved it...

Ribbit....

Cool News

It's official...I was picked to be a judge for the 2013 Cybils - Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards.  Here is a link to the website for more information...

http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/

Courage Has no Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickels by Tanya Lee Stone

 


This book was a fascinating account of the first black paratroopers.  I learned a lot from this book.  I did not realize how much prejudice was still in the armed forces during WWII.  This book exposed a lot of what was going on, the efforts made to remedy the situation, and how the Triple Nickles came into existence.  What was sad was that after all their training they never actually went into combat.  What they did do was work as smoke jumpers in the west.  This is where I truly learned something new.  I did not know that the Japanese sent over balloons with bombs in them and that they were actually causalities as a result.  In theory the Triple Nickels were sent to fight fires caused by the balloon bombs.  In actuality there were not many fires started by the balloons but the paratroopers were valuable in pioneering smoke jumping.  

This was very informative.  My one concern would be finding the audience for the book...

Ribbit...

Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson

 

I have never read Hattie Big Sky.  We have it in our library but my To Read pile is so big I am not sure I will ever get to it...and I would like to based on this follow up novel.  There were a few instances where I could tell it would have been better if I had read Hattie Big Sky in order to have some background knowledge of characters but I was able to enjoy Hattie Ever After just the same.

In this book Hattie wants to fulfill her dream of being a reporter and when she gets the chance to go to San Francisco she jumps at the chance.  But at what cost?  Does Charlie understand and will he wait for her?  Can she ever get the break she needs to become a real reporter?  Then there is her search for more information about her uncle and his mysterious tie to Ruby Danvers.  

This was an interesting look at life for an up and coming female reporter right after World War I.  She met some very interesting characters, got burned a bit along the way, but emerged triumphant and satisfied with her accomplishments. 

I enjoyed the book...Ribbit...

Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes

 

Sugar's comes from a family of slaves.  Her father was sold off before the Civil War and even after the war her mother refused to leave the plantation in hopes that he would come back to them.  But he hasn't.  Then Sugar's mother dies.  Now Sugar is by herself on the plantation with the other former slaves who have stayed to work.  Unfortunately, it is mainly the older slaves who are tired and didn't think they could resettle somewhere else.  Change is hard.  The overseer doesn't want to accept that the workers are no longer slaves, the plantation owner still needs to make a profit, and Billy, the plantation owner's son just wants to be friends with Sugar.  In an attempt to boost production, the plantation owner hires some Chinese workers.  Together they all learn important lessons about friendship, acceptance, and change,

I really enjoyed this book.  I had never heard that Chinese workers were used during Reconstruction.  It was a fascinating look at the changes that started to occur during that time and how the children led some of that change.

Ribbit...