Archive for the ‘Conceptual: 8 and up’ Category
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007
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| Author: | Zilpha Keatly Snyder |
| Illustrator: | Alton Raible |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, history |
| Year of publication: | 1965 |
Gentle but involving story about young girl whose family has lost its farm, but not its love, principles, or dignity, in California in the Great Depression. One of the notable and wonderful things about this novel is that most of the adults, and most of the children, consistently act in honorable and thoughtful ways. The plot is driven principally by the harsh circumstances of the times. |
Details are provided about the life of the itinerant farm workers at an apricot farm. No doubt there were some landowners who were less kind to their workers. Even so, life was clearly not easy for many children or adults in those years. |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Velvet Room, The |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, History, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Monday, March 5th, 2007
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| Author: | Dave Barry |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2004 |
This great book may seem a little silly at first while you read it, but it's an exciting story anyway. In fact both my parents and my uncle liked it just as much as I did.
It starts as an orphan boy, Peter, (who doesn't know his last name or even how old he is), and his four friends: James, Thomas, Prentiss, and Tubby Ted are in an old smelly wagon cart on their way to a ship called the Neverland, being shipped into their adventures.
On the Neverland Peter meets a girl named Molly, (who he thinks is VERY pretty) who needs his help protecting the magical trunk the Neverland has on board. Peter doesn't hesitate in saying yes. During their voyage, they are being followed by the wickedest pirate on the seven seas, Black Stache, who is after their ship and its mysterious cargo.
In this prequel to Peter Pan, you discover how the pirates, the mermaids, the flying, the croc, and all the other puzzles of Peter Pan came to be (according to Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson).
I liked this book very much, and I feel that it does a good job of explaining how Peter Pan became Peter Pan. This book could appeal to anyone from 8 years old to full grown adults, especially if they like the story of Peter Pan.
--Fizzy, age 12 |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Peter and the Starcatchers |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Dickensian, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Monday, February 12th, 2007
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| Author: | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2003 |
A girl whose family manages a historic castle in England summons a witch, Robert, who was buried 350 years earlier. Although Robert's behavior is impulsive and assertive, he usually has reasons for enchantments. |
Recommended.
-- Emily
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Wild Robert |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Thursday, February 8th, 2007
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| Author: | Terry Pratchett |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
Sometimes a precocious person uses her gifts in a way that have dire consequences. Whether or not the harm was intentional, that person should take responsibility for the problems she creates and try to resolve them.
Early in this tale, Tiffany Aching, a very mature and gifted if reluctant witch, makes the awful mistake of arousing the romantic attention of the Wintersmith (God of Winter), and nearly simultaneously but through no fault of her own, loses her teacher and home. Wintersmith is the story of how Tiffany:- Rectifies (with the "help" of her silly blue friends the Nac Mac Feegle and her not-quite-as-silly boy?friend, Roland) the wrong she's done,
- Learns to fit back into her home, and
- Comes to appreciate, understand, and learn from other mentors.
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Wintersmith is the third installment in the story of Tiffany Aching.
My daughter and I also enjoyed reading the previous books in the series:
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Wintersmith |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
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| Author: | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
In this, the latest episode in the life of Cat Chant, Cat has truly settled in to preparing for his future. The story reveals that he has come far in his apprenticeship to Christopher Chant, (the current Chrestomanci -- Chief Enchanter) and his family.
Cat has learned how to learn from a very gifted nine-lived enchanter who is (obviously) very talented, but possibly not as talented as Cat is. Throughout the book, Cat works on identifying skills Chrestomanci has that Cat still needs to learn, on when to solve problems on his own and when to call for help, and on how and when to intervene in the lives of the less gifted inhabitants of the universes he is destined to govern.
Like the plots of many other stories in the Chrestomanci series, the plot of this novel explores the problems of a gifted child (in this case a girl) who is made to feel inferior because she is special. |
There are many thrilling touches in this tale, which started out "less slowly" (as my 12 year old says) than other Chrestomanci books and then -- got better and better.
Two of our favorite were when:
- Cat just comes out and tells Marianne (the talented girl enchantress with low self-esteem who is being utterly abused by her family) that she has great power, but needs to be brave and stick up for herself.
- The entire sub-plot that concerns Klarch, the griffin. SO cute! Will definitely make you want a puppy.
Highly recommended, but you probably want to read at least Charmed Life first. |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Pinhoe Egg, The: A Chrestomanci Book |
Posted in Animals, Child-raising, Conceptual: 8 and up, Dealing with bullies, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Homeschool, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Saturday, December 30th, 2006
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| Author: | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2001 |
A cheerful, easy to read, but very complicated, backwards fairy tale, in which the protagonist is the oldest of three stepsisters. Nearly every character in this story, major and minor, wears at least one or two disguises. In some cases, the disguise is of his or her own choosing, but not always. |
For example, our young heroine Sophie has fooled herself into believing that she'll never accomplish anything, since, in the world in which she grows up, eldest sisters never do. This belief keeps Sophie from realizing that she does magic nearly every time she does anything. Meanwhile, Sophie struggles through the story in the body of an old woman because of the misdirected curse of a witch.
Although the words of the story are not too challenging, and the ideas are gentle, the complications of the plot may keep even the most sophisticated minds engaged throughout.
-- Emily
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Howl's Moving Castle |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Monday, December 18th, 2006
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| Author: | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2001 |
Many of the stories in Wynne Jone's Chrestomanci series explore the problems of gifted children who are made to feel inferior or taken advantage of because they are special.
This happens to the protagonists of The Lives of Christopher Chant and Charmed Life, for example.
But in the society evoked in Witch Week, anyone identified as a witch is burned at the stake. Which puts the students at the Larwood House School, all of whom are orphaned because of a family connection to witchcraft, in a desperate position. Many of them know they are witches. And although it's exhiliarating to know that one has great power, they know from experience that the penalty for getting caught, or worse, being turned in by one's peers, is death by fire.
Spoilers below...
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If my daughter and I had not already read several of the earlier Chrestomanci books, I don't know that we'd have enjoyed this Lord of the Flies meets The Fountainhead for the younger set as much as we did.
When Chrestomanci, he of the perfectly-creased gray suit and impeccable hair, finally makes his appearance, our horror and dread turned to giggles, even while the poor, witchy students retained their mortal fear for quite a few more pages.
But then, once again, there's that ending. In this case, the remedy is to make the gifted students accept that they need to make themselves just slightly less gifted, at witchcraft at least. So they do. Kind of like the protagonist in the movie, Pi, albeit not quite as bloody. Sigh. I'd vote for The Fountainhead instead, but that is more difficult to read.
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Witch Week |
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: 8 and up, Culture, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 8 and up, School | Comments Closed
Monday, December 18th, 2006
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| Author: | Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire |
| Illustrator: | Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, fairy tales |
| Year of publication: | 1939 |
Beautifully illustrated, interesting collection of Norwegian folk tales. |
Get the hardcover, because you'll want to re-read these stories again and again.
See also: East, for a novelistic treatment of the title story. |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Twenty-One Norwegian Folk Tales |
Posted in Animals, Child-raising, Conceptual: 8 and up, Culture, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Monday, December 18th, 2006
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| Author: | Edith Pattou |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, myth |
| Year of publication: | 2003 |
When my daughter chose to read East, we did not know it was based on the story collection called East of the Sun, West of the Moon (EOTSWOTM) and we had not read any of the Norwegian fairy tales in that beautiful collection.
We loved East, which describes in great detail, the life of Rose (called Karen in EOTSWOTM), who, like Beauty in Beauty and the Beast, comes to love the beast (in this case a white bear) who forces her to leave her home and loved ones. |
If this sounds like what happens to young women who marry "A man shall leave his mother and a woman leave her home...", well, it is a fairy tale, and many do believe that fairy tales serve didactic purposes. And, as in the Norwegian tale, in East also, the abducted girl is required to allow the bear, unasked, to sleep next to her each night. When the girl cannot bring herself to do this, and instead lets her mother know of the conditions of her confinement with the beast, she puts in jeopardy the life of the beast and her future happiness.
At least, in East, unlike in the fairy tale, this particular girl is a special one, a person of great initiative and many talents. Her ability to weave, to teach, to learn languages and survival skills, and to endear herself to others, human and other-worldly, and her love of adventure, make it possible for Rose to save her family, herself, and her true love.
East mostly overcomes its origins in a tale in which subordination of women by men and the tearing of the bond between mother and daughter is implied to be necessary to the success of a marriage. It is one of those stories that we loved reading, although we did not necessarily buy its underlying message in its entirety. |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: East |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Culture, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Monday, December 18th, 2006
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| Author: | Nancy Farmer |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1994 |
In this Newbery Honor Book set in Zimbabwe in the year 2194, three siblings hurdle through a science fiction-y Africa and learn that even the most magical humans are not always honorable and even the most wicked exploiters can sometimes come through for you, but that family is family. |
The story gets a bit long sometimes, but because nearly every one of the many characters is blessed by Farmer with a complicated mixture of strengths and weaknesses, humanity and human frailties, readers will find themselves barely able to put the book down. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Ear, The Eye, And The Arm, The |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Culture, Dealing with bullies, Fairy tales, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
