Archive for the ‘Reading level’ Category
Friday, June 26th, 2009
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| Author: | Natalie Babbitt |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
This is a beautifully written book about a family of people who never age and never die.
From the perspective of 10-year-old Winnie, Babbitt shows us many details rich with color and motion that Winnie notices at first only through the bars of her fence. As she strays out of her yard for the first time, she comes to know the Tucks, who enchant her (as well as us).
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I LOVE this book, and recommend it to anyone, of any age! Although it is rather sad, it has a very satisfying ending. (Even though I wish the story went on and on.)
-- Fizzy |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Tuck Everlasting |
Tags:fountain of youth, immortality
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Death is a central theme, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
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| Author: | Jeanne Duprau |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
Very preachy and had a LOT of people blindly following orders, which bothered me. The book was written as if the reader was like five, which also bothered me. |
The two books in the series before this were also very easy reads, but at least had interesting plots and you didn't know exactly what was going to happen... However, the ending was satisfying, and the two prequels are pretty good.
--Fizzy, age 14 |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Prophet of Yonwood, The (Books of Ember) |
Posted in Animals, Conceptual: 8 and up, Female protagonist, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
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| Author: | Terry Pratchett |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
Really cool book about a conspiracy to kill the Hogfather, who is like Santa Claus in Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
Death's granddaughter Susan, along with a toothfairy and the oh-god of hangovers have to save the world.
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The book is great because the people and places are almost like our own, but with a bit of a twist.
-- Fizzy, age 14
Note: This novel is in Pratchett's Discworld series, which is not calibrated for young adult readers. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Hogfather |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 12 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
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Tags:book review, Chinese Zodiac, mah jong
Posted in Conceptual level, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Homeschool, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Sunday, May 31st, 2009
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14 year-old: \”I cried for the whole movie. It was very, very depressing.\”
Me: \”So are you glad you saw it?\”
She: \”Yes, but younger kids should not see it. It is too depressing. But because of the previews, they are going to want to.\”
Her Dad: \”It is a Disney movie. You know that the mom has to be dead in order for the plot to progress.\”
We discussed the fact that dear daughter is truly a very sensitive child. She admitted that she is. \”Nevertheless, young kids should not see this movie.\”
We all agreed that the dogs are brilliant, the plot is not entirely original, but not predictable either, and the visuals and music are impressive.
Tags:balloons, Disney, dogs, kids movies, movie review, sad movies
Posted in Animals, Child-raising, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Fiction, Gifted, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 5 and up | Comments Closed
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
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| Author: | Steven Johnson |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | Non-fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2008 |
A lovely biography of Joseph Priestley, a scientist, theologian, and political thinker.
In these days when we are trying, finally, to get the politics out of science, this book argues that the reverse, having scientists care about politics is deeply ingrained in the fabric of the United States and Britain. Not that kings and princes always wish it so.
Note to sensitive readers: Priestley's experiments often involved the use of live animals and plants, some of which died in the absence of oxygen.
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One of Priestley's great strengths was in his ability to create experiments and to note details that signaled where his results might be followed up by further experiments. Priestley was less adept at giving up on assumptions that he brought into the experiments to begin with.
Another great strength was his ability, in fact, his obsession, with exchanging information with other scientists.
This biography serves as a tribute to the scientific method (which Priestley did not really follow), Joseph Priestley, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and, in an interesting way, John Adams.
Highly recommended.
-- Emily |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Invention of Air, The |
Tags:American Revolution, Ben Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, book review, deism, experiments, Franklin, Jefferson, Joseph Priestley, Priestley, scientific experiments, scientific method, Thomas Jefferson, unitarianism
Posted in Biography, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Gifted, History, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science | Comments Closed
Monday, May 25th, 2009
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| Author: | Daniel Tammet |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | Non-fiction: Science |
| Year of publication: | 2009 |
Daniel Tammet is autistic, intellectually gifted, and synesthesic. This book, a follow-on to his autobiography, is billed as a "...book about the mind -- its nature and abilities. It combines ... the latest neuroscientific research with [Tammet's] personal reflections and detailed descriptions of [his] abilities and experiences. [Tammet's] ... intention is to show that differently functioning brains ... are not so strange ... and that anyone can learn from them ... [and to] clear up many misconceptions about the nature of savant abilities and what it means to be intelligent or gifted."
Great intentions; I agree they are worthwhile. But, I fear, a disappointing execution. Or, perhaps, I am not gifted enough to understand the arguments. But, really, to use the outcome of the US Presidential Election of 2000 to "prove" that the Electoral College works? Without mentioning that this election was decided by the Supreme Court and not really by the Electoral College? Seems to me that using the ideas of one person, even one admittedly highly gifted person, as a model for the prototypical smart person from whom we can all learn to think is -- misguided? |
Well, anyway, I certainly admire and even envy many of Mr. Tammet's abilities and accomplishments. And, again, I sympathize deeply with his goal of helping others less gifted than he is learn to observe the world around them more intently and reason out their opinions rather than blindly accept "common wisdom", which is often not correct.
On the other hand, and this is something that both of my gifted daughters had figured out by the time they were 11, if not before, Just because someone is gifted, that doesn't mean they know all the answers.
Judging from the stated premise of this book and its execution, I am not sure that Tammet is actually as smart as my high school student. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Embracing the Wide Sky: A Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind |
Tags:autism, book review, Gifted, synesthesia
Posted in Biography, Child-raising, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Gifted, History, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 12 and up, Science | Comments Closed
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
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| Author: | Marilynne Robinson |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2008 |
Beautifully written, desperately sad novel that seems to prove that love, family, friendship, faith, words, and circumstances sometimes collude to defeat well-meant efforts to escape the trap of alcoholism. |
The book traps readers too. It is not divided into chapters. So there you will be, at 2 in the morning, just waiting to get to the end of the chapter. And, an hour or two later, you realize -- there hasn't been one.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Home |
Tags:alcoholism, book review, novel
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: highly sophisticated, Culture, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 12 and up | Comments Closed
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
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| Author: | Mark Twain |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1884 |
When i started this book i had to get used to the language and it went along rather slowly, but as i continued to read it, I sped up and by the end i was very satisfied.
Huck Finn describes a historical period (it's set during times of slavery) and i found it very interesting to be in the mind of a boy struggling with the moral problems of setting a slave free.
--Fizzy, age 14
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Note from Emily:
It took Fizzy nearly a year to read Huckleberry Finn. It was not an easy read, and so, when something more flashy came along, say, Twilight, Fizzy would put Huck down.
And then the transition back was challenging. But every time she started reading Huck Finn again, she would say, "NOW I remember why I like this book." It is not just the dialog that makes reading difficult here. It is also about the concepts.
What is the difference between "owning a person" and taking responsibility for a person? What are the rights of parents and society over children, who do sometimes know right and wrong better than their elders? This is a deep, dangerous book, and not only for its time, but still, now, more than a hundred years later. Amazing.
In many ways it was like when she read Kim a few years back. (Except then I did help with the reading, this time, she read the entire book to herself.) LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Kim. Didn't really want to read more "grown-up" Kipling for a while afterward. Although, Jungle Book and "Just So Stories", which are not all that easy to read either, are still often in our minds. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The |
Tags:book review, slavery
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Dealing with bullies, Dickensian, Fiction, Gifted, History, Homeschool, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: Sophisticated reader | Comments Closed
Saturday, May 16th, 2009
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| Author: | Shannon Hale |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, science fiction |
This book is based on the Grimm's fairy tale about a princess who was betrayed by her maid and forced to be a goose girl. In the fairy tale, in the end the maid gets killed in a coffin filled with nails as revenge... I don't know why, but i expected the author to write an alternate ending to this story.
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That all sounds very negative, but i did like this book, because it told the story of someone who was not good around people (she needed to "step up") but ended up rallying many sad people together to save all their lives.
--Fizzy, age 14
Note: As might be gathered from the description of the original fairy tale, the plot of this story involves death, humiliation, and great suffering on the part of the protagonist and her friends. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Goose Girl, The |
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Dickensian, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 12 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
