Archive for the ‘Reading level: age 8 and up’ Category
Friday, August 4th, 2006
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| Author: | Margaret Peterson Haddix and Rene Milot |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1999 |
Just Ella explains what happened to Cinder-Ella after her first happily ever after. She finds out that Prince Charming is not what she wants, but she has to find a way out of marrying him.
Ella doesn't like the palace either, it's too stuffy, but she does manage to make some good friends who end up saving her from a life of for ever just looking pretty and sewing all day long.
I liked this book; it was a don't-put-down-'til-you've- read-it-all book (To me, at least).
--Fizzy, age 11
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Just Ella |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Tuesday, July 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Meindert DeJong |
| Illustrator: | Maurice Sendak |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1955 |
The children of a Dutch fishing village try various strategies in order to find a wheel that they can put on the roof of their schoolhouse so they can attract storks that will bring them luck. Winner, 1955 Newbery Medal
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Wheel on the School, The |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Culture, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Sunday, July 23rd, 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 |
The books in this set are:
- Magicians of Caprona
- Witch Week
After reading Volume 1 of the Chronicles of Chrestomanci -- Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant -- we were very eager to read the second volume.
But the first book in this volume, The Magicians of Caprona, a Chrestomanci-universe-based story with many similarities to Romeo and Juliet was a real disappointment. |
In this case, of course, the warring families are magicians who fight each other by casting spells. The story is told from the point of view of a "slow-learner", who, of course, brings the families together and saves the city, and learns he is differently-abled, not dis-abled.
Even though the author is obviously a talented, creative, and thoughtful writer, we found this book tedious and predictable. Surprisingly little violence, despite the war that underlies the plot. Surprisingly little romance, considering the Romeo and Juliet theme. Much discussion of Punch and Judy, so the reader might want to be familiar with traditional puppet shows/themes before reading this...
-- Emily |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 2, Book 1: The Magicians of Caprona |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Fairy tales, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Friday, July 21st, 2006
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| Author: | E.L. Konigsburg |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1996 |
Motley group of gifted kids learn about each other and to work together to win a contest, aided by an inspiring teacher. |
Newbery Medal winner. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: View From Saturday |
Posted in Animals, Conceptual: 8 and up, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, School, Science | Comments Closed
Friday, July 21st, 2006
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| Author: | Susan Fletcher |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1997 |
I liked Flight of the Dragon Kyn better than Dragon's Milk because it is not as depressing. There is some tragic violence in this pre-quel, though.
Flight of the Dragon Kyn tells the story of a girl named Kara who can call birds down. The people in her village don't like her or her gift; When she was very little she came down with a deadly sickness and they left her in a cave for dead. When she came back to them, her eyes had turned from blue to green.
Some villagers claimed that a dragon gave her its milk and that that's why she had changed.
When Kara gets older, she is taken away to call down dragons for the king. Kara realizes that she and her gifts are being used to commit great evil. What is she to do
-- Fizzy, age 11
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Note: Conceptual age set to 12, because of violence. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Flight of the Dragon Kyn |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Tuesday, July 18th, 2006
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| Author: | Blue Balliett |
| Illustrator: | Brett Helquist |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
My teacher gave me Wright 3 because I liked its prequel, Chasing Vermeer sooo much. I read The Wright Three in a day -- It is one of those books where you can't stop reading because no matter where you are in the book, you're always at a spot where it's too exciting to stop. (I remember when we were reading Chasing Vermeer in class and my teacher had to confiscate my friend's book because she was too far ahead and wouldn't stop reading.)
Wright 3 is about three kids named Calder, Petra, and Tommy. Petra and Tommy at first don't like each-other but are both friends with Calder. They have to work together to save the Robie House, a historical house in their neighborhood that has lots of secrets.
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Both Chasing Vermeer, and Wright 3 have illustrations with hidden meanings and however hard you try you can't figure out what they mean until the end of the book.
--Fizzy, age 11 |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Wright 3, The |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Monday, July 17th, 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: | 1988 |
The books in this set are:
- The Lives of Christopher Chant
- Charmed Life
We actually read them in reverse order, and recommend that you do as well.
Charmed Life is the story of Cat and Gwendolen, brother and sister orphaned when their parents were drowned. Gwendolen seems to be a talented magician. And Cat -- well, not so much. Both are adopted, for reasons Cat finds difficult to understand, by a very powerful sorcerer, the Chrestomanci.
The Lives of Christopher Chant tells the exciting story of how Christopher Chant (barely) survived to become the Chrestomanci.
Both stories explore the problems of gifted children who are made to feel inferior because they are special. |
Growing up, neither Cat nor Christopher Chant understands that he has special talents. Instead, their "caretakers" -- in Cat's case, his sister, Gwendolen, and in Chant's case, his mother and uncle -- use their children's gifts for their own selfish purposes.
It takes Cat significant time after he meets Chrestomanci to understand his kinship (in more ways than one) with him. The advantage of reading Charmed Life first (which we did by chance) was that it made Cat's confusion very real to us.
My then-10 year old and I really enjoyed getting these two glimpses into Diana Wynne Jones' multiple alternative universes, in which the outcomes of historical events led to the preeminence of technology in some universes and the preeminence of magic in others. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 1: Charmed Life / The Lives of Christopher Chant, The |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Dickensian, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Monday, July 10th, 2006
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| Author: | Susan Fletcher |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1989 |
I enjoyed reading Dragon's Milk. It's about a girl who is different from everybody else in her little town. Kaeldra has to get milk from a dragon so that her foster-sister won't die. And that's how Kaeldra's adventure starts.
I was upset with the end of the book because it was sad but I'm still going to read the other books in the series.
-- Fizzy, age 11
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Dragon's Milk |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
