Mrs. D’s Reads

I might complain about the weather, but I never complain about having an excuse to read!

Here are some of the new books I’ve enjoyed…

The Cow That Laid an Egg

by Andy Cutbill

Grades K-2

This is a surprisingly simple story about a cow who doesn’t feel special, and the chickens who help her. The playful, collage style illustrations really add interest and humor to a fairly simple text. Love the surprise ending!

When Harriet Met Sojourner

by Catherine Clinton

Grades 3-7

I am a big fan of the picture book biography format, and this one is quality. The author goes back and forth between the lives of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, comparing and contrasting their journeys. Finally, they meet, an event that actually occured, but nobody knows exactly what happened and what they talked about. The illustrations are powerful additions to the informative text, and the intriguing question of what actually happened when they met is a wonderful premise for the book.

Woolbur

by Leslie Helakoski

Grades 1-3

This is a very entertaining story about a lamb who does not fit in. Every time his worried parents suggest that what he’s doing and the way he’s doing it is “different,” he says, “I know! Isn’t it great?” When they finally put their feet down and insist he do things like the other lambs, Woolbur brings the others over to his way of doing things instead of conforming himself. Great illustrations, great message, and wonderful writing.

The Boy Who Dared

by Susan Campbell Baroletti

Grades 5-10

Bartoletti won a Newbery Honor a couple years ago for her non-fiction book Hitler Youth. That title told the stories of 13 real kids who grew up in Hitler’s Germany. some became devoted Nazis, others resisted Hitler’s regime. In this novel, she fictionalizes the story of one of those 13. Helmuth is a teen who works against Hitler by secretly writing and distributing pamphlets that denounce Hitler’s propoganda. He is eventually caught and executed at the age of 17. Bertoletti does a convincing job of describing what the real life Helmuth might have thought, felt, and experienced in his short life. The book is not particularly violent, but the fact of his execution overshadows the whole story. An interesting, but also strangely hopeful read.

Replay

by Sharon Creech

Grades 5-8

Sharon Creech is a wonderfully consistent and effective author for this age group. Some of her other novels (Walk Two Moons, Chasing Redbird, Heartbeat) are perennial favorites. Replay is the story of a large, chaotic family who has all the inevitable troubles and successes such a family brings. Leo, one of the kids, wants to be a star, and Creech structures the book and the story around Leo’s passion. His favorite trick is when things go wrong, he replays them in his mind and has everything come out right. This is a charming story about family, finding your way, and being the best you can at what you love.

Airborn

by Kenneth Oppel

Grades 5-10

This is a wonderful novel set in a time and place like ours, but slightly different. Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on an airship that carries passengers across the Pacificus Ocean from Lionsgate City to Australia. Things go well until pirates attack and the airship is stranded on a deserted island. Matt and a passenger, Kate, discover a mysterious creature on the island, and the discovery could be either save or destroy them. There are some wonderful characters here, as well as a believable world for them to inhabit. Perhaps too long for a good read aloud, but a nice recommendation for strong readers who like adventure.

A couple others for the “grown ups”…

I am going to Austria and the Czech Republic next month, so much of my reading has been about that, and there are a couple of historical novels I think will have wide appeal:

The Book of Splendor

by Frances Sherwood

Adult

This historical novel, set in Prague at the turn of the 17th century, concerns the court of the Emporer Rudolph, and his obsession with eternal life. He has gathered the best minds in Europe around him to help him discover how to live forever. Meanwhile, the long protected Jewish community in Prague is feeling threatened by their increasingly intolerant neighbors. The Jewish Rabbi creates a Golem to protect the Jewish neighborhood, but the Golem is more than just the mindless servant he thought he would be. When the emporer discovers the Rabbi’s ability to create life, he demands the secret. The story sounds convoluted here, but Sherwood weaves the seemingly disparate story into a cohesive and compelling novel.

A Song for Summer

by Eva Ibbotson

Adult

This historical novel, set in rural Austria at the beginning of World War II, really captivated me. A young English woman, Ellen, takes a job at an avant garde boarding school and begins to transform the school and its inhabitants with her gentle ways. Meanwhile, Hitler’s Germany is looming and the characters are one by one caught up in it’s horrors and transformed by the griefs war brings. In spite of all this, it is also a wonderfully romantic and hopeful story. I had known about, but never read, Ibbotson’s children’s novels. I will be reading them now! I love the way she writes!