The Kite Fighters

"In "Seoul, Korea, in 1473, Young-sup and his older brother Kee-sup, are excited about the New Year kite competition." This great little story of sibling rivalry, family tradition, and craftsmanship is more likely to hold the interest of young readers than Linda Sue Park's Newbery Award winning A Single Shard. Why not read this aloud and make and paint your own kites? 136 pages. Reading level = 6.3; Quality = 5; Acceptability = 5.

Berenstain Bears' Nature Guide

With the immodest subtitle: Everything small bears and kids need to know about the wonderful world of Nature, this is a classic example of the still largely ignored truth that there is no neutral moral ground in education (and literature). Years ago, my friend Christian Overman tipped us off to the in-your-face religious claims of this colorful, supposedly harmless book. An example: "Nature is every person, thing, and place here on Earth and out in space. Nature's the sun, the moon, the stars. It's far away planets like Venus and Mars. It's the mountains, the valleys, the shore, the sea. Nature is you! Nature is me! It's all that IS or WAS or EVER WILL BE! (Capitalization is the author's, not mine!) That, my friends, is a big time religious claim, and one that every Christian parent should jump all over. Be careful with all of the Berenstain's books; some are more obnoxious than others, but many contain attitudes and values that do not build up.

The Kingdom by the Sea

From the opening sentence-"He was an old hand at air raids now."-this is the perfect lost boy meets lost dog story. The beaches of WWII England is the setting for what I think is Robert Westall's best novel. (An opinion apparently not shared by the experts.) However, due to some profanity and thematic elements, this book is PG in our library. Which provides, I believe, an opportunity: if I had a son, say ten or twelve years old, I would consider reading this story to him, editing out the profanity and discussing the scene where Harry is rescued from the danger of sexual abuse by a soldier. The incident is reported sensitively and is germane to the story, which artfully follows Harry's learning how to relate to various men in his life. Westall's style is engaging and his story compelling.

You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton?

Fasten your seatbelts, if you expect to keep up with the whirlwind that was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Jean Fritz, where were you when I decided, like most kids, that history is boring? (You were probably in Grade School at the time.) This is one of a series of biographies that are great for discussion--short, fast-paced and interesting. If you read this one along with your children, you can talk about commitment, handling opposition, and the role of women. Unusual for a short work, the book includes brief notes, a bibliography and index. Quality = 5; Acceptability = 5. Leave me a comment if you have read other Fritz books that are not to be missed.

A House Is a House for Me

I knew we were in for a treat when I had to stop and examine the illustrations on the title page--they were that good. My thanks to Edie, our two year old granddaughter, for introducing me to this gem of a book by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrations by Betty Fraser. The poetic text is clever and moves right along; but the pictures are even better--colorful, imaginative, full of interesting detail. The New York Times said (in 1978), "A brisk, even headlong rhyme plunges us into a swirling cluster of images...an overwhelming profusion of examples of houses. It is an astonishing book, one of the best of the year."

Books to heal and hurt

"Great works of imaginative literature are hospitals where we heal; bad works of literature are battlefields where we get injured." Ted Hughes, in Myth and Education

Mouse Called Wolf

Dick King-Smith, WWII vet turned English farmer, is best known for his award-winning Babe, the Gallant Pig. (No, I haven't seen the movie.) This mouse called Wolf stars in a clever (borderline quirky) story of courage, creativity and general niceness. Jon Goodell's happy competent line drawings are just right. A good read-aloud, A Mouse Called Wolf provides Talking Points on Fate, not killing anything, and several musical terms that were new to me. Reading level = 3.9; Let's give it a 4 for both Quality and Acceptability.

Jim Ugly

"Part elkhound, part something else, and a large helping of short-eared timber wolf" That's Jim Ugly. Sid Fleischman's "ideal boy-and-dog mystery" plays out in the Ol'e West. (I liked School Library Journal's suggestion to add "silent movie piano accompaniment".) The book is on about that level of sophistication; but hey, who cares about sophistication when you have a well-told story that will keep the attention of reluctant guy readers. I liked the cover art on this one. One minor alert: there is "a godforsaken desert" that can be read-over. Reading level = 5.8; Quality = 4; Acceptability = 4.

Tuck Everlasting

Noted children's book editor Anita Silvey says, "Personally, if I had only one children's book to take to my desert island, it would be Tuck Everlasting." High praise, indeed, from a woman who purportedly has read 125,000 kid's books! But I don't disagree; this is one of the first youth novels I read, and remains one of my favorites. Talking Points: Is never-ending life desirable, and under what circumstances? 5 for Quality; 5 for Acceptability. Reading level = 5.9

Wolves of Willoughby Chase

I really wanted to like this book. A lot. I'm always looking for great storytelling, and am partial to (almost) anything British. In print for over forty years, this is the first of eight volumes in Joan Aiken's "Wolves" Chronicles. The book has all the pieces, but never really comes together in a satisfying way. Virtually all of the disastrous events of the first half are resolved in predictable, though improbable, positive outcomes in the second. The pen and ink illustrations by Pat Marriott are, well, adequate. Not a bad book, but not a great one. (Note: there are a couple of English "dammes" near the end; easily read over.) Quality = 3; Acceptability = 4.

Gratefully Yours

Make sure your kids know about the Orphan Trains. (We will loan you the PBS video that interviews many of the actual orphans in their later years.) There are several youth novels based on the Orphan Train experience (exceeded only by the countless Holocaust books).
Jane Buchanan has given us a good opportunity to talk about gratitude in this 117 page, 1997 "Pick of the Lists" (American Bookseller). Brief references to hell freezing and God vs. luck. Reading level = 5.5; Quality = 4; Acceptability = 4 out of 5.
Learn more at JaneBuchanan.com.

Just Juice

What does it take to be happy? Karen Hesse thinks she knows and spells out a good bit of the answer in this 138 page story of family love and loyalty during hard times. Along the way she creates Talking Points on extreme poverty ("jelly so thin you can hardly find the purple"), illiteracy and accompanying pride, learning styles, doing Christmas modestly, and even a tastefully expressed home childbirth. Reading livel = 3.5 Quality = 5 out of 5; Acceptability = 5 out of 5.
My only criticism is with Robert Andrew Parker's illustrations. I'd like to see someone else take a run at this worthy work.

The Whipping Boy

"History is alive with lunacies and injustices." So ends Sid Fleischman's 1987 Newbery Medal winning offbeat story of courage and loyalty. This one is a great example of those books that, although they don't preach or moralize or quote Scripture, are quite consistent with Christian values and worldview. To say nothing of what can happen when the heir to the throne is never spanked! 90 pages; Reading level = 4.8; A 4 for quality; 4 for acceptability.