Tag: middle grade

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Amber The Story Of A Red Fox by Shirley Woods

Amber, The Story of a Red Fox, is a fascinating early chapter book that follows a red fox, from her birth to adulthood.

We are introduced to the parents, the playful young kits and their lives in the country as they dodge eagles, dogs, and learn lessons about porcupines and skunks.

By fall, Amber’s parents have left, and her brothers have gradually gone their separate ways. Amber still has much to learn. Driven by hunger and fear, she will use every instinct and intelligence she possesses to feed herself and stay safe.

She survives encounters with armed farmers, wolves, foothold traps, and one of the more lethal menaces, winter. But we rejoice when she finally pairs up with another fox that becomes her hunting partner and mate.

Pros:

  • Shirley Woods educates us about foxes, without distracting the reader from her story. The facts happen naturally around the actions of the foxes, so we are happily immersed into their world.
  • The story does not candy-coat nature. Animals die so others can eat and live. It is neither cruel nor sad, it just happens and life moves on.
  • The main character, Amber, is a spunky little fox that learns quickly, and is a sure heroine for young readers.
  • I thoroughly enjoyed the illustrations and felt that the style was very appropriate for the story.

Cons:

  • The book is written in the third person omniscient POV, and I would rather have heard the story from Amber’s point of view only. I wasn’t a fan of the ‘head-hopping’ and would have felt closer to Amber if the story was from her perspective.
  • With all the dangers that she encounters, Amber succeeds in never getting injured. Not even a little. I find that a bit hard to believe, and it belittles the threats she constantly faces. At the risk of sounding mean, I feel that if she suffered a bit more, the reader would sympathize with her more, and fear for her future.

My Personal Opinion:

I was drawn to this early chapter book as an illustrator, a writer for middle grade, and a lover of animals. It was a pretty easy sell, however, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the writing and the obvious research involved, and illustrations. Kids will love this story, as it seems there is danger around every corner, as there is in nature.

Questions For Discussion:

  1. What is the difference between a fox and a dog? (Hint-look at chapter 2)
  2. What were some of the lessons the kits (baby foxes) learned before they left their parents?
  3. What did Amber learn about surviving after she left her parents?
  4. How is the survival of foxes increased by having a partner?

 

 

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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Three weeks ago, I promised reviews based on my granddaughters’ favorite books. The oldest finally decided she loved Jane Eyre the best. She’s six, so she read the children’s version from the Treasury of Illustrated Classics. Voracious reader that she is, I give her four more years before she tackles Charlotte Brontë’s original text.

If you have never read Jane Eyre, Jane tells her story beginning as a young girl in a Cinderella-type of existence with her stepmother, stepbrother and stepsisters, none of whom have sympathy toward her. They send her to an orphanage claiming she is a terrible child, so the people who run the place don’t trust her either. Jane’s one friend, an older girl and a devout and kind Christian, dies of tuberculosis.

Once Jane grows up, she finds a position at Thornfield Hall as governess to Rochester’s ward, Adele. Thornfield Hall is an eccentric household but comfortable. Strange laughter from the attic is explained as “Grace Poole, one of the servants, who just goes up there to sew.” When Rochester and Jane fall in love and plan a wedding, a stranger enters the church in the middle of the ceremony declaring Rochester is already married. Jane runs away. If you want to find out the ending, read the book. I don’t want to spoil it!

 

Pros

  1. Children love to read about other children in precarious situations, and Jane Eyre delivers, as orphaned Jane endures many hardships through childhood and must make her way in the world as a young adult.
  2. Children, girls especially, love a good love story, and once again, Jane Eyre delivers. Her love story seems star-crossed, but just when all is lost, Brontë writes a happy ending employing unusual circumstances.
  3. Parents who want their children to appreciate literature will find this story and many other Treasury titles a wonderful way to introduce the classics.
  4. Jane’s character perseveres in every circumstance. She is not perfect, neither in beauty nor in temperament, but she never gives up on worthwhile goals, a quality I tried to instill in my own children.

 

Cons

  1. As an adult, I admit disappointment in the truncation of plot. But this is a review for kids’ satisfaction in reading, so I guess it’s not so much of a negative.
  2. With all the craze for fantasy and fairy princesses, Jane Eyre will not satisfy. But then, I have always promoted variety in the literary diet, so again, not much of a negative.

 

Discussion Questions

  1. If you had been another child at the orphanage, how would you have treated Jane?
  2. What would you have thought of Mr. Brocklehurst?
  3. Was it right or wrong for Rochester to lie about his crazy wife who lived on the top floor?

Conclusion

Modern Publishing has three dozen classic titles under the Treasury of Illustrated Classics logo, all of which boil down the plots to a third/fourth grade vocabulary. Of course, the nuances in the adult versions are missing, but the adaptations remain true to story. In this case, credit goes to Sara Thomson.

 

 

 

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Little Britches by Ralph Moody

Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers is not only a true coming-of-age story set in the early 1900s, but it also records old, satisfying values and codes of conduct that made the USA the strong nation it became. In Little Britches, most people made good neighbors, and a man’s word was his bond.  Sadly, many of those values and codes of conduct have been lost in our country today. Reading Little Britches with our families will help us instill these virtues in our children and grandchildren, and will give us many opportunities for discussing them and impressing them upon a new generation.

Pros:

Respect for God is a value that runs deep in this story. Although the Moody family didn’t attend church often, they prayed together at meals and learned the importance of truth and honesty. Mrs. Moody also had Bible lessons with her children on Sunday. The children respected and obeyed their parents, although Ralph had problems with obedience. The parents loved, cared for, and trained their children to become useful and honorable adults. One of the high points for me was when Mr. Moody talked with Ralph about his “character house” and how a he could either build it or tear it down.

Respect for one another is clearly portrayed. It was most often shown through action.  The family helped one another, and took care of one another in crises. They spent a lot of time together, learning self-discipline while they worked, cooked, talked, read, and performed plays.

I loved the way that Mr. Moody and Ralph discussed big issues while they milked the cows. I could see the lamp-lit stalls, could hear the milk “singing into the buckets,” and feel the warmth of their mutual friendship, respect, and love for one another.

One instance of Mr. Moody’s love is shown when, during a hurricane, he tied his family together with rope and had them crawl toward a gully for shelter. The mother’s love is seen in her distress when the children were hurt and when they learned “words they’d never known before” at a community gathering. Grace, Ralph’s older sister, might have had a sharp tongue, but she willingly bent over so Ralph could use her back as a step from which he could mount his horse.

To me, one of the most poignant scenes was when, in a crisis, Charles, the un-demonstrative father, comforted his wife by holding her, talking soothingly to her, and patting her cheek.

Respect for neighbors is also a recurring theme. The Moody family didn’t expect their neighbors to help them, but they graciously accepted a bucket of milk a day from their neighbor, Fred Aultland, until they could buy their own cow. Charles and Ralph also worked for Fred, and Charles trained Ralph to give an employer full value for his pay—and then some. Through Charles’ ingenuity, working during the noon hour, he refitted Fred Aultland’s hay stacker so they could dump a load of hay wherever they wanted it rather than in only one spot. This meant that Fred needed just one man to spread hay on top of the stack instead of three.

All the ranches irrigated their crops with canal water flowing through ditches to water their crops. At one point, to prevent a gunfight over each ranch’s water rights, Charles invented a water gauge which helped him and his neighbors win an eventual court case.

Respect for the law is also a core value in Little Britches. Ralph once caught a pheasant in his trap.  Since the law said that pheasants were protected, Charles insisted that Ralph ride alone into town, find the sheriff, and show him the pheasant he had caught.

Cons:

In only one incident did Charles take the law into his own hands, literally. It happened during the night after Ralph had been in trouble at school. The male teacher had given him a whipping with a homemade whip, lashing the split leather thongs repeatedly over the knobs on Ralph’s ribs that were still healing from being broken.  The next morning, Ralph noticed his father’s hands were bruised and swollen, and the teacher came to school with a black eye.

When Ralph was not yet twelve years old, he took on a man’s responsibilities during the family’s greatest crisis. His mother became very ill and had a long stay in the in-patient surgery at the local doctor’s. As soon as she arrived home, while the nurse was still helping her settle in, Ralph harnessed the horse to the spring wagon and collected the children from their neighbor’s homes.

My Thoughts

All in all, Little Britches is not merely a record of life at the turn of the twentieth century. It is also an accurate record of a way of life that has been lost. This good, hardworking family contributed to their community, didn’t expecting much in return, and loved God, each other, and their neighbors.  It’s a great book for a family to read and discuss together.

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May B. by Caroline Starr Rose

May B., by Caroline Rose Starr, is an inspiring Middle Grade story about twelve-year-old Mavis Elizabeth Betts, a girl with dyslexia who dreams of being a teacher someday.

Written entirely in verse, the 240-page book is a quick and engrossing read.

“I catch what’s not said:/ it’s foolishness to keep pretending. / What sort of teacher can’t /read out lessons? / Maybe May B. can / Maybe May B. can’t”

May B.’s life-altering experience begins when she is volunteered by her parents to help out a neighbor because his new wife needs help adjusting to life on a Kansas prairie farm. The couple live fifteen miles from the Betts’ homestead. Besides, May will be home by Christmas her father assures her. Things go awry, and May is stranded, alone, in a fight for her life against the harsh Kansas winter. The story is a testament to May’s inner strength and bravery.

Pros:

  • May B. is a first-person account from May’s point of view. The author manages to paint a realistic picture of life for the early settlers in Kansas: the one-room schoolhouse, dug-out cabins, scarcity of food and resources, harsh weather, and long distances. Hard choices abound for May B. and her family, and she must grow up quickly.
  • Ms. Rose’s characterization, imagery, and pacing are first rate. She does what all novelists strive to achieve in far fewer words, and I salute her skill. This book is appropriate for all ages, particularly middle grades and up. Readers younger than nine may need help following the story without the usual cues provided by prose.

Cons:

  • May’s current teacher neither understands nor sympathizes with May’s learning problem caused by her dyslexia. May has fond memories of her first teacher who worked hard to help her progress.
  • The children at her school, all but her brother, underestimate May’s intelligence based on her poor academic performance. Any child with learning differences will identify with the way this affects her self-esteem.
  • Her peers ridicule and harass May because of her disability.
  • Even her parents seem to underestimate their daughter, although their love for her is clear.
  • The neighbor’s inept wife is rude to May and unappreciative of her hard work.
  • The neighbor and his wife perish off-screen. May does not know they have died until the end of the story.

My Personal Opinion:

I have read this book through twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both times.  For those who love Laura Ingalls Wilder or even Anne of Green Gables, this book is a natural choice. The female protagonist has a strong spirit and will to survive.

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A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness is a bittersweet teen fiction about a boy struggling to come to terms with his mother’s serious illness.

Synopsis:

Connor, a twelve-year-old-boy, is faced with unbelievable stress – a dying mother, a father who has split from the family, a recurrent nightmare, a domineering grandmother, and bullies at school. Then, a monster visits. But this monster, which Connor initially believes is just a dream, insists that Connor “called” him. Between dealing with the above problems, Connor must listen to the monster’s stories that urges him to confront his anger, confusion, and frustrations. And at the end of the monster’s three tales, Connor is forced to reciprocate by describing his nightmare – a story of truth, and the root of his depression and anxiety.

Pros:

  • Connor is a believable, imperfect boy, who many readers will be able to identify with.
  • This story deals effectively with a thought provoking and tough issue of a parent’s grave illness.
  • All characters are well formed and sincere. The adults don’t have everything figured out, and they are portrayed as flawed humans dealing with a difficult situation as best they can. Even the bully has depth and isn’t your paper-thin rendition of a bad guy.
  • The story is written in a compelling action-packed fashion, which encourages you to turn the pages.
  • A Monster Calls can be enjoyed on many different levels. Younger kids can enjoy it on a fantasy level, and older teens can delve into the symbolism of the monster and the stories it tells. This is why I have classified it as both Young Adult and Middle Grade.

Cons:

  • The story deals with a sensitive and heart-wrenching tragedy of losing a parent to illness. This could be very disturbing for kids, who are sensitive, or are dealing with the same issues.
  • A bully receives what he deserves, which is satisfying, but not always realistic.

Impression:

When I picked up A Monster Calls to read, I was surprised to see it was coming out as a movie, with big names involved, like Liam Neeson and Sigourney Weaver. I quickly fell in love with the style and the content. I enjoy reading a book that has heavy symbolism and this didn’t disappoint. The story is based upon an idea of writer Siobhan Dowd, who has written four other amazing Young Adult novels. Tragically, this would have been her fifth, if she too hadn’t been taken too early by cancer. Patrick Ness, the author, has been passed the literary baton, and he ran with it, creating a powerful and provocative piece of work. In his words, he challenges other writers to “…go. Run with it. Make Trouble.”

Discussion Questions:

  • What is Connor’s real nightmare and why is he so ashamed of it? Why does the monster force Connor to tell it?
  • What lies do Connor and his mother tell each other during her illness? What lies do they tell themselves? Are they necessary? Why do those lies ultimately need to be replaced by the truth?
  • Why does Connor allow himself to be bullied by his classmate Harry? What does Harry understand about Connor that no one else does?
  • Connor O’Malley is often unsure about what separates the real from the imagined, and so is the reader. How does this book continually keep its readers off-balance? Why?