The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Recently I was listening to NPR (I'm a giant public radio nerd) and the show Here and Now was doing a series about spirituality. The episode I heard was about Secular Spirituality and how books of all kinds can influence us to do good in the world. The guest, William Schwalbe, recommends several books that he thinks are perfect for this. One of them was The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery which I had never read but knew I should. I've seen it listed on so many must-read lists and lists of favorite books. The Little Prince lives on an asteroid, but travels the universe when he can. During one trip to Earth, he meets our narrator, a downed pilot who is stranded in a desert. The Prince tells the pilot about all the places he has visited and what he has learned.

This is a very short children's book, though some argue it isn't really written for children but for children in adult bodies. Maybe the Prince would say I have too much adult in me, but I just didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped I would. Maybe I shouldn't have put off reading it for so long.

"IT is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

The League of Unexceptional Children by Gitty Daneshavari

The League of Unexceptional Children by Gitty Daneshvari is just the opposite of most kid hero books. In those books, the hero is smart, athletic, exceptional. In this book, well, not so much. Jonathan and Shelley are exceptionally unexceptional. So why are they being chosen to save the country from certain destruction?

To be an ordinary, normal, average, unexceptional child in a world that celebrates first place, the best, top of the class, and so on is tantamount to being invisible.

And because they are invisible they are the perfect spies.

This book is the first in a series of adventure books aimed at young readers. I can't say I was a fan. It was a very quick read and children may like it, but I felt it left so much to be desired. I'm all in favor of celebrating the everyday and helping children to see their own strengths even when they aren't the ones that are most obvious, but I worry that this elevates mediocrity. Everyone can't be class president or a prodigy Nobel prize winner, of course, but straight Cs on a report card is not something I think should be heralded. Be who you are, but be the best you can be.

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards

Every summer, I pick a few books to read to my children who are currently seven and ten.  We've read some wonderful things together and I believe it helps foster a love of reading.  I am always happy when we can all get involved in a book together.  The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards was the first of our summer reading this year.  Sadly, it has taken us over a month to get through it.  Perhaps there is something I am missing because this book has an average rating of 4.25 on Goodreads, but we didn't like it at all.

I knew from the very first chapter that I wasn't going to be a fan when the children in the book meet a strange man at the zoo, then end up at his house on Halloween when they are trick-or-treating alone and go into his house.  Then I was even more unhappy when he promises to take them on a fantastic adventure, but they cannot tell their parents anything about it!  I understand that this is fiction and was written even before I was born and so it was a different time, but I have a hard time as a mother being sure that my own children can make the distinction.  I had to stop reading several times to remind them that it is a book and they are never to do what the children in this story were doing.  For me, that really takes something away from the experience.  

Also frustrating for us was that the storytelling style just seemed far too slow.  There was a lot of detail given, but it felt as if the narration went on and on with very little accomplished.  To be honest, we all felt that it was just terrible.  I am truly sorry to Mrs. Edwards.  We love Julie Andrews, but her book didn't work for us.

The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau

 

The final book in the Ember series is The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau.  I had to wait a bit for it to come in at the library, but I read it very quickly once it was finally in my hands.  In this final installment, Lean and Doon travel back to Ember to see if there is anything there waiting for them.  Doon is convinced that the Creators left something specifically for the people of Ember to help them once they emerged from their home into the real world.  Lena is doubtful that they will find anything like that, but hopes to bring back any leftover food, clothing or medicine that can be scavenged from the town.  Of course, their trip does not go smoothly.  It seems someone else has discovered the city of Ember and laid claim to all that it contains.  Lena and Doon  have once again gone out to save the world on their own and this time they need help. 

 

While far better than The Prophet of Yonwood, this finale to the series was a bit of a let down.  After the excitement of the first book and the interesting social parallels in the second book, the third felt like a huge miss to me and this fourth book, though much better, still felt like it was missing something.  The story was good, but I think the first book is still my favorite.  This series was a wonderful introduction into the world of dystopian literature for a younger reader.  It wasn't too scary or dark (no pun intended) and the stories all resolved nicely.  The best part of this series was reading it along with my son and discussing it with him.  That, you just can't beat.

The Tale of Mally Biddle by M. L. LeGette

 

Mally Biddle is a young girl living on a farm with her widowed mother.  She spends most of her days chasing her goats and trying to convince them to come home.  It isn't an especially exciting life, but she is happy.  Well, happy if you don't count the bullying, thieving knights that come to collect "taxes" and threaten the people of her village.  Since the King of Lenzar was murdered many years before, the new king has allowed the knights to rule the country with cruelty and fear.  Mally feels powerless until she joins a band of rebels.  Their mission is to find out if the King's infant daughter really did die of a fever all those years ago, depriving the kingdom of it's rightful heir.  To do so, Mally is hired at the castle as a servant where she can learn more of the circumstances surrounding the princess's death.

 

This was a delightful book filled with excitement and more than a little espionage.  Mally is a bright, strong character that is far from happy playing the delicate victim.  She speaks up for herself and stands up for what is right, she doesn't hide her talents, but uses them to help those around her and she is loyal and protective of her friends and family.  While I admit it was a bit predictable, it was still a fun read.  This would be a fantastic book for a young girl and I think boys would enjoy the adventure in it as well.  I especially appreciate that it is a book I could recommend to a ten- or twelve-year-old and not worry about inappropriate content.  It is a very sweet book and very well written.  I really think you will enjoy it.

A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff

 

After seeing several book reviewers list A Tangle of Knots  by Lisa Graff as one of the top ten books to read this year, I added it to my summer reading list.  This one I read just for me, but my children would have loved it.  Centering around several different story lines, A Tangle of Knots  takes place in Poughkeepsie, New York.  This is a very special version of the world in which most people have a Talent.  These Talents can be anything from knot-tying to plant-watering or even spitting.  One eleven-year-old girl possesses the Talent of knowing exactly which kind of cake will be someone's favorite and the head of a home for orphaned girls is Talented in knowing exactly which family and which orphan go together. 

 

I also loved that between several chapters, the author includes recipes for some of the characters' perfect cakes:  Miss Malory's Peach Cake, Will's S'more Cake, Marigold's Lime Pound Cake and even one called Zane's Garlic Cake.  I'm not sure I'd like to try that last one, but it says it is "a cake that's not as terrible as it seems, on the surface, to be."

 

And finally the moral of the story is all wrapped up in one man's advice to Cady, the last orphan,

"'Just remember this,' he said. 'It's the way we deal with what Fate hands us that defines who we are.'"

That's good advice for all of us, young or old.

 

This book was a quick read and a lot of fun. I think my niece will love it so I've already put it on my Christmas list for her!  Shh...don't tell her.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Summer reading has begun!  I love summer reading with my kids and they love to hear me read to them.  Of course I only pick books that I am also interested in reading, some I've previewed and some are new to all three of us.  The first book this summer was The One and Only Ivan  by Katherine Applegate.  I saw this book reviewed in several places and the reviews were all very positive. 

The One and Only Ivan is a fictional story based on real life events.  Ivan is a real gorilla who was captured as an infant in the Congo.  He lived for nearly thirty years in a circus themed shopping mall in Washington state.  After public outcry brought attention to the far less than ideal living conditions of the animals, Ivan was moved to a real zoo, Zoo Atlanta, where he lived with others of his kind to the ripe old age of 50.  He died just last August 20th.   

The fictional story is told from Ivan's point of view.  Ivan describes the mall, it's visitors, and his friends, both human and animal.  These friends include a small dog who claims to be a homeless wanderer, an elderly female elephant and, new to the mall, a baby female elephant.  As for Ivan's experience with humans, there is Mack, the mall owner, George, the mall janitor, and Julia, George's daughter.  Ivan tells the story of his long journey from Africa, the family he lost there, and how he came to live in the mall. 

One of the things I loved about this book is that Ivan can perfectly understand the humans.  He is disappointed that he cannot make them understand him.  When I was in elementary school, our class went on a field trip to the zoo.  They have since remodeled into a beautiful primate exhibit.  The day of our field trip, however, we were walking through the interior of the exhibit where we could see into the gorillas' inside habitats.  One gorilla was sitting with his back to the glass, ignoring the visitors.  My mother looked at him and said, "Wow.  He looks like he could break right through that glass if he wanted to."  Immediately after she said this, the large gorilla turned toward the glass and gave it a very loud hit.  We all jumped a good two feet in the air.  It's a funny story now, but it does make one wonder if that gorilla had understood her and was just confirming that yes, he could break through if he wanted.

As we have well established here, I am a crier.  This book more than accommodated me in that respect.  Reading aloud to my children, I occasionally had to stop for a tissue or three.  Neither my 6-year-old nor my 9-year-old joined me in my tears, but they both agreed that the situations were sad.  I think this is a wonderful book for teaching children compassion.  It also gives children a view of the outside world they may not have previously experienced.  I had to explain poaching and the grotesque market for the animal's body parts.  They were astonished that someone would want a gorilla hand in their home as a decoration or an ashtray.  I share in that bewilderment.  I also explained to them that even in our own country, animals are not always treated humanely.  I was able to ask them questions such as, "If you were an animal do you think you would like living in a cage?"  "Do you think that animals should be cared for and allowed to live in the most comfortable conditions possible?"  I also explained the difference in a Good Zoo and a Bad Domain (as does Ivan in the book).  This was the perfect book to begin our Summer Reading and I would absolutely recommend you add it to your list. 

We love Ivan.

A Fairy Called Hilary by Linda Leopold Strauss

I saw this book, A Fairy Called Hilary  by Linda Leopold Strauss, at our library book store and had to buy it because I have a lovely friend named Hilary.  My friend Hilary is one of the funniest people I have ever met and she brings so much fun into every life she touches.  That sounds like a magic fairy to me.  I wanted to send it to her, but I thought I should give it a read first. 

 

It is a very short book, I read it in an evening and a morning, about a little girl, Caroline, whose life is suddenly made more exciting when a fairy comes to live with her.  I was interested to read in the front of the book that the story originally appeared as a series in Cricket, The Magazine for Children in 1995.  This was a cute story that will be enjoyed by younger readers ready to move to chapter books.  Scholastic recommends this book to Grades 3-5.  I think my favorite part of the book is the end when Caroline is sad about the prospect of her fairy friend Hilary leaving someday because fairies come "only for a visit.  Not forever.  It can never be forever."  Hilary tells Caroline she can remember her for as long as she wants and Caroline replies, "That's always, then."  My dear friend Hilary recently moved away and we were all very sad to see her go, but we can remember her always.  What a great thing for us to teach our children and remember ourselves:  our friends may move away, we may move away from our friends, but the memories of those wonderful people in our lives are ours to keep forever.