The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles

What do Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, The Princess Diaries, and The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles have in common? If you said Julie Andrews, you'd be right! The same Julie Andrews, here Julie Andrews Edwards, whose music and movies I loved from the time I was a little girl, is the author of this delightful book.

Siblings Ben, Tom, and Lindy Potter make the acquaintance of Noble Prize winner Professor Savant by chance twice - first when they have a conversation him at the zoo about an unusual animal, and secondly when Lindy accepts a dare and unknowingly knocks on the door of his creepy looking house on Halloween night. The professor invites them in, and the children ask more about the Whangdoodle that he had spoken of a few days earlier.

The Whangdoodle is the king of Whangdoodleland. He was considered the wisest, most generous, and most endearing of all creatures. Many Whangdoodles used to live all over the world, and they were at their height when people believed in other fanciful creatures. But as man gained knowledge and became more involved in technology and industry, they dismissed fanciful thoughts, and the Whangdoodles disappeared with them.

The children are enthralled. They ask the professor how they can travel to go see the Whangdoodle. The professor tells them that they have to travel by way of their imaginations. But first they must learn how to use their imaginations, and so the children spend many afternoons training with the professor. Finally, the professor gives them special hats to help them make the journey - and viola! With effort and concentration, Professor Savant and the children find themselves in Whangdoodleland.

And that's when the adventure begins! The group encounters many creatures, lots of danger, and pushes their mental abilities to the limits. The professor, who has been trying to reach the Whangdoodle for years, tires and falters and almost gives up. But the children push him on toward fulfilling his dream and theirs.

If Julie Andrews is still looking for something to do now that her singing voice has failed her, she should consider making an audio recording this book. I think it would be great. I would recommend this book for young and old alike - anyone who is interested in "Pax, Amor, et Lepos in Iocando."

Jump Ship to Freedom

What do you get when you put a historian/professor together with his brother the writer? You get a slew of great historical fiction, including Jump Ship to Freedom.

James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier have been writing books together for my entire life. Probably their best known book is the Newbery Honor Book My Brother Sam is Dead. I can't recommend that one yet because haven't read it, but I would certainly encourage you to read this well-written book.

James and Christopher have a solid method that makes their collaboration successful. Christopher comes up with the ideas for the books, and then he does meticulous research on the time period and its people. When he has put down his ideas of what should be included in the story, he hands it over to James who puts flesh onto the bare bones. Finally, they pass the manuscript back and forth until they are happy with it, and Christopher has done one final check of the historical data to make sure everything is accurate. It's a winning combination!

Jump Ship to Freedom is a book set in the late 1700's, right at the time the Constitutional Convention is happening in Philadelphia. Daniel Arabus, the main character, and his mother are slaves in Connecticut. Daniel's father fought in the Revolutionary War in place of his master, Captain Ivers, and this service was to earn him his freedom. Captain Ivers didn't grant it, so Jack Arabus took him to court - and won! He intended to buy his wife and son's freedom with the soldiers' notes he earned in the war, but there was no government established that would pay on the notes. Shortly before this story begins, Jack Arabus is lost at sea.

The soldiers' notes are confiscated by the Ivers's, but Daniel steals them back. Captain Ivers tells Daniel to get ready to sail - something he's never done - but the captain's real purpose is to sell Daniel in the West Indies. En route, they encounter a terrible storm that debilitates the ship and washes away some of the crew, so they have to put in port in New York. This delights Daniel because his plan had been to go to New York and meet with a man who not only knew his father, but who, he hoped, would help him get money for the soldiers' notes.

But how will Daniel get the notes out of the dresser he hid them in? And how will he get away from Captain Ivers? And how does he end up being a messenger for the Quakers who are trying to put anti-slavery language into the Constitution? You'll just have to read Jump Ship to Freedom to find out.

One-Eyed Cat

Once upon a time there was a little girl and her big sister. Often the big sister would tuck the little girl into bed at night. After songs and kisses and cross of Jesus, the big sister would say, "Good night, Punk-a-wunk," and close the door.

It was the same way each time, until one night, when the big sister said, "Good night, Punk-a-wunk," the funny little girl said, "Good night, you one eye cat!"

And the rest, as they say, is history.....

After years of having this book, One-Eyed Cat by Paula Fox, sit on my shelf, I decided to read it - in honor of my little sister Elizabeth. (Yes, yes...I know you're a grown up now, and a teacher no less, but you will always be my Punk-a-wunk!)

This book is as strange as that nickname Elizabeth gave me, which came entirely out of the blue. I remember laughing right out loud that first night she said it. But there was no laughing in this book.

Ned Wallis is the only child of a preacher and an invalid mother. (She's suffering from inflammatory rheumatism.) For his 11th birthday that fall, his mother's brother, Uncle Hilary, gives him an air rifle, against his parents' better judgment. Ned's parents say he can have it in a few years, but he's drawn to the thing. That night, Ned can't sleep, and so he retrieves the loaded air rifle from the attic and takes it outside into the woods. When his eye catches a moving shadow, he doesn't think, doesn't hesitate, just shoots......at something living. Immediately he regrets his choice, and to top it off, when he comes home, he notices someone watching him out the attic window.

Guilt consumes Ned. He can't tell his parents what he's done; he can't even tell Mr. Scully, the elderly neighbor for whom he does odd jobs, and they tell each other plenty. Winter approaches, and one day Ned sees a sick cat with an empty eye socket, and he knows this must be the shadow he shot at.

Ned does all he can to help the cat. He thinks about it day and night. He plans his life around helping the cat, cancelling a Christmas vacation trip with Uncle Hilary simply because if he's gone, who will take care of the cat?

This is a hard book to recommend. It's not that I didn't like the book, but I don't think my students would like it. More so, I don't know if they would "get" it. I think the book has great irony - Ned's overwhelming guilt incapacitates him more than his mother's illness does her. And there's definitely a lesson to be learned about how disobedience, combined with withholding the truth, leads you into greater unresolved internal conflict. The longer Ned waits, the worse it gets. The guy is in some serious need of Peacemaker skills!

One-Eyed Cat is a Newbery Honor Book besides receiving a host of other honors. Plenty of people thought, and think, this book is a winner. Will you?

Peter and the Starcatchers

My latest reading voyage was filled with excitement as I tore through Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's book Peter and the Starcatchers. You are going to finish this book in a hurry - I would bet money on it. As a matter of fact, I made a bet on this book a few days ago. One of my students was reading it too, so we made a bet as to who was going to finish it first.

I finished at 11:05pm on Friday night. How'd you do, Seth?

Peter and the Starcatchers is the first of three books (#2 - Peter and the Shadow Thieves, #3 - Peter and the Secret of Rundoon) that tells what happened prior to the Peter Pan story we all know and love. I love the authors' acknowledgement at the beginning: "And above all we thank Paige Pearson, for asking her daddy one night, after her bedtime story, exactly how a flying boy met a certain pirate." I never cease to be amazed at the well from which interesting stories are drawn, and I love the innocent way the idea for this story was planted in the authors' minds.

Without giving too much away, I will tell you that this book has orphans traveling the high seas, pirates chasing the fastest British ship so as to steal a trunk containing the greatest treasure on earth, a brave girl who can speak to mammals other than humans, and mermaids and savages and a beast named Mister Grin.

This is a must-read for boys and girls. If you don't enjoy it, I'll eat my eye-patch. I'm just sorry that I have four more books on ice - if I didn't, I'd have raced to the bookstore this weekend for the two books that follow.

Princess Academy

It's a real treat when you pick up a book that is not what you expected - it's more than you expected. When I took Newbery Honor Book Princess Academy by Shannon Hale off my bookshelf last week, I mistakenly thought it was going to be another one of those Cinderella spin-offs. Not even close!

Miri lives in the high-mountain village of Mount Eskel among a group of people who are expert quarriers of linder stone. Their only contact with people outside their village is when the traders come to buy the linder and leave them with as little traded as possible.

Miri is small in comparison to the other girls in the village - all of whom work in the quarry. Miri's father has forbidden her to work there and has not explained why. She feels worthless in the eyes of all her neighbors.

Unexpectedly, the king's chief delegate comes to make an announcement in Mount Eskel. The king's priests had divined that the future wife of the heir to the Danland throne would come from Mount Eskel. All the girls between 14 and 18 were to go to the Princess Academy, where they would be learn poise, commerce, and Danlandian history along with reading and figures. Although none of the girls really wants to go and leave their families for a year, they set out to the Academy.

Their teacher, Olana, is cruel and thinks little of them. But she gets the girls to work harder when she shows them the beautiful silver dress that the Academy Princess, the top student, will wear when she meets the prince. In spite of the fact that Miri has strong feelings for a boy from Mount Eskel, she wants to be able to give her father and sister a better home - something she thinks they will receive should she be chosen as the prince's betrothed.

Miri's education moves beyond a simple grasp of Olana's teachings. She begins to learn things that can ultimately help her village with future trades - the first of which is that linder is a highly sought after stone, used in all the king's buildings and those of the wealthy class. And she also learns something that will save her life and the lives of all the girls at the Academy.

There was a point in this book where I started to feel the story winding down, like it was coming to its conclusion. As I was setting the book aside, I looked at the bookmark to see how close I was to finishing. Low and behold, I wasn't even half-way through! I was really surprised - and that led to my intrigue for the rest of the book. I really underestimated this novel. Just now, as I was typing, I happened to see a review on the back of the book - "This is not a fluffy, predictable fairy tale..." So true. I'm glad I didn't look at the back before I started reading. It's nice to discover things on your own. If you read Princess Academy, I hope you discover something enjoyable, too!

Books by David Kherdian

Several years ago, my sister recommended that I read David Kherdian's Newbery Honor book, The Road From Home: The Story of an Armenian Girl. I finally decided to take her advice and so I checked it out from the library this summer.

In this book, David Kherdian tells the true story of how his mother's Armenian Christian family endured persecution at the hands of the Turks. Veron Dumehjian and so many others were forced to leave their homes in what is now Turkey, and they marched across the desert towards an uncertain future. All around her was death - caused by hunger, exhaustion, illness, and despair. Ultimately she was the only member of her immediate family to survive.

An amazing set of circumstances unfolded for young Veron. She was watched over by other women who had lost their children. She chose to live in an orphanage because there she could receive an education. At one point she was reunited with an aunt and cousin. Her dream had originally been to go to college, but now she realized that she needed to make her way to America - the land of opportunity.

Although her aunt was responsible for agreeing to Veron's marriage to an Armenian man already living in America, it was Veron herself who made the choice to be married. She was only sixteen years old! And all she knew of her fiance Melkon was his photograph.

My sister may be surprised that I read this book, but wait.......
......there's more. I read the next book, too!

When I went to check out The Road From Home, there next to it on the shelf was Finding Home. I don't have a picture of it because according to my bookseller, it doesn't exist. (I wonder if it is available now under a different title.) Finding Home is the story of Veron's traveling to American and meeting her betrothed, Melkon (aka Mike) Kherdian. Mike had been living and working in "Rehscene, Vesskahntzsun" (Racine, WI) for years, sending money back to his family in hopes of bringing them over one day.

Veron travels with Mike's brother to Paris, and then to New York City. They are held up at Ellis Island, and finally make their way by train through Chicago to Racine. Veron knows essentially no English, she has never been taught how to cook, and despite her desire to learn, she has had very little education. She relies on Mike's extended family, as well as the entire Armenian community, to buoy her through the first difficult months.

Because the first book is set in Armenia/Turkey, there are some foreign words, unfamiliar names of cities, and unusual people names, but they are much easier to consume than those in The Stolen Life, which I reviewed earlier. It helped that in the first book there was a map to follow, and in the second book there was a list of terms to use. In that respect, I was not frustrated at all!

The person who is thinking about reading these two books, however, should be prepared for them. If you are hoping to read something action filled and fast-paced, then you should look elsewhere. These books are informative. They will teach you about a time and place and people in history with which we do not normally have contact. I didn't find anything offensive or objectionable within these pages, albeit I was saddened to hear of the plight of the Armenian people. My biggest frustration was in the second book - the wedding between Mike and Veron is never shared. The author just skips over that part. Additionally, the ending falls extremely flat. Last night I stayed up until one o'clock in the morning finishing this book. (It's due back tomorrow!) When I read the last sentence, I thought to myself....I stayed up 'til 1 a.m. for this!!! It was disappointing.

But that being said, I would like to read more about Veron and Mike, and how the Armenian community planted a new homeland in America. Go ahead and read these books - but know that you are reading them not for entertainment but for education!

Why? Because.... The Top Ten

This is my father. He and I are similar in many ways. (Too many ways, probably.) The reason why I bring him up at all here is that he too loves to read.

But that is where this similarity ends.

You see, about five years ago my father decided in his infinite wisdom (and I'm using that expression sarcastically - love you, Dad!) that the only kind of book worth reading.....hang on.....that the only work of literature worth reading is one that has stood the test of time and been deemed a classic by the literary elite (of which I'm sure he would like to include himself.) Although he doesn't have a sweet, rockin'-awesome blog like mine :) he does have a list of books he has read which includes titles like The Brothers Karamozov and War and Pieces of my hair that I pulled out whilst trying to finish the thing. (Okay, so that's not a real title.)

When I was visiting my parents recently, Dad asked me if I ever read the classics. I had already told him before that I rarely read anything but children's literature. He looked at me with an expression that I interpreted as saying, "I feel sad for you." But all that came out of his mouth was, "Why?" So once again for Dad, and now for all of you, I give you my top ten reasons for almost always exclusively reading children's literature.

10. You won't pop a blood vessel reading children's literature. It's been said popping blood vessels are not good for your health.

9. People won't roll their eyes when I tell them what I'm reading.

8. I will sit down and read children's literature and still have energy later on for other good stuff in life - like watching HGTV.

7. I won't say things like, "Nevertheless, authors in those days had a masterful grasp of the depth of the English language as evidenced in their magnificent use of extensive vocabulary which is second only to their genius of syntax." Instead, I'll say, "Dude.... this book is lester, dude." (Sorry, inside joke - couldn't be helped.)

6. I won't look like I'm confused or in pain when I read.

5. I will be a resource for parents who want to know about current children's literature, and I'll be able to give them an honest opinion because I'm actually reading it.

4. I love reading books written by people who respect children and their ability to think, who don't dumb down a story or make it predictable just because a preteen/teenager is reading it.

3. Hopefully I will get my students excited about reading something because I recommended it.

2. I respect, admire, and envy children's literature authors. I wish I could do what they do - so I read what they write and live vicariously through them.

1. I like them. I really, really like them.

So there you have it. Oh, I just thought of another similarity between my dad and me. We've both read The Tale of Despereaux. He read it while he was visiting us this week - all because of my recommendation.

I'm sure if you ask him, he'd say I forced him to read it. Same difference. What matters is, now on his list of books read, he's got a work of children's literature! So the next time he asks me if I only read kids' books, I can say, "No, I also read the classics!"