Anansi The Spider

Anansi The Spider
Gerald McDermott
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972
Pages: 48
Reading Level: 4-8
Genre: Picture Book

Anansi is a spider who had six sons. These sons were See Trouble, Road Builder, River Drinker, Game Skinner, Stone Thrower, and Cushion. One day Anansi walked far from home and fell into the river and got swallowed by a fish. See Trouble saw what happened and yelled to his brothers that their father was in trouble. Road Builder built a road to get to him, River Drinker drank the river that the fish lived in, and Game Skinner skinned the fish that swallowed father. But the trouble wasn't over. Just then a bird flew by and picked up Anansi in it's beak. Stone thrower threw a stone at the bird and it dropped his father. Cushion helped father to land softly so he wouldn't get hurt. That night at home, Anansi found a great globe of light. He wanted to give it to the sun who had helped him the most, but he couldn't figure out which one had. So Anansi gave the globe to Nyame, the god of all things, and asked him to hold it until Anansi could figure out which son to give it to. They couldn't figure out which son to give it to, so Nyame took the light up into the sky for everyone to enjoy. The moon is still there today.

I would recommend this book to people interested in learning about the Ashanti people

The book could cause children to really believe that the moon really was placed in the sky because of a spider, which is not true.

My Reaction: I really like this tale of Anansi the Spider. It allows me to see into a culture I probably wouldn't have otherwise experienced

My rating: ***

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J.K. Rowling
Scholastic Press, 1998
Pages: 309
Reading Level: 9-12
Genre: Fantasy

Harry Potter is an 11 year old boy whoes parents were killed in a car accident, or so he was told. Harry lives with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley. They are terrible to him. One day Harry actually gets a letter in the mail. He is very excited about it, but Vernon sees it and takes it away. The next day more letters come, so Vernon nails the mail slot shut. Then things start to get weird. Letters start coming in eggs, and there is a downpour our of the chimney. Vernon decides to take the family away. He finds then an old run-down house on a little island. He is confident that no letters will find them there. That night at midnight, also Harry's birthday, a giant breaks down the door. His name is Hagrid. Hagrid pulls out a letter and gives it to Harry and tells him that he is a wizard, that his letter is an acceptance letter to Hogwarts: school of witchcraft and wizardery. And that his parents were killed by an evil wizard named Voldemort, not a car accident, and that he was destroyed when he tried to kill Harry and that Harry is famous. Harry is delighted to hear that he is a wizard and that he doesn't have to put of with the Dursleys anymore, and he leaves with Hargrid to buy his school supplies. After he buys his supplies he gets on platform 9 and 3/4 and meets Ron and Hermione. Ron and Harry become fast friends, but they think Hermione is a know-it-all. When they get to the school, all three are sorted into Griffindor, one of the four groups in the school. Soon after, the first-years are having their first flying lesson, and Harry gets into a fight while the teachers are gone with a boy named Draco Malfoy. Malfoy throws a glass ball that belongs to one of Harry's friends and Harry flys off to save it. He gets caught by a professor, but instead of getting in trouble, he gets made the seeker of his team in Quiddich, which is quite an honor. One night Harry, Ron, and Hermione are wandering the halls after curfew and they almost get caught by Filtch, so they magically unlock a locked door and hide there. That is, until they realize there is a giant 3 headed dog behind them. They leave, and in the days that follow, discover that the dog is guarding the sorcerers stone, which will make an elixer that will turn the drinker immortal and turn anything into gold. One day in class, Ron criticizes Herminone and hurts her feelings and she runs off to the girls bathroom to cry. At dinner, Professor Quirrell runs in a tells everyone that there is a Troll in the dungeon. Dumbledoor, the head-master, orders everyone to their dormitories. The two boys are on their way when they remember Hermione, they go to help her when they stumble upon the troll. It goes into a room, and the boys lock it in, hoping to trap it. Then they hear a girls scream and realize they just locked it in the girls bathroom with Hermione. Together the three of them beat the troll and become fast friends. After that they overhear Snape saying that he got bit my the three-headed dog, so they suspect him of trying to steal the stone. They want to tell Dumbledor, but realize that he is gone. Harry is worried that Snape is going to steal the stone that night while Dumbledor is gone, and Harry is going to thwart him. Harry, Ron, and Hermione manage to get past all the defenses that lie in their way, but Ron got hurt and in one of the rooms only one could progress so Hermione had to stay back. So Harry went on alone. He gets to the last room and finds Professor Quirrell. It was him who was the bad guy all along. He is standing in front of the Mirror of Erised, which shows the looker their greatest desire. Quirrell knows that the stone is in the mirror, but he doesn't know that DUmbledor designed it so that only one who wanted the stone, but didn't want to use it for personal gain could get it out. Quirrell made Harry look into the mirror, and Harry got the stone. Quirrell asked Harry what he saw, and Harry lied so that he didn't have to tell Quirrell that he had the stone. Then there was a voice that said that Harry had lied, and Quirrell took off his turban. On the back of his head was Voldemorts face; he wasn't dead after all. Vordemort commanded Quirrell to destroy Harry, but when Quirrell touched Harry his hands burned. Harry used this to his advantage and destroyed Quirrell, temporarily stopping Voldemort until he could find another body. Harry was rescued by Dumbledor, who told him that it was his mother's love that had saved him when he was a child, that kept Quirrell from touching him. Harry then left to spend the summer with the Dursleys.

I would recommend this book to all chilren. It sparks a love for reading.

Problems: This book might teach children that it is okay to not listen to the rules.

My reaction: This book is a classic and one of my favorites of all time.

My rating: *****

The Sea of Monsters

The Sea of Monsters

Rick Riordan

Disney-Hyperion, 2006

Pages: 288

Reading Level: 9-12

Genre: Fantasy

Percy is at the end of another school year at a new school. He is playing dodgeball with a bunch of seventh graders when he realizes they are actually monsters trying to kill him. They start throwing fireballs at him, but his is saved by his large friend Tyson, and Annabeth, another demi-god, who stabs a monster. They escape and head to camp half-blood. When they get there, camp is under attack because the tree that protects camp has been poisoned. Chiron has been fired because he suspects them of doing the poisoning. While there, they realize the Tyson is actually a cyclops, and Posiden claims him as a son. Percy asks the camp director if someone can please be sent on a quest, and the director agrees, sending clarisse. Percy is upset because he really wanted to help and go on the quest. He is at the lake when his father sends him help in the form of three hippocampi to take Percy, Tyson, and Annabeth. While they are in the water, they pass a cruise ship that Luke has taken over. They are captured and learn that Luke is trying to bring back Kronos, the evil titan. They escape and are saved by Clarisse. They head toward the "Sea of Monsters" which is also known as the Bermuda Triangle. They barely manage to get to the island, destroying Clarisse's ship in the process, with the help of Tyson and Clarisse. They save Grover from the giant cyclops who has him hostage and is about to eat him, and steal the fleece. They send Clarisse to take it back to camp, since Percy can't fly without Zeus killing him, and then Percy, Annebeth, Tyson, and Grover are captured by Luke. Percy tricks Luke into admitting to poisoning the tree, thus proving Chiron's innocence. Percy duels with Luke and barely gets out with his life. Back at camp, the fleece heals the trees, and out of it came Thalia, the daughter of Zeus who had been turned into the tree in a battle long before.

I would recommend this book to people/kids who feel like they don't fit in.

This book might cause kids to willfully disobey the orders their parents, teacher, and leaders have given them.

My reaction: I love this series! It teaches great values and is a wonderful story.

My rating: *****

The Lightening Thief

The Lightening Thief

Rick Riordan

Disney-Hyperion, 2005

Pages: 384

Reading level: 9-12

Genre: Fantasy

Percy Jackson is a twelve year old boy who has always had a hard time in school. He has dyslexia and ADHD, and has never managed to make it a full year without being expelled. Weird things always seem to happen to him. One day when his class is on a field trip, one of his teachers turns into a monster and tries to kill him. Then afterwards, no one can seem to remember that it happened. Then Percy goes on a trip with his mother, and it is then that his best friend Grover tells percy that he is a demi-god, which is half god half human, and that grover himself is a saryter. They need to get to camp half-blood, but on their way they are attacked by a minotaur who grabs Percy's mother who dissolves into golden light. Percy gets away and makes it to camp. He is placed into another God's cabin, Hermes, because he doesn't know which god is his father. During a game of capture the flag, he steps into a river and a trident appears above him. It turns out that his father, Posiden, had broken an ancient oath to not have any half-blood children. Percy is given a quest to go and find the master bolt, which is Zues' main weapon. While he is on the quest he is set up. Another god, Ares, makes it look like Percy has stolen the bolt by putting it in Percy's backpack, plus Hades thinks Percy has his Helm of Darkness, which Ares has. Percy, who was in the underworld looking for his mothe, is forced to flee from Hades wrath. He finds Ares and fights him to get the Helm. He wins and returns the Helm to Hades. He then takes the Bolt to Zeus and learns that his mother is still alive. When he gets back to camp, Luke, a boy from Hermes who befriended Percy, admits that it was he who stole the Bolt for a bad titan named Kronos, and told Percy that he had gotten in the way. Luke called up a scorpion to sting Percy and kill him. Percy almost died, but Chiron, the leader of the camp, saved him. Then Percy went home to his mother until next summer.

I would recommend this book to children who feel as if they don't belong.

Problems: I'm afraid that this book would condone fighting among children.

My reaction: I absolutely LOVED this book. It is fantastic!

My rating: *****

The Mitten

The Mitten
Jan Brett
Putnam Juvenile, 1989
Pages: 32
Reading Level: 4-8
Genre: Picture Book

Nikki is a little boy who really wants white mittens. His Baba said she didn't want to make him white mittens, because she was afraid he would drop one in the snow and not be able to find it. But Nikki really wanted white mittens, so Baba made them for him. Sure enough, he soon lost one mitten. Soon a tired mole finds the mitten and climbs inside to rest. Then a rabbit has the same idea and gets in too. Then a hedgehog.., and an owl and a badger and fox and bear all climb in one at a time. The knitten mittin stretched and pulled and buldged without breaking, because that's how good Baba's knitting was. Then a mouse came along and got in the last space available, which was on the bear's nose. This made the bears nose itch, and he sneezed. When he sneezed it shot the mitten up into the sky and they animals fell everywhere. Then Nikki saw his white mitten in the air, caught it, and went home.

I would recommend this book to kids who just want a good read.

Problems: This book could cause children to think it's okay to lose things

My reaction: This book has been a favorite since childhood.

My rating: ****

Lincoln: A Photobiography

Linclon: A Photobiography
Russell Freedman
Sandpiper, 1989
Pages:160
Reading Level: 9-12
Genre: Biography


This book is a biography of Lincoln's entire life. It starts with him as a young boy, and works all the way up to his death. Lincoln's father was a simple farmer, and his family was poor. Since he had to help his father with the farm, he went to school by "little's" He said that if you added up all his schooling, it was probably less than a year. But this doesn't mean that he was stupid; on the contrary. Lincoln was a brillant man. They say he was never seen without a book. He could have intelligent conversations about shakespere and loved to quote him. He never went to college, but rather read lots and lots about law, and after three years of study he went and passed the bar examine. Although Lincoln was brilliant, he definitely wasn't perfect. He argued with his wife a lot, and suffered from drepression quite badly. After he had been a lawyer for a while he decided to get into politics. He actually lost his first campain, but kept trying. After a while in politcs, he decided to quit for a while, but when he heard about what was going with the new territories and slavery, he decided to run for president. He won, and soon thereafter the civil war began. This was very difficult on Lincoln. In the pictures, one can see that he aged very much in those 4 years. The civil war was hard on him for one reason because he didn't have any good war generals. Lincoln had to train himself in the ways of leading an army. In the end, they won the war, but only after hundreds of thousands of men died. Immediatly after it was over, Abraham Lincoln was shot to death.

I would recommend this book to students studying the civil war or presidents of the united states.

Potential Problems: The only problem I can foresee with this book is that some children will be upset about Abraham's shortcomings.

My reaction: I thought this book was interesting, and the pictures were great and added to the knowledge.

My rating: ****

Henry's Freedom Box

Henry's Freedom Box
Ellen Levine
Schilastic Press, 2007
Pages: 40
Reading Level: 4-8
Genre: Non-Fiction/Biography

Henry is a little boy who was born into slavery. While he was still a young boy his master died and he was sold to another man and separated from his mother. He worked hard for his new master, and when He got older he met a girl with whom he fell in love with. They got permission from their masters and got married. They were lucky because their masters let them live together even though they had different masters. Henry and his wife had three children, and they loved them very much. Henry's wife was worried because her master's business wasn't doing very well and she was afraid that the children would get sold. One day while Henry was working his friend came and told him that his wife and children had just been sold. He was devastated. He decided to try to get free. He burned his hands on purpose so that his master would let him stay home from work, then he got a white man who believed slavery was wrong to put him into a big crate and mail him North to freedom. It was a long hard trip, but Henry made it. From that day on he had the middle name of "Box."

I think all children should read this book. It teaches how slavery ruined lives and that discrimination against race is wrong, which I believe is important to learn at a young age.

Problems this book could cause: I'm afraid this book might convince children to get a friend to help them mail themselves somewhere! That would be terrible.

My reaction: I thought this was a great biography. If no one had told me it was a true story I would have thought it was just a good fiction story

My rating: ****