The Dragon New Year

The Dragon New Year: A Chinese Legend

David Bouchard, Illustrated by Zhong-Yang Huang

Peachtree Publishers, 1999

Pages: 32

Reading Level: 9-12

Genre: Picture Book

A young girl in China is frightened by all the noise and lights outside on New Year's, so her grandmother tells her the story of how the lights and noise of New Years keep her safe. She told the story of how long ago there was a dragon who lived in the sea named New Year. And once a year he came ashore to the village and would eat the people until he was full, and so the people learned to run into the hills until he was done feasting. One year there was a young man coming in from fishing, but because of the weather he could not make it to shore in time, and New Year ate him. His mother, who saw it all from where she was hiding on a cliff, was devastated. The next year, she did not go hide in the hills, because she had nothing left to live for. While she was home, Buddha came to her door and asked for some food. She said alright, but asked him why he wasn't hiding at this dangerous time. He told her that it was alright, that he would teach her a way to frighten New Year away. He told her that New Year had never seen fire or hear sound, since he lived under the ocean. So Buddha built a large bonfire, and he had mother chop meat and fish as hard and loud as she could. When New Year came to shore, he covered his ears because the sound was too much for him, and shrank away from the fire. Just then, they fire took the shape of the young man New Year had eaten the year before, and he took out a fishing net of fire and threw it over New Year. New Year struggled and was able to get free, but he dropped into the ocean and was gone. That, explained grandmother to her granddaughter, is why there is always lots of light and sound at New Year's.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about Chinese culture, or anyone wanting to know more about New Year's.

Problems: Children frequently believe in monsters in their rooms at night. If they read this book, they might try to get rid of it by creating a terrible ruckus, thus waking everyone in the house. Or worse, they might try to start a fire.

My reaction: I think this book is interesting. The paintings are beautiful, and have so much detail. They are very fun to look at.

My rating: ****

Flossie and the Fox

Flossie and the Fox

Patricia C. McKissack, Illustrated by Rachel Isadora

Dial, 1986

Pages: 32

Reading Level: 4-8

Genre: Picture Book

One day Flossie's mother sent her to deliver some eggs to a friend. This friend had been having trouble with a fox, and their chicken would lay any eggs. Foxes love eggs. Flossie's mother told her to protect the eggs so that the fox couldn't get them. On her way there, Flossie ran into the fox. The fox introduced himself as a fox, but Flossie didn't believe him, and refused to be scared of him. So the fox started looking for a way he could prove that he was a fox so that Flossie would be scared. He showed her his fox fur, but Flossie said it felt like a rabbits. Then he showed her his pointed nose, but she said it looked like a rats. They ran into a cat, and they cat pointed out that the fox had sharp claws and yellow eyes, but Flossie pointed out that so did the cat, and that both of them were cats. By now the fox was beside himself. The fox tells her that he has a bushy tail, and Flossie points to a squirrel who also has a bushy tail. Flossie tells the fox that he should be ashamed for claiming he is a fox, but not being able to prove it, and the fox begs for one more chance. He says that he has sharp teeth and can run exceedingly fast. Then Flossie says it doesn't matter anymore because the friends hound is behind the fox, and he has sharp teeth and can run fast too, and the hound has been looking for fox. The fox runs away because the hound knows that he is a fox. As he runs he yells that he isn't afraid of the dog because he is a fox. Flossie says that she knows, and takes the eggs safely to the friends house.

I would recommend this book to all young children; there isn't really a theme, but it is a cute book children would enjoy.

Problems: I can't think of any problems this book could cause.

My reaction: I thought this was a cute book. There isn't really any theme or point to it, other than it is simply a good read.

My rating: ***

Destination: Space

Destination: Space
Seumour Simon
Collins, 2006
Pages: 32
Reading Level: 4-8
Genre: Non-Fiction

The Hubble Space telescope has been orbiting the earth since April 1990, and has been taking many wonderful picture. This book uses those pictures to teach us about many things in space, including mars, Jupiter, star clusters, supernovas, nebulas, cometary knots, and many more. Mars has a spring, summer, fall and winter just like us. In the spring in the northern hemispere, the north polar cap which is dry ice rapidly disappears. Jupitars beautiful rings are made up of ice, and it has "northern lights" just like earth. Supernova's are exploding stars that give off enourmous amounts of light and energy, and then flicker out and die. Nebulas are where stars are born. They are great big clouds of hydrogen gas and dust. The pictures in this book help to understand what each of these do and look like.

I would recommend that an elementary school teacher or science teacher read this book to their students. It is a great way to learn about space.

I can't think of any problems or conficts this book could cause.

My reaction: This book is a wonderful way for children to learn about space. The pictures are beautiful and informative.

My rating: ***

The Farmer and the Poor God

The Farmer and the Poor God: a folktale from Japan
Retold by Ruth Wells, Illustrated by Yoshi
Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 1996
Pages: 24
Reading Level: 4-8
Genre: Picture Book

A long time ago in Japan there was a very poor farmer. He was not a very good farmer because he didn't work very hard. He was sad and his wife was sad and their children were loud and always fought. One day the farmer decided that they had a poor god in their attic, and this was true. People who had the Poor God living there could never truly be rich. They made a plan to leave that night while the Poor God was sleeping so they could escape their bad luck. But the Poor God heard them, and started making sandals out of stalks of rice for the journey. That night the farmer and his wife were very sad to find out that the Poor God found out about their plans, and they went back to bed. The Poor God kept on making sandals, for he thought it was a very good way to spend his time. He soon found ways to make dyes and make beautifully colored sandals. A man came by a commented on how beautiful the sandals were, so Poor God gave them some. Soon many people wanted them, and the farmer had the idea to charge for the sandals. He took them to the market and gave back with lots of rice and grain and chickens and things. He asked if Poor God could keep making sandals, and he said yes, but only if the family would bring him more rice stalks and make dye. The family began to work hard and became more and more happy, and the farmer learned how to make sandals and became an artist. On New Year's, the Poor God decided it was time to leave, for the family was becoming too rich for him. But they didn't want him to go, so when Rich God came to take his place, they pushed him out of their home. Eventually, Poor God simply faded away.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted to learn a little more about Japanese culture.

Problems: This book could cause people to blame their “luck” on something else, and not work hard for what they want.

My reaction: This book is okay, but not my favorite.

My rating: ***

Gertrude Chandler Warner

Gertrude Chandler Warner
Joan Wallner
Abdo & Daughters, 1996
Pages: 31
Reading Level: 4-8
Genre: Non-Fiction/Biography

Gertrude Chandler Weber grew up in Putnam, Connecticut. She loved to play with her dollhouse and reading when she was growing up. Both Gertrude and her sister wanted to write books when they grew up. Her house was across the street from the railroad, and Gertrude always wondered what it would be like to live in a train. Her whole life, Gertrude Warner suffered from very bad hay fever, and back then there wasn't any medicine for it. One day her house caught on fire and after the excitement was over she realized that her sneezing had stopped. She realized that excitement helped her allergy, so she was always looking for excitement and laughter. She traveled a bit, to find somewhere where her allergies wouldn't be as bad, but everywhere she went her allergies followed, so she moved back home. She got a job as a writer, but soon realized she needed more of an education so she took classes at Yale University. While in her classes, she became interested in teaching young children, and decided to write childrens books as well as teach children. She wrote a few books, but nothing too big. That is, until she got bronchitis. She was so sick that she couldn't work. So she spent her time writing, and wrote the first book in the boxcar children series. It was such a huge success that she got many letters from readers who wanted to hear more about the four children's adventures, so she started writing the series. She kept writing till he died at the age of 89, but her books continued to be very popular, and still are today.

I would recommend this book to any children who really like the boxcar children series.

I can't foresee any problems caused by this book

My reaction: The Boxcar Children series was my most favorite series as a child, and I thought it was interesting to learn about the woman who wrote them.

My rating: ***

Martin's Big Words

Martin's Big Words

Doreen Rappaport

Hyperion Book CH, 2001

Pages: 40

Reading Level: 4-8

Genre: Non-Fiction/Biography

This book takes the authors words and follows them on nearly every page with quote by Martin Luther King Jr. It starts out with him as a young boy seeing "white only" signs all over the place. He asks him mother about it, and she simply tells him that he is as good as anyone. His father is a minister, and Martin wants to use "big words" like his father someday, so he grows up to be a minister too. Martin wanted to teach the people that the way to get what they wanted was not with violence, but with love. Throughout his life he "walked with people, talked with people, sang with them and prayed with them." He finally accomplished his goal, and segregation was abolished. Immediately after, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed.

I would recommend this book to teachers who are teaching their class about segregation and Marting Luther King. It would be a great book for them to read to their classes.

I can't think of any problems this book would cause.

My reaction: I read this book with my 10-year-old sister, and we both loved it. We had a good discussion about it. It has great educational value.

My rating: ****

Anansi's Narrow Waist

Anansi's Narrow Waist
Len Cabral, Illustrator:David Diax
GoodYear Books,1994
Pages:16
Reading level:4-8
Genre:Picture Book

One day Anansi the spider smelled some yams cooking and wanted some. The people invited him to wait a minute and have some yams when they were done, but Anansi didn't want to wait, so he had the people tie a string around his waist and told them to tug it when the yams were done. He kept walking and soon came to fried rice and beans. He had them tie a string around his waist too. He kept walking, and eventually he had eight strings around his waist. Then the yams people tugged their strings, then the fried rice and beans people, and all the rest of the strings too. The strings kept pulling tighter and tighter, and making his waist smaller and smaller, until they snapped. That is why a spider has eight legs and a tiny waist.

I would recommend this book to people who want to learn about the African culture.

Children might believe this story and hurt themselves pulling strings that are tied around their waist.

I liked this book because it teaches children to be patient.

Rating:***