Newbery 1923

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
Author: Hugh Lofting
Genre: Animal Fantasy
Plot: Dr. Dolittle is a doctor who can talk to animals and goes on an adventure to return several to their native Africa.
Verdict: Cute
My rating: 3 stars

I am assuming that 1923 and 1924 were lean years for children's books as there are no honor book in either year.

I thought that Doctor Dolittle is very cute.  However, there is a bit of racism in the book when Dr. Dolittle meets the prince in Africa.  For that reason, I would recommend screening the book before reading it with your children so you can decide if you are comfortable reading the book with them.

Newbery 2002

A Single Shard
Author: Linda Sue Park
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Tree-ear works with a famous potter named Min.
Verdict: Excellent story
My rating: 4 stars


Everything on a Waffle
Author: Polly Horvath
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Primrose's parents go missing during a storm and she starts living with her uncle.
Verdict: The title is better than the book but it has a happy ending
My rating: 3 stars


Carver: A Life in Poems
Author: Marilyn Nelson
Genre: Poetry
Plot: The story of George Washington Carver told in poetry
Verdict: Interesting poetical biography
My rating: 3 stars

I definitely enjoyed A Single Shard.  When I picked it up from the library, one of the people in my knitting circle (which is held at the library) told me that it was excellent and I was surprised to find that she was right.  It was the clear winner in my opinion.

I had high hopes for Everything on a Waffle but I am afraid the plot did not lure me in.  It wasn't horrible, so I gave it three stars, but I'm afraid it was a case of "judging a book by its title" and then being disappointed.

100 Books!

Today, I hit my first Newbery milestone: I have read 100 books off the list.  I have ordered several books from the local library so I hope to be posting more completed Newbery years soon.

Notable Authors: Nancy Farmer

I discovered Nancy Farmer in my Children's Literature college course.  The Ear, The Eye and the Arm was on the book list for the course so I picked it up after hearing how great it was from one of my classmate's book talks.

I encourage you to go to Nancy Farmer's website and read her bio.  She spent a great deal of time in Africa so many of her early books are set there.  She also has dyslexia.  Her first book published in the United States, Do You Know Me, won her $20,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts.  She has also won Newbery Honors for The Ear, The Eye and the Arm (1995), A Girl Named Disaster (1997), and The House of the Scorpion (2003).  I feel she was a bit "robbed" in the Newbery category because I feel all three books are deserving of the medal.  Oh, well.

One of the things I love about this author is that each of her books is uniquely different.  You can also tell that she has researched the subjects that she writes about because she uses a lot of details and often has a list of sources that she used for the book.


Do You Know Me
Plot: Uncle Zeka comes to live with Tapiwa and her family after his village is destroyed and has a strange way of doing things.
My rating: 4 stars


The Ear, The Eye and the Arm
1995 Newbery Honor Book
Plot: In futuristic Zimbabwe, General Mitzika's children are kidnapped by She Elephant when the leave the house and The Ear, The Eye and the Arm are hired to find them.
My rating: 4 stars


The Warm Place


A Girl Named Disaster
1997 Newbery Honor Book
Plot: Nhamo runs away from home to escape a forced marriage.
My rating: 4 stars


The House of the Scorpion
2003 Newbery Honor Book
Series: Matteo Alacran #1
Plot: Matteo is the clone of El Patron, a powerful drug lord.  When he is discovered by the other children, he is sent to live in the big mansion with El Patron.
My rating: 5 stars


The Lord of Opium
Series: Matteo Alacran #2


The Sea of Trolls
Series: Sea of Trolls #1
Plot: Jack and his sister Lucy are kidnapped by Vikings in post-Roman Britian.
My rating: 3 stars


The Land of Silver Apples
Series: Sea of Trolls #2
Plot: Jack goes on a journey with several companions after the Need Fire ceremony goes wrong.
My rating: 4 stars


The Islands of the Blessed
Series: Sea of Trolls #3
Plot: Jack, Thorgil, the Bard and the Tanners return to Bebba's Town
My rating: 4 stars

New Page: Notable Author List

I updated the Newbery List the other day because the 2014 list had just come out.  This year, Kate DiCamillo won the Newbery Medal for the second time, a feat that has only been accomplished a few times.  Out of curiosity, I went back through the list to see who had won multiple times.  I also looked to see which authors had won one medal but also had one or more honor books and which authors had had multiple honor books but had never won the Medal.  Both of those lists were much longer than I expected.  I compiled all of it into a new page on this blog, titled "Notable Author List."

I hope to "spotlight" some of these authors in the posts to come.

Series: Little House

Book Series:  Little House
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Genre: Historical Fiction
Plot: Laura Ingalls and her family move to several different locations as American pioneers.  After living in Wisconsin, Kansas and Minnesota, they finally settle near a town in Dakota Territory.
Books:

1. Little House in the Big Woods
2. Little House on the Prairie
3. Farmer Boy
4. On the Banks of Plum Creek
5. By the Shores of Silver Lake
6. The Long Winter
7. Little Town on the Prairie
8. These Happy Golden Years
9. The First Four Years
10. On the Way Home
11. West from Home

Overall Rating: 3 stars

This is rather famous and iconic book series and I thought that I should definitely mention it on this blog because five of the books on this list received Newbery Honors.  The last three books of the series were published posthumously (that means after the death of the author).  The First Four Years was found as an unedited manuscript and On the Way Home and West from Home are based on letters and journals written by Laura. 

I found a few interesting on Wikipedia as I was researching a bit about the author.  I will have to see if I can verify these tidbits since Wikipedia can be very reliable yet also very very wrong.  The first is that Laura changed the order of events slightly from how they actually happened and omitted a few places where they resided.  Apparently, the family moved to Kansas when Laura was 2 and then moved back to Wisconsin so her age in the book may be slightly different from the actual age that Laura was when the events took place.  This is why I categorize the book as "historical fiction" instead of a "biography." 

The other tidbit is that there are a few theories of how the books were actually written.  One theory is that Rose Wilder Lane, Laura's daughter, was Laura's ghost writer and wrote the books herself.  Another theory is that Laura wrote the initial manuscript and Rose heavily edited it and submitted it to the publisher.  The second theory seems to explain why The First Four Years reads so differently from the first eight books in the series. 

In any case, this series is a classic and I highly suggest reading it at least once.  Boys who hesitate to read the series because it is focused on a girl, should start with Farmer Boy, a story about Almanzo Wilder (who will later marry Laura).  These books also make excellent read a louds, making them accessible to younger readers who may be more interested in the books' content.

Series: The Giver

Book Series: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Genre: Science Fiction
Plot: Jonas begins life in the community but when he turns 12 everything changes.  In a different village, Kira finds life hard after the death of her mother but discovers her hidden talent. 
Books:

1. The Giver
2. Gathering Blue
3. Messenger
4. Son

Overall rating: 4 stars

Lois Lowry waited a long time to write the last three books in this series so originally, The Giver was very open-ended, leaving the reader wondering the fate of Jonas.  Gathering Blue was originally billed as a "companion" novel since Kira's life had nothing to do with Jonas.  Messenger and Son tie the two books together and finally resolve Jonas' fate.  Son is more of a parallel novel, beginning during the original book and ending after Messenger.

This series is not for the faint of heart, tackling many ethical and moral issues along the way.