Winnie Review's: Call It Courage

Call It Courage

Book Information: 

Book Title: Call It Courage

Author: Armstrong Sperry 

Publisher: Aladdin 

Number Of Pages: 95

Publishing Date: 1990

Setting

In a village located in the Pacific Islands.

Main Characters

Mafutu, Uri, Kivi

Summary

                          When Mafatu was a little boy, he almost drowned in the sea with his mother. He survived the incident, but his mother wasn't as lucky. After that, Mafatu has always been afraid of the sea. His whole village makes fun of him all the time. One night, Mafatu has had enough teasing and sets out on a journey to another island in a canoe with his dog Uri, his albatross Kivi, and some food and water. Will he survive the journey across the sea?

Opinion

                          I liked this book because I always like adventurous books. This book kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I was worried about everything. 

- What if he gets attacked by a group of sharks?

- What is that poor dog dies?

- Where did Kivi go? I don't remember it saying he left to find food.....

Basically, I was very nervous about the animals. I thought it was a stupid idea that he had taken a dog with him. 

                      I didn't like this book because some of it was written in some kind of different language. It was confusing to try to read/pronounce the words that were not in English. I also didn't like the way the book ended.......

Rating

I rate this book 4 stars!

Recommendations

I think older kids would enjoy this book better than younger children because the plot was kind of confusing to follow along with, especially with a different language squeezed in to the story. Ages 12 and up would follow along better. ( It still might be a little confusing for early teens however.)

Small Spoiler

You might not like the way this book ends. Be prepared!

Author

To learn more about the author go here:

http://www.ogram.org/sperry/papers/CurrentBio1941.shtml

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Winnie Review's: The Wizard Of Oz

Winnie Review's: The Wizard Of Oz

Book Information: 

Book Title: The Wizard Of Oz

Author: L. Frank Baum

Publisher: HaperCollins Publishers Inc.

Number Of Pages: 260

Publishing Date: 1987

Setting

On a dull farm in Kansas, In a magical land called Oz.

Main Characters

Dorthy, Toto, Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow

Summary

                     In Kansas, there is a dull grey farm. There, a little girl named Dorthy lives with here Aunt and Uncle. But when Dorthy is swept away by a cyclone, she ends up in the wonderful land of Oz. How will she get home?

Opinion

                I like this book because it takes me all through a magical land. I get to meet fantasy creatures such as, talking scarecrows, alive tin men, and cowardly lions. I also like this book because it's a classic and it's interesting. I always thought classical books were boring because it hadn't just came out. This book proved me very wrong. It was very exciting and fun to read.

  Recommendations

                        I think this book would be good for older kids. rough guess would be 12 and up. It is a 7th grade reading level and is kind of challenging. It has strong vocabulary and  might be confusing for smaller children. I recommend this book to fantasy lovers, older kids, and anyone who likes adventure.

Author

To learn more about the author go here.

http://www.washburn.edu/reference/cks/mapping/baum/

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Winnie Review's: Warriors: The New Prophecy: Into The Wild

Winnie Review’s:

Warriors: The New Prophecy: Into The Wild 

Book Information: 
Book Title: Into The Wild
Author: Erin Hunter
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Number Of Pages: 272
Publishing Date: 2003

Setting

In the forest divided into four sections for four Clans of cats.

Main Characters

Rusty (Firepaw), Lionheart, Bluestar, Graypaw,the other Clan members

Summary

Rusty has always dreamed of going into the forest. He hates being cooped up in a human house. Smudge, Rusty’s neighbor’s house cat, always tells stories about wild, dangerous cats who roam the forest. One day though, Rusty decides to face his fears and go catch just one mouse. While he roams the forest searching for mice, he runs into some wild cats who take Rusty by surprise. They offer him the chance to join their Clan, the ThunderClan. What will his decision be? 

Opinion

Good Opinion: I like this book because it took me through everything that was happening. The emotions, adventures, everything.  I also enjoyed this book because I liked the way the author used a lot of adjectives. Example: Firepaw crouched low and then pounced quickly. I liked how the story was well detailed and juicy. It was not boring at all. 

Bad Opinion: The only problem I had with this book was the characters names. A lot of the names were similar and were suppose to be because of the way the Clan worked. If you were a trainer/teacher your name would end in a word such as heart, star, or something like that. But, for this reason I got confused a lot with the names.

 Rating: I rate this book 4 stars.  

Recommendations: 

I think cat lovers would enjoy this book because it follows the life of a curious and adventurous cat. I think adults and kids would enjoy this book. Ages 8 and up would follow the plot better then younger kids. Younger kids might follow along better if this book was read aloud. I recommend this book to 4th graders and up. ( This book is on a 5th grade reading level, but seems a little easy.)

Author:

To learn more about Erin Hunter go here:

http://www.warriorcats.com/meet-erin-hunter

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Winnie's Review: The Search for Delicious

 Winnie Reviews:

The Search For Delicious

Book Information: 
Book Title: The Search For Delicious
Author: Natalie Babbitt
Publisher: Square Fish
Number of pages: 176
Date Published: 2007

Setting

In A country in need of a definition to the word ‘delicious’.

Main Characters 

Gaylen, The Prime Minister,the people of the country

Summary

                 So far, the Prime Minister has done very well in the town’s dictionary. One day however, he gets stuck on the definition of the word 'delicious’. When the Prime Minister’s town cannot decide the definition, he sends his adopted son, Gaylen, to collect votes. While Gaylen, is trying to collect votes, arguments break out all over the country about what is the most delicious. Gaylen becomes afraid of the rumors about a war starting. What will the meaning be?  How will 12 year old Gaylen stop a war from happening?

Opinion: 

This book is written by my favorite author, Natalie Babbitt. I always like her short stories and books for multiple reasons. First of all, they are fantasy. I LOVE anything that has to do with fantasy. I also enjoy her books because they are very detailed. You can easily get to know the characters and know exactly how they are feeling all the time. This book was wonderful. It met my expectations easily. I liked how it contained a lot of mythical creatures and magical events. I also enjoyed this book because its plot/story continued to move in a reasonable pace. It was always moving but at the same time got all the important details. I never got bored.  I cant say anything bad about this book. I rate it 5 *****.

Recommendations

I think kids ages 8-12 would enjoy this book. It has no curse words or inappropriate events or actions. Fantasy lovers, I totally advise you to read this book. I think (some) adults might believe this book may be boring or to kid-like. I recommend this book especially to anybody who enjoys adventure.

Author

To learn more about the AWESOME author, Natalie Babbitt , go here:
                                         
                                             http://www.orrt.org/babbitt/

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Winnie Reviews: The Phoenix Files

 Winnie Reviews: 
The Phoenix Files 

Book Information:
Book Title: The Phoenix Files
Author: Chris Morphew
Publisher: Kane Miller EDC Publishing
Number Of Pages: 295
Date Published: 2012

Setting

Setting: In a contained town called Phoenix.

Main Characters

Luke, Peter, and Jordan

Summary

Luke’s parents get a divorce over the summer. After the divorce he ends up living with his Mom instead of his Dad.  His Mom gets offered a new job in Phoenix. When they arrive at Phoenix, Luke automatically realizes Phoenix is way off. There are no cars in sight, only bikes, and everything is clean and new. Then, they find out someone is planning to kill the human race and keep all the people in Phoenix alive. How will they stop this from happening?

Opinion 

 I liked this book for multiple reasons: 

1. It was interesting and held my attention easily. (In some parts)
2. I liked the attitude’s of some of the characters.
3. I like mystery and this book met my expectations in that category.

 In some parts of the book I got aggravated and bored:

1.  Peter’s attitude to the whole “end of the world” situation aggravated me because he disagreed with any decisions anybody made and refused to believe the world was ending.
2.  Some parts I believe were unnecessary and did not have to be included in the story.
3.  I thought some parts were not  moving as fast as I would have liked.

Rating

I had a good opinion and a bad one about this book. For both of those reasons I believe I like the book so-so. I rate it 3 stars.

Recommendations 

I think younger kids would enjoy this book better than teens. This book is on a reading level of a 5th grader. For me it was a little easy.... I think the book would be a good read aloud. I recommend this book to ages 8-12. This book has some vocabulary that a 7 year old would not understand but it might be a interesting read aloud. However, older kids, 8+, would find it just right either way.

Small Spoiler

This book leaves you hanging. There is a series of them. The story is not finished!

Author

To find out more about Chris Morphew, visit this website: 

http://chrismorphew.com/ 

If you are interested in purchasing this book, click HERE.

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My daughter wants to start reviewing books

She is going to do them on Youtube though so here are her preliminary reviews of some new books she got.

You can purchase these books from HERE.

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Clothes & Fashion Sticker Book

My daughter thinks this is the coolest book! This is a sticker book. Why sticker books? Well, they are actually really cool. Here's why:

This particular book is all about fashion. It starts discussing fashion in Ancient Egypt and it covers all the way until now. It's like the history of fashion and the perfect history book my daughter can get behind. :)  The book includes sticker fun to help children observe more and learn more. It's very cool and provides hours of fun. So, if your child just wants a book to look at or if you're traveling for the summer and need something to entertain your child in the car or plane, this is the book for you child. There are other sticker book options but this fashion one is perfect for my daughter!!! :)  If you're interested, you can find more details HERE.

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Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos

Reading Level 5.2

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Adventure, Fantasy

Pages: 344

This book was recommended and loaned to my by my 10 year old niece. It took me a while to finally begin reading it, but once I did, I was sucked into it. I barely cleaned or cooked for my family today. I read it in two days but could have done it in one if I didn't have other responsibilities.

This book is about a young girl who's parents run a museum so she is around ancient artifacts all the time. However, there is one very odd thing about her -- she can see curses. Being around a lot of ancient Egyptian artifacts means she runs across a lot of cursed items. This strange ability that allows her to sense evil and good in items throws her into an adventure she wasn't searching for of secret societies -- one searching for good and the other creating chaos. Both want her and her special gifts. What will she do? What does she decide?

This was a FANTASTIC book. As I said, once I started reading it, I couldn't stop. There were 2-3 minor curse words in it, though. Beyond that, it was a very clean book.

I rate it with 5 stars!!! *****

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