When I looked at the reading list to figure out which books I should read, I came across the fantasy category and recognized a lot of titles that I had already read. I was very excited that I had the chance to read these great books again. I will be rating each review with a number of stars depending on how much I enjoyed the book. The rating is from 1 star (meaning that I did not enjoy it) to 5 stars (meaning that I loved it).
Adventure and Survival
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, by Trenton Lee Stewart. I enjoyed this book because I found that it kept me turning the pages and it kept me interested. I had read this book before but reading it a second time gave me the chance to look at all the details again and understand the story more clearly. I recommend this book for fourth and fifth graders eventhough it may seem daunting at first because it has so many pages but after you get into the story it gets very interesting. I learned last year with my class that lots of people are up for challenges especially if the challenge turns out to be interesting.
One of my favorite scenes would probably be when Reynie took the walkie-talkie that they were using to communicate with “Cannonball” and Captain Noland from Kate and threw it out the window because his instincts told him to do it. Reynie had his doubts about Captain Noland and “Cannonball” but in the end it turned out that they really were trying to help them and were even willing to ground their precious ship just to save their friends.
In conclusion, this is probably one of my favorite books so far, after Harry Potter, of course!
*****
Mystery
The Secret Series, by Pseudonymous Bosch.
This book was in all a fairly good book. One of my favorite passages was probably when Cassandra and Max Ernest went to the Midnight Sun and were soon joined by Gloria the real estate agent. During dinner and Cassandra by accident smacked the table and the substance Ms. Mavis was drinking flew into the air and splattered all over Ms. Mavis’ gloves. IN shock Ms. Mavis yanked off her glove and said ”silly girl that was my favorite pair of gloves from Paris that I bought at a flea market almost ahu..” Then Ms. Mavis heard a stifled gasp and followed the eyes of her dinner guests until she saw the secret she had uncovered her own hand, the hand of a lady nearly 500 years old.
In conclusion, this book is definitely going to have a place in heart’s book library.
*****
Poetry
Where the Sidewalk Ends, By Shel Silverstein.
Please let me share with you one of my favorite poems by my favorite author for poetry:
Pancake?
Who wants a pancake,
Sweet and piping hot?
Good little Grace looks up and says,
“I’ll take the one on top.”
Who else wants a pancake,
Fresh off the griddle?
Terrible Theresa smiles and says,
“I’ll take the one in the middle.”
In conclusion, this is definitely one of my all time favorite books.
*****
Folklore
Grimm’s Fairy Tales, by Jacob Grimm.
This book is very interesting book. I recommend reading a few fairy tales at a time instead of the whole book all at once because of all the fairy are pretty much completely individual and different stories.
In conclusion, these fairy tales are very interesting in their own way.
***
Fantasy
The Witches, by Roald Dahl.
Roald Dahl is probably one of my favorite authors. When I first started to read this one I wasn’t sure I would like it. After getting to about the third chapter when one of the witches stood beneath the tree where the boy was building his tree-house in, the book started to get my attention. At this point one of my favorite passages hooked me into the book.
His grandmother had taught him the night before how to identify witches since they were common in Norway, where they were living after his parents were killed in a tragic car accident. At first the little boy did not identify her as a witch but then he noticed that the nostrils were a bit larger than that of most women’s but he just thought it was a coincidence. Then he noticed how her smile was a bit more smiley than that of other women and at this point he thought: this is a real life witch!!!!!!!!!!!!
As we all know, witches like to eat children so the boy decided not to come down the tree. Then the witch tried to tempt him by saying: I have a present for you little boy, come down. He still did not come down. Then the witch took out the green snake, which was her present. The boy closed his eyes and still did not come down. Then the boy heard his grandma calling him inside since it was time for dinner. When he opened his eyes he called out to his grandma: is the woman still there? The grandma stepped outside and said: what woman? The boy said: the woman that was by the tree. Grandma said: no she is gone come inside and we will have dinner.
In conclusion, this book was one of my favorites but not in my top five.
****
The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
This book was not favorite at all. In fact it would probably be in my bottom two least favorite. This is just my opinion. I am an action-lover and this book was not packed with action like The Witches or The Mysterious Benedict Society. If I had a choice I would take a saw and saw this book in half, no
offense Mr. L. Frank.
*:-(
Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl.
This is a very funny book. I enjoyed the characters, especially Mr. Fox. I think Mr. Fox’s “brilliant” plan was a little far-fetched at first but in the end it turned out to be just the thing that saved them all. I enjoyed Mr. Fox’s very suave style.
In conclusion, this book came with a lot of twists and turns and managed to keep me interested all the way through.
*****
Matilda, by Ronald Dahl.
Matilda is definitely one of my favorites. I think Mr. Dahl really brought out his humor in this book. One of my favorite revenge plans carried out by Matilda was probably the hat and the super glue. In which Matilda carefully planned out the time interval to carry out this plan. Her father wore this “interesting” hat to his garage where he worked at everyday. He would take off the hat once he got to work. Knowing this Matilda decided to put super glue on the inside rim of the hat so when her father placed the hat on this head he didn’t really feel anything unusual. When he got to work he tried to take the hat off as he did every day but the hat simply would not come off. Not wanting to damage his head, he left it on hoping that the workers at the garage would think that he purposely kept the hat on to give him a gangster-like look. I would tell you what happened when he got home but I don’t want to give away the whole story.
In conclusion, this is definitely in my top five books.
*****
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert O’Brien.
This book has definitely earned its spot in my heart’s library. I found this book to be intriguing. It made me want to turn the page in every scenario. One of my favorite passages was probably when Mrs. Frisby had gone to the rose bush to seek help from the rats of NIMH. When she was inside Nicodemus was telling her the story of how they had created the organization called The Rats of NIMH. I think it was very interesting how the author, Robert O’Brien, wove two stories together so
beautifully that it left me in awe of his writing skills.
In conclusion, this is definitely one of my favorite books. Yes, I do know I have a lot of favorite books but this one is a really great one!
*****
Fiction
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodson Bernett.
This book was an okay book. Definitely not one of my favorite books. Just like I shared on my review for the Wizard of Oz, I am a person who enjoys action in my reading choices. This book only had two or three scenarios that were really dramatic and action filled. One of them being when the mother and father died.
In conclusion, this was not one of my favorite books.
**
Historical Fiction
Mr. Tucket, by Gary Paulsen.
Mr. Tucket was a fairly good book but in some parts I felt like the author left me hanging. I think Mr. Paulsen needs to make his scenes complete instead of breaking them off like he does. I would be reading about one thing and then it would go into something completely different and this made me feel like each story within the bigger story was never really complete.
In conclusion, this was a fairly good book and I enjoyed it. I just don’t think Paulsen’s style of writing is one of my favorites. So Mr. Paulsen next time please finish through on each scene of your story.
***
My Life in Dog Years, by Gary Paulsen.
This book was a fairly good book at the beginning but I am a person who enjoys comical and scary stories not so much sad stories like the one told in this book. I read about 3 chapters of it but I stopped because it got too sad for me. I really tried many times to go back and read the whole book but I really was not able to.
In conclusion, I give this book credit because it was well written.
***
Biography
Boy, by Roald Dahl.
Boy is probably one of my favorite biographies ever. I think Mr. Roald Dahl wrote the biography about his life in a way that was exciting to read and made me want to keep turning the pages. In the first chapter called the Great Mouse Plot, it wasn’t just facts about his life he also incorporated humor into the story. At one point in the chapter, I was reading and I suddenly stopped on my tracks because of the suspense that worked into the story. I feel that Roald Dahl is a great author but this book shot him to the top of the list of all authors for me. I don’t usually feel this way about biographical works.
In conclusion, Ronald Dahl has really changed my opinion about the biographical genre. I tip my hat off to Mr. Dahl.
*****
Give Me Liberty: The Story of the Declaration of Independence, by Russell Freedman.
An interesting book that took me to the age of the American revolutionary war. I enjoyed it but the book left me wanting for me for more details. What happened after the Declaration of Independence? I did enjoy learning about the many events that were told in the book and Mr. Freeman made me want to learn about the things he wrote about and made learning quite interesting for me. The book made me get very involved with each historical account he described.
In conclusion, this is probably one of my favorite informational books.
****
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