Chess Rumble by G. Neri and illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson is one of those books that I hope people don’t judge based on the cover. I don’t think it’s the best representation of the book. It’s a book that I would have walked by without a second glance. But then of course, I’m a [...]
Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry is the 1940 Newbery Medal winner. Set in the Polynesian Islands before the traders and missionaries first came to the South Seas, it is the story of Mafatu who is known as The Boy Who Was Afraid. What was it that he was so afraid of? The ocean. In [...]
I grew up not reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl but rather watching the Gene Wilder movie. I loved it! I watched it over and over. When they announced the new movie directed by Tim Burton and starring Johny Depp you can’t imagine the kind of excitement (and nervousness – will [...]
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson, a 1979 Newbery Honor, is such a sweet book with wonderfully sweet characters. Gilly Hopkins is going to stay with me for a long time. Gilly’s transformation that takes place between the opening and closing pages of this book is bittersweet. I felt happy and sad for [...]
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume is timeless. Absolutely timeless. It could have been written yesterday not 1972. There’s nothing about this book to date it. I remember LOVING this book when I was in elementary school and have been anxious to pick it up and revisit it as an adult. As [...]
