Walk Two Moons
by Sharon Creech
Age: 10 +
Interests: mystery, family, death, grandparents, friendship, first love, divorce More
Talking about children's books and films. Useful information for parents.
26 Aug 2016 Leave a comment
in Books, books 10+ Tags: death, divorce/separation, family, friendship, grandparents, love, mystery
by Sharon Creech
Age: 10 +
Interests: mystery, family, death, grandparents, friendship, first love, divorce More
24 Apr 2014 Leave a comment
in Books, books 8+, Classics Tags: England, friendship, gardening, history, Magic, mystery, play, time travel
by Philippa Pearce
Age: 8+
Interests: gardens, history, time travel, England, friendship, magic, mystery, play More
18 Sep 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 8+, Classics Tags: adventure, Berlin, crime, detective, friendship, Germany
by Erich Kästner
illustrated by Walter Trier
Age: 8+
Interests: crime, kid detectives, Berlin, Germany, adventure
04 Jun 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 2+ Tags: dinosaurs, fear, friendship
by Helen Piers
illustrated by Michael Foreman
Age: 2+
Interests: dinosaurs, fear, friendship
14 May 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 6+, books 7+ Tags: adventure, bears, crime, friendship, medieval history, orphans, royalty
by Sid Fleischman
Age: 6 + (read to); 7 + (independent reading)
Interests: medieval times, adventure, criminals, carnivals and bears
05 Mar 2013 2 Comments
in Movies, movies 9+ Tags: cowboys, crime, curse, desert, family, family history, friendship, jail, mystery, racial tension, treasure, violence
released: 2003
rated: PG for violence, mild language and some thematic elements
length: 117 min.
age: 10+
scary factor: suspenseful scenes with rattlesnake, deadly lizards – nothing a 10 yr old couldn’t handle
violence: two boys fight; one boy whacks a provoking guard in the head with his shovel, knocking him out; in flashback a man is shot (in extreme wide shot – no closeups); Kate then shoots the sheriff in revenge; guards in work camp have guns, but only a lizard is actually shot
language: authentic but rather mild, for teenage boys: damn, hell, crap, Oh, my God… that kind of thing. (According to imdb.com there is one “jackass” but I didn’t even notice it.)
other: flashbacks depict scenes of racial hatred (burning down the school) and vague threat of sexual violence (drunken sheriff tries to force Kate to kiss him)
interests: mystery, desert, prison work camps, bad luck, family history, curses, cowboys, crime and punishment, buried treasure
next: read the book if you haven’t! Holes by Louis Sachar
13 Feb 2013 3 Comments
in Books, books 10+ Tags: desert, family history, friendship, jail, mystery
NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER – 1999
by Louis Sachar
Random House: 1998
233 pp.
Age: 10 +
Interests: mystery, fate, jail, desert, survival, friendship
Also by this author: Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Marvin Redpost series, and Small Steps – a sequel of sorts to Holes, following some of the other boys from Camp Green Lake
Next: the movie version Holes (2003) is very good, and quite faithful to the novel
19 Feb 2012 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: animals, friendship, illness, zoo
CALDECOTT MEDAL WINNER – 2011
Philip C. Stead, text
Erin E. Stead, illustrations
Roaring Brook Press, 2010
32 pp.
Age: 3+
Interests: animals, zoo, zookeepers, being sick, friends
Also by this illustrator: And Then It’s Spring
27 Nov 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 5+, Canadian books Tags: assertiveness, bullies, friendship
BLUE SPRUCE nominee 2012
written by Heather Hartt-Sussman
illustrated by Geneviève Côté
Toronto: Tundra Books, 2011
21 pp.
Age: 5 +
Interests: friendship, assertiveness, handling bullies