A couple of books

I realize I'm waaaay behind on blogging lately, due mostly to a recent family trip (more entries on that soon), but I did want to take a moment and post about a couple of children's books I read recently.



The first one is called The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, originally published in 1961. I usually have a pretty good radar and can seek out quality children's books, but this one somehow got by me. I had never heard of it until W came home with it as assigned reading in his fifth grade advanced reading group. This is a gem of a little book that is rich in figurative language and vocabulary. It is the thought-provoking story of Milo, a little boy who takes off on a journey into worlds he never knew existed. Eventually he is tasked with saving Dictionopolis (the city of words) and Digitopolis (the city of numbers) by rescuing two princesses named Rhyme and Reason. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? I love how figures of speech come alive with such literal meaning in this book. For instance, there is a "watchdog" named Tock who accompanies Miles on his journey. Tock has a clock where his belly would be and is in charge of guarding against people who waste or kill time. Then there's the Spelling Bee, who buzzes around annoyingly, and the land of the Doldrums, where Miles regrettably finds himself when he doesn't think. The author had a lot of fun with things like "eating your words" and the "whetherman." I think my favorite one was the vehicle that "goes without saying" (just be quiet and the car will move). Anyway, it's a sweet story with great literary quality. It will make your kids think.



Secondly, I did make it through another Newberry book a few weeks ago. The Midwife's Apprentice, by Karen Cushman, is a good book, but it's in the young adult section for a reason. The characters and situations are harsh and often cruel. Still, one can't help but root for the heroine, an orphan without a name or a home who eventually finds a name and a place for herself in medieval England. The book gives readers a glimpse into the superstitions and survival mentality of the era, complete with all the sights, smells, and struggles one needs to imagine what it must have really been like at the time. It made me think of how The Witch of Blackbird Pond placed me right in the middle of a Puritan colonial settlement. I do recommend The Midwife's Apprentice for more mature readers; I think my eleven-year-old could handle it, but he wouldn't appreciate it quite yet. Maybe if he were a girl ... I don't know. I think it's a book that would have stuck with me had I read it at about the age of 13.