Wednesday, August 31, 2016

A Single Shard

By: Linda Sue Park

Tree-ear has lived under a bridge with his friend Crane-man since he was very little.  Crane-man is wise but crippled, and Tree-ear is an outcast as an orphan.  They spend their days
scrounging for food and living the best they can.  Tree-ear is in awe of the local potters, especially Min.  When Tree-ear accidentally breaks one of Min's works, he offers to work for Min to pay the debt.  Tree-ear continues to work, hoping that Min will teach him how to use the pottery wheel.

Mrs. Senechal says:
This book drew me in right away.  The setting is Korea around 1000 A.D.  It was amazing to read about the many difficult steps the potters went through to make their beautiful pots.  I also loved the two main characters, Crane-man and Tree-Ear.  In addition, this book won the Newbery Award in 2002!  If you like historical fiction and descriptive writing, you will love this book.

**Our school is attending the Plum Creek Literacy Festival at Concordia University, in Seward, NE.  We will get to go to a session led by this book's author, Linda Sue Park!

Ragweed

By: Avi
Illustrator: Brian Floca

Ragweed is a young mouse from the country who is ready to explore the world.  He leaves 
his home and family, boards, a train, and stops in the first city.  However, this town has Silversides, a cat who wants to get rid of mice.  Ragweed's first experience in the city is being chased by Silversides!  Luckily, his second experience is getting rescued by a city mouse, Clutch.  Ragweed meets many new friends and learns many new things, but eventually he will face Silversides again.

Mrs. Senechal says:
I loved this adventurous book!  The author does a great job of describing life from a mouse's point of view.  In addition, all of the characters were very different and interesting.  There were also great moments of suspense that made me want to keep reading to see what would happen.  While this is a chapter book, I loved that there were also illustrations - they really helped the story come to life.

*Our school is attending the Plum Creek Literacy Festival at Concordia University, in Seward, NE.  We will get to go to a session led by this book's illustrator, Brian Floca!