TWU Book Reviews

Erdich, Louis. Chickadee.  New York: HarperCollins, 2012. ISBN 9780060577926 Plot Summary: Chickadee is living with his Native American family and is kidnapped by two neighbor boys. He is set off on a scary journey to unknown areas of the world. His mother and twin brother are scared and set off to find him.  Critical Analysis: Erdrich has created two very believable characters. She is able to show the brotherly and twin connection between Chickadee and his brother. She exemplifies this in the beginning by having them beg to tell the story of how they were born. "Omaykayas looked down at him and smiled wearily. She had told this story a hundred times, and Chickadee had told it a hundred times more." On that same page is a beautiful pencil drawing of the two boys showing their Native American heritage with the long braids and facial features. She is also able to show the anguish a mother and father go through when they have lost their child. "Animikiins ...

Bibliography: Bryant, Jen. Roget and His Thesaurus. By Melissa Sweet. Grand Rapids: William B. Publishing, 2014. ISBN 9780802853851 Plot Summary: This is the life story of Peter Roget and the history of the first thesaurus. As a young child, Peter loses his father and moves frequently. He takes comfort in reading and making word lists. His word lists continue to get so large that he turns his lists into a book and calls it a thesaurus.  Critical Analysis: Bryan has created an accurate portrayal of the life and journey Peter Roget took to create his famous book, the Thesaurus. One of the first pages has a detailed picture timeline of Roget's infancy to his death. Bryan cleverly used all synonyms to showcase this unique record. It is easy to see Bryant and Sweet studied the life of Roget before beginning their story. Sweet says,"The words and pictures had to be intertwined. I crafted the content of the lists to reflect his age at the time, the setting, wh...

Bibliography:  Hoberman, Mary Ann. The Llama Who Had No Pajama . by Betty Fraser. Boston: Sandpiper, 1998. ISBN  9780152055714 Plot Summary: Hoberman covers varying topics in this playful and fun collection of poetry for children. The moods and tone change from poem to poem as you are taken on a journey through this book. A majority of the poems are short and have rhyme and rhythm throughout.  Critical Analysis:   Hoberman's use of several different literary terms is seen throughout this whimsical poetry book. "Clatter and Clacket!" is just one example of onomatopoeia.  Alliteration can be found in the poem, "Permutations." It can be quite the tongue twister saying, "A flea flew by a bee. The bee to flee the flea flew by a fly." Children of all ages will enjoy attempting to read these poems aloud.  Adults will find a connection with "Hello and Good-by." It is as if the author is going through the different seasons of...

Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan Bibliography: Bryan, Ashley. Beautiful Blackbird. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2003. ISBN   978-0689847318 Plot Summary:  In Africa, all the birds were beautiful colors. There was only one bird who stood out among the rest and his name was, Blackbird. The birds thought his color was beautiful because he was the only one that was black. They ask Blackbird if he would help paint them black because they want to look like that also. Blackbird makes black in his medicine gourd and painted Ringdove with beautiful black markings. After Blackbird was done painting other birds wanted to be painted too. The next day, Blackbird brought his last bit of black and stirred it up while he said, " We'll see the difference a touch of black can make. Just remember, whatever I do, I'll be me, and you'll be you." The birds are excited to have their new markings of black and surround Blackbird and sing how beautiful black ...

                                                                                                 Photo from Amazon.com Bibliography:   Mattick, Lindsay.  Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear.  by Sophie         Blackall. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2015. ISBN 9780316324908 Plot Summary: Cole is getting ready for his bedtime when he asks his mother to tell him a story. She tells him a story of Harry Colebourn who is a veterinarian. Harry loves animals and cares for his horses, but he has to go off to the war and leave them behind. On his train journey for the war, he stops and sees a baby bear with a trapper. He offers the trapper 20...