The Tale of Despereaux, Newbery Winner 2004

 

I loved this book! Fantasy is perhaps my favorite genre, The Tale of Despereaux did not disappoint in this regard. In fact I could have finished this in one day quite easily if it hadn’t been for Mario…

At some moment you realize that one level took far longer than it ever should have...

 

The style for the writing is very interesting and reminds me of a modern Rudyard Kipling and a less dark Lemony Snicket, two authors I read a lot. The reader is often addressed and the story seems to be written expressly for the reader. However, don’t assume that just because the story is less dark that it is a completely happy fairy tale. There were plenty of dark parts, mostly concerning the rats. The heroes and villains both had wonderful development showing that no one was completely good or bad. I felt horribly bad for the two villains and was very pleased with the resolution. The message that this book is giving to children is wholesome and, I believe, necessary in today’s world.

And now, two of my favorite quotes on the subject:

"A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest." ~ C.S. Lewis

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." ~ Albert Einstein

 

So onward into the week! I am getting familiar with standardized testing this week... very, very familiar.

The View From Saturday, Newbery Winner 1997

I just finished this book after having started it earlier this afternoon. While I was reading it I wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. However, I am completely compelled to read it again. Perhaps I was confused about how to respond to it; so many of the characters related to my own life in some fashion...
There were few activities I enjoyed in middle and high school more than Knowledge Bowl. In middle school our team was outstanding but an almost unknown entity to our classmates. But in high school while we never ranked quite as highly, we were one of the school's recognized teams. For most of my four years in high school I was the only girl who regularly participated. It was this part of my own past which drew me to Nadia even though she initially annoyed me.
Like Julian I was often a loner in middle school, I instantly adored his character with all of the quirks that made him so wonderfully real; the fact that he set forth clues in classic literature only endured me to him all the more. Noah, though he could be brash has a head for knowledge. He shares my ability to remember large quantities of mostly useless information with absolutely no bearing on interest or use. Also he does calligraphy. How awesome is that? I don't believe I've ever seen another work in which modern adolescents use calligraphy. Then there is Ethan, I understand his point of view almost better than any of the others, for you see Ethan is a listener. In this day and age people, especially my peers it seems, don't understand the value of listening. In a world that is constantly about saying what is on your mind I like to sit and listen, sometimes I just listen to an entire conversation between my friends without ever interjecting.
However I was never really felt a particularly strong attachment to Mrs. Olinski. This was sad for me, I had hoped that since I am student teaching now I would begin to feel more connected to the teachers in literature.
Oh well, still a really strong work by an author that I enjoy and would definitely read again.