Eli (Bill Peet)

This is a really fun one to read. It's fun to make a screechy vulture voice and a cranky lion voice. We really had a good laugh while reading it. Connects well with our friendship unit. Good vocabulary discussions too. I feel like we should do an author study some time on Bill Peet. We've read a number of his books this year and today when I showed this one my students commented that this is probably going to be a good one since it's by Bill Peet.

Goodreads says:

A proud but decrepit lion learns a lesson about friendship from the vultures he despises.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (Roald Dahl)

Makes me chuckle every time. Foxes are awesome! The old farmers in this story are particularly nasty. Totally up to Roald Dahl's standards! :)



“I think I have this thing where everybody has to think I'm the greatest.And if they aren't completely knocked out and dazzled and slightly intimidated by me, I don't feel good about myself.”

“I therefore invite you all," Mr Fox went on, 'to stay here with me for ever.'
For ever!' they cried. 'My goodness! How marvellous!' And Rabbit said to Mrs Rabbit, 'My dear, just think! We're never going to be shot again in our lives!'
We will make,' said Mr Fox, 'a little underground village, with streets and houses on each side - seperate houses for Badgers and Moles and Rabbits and Weasels and Foxes. And every day I will go shopping for you all. And every day we will eat like kings.'
The cheering that followed this speech went on for many minutes.”

A Shiloh Christmas

 

I almost didn't read this one. I read the other three books, Saving Shiloh, Shiloh Season, and Shiloh . I was going to skip this one for one reason: the cover of this one seemed a little too cheesy for me. I was also feeling like I'd had enough of the Shiloh story. Have I mentioned that I'm not much of a series reader? I get bored.

I'm so glad I did read this one though! It brings the Judd Travers issue full circle. I came close to a tear or two when he talked about his past. Definitely worth the read.

Warning: There are stories of abuse in here. It isn't anything graphic, but if this is a trigger for you, you might skip this one. They get a new preacher in their church and Marty and his family start to notice signs of abuse that concern them. Judd Travers also talks about the abuse he endured in his family. It all comes together well though and in the end, there is healing.

Favourite quotes: 

Page 1 "My dog's simple, all right, and next to getting his belly scratched, Shiloh's favorite thing in the whole world is rolling around in deer poop."

Page 7: "Problem, I guess, is that Judd's not changed enough to suit some people. Not fast enough to suit anybody, that's for sure. He don't keep his dogs chained and hugnry, the way they used to be, and they like romping around that fenced-in backyard. I haven't heard anymore complaints about him trying to cheat Mr. Wallace either, and he don't swear around Me, leastwise where she can hear it."

Page 55: "If there's a hell," he says, "I think it's what people make for themselves while they're living. Don't have to die to find that out .""

Goodreads summary:

A rescued beagle and his boy owner seek love and understanding for their troubled small town in this holiday companion to the Newbery Medal–winning Shiloh, from Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

Christmas is coming and Marty and his rescued pup Shiloh are sure glad about that—for their town is sure low on love and understanding and they hope that the joy of the holiday will bring with it the generosity of spirit that’s so lacking.

It’s been a year since Marty Preston rescued Shiloh from Judd Travers and his cruel ways, and since then, Marty and Shiloh have been inseparable. Anywhere Marty goes, the beagle’s at his side, and Marty couldn’t be happier about that. Even Judd has been working to improve his reputation.

But just as townsfolk grow more accepting of Judd, a fire in the woods destroys many homes, including Judd’s, and Judd’s newly formed reputation. Doubt, blame, and anger spread faster than the flames—flames that are fanned by the new minister, who seems fonder of fire and brimstone than love and mercy. And why are his daughters so skittish around him? And what’s happened to Judd’s dogs? With Christmas right around the corner, Marty has a lot of questions, and how they’re answered might just take a Christmas miracle.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s fourth book in the Newbery Award–winning Shiloh series—following Shiloh, Shiloh Season, and Saving Shiloh—is full of heart-thudding suspense, as well as comfort and joy.

Saving Shiloh (Phyllis Reynolds Naylor)

The saga of Judd Travers and Marty continues.

In this book we get more understanding of Judd and why he is the way he is. Marty's family tries to look at the best sides of Judd and they start to see good in him. This book is also full of mystery. It was a good page turner!

Just like Shiloh Season, the previous book in the series, I listened to this one on downloadable audio book. I liked the reader of this one much better.

Goodreads summary:

Marty Preston wonders why it is that despite Judd Traver's attempts to redeem himself everyone is still so willing to think the worst of him. Marty's friend David is sure that Judd will be named as the murderer of a man who has been missing. Others are sure that Judd is behind a series of burglaries in the area. But Marty's parents and, with some trepidation, Marty himself persist in their attempts to be good neighbors and to give Judd a second chance. Now that Marty has Shiloh, maybe he can help Judd to take better care of his other dogs. Then again, maybe folks are right -- there's no way a Judd Travers can ever change for the good. Then a terrifying life-or-death situation brings this dilemma into sharp focus. "Saving Shiloh" is a powerful novel that brings this trilogy to a close.

Shiloh Season (Phyllis Reynolds Naylor)

I'm not much of a series person, but I was quite taken by the first book. I'm not really one to get caught in a series, but I had to know what happens to that mean old nasty Judd Travers. He remains mean and nasty in this book. I guess I have to go on to book three now! Will he ever get his just dues?

If you don't like guns, this is a good book to read. There's so much risk and danger thanks to Judd and his hunting. One of the big problems is his drinking. I loved how we see Marty get what he wants through some hard work. This book is also a good lesson in how not everything is black and white. Sometimes you have to do what you think is important despite disapproval by some.

There were some inconsistencies with the first book. They now have a phone (maybe I missed where they said they got a phone...not sure). I listened to this one on a downloadable audio book and wasn't that taken by the reader. He was an older man and that didn't match in my mind since it is Marty telling the story.

I think you'd be okay to read this book without reading the first. The author reviews the details of the first book well enough to catch people up.

Goodreads summary:

After Marty Preston worked so hard to earn the dog Shiloh, he had hoped that his troubles with Judd Travers were over. He could not rescue all the dogs that Judd mistreated, but since shiloh was the one who ran away and came to him, Shiloh was the one he loved. Judd, however, has other problems. Anyone who cheats and swears and lies and kicks his dogs has troubles inside himself, and when the man starts drinking, Marty realizes that Shiloh is in danger once again. As hunting season approaches and Judd begins hunting on their land, the Prestos know that something is bound to happen.

They're right. Marty does the only thing he can think of to do, and discovers just how deep a hurt can go and how long it takes to heal.

Danny Champion of the World (Roald Dahl)

This book was recommended by one of the male teachers at my school (we don't have many male teachers...and they don't often give book recommendations....so I paid attention when this one did!) He says it is his favourite book of all time. I hadn't read it, so I decided I should. I think it'd be a great book for boys and dads, especially. I love Danny's admiration for his dad in this story. 

“I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake smile because it's impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren't feeling twinkly yourself. A mouth-smile is different. You can fake a mouth-smile any time you want, simply by moving your lips. I've also learned that a real mouth-smile always has an eye-smile to go with it. So watch out, I say, when someone smiles at you but his eyes stay the same. It's sure to be a phony.”

Danny's dad teaches him to fix cars, teaches him cool facts about animals, lets Danny take days off school for fake sicknesses, and takes him on great hunting adventures. There is no one Danny would rather spend time with.

This little bit made me laugh out loud:

“On this Thursday, on this particular walk to school, there was an old frog croaking in the stream behind the hedge as we went by.

'Can you hear him, Danny?'

'Yes,' I said,

'That is a bullfrog calling to his wife. He does it by blowing out his dewlap and letting it go with a burp.'

'What is a dewlap?' I asked.

'It's the loose skin on his throat. He can blow it up just like a balloon.'

'What happens when his wife hears him?'

'She goes hopping over to him. She is very happy to have been invited. But I'll tell you something very funny about the old bullfrog. He often becomes so pleased with the sound of his own voice that his wife has to nudge him several times before he'll stop his burping and turn round to hug her.'

That made me laugh.

'Dont laugh too loud,' he said, twinkling at me with his eyes. 'We men are not so very different from the bullfrog.” 

The more Roald Dahl books I read, the more I see overlaps in his stories. This one refers to the BFG, a bed-time story that Danny's dad tells. It doesn't go anywhere though. It is a minor part of this story.  The sergeant at the end of the story is a funny character. He puts h's at the front of words where they don't belong and removes them from words where they should be. It reminded me of how fun it is to read The Witches out loud. I wonder if Sargeant Samway shows up in any other books? 

One bothersome thing about this story is how doing something mean/dishonest/tricky to someone who is not nice is totally justifiable. This theme pops up in other Roald Dahl books like The Twits and Matilda.  ....maybe I am being too dull.....not sparky enough.

“A stodgy parent is no fun at all. What a child wants and deserves is a parent who is SPARKY” 

Goodreads summary:

Danny has a life any boy would love—his home is a gypsy caravan, he's the youngest master car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. But one night Danny discovers a shocking secret that his father has kept hidden for years. Soon Danny finds himself the mastermind behind the most incredible plot ever attempted against nasty Victor Hazell, a wealthy landowner with a bad attitude. Can they pull it off? If so, Danny will truly be the champion of the world.