A Quest Post: The Great Good Thing

The Great Good Thing
By Roderick Townley; Scholastic 2001

Summary: Sylvie had an amazing life, but she didn't get to live it very often.

Sylvie has been a twelve-year-old princess for more than eighty years, ever since the book she lives in was first printed. She's the heroine, and her story is exciting -- but that's the trouble. Her story is always exciting in the same way. Sylvie longs to get away and explore the world outside the confines of her book.

When she breaks the cardinal rule of all storybook characters and looks up at the Reader, Sylvie begins a journey that not even she could have anticipated. And what she accomplishes goes beyond any great good thing she could have imagined...

Things to Watch Out for: Dangerous characters.

Quest Post from Cambria Sees:

I've loved The Great Good Thing since I was in the 2nd grade. The plot line has twists and turns, which always keeps the reader quessing and wondering what will happen next. Sylvie is adventurous, spunky, and willing to go the extra mile to be apart of an adventure and the unknown. This read is fasinating because of how the point of view pulls the reader in and draws the reader into the story. The characters in this book seem to surround the story around the reader. The characters are seperate different beings with great personalites, which make everything work together wonderfully. I've enjoyed this book for years and I plan on enjoying it for many to come. 

The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree
By Shel Silverstein; HarperCollins 1964

Summary:                                  

 Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy.

So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated

 by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein.

Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk...and the tree was happy. 

But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave.

This is a tender story, touched with sadness, aglow with consolation. Shel Silverstein has created a moving parable for readers of all ages that offers an affecting interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another's capacity to love in return

My Review: Ever since I was a little girl I have enjoyed this book greatly. As I have gotten older I began to notice things about this book that I overlooked in my idolesent youth. The Giving Tree is a classic, sensitive parable about selflessness. Selfless love and giving is something to be admired. 

Most people who read this book take it in different way. Either they like it or they don't. Some think the boy is greedy and takes advantage of Mother Nature's resources. Others see the Giving Tree as beautiful for her selfless love, even though it was taken to the extreme. But what will you see? What will your child see?

 What do I see? I see a tree who puts the boy's needs above it's own, because it wants him to be happy. Putting someone else's needs above ones own is something we should all strive to do. I really admire this book. It is a beloved Children's book that everyone should read.

The Story of the Three Bears

The Story of the Three Bears
By Joseph Jacobs: English Fairy Tales 1840

Summary: There was once a family of three bears who lived in a house in the woods. They are Little, Small, Wee Bear; a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear. One day the family of bears left their home for a walk in the woods while their porridge cools. An old woman in the woods comes across the house, and enters it. The old woman eats the Wee Bear's porridge, then settles into his chair and breaks it. Prowling about, she finds the bear's beds and falls asleep in Wee Bear's bed. The Bears return and Wee Bear finds the old woman in his bed. The old woman starts up, jumps from the window, and is never seen again.

My Review: Ok this tale seriously cracks me up! What was that little old woman thinking? It is plain ole rude to break in and enter someone’s home. Especially a family of bears! My favorite part in this story is the ending. “Out the little old Woman jumped; and whether she broke her neck in the fall; or ran into the wood and was lost there; or found her way out of the wood, and was taken up by the constable and sent to the House of Correction for a vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But the Three Bears never saw anything more of her.” I really hope she was sent to the House of Correction for a vagrant that she was! Ha Ha! I prefer the Goldilocks and the Three Bears better than this version, because an old woman entering a house just sounds creepy to me.

Watch Out For: Breaking and Entering

The Story of the Three Little Pigs

The Story of the Three Little Pigs By Joseph Jacobs; English Fairy Tales 1840

'Little pig, little pig, let me come in.'

'No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.'

"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.'

Summary:  There were three little pigs whose mother told them to go out into the world and seek their fortune. The first little pig builds a house of straw and a wolf blows it down and eats the pig.  The second pig builds a house of sticks, and once again the wolf blows the house down and eats the pig. The third pig builds a house of bricks, the wolf fails to bring the house down and tries other ways of trickery to get the pig to come out. The pig outsmarts him every time. Finally the wolf comes down the chimney, where the pig boils a pot of water.



My Review: I absolutely love the saying “little pig, little pig, let me come in!” I used to tell this tale all the time to my cousins when they were younger and get a kick out of this story. I’ve always felt sorry for the wolf in a way. Wolfs have to eat too you know!  The only thing that really blew me away about this story is that the pig ate the wolf in the end after the wolf landed in the pot of boiling water. That really shocked me to think the pig would eat animals! 


Watch Out For: Eating animals, trickery, the Wolf, 

Jack and the Beanstalk

Jack and the Beanstalk

By Joseph Jacobs: English Fairy Tales 1890

'Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman,
Be he alive, or be he dead,
I'll have his bones to grind my bread.'

Summary: Jack sells the family cow for a few beans, this upsets his widowed mother, and she throws them out the window. The beans are magical and grow into a stalk that reaches the sky that very night. Jack climbs the bean stalk and discovers a strange land where a greedy giant lives. Jack decided to steal the giant’s treasures which are a golden harp, a hen that lays golden eggs, and silver and gold.  The giant discovers Jack and pursues him down the beanstalk, but Jack chops down the beanstalk causing the giant to fall down and die.

My Review: I have always found this fairytale to be quite fascinating. At first I thought jack was really reckless for selling a cow for a couple of beans, but I guess it worked out for him and his mother in the end. The Giant's saying has always given me the willies. Grind his bones to make bread? EW!

Watch Out For: The Giant, magical beans, bargaining, death, a chase.

Scholastic Dictionary of Synonyms, Antonyms, and Homonyms

Scholastic Dictionary of Synonyms, Antonyms, and Homonyms



By Scholastic Reference 2001


Summary: Contains 12,000 synonyms, 10,000 antonyms, and 2,000 homonyms. It is the perfect reference book for students in writing classes. It helps students expand their vocabularies and will help children find the perfect words to express their thoughts and feelings in their writing.

My Review: I actually had this book when I was in elementary and middle school. It really helped me find words to use in my papers. It was a great tool for those who struggle with finding the right words to express themselves.

Walk Two Moons

Walk Two Moons

By Sharon Creech; Scholastic 1994

"Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins."

Summary: Salamanca Tree Hiddle, a thirteen-year-old form Bybanks, Kentucky, is traveling across the country to Idaho with her grandparents. Along the way she tells them the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, her disappearing mother, and the lunatic. Throughout the story, readers find out more about the story of Salamanca's mother and herself.   

My Review: I have been in love with this book since the 1^st grade. Salamanca is such a strong character. The road trip with her grandparents is hilarious! Huza Huza! And the character Phoebe is so funny because she is dramatic beyond all belief. The whole story with the lunatic really draws readers into the story and it keeps you on your toes. 

Watch Out For: Death, mentioning of murder, mild language, abandonment

Children's Dictionary

Scholastic Children’s Dictionary
Scholastic 2002

Summary: A dictionary that includes pronunciations, definitions, parts of speech, sample sentences, etymologies, synonyms, cross-references, and illustrations

My Review: this is a bright and happy dictionary. It is eye catching with its colors, definitions, and pictures. I enjoyed randomly picking out a word to look up and seeing its definition and a picture by it.

Jupiter

Jupiter
by Gregory L. Vogt; The Millbrook Press 1993

Summary: Present information about Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, which is 483 million miles away from the sun and is made up of gas! It also gives informational about Jupiter's 16 moons.

My Review: I really enjoy these Non Fiction books about the planets in our solar system. I  love how in this book it gives definitions to help young readers understand the information better. It also gives quick facts about the origin of name, mass, etc... of Jupiter and its planets. I found it rather interesting.

The Husband Who was to Mind the House

The Husband Who Was to Mind the House
By Asbjørnsen: 1888.

Summary: A husband complains that his wife has the easiest job and she suggests that he stay home and do her work, while she will take his job.  Everything he does turns into chaos.
 
My Review: This is a hilarious tale! I have to be a feminist on this one and say to men, “SEEE…..A woman’s job is hard!” That poor husband didn’t know what he got himself into. He turns the whole entire house into a circus. I really enjoyed this tale!

Watch Out For: Crazy behavior

Puss in Boots

“Master Cat” or “Puss in Boots”
By Charles Perrault; 1697

Summary: Puss in Boots is a car who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for his poor master.

My Review: I not that big of a fan of this fairytale, it just seems a little bland for me. I think it is interesting that a cat is walking around in a pair of boots talking and all, but I was not feeling it. I guess it was because Antonio Bandaras wasn’t speaking to me.  The funniest kick I got out of this tale was the last line that stated “Puss became a personage of great importance, and gave up hunting mice, except for amusement.”


Watch Out For: Talking animals, ogres, trickery, deceit

Moral

It’s a pleasant thing, I’m told,
To be left a pile of gold.
But there’s something better still,
Never yet bequeathed by will.
Leave a lad a stock of sense—
Though with neither pounds nor pence—
And he’ll finish, as a rule,
Richer than the gilded fool.

Another Moral

Can the heart of a Princess
Yield so soon to borrowed dress?
So it seems—but wait a while— ‘Tis not all a tale of guile.
He was young and straight of limb; She was just the girl for him.
He was brave, and she was fair.
Tell me, when the right man’s there—
Be he but a miller’s son—
What Princess will not be won?

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty
By Charles Perrault; 1697

Summary:  A beautiful princess is born and is bestowed upon with gifts from fairies. A wicked fairy gives places the princess under an enchantment, saying that, when the princess is older she will prick her finger on a spindle and die. A good fairy, says that the princess will sleep for a hundred years and be awakened by true love’s first kiss, instead of dying. A hundred years passes and a prince discovers the sleeping beauty.

My  Review: I love the story of Sleeping Beauty. It is one of my absolute favorites. I love the whole true love’s first kiss and all that gushy love stuff. I am a big fan of the Disney Version of Sleeping Beauty. It was really interesting to read the original version. Instead of three fairies there are a total of seven, and so on. I really enjoyed it !

Watch Out For: Death, enchantments

Moral:

Many a girl has waited long,

For a husband brave or strong;

But I’m sure I never met

Any sort of woman yet
who could wait a hundred years,
Free from fretting, free from fears.
Now, our story seems to show
That a century or so,
Late or early, matters not;
True love comes by fairy-lot.
Some old folk will even say
It grows better by delay.