So Many Books; So little Time

Round Trip

Round Trip

by Ann Jonas

c. 1983

This is a really neat book to read. It is done entirely in black and white but that’s only the beginning of the neatness of the book. You read it first from front to back and then turn it over and read it back from back to front. The pictures are drawn so they match the words at the bottom of the page on the first reading but are completely different pictures matching the upside down words at the top of the page.

The concept is that a family is going on a trip to the movies in the city and to the top of the tallest building. They start early in the day and pass through town and the countryside. At the end of the day, it’s time to go home, so we turn the book over and experience the newness of the same art as different pictures as we read the family back home again.

This is the sort of concept book that will expand imaginations and intrigue adults as well. A simple story but a complex and beautiful concept.

A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

by Bill Bryson

c. 1998

SEVERE LANGUAGE WARNING. Also liberal and evolution warning.

Bill Bryson moves to a new home and discovers his backyard opens on the Appalachian Trail. He then decides to investigate and discovers the AT goes from Georgia to Maine (or Maine to Georgia). So, he decides to walk the AT which is rather ambitious but feels he’s up to it. He plans out his coming walk, sends out offers to all on his Christmas Card list to come and join him and finally, at the last minute, gets one taker–Stephen Katz a former friend who went with him on another walk. They had barely spoken since.

They start out by buying all their equipment at outrageous prices only to discover they need more equipment to go with what they bought. Then Bryson buys and reads every book on Bear Attacks and camping accidents he can find. So, armed with Snickers bars, noodles and other food (Bryson disappointed Katz by leaving the Little Debbies at home), they set off for an eight month walk from Georgia to Maine.

They made it through the Great Smokies then found a detailed map of the entire trail and discovered that after walking for days and days, they had made two inches of the four foot map. Becoming discouraged then encouraged that since they couldn’t possibly walk the WHOLE route, they could pick and choose which sections to walk, they take a cab to the next promising section.

Actually the book becomes tiresome and disappointing from this point on. They don’t actually SEE a bear though Bryson thinks he hears one one night. They really don’t get lost in the woods nor do they get bit by anything more than a few mosquitos. I see more wildlife in my own back yard than Bryson shares in 394 pages. The book just becomes a complaint for Bryson about how the government agencies in charge in various ways of trying to preserve the trail have destroyed it. He appreciates the fact that the Smokies are government owned but hates the fact that in being owned and preserved, the government stopped the cattle from running thereby stopping the grazing on the Baldies which led to them being overrun by trees and disappearing along with various types of flora that lived there. Bryson soon becomes one of those whiny liberals who can’t point out anything good without whining about the destruction it caused. He seems to think preservation means keeping it exactly as he wants it to be with no change. In his defense, he does point out where government money goes wrong.

In the end, both took some time off. Bryson went on a book tour for a previous work and Katz took a summer job back in Iowa. In the meantime, Bryson went on short walks on the AT in Pennyslvania, New Jersey, Vermont and New Hampshire with some interesting though disappointing results. The two met up again to finish the last 100 miles together in Maine. Unfortunately, Katz got lost in the woods and they gave up. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe the reader giving up on the book when Bryson and Katz gave up on walking the whole trail would be best as well. But my husband (who has no compunctions about having to finish a book) and I both finished the book.

If you can stand the language and overlook liberal proselytizing, it’s very readable and hysterically funny at times. It contains a lot of history of the trail and gives you a feel for being in the woods. It just seems strange to me that he didn’t see more wildlife than he did. HMMMM.

The Case of the Graveyard Ghost

The Case of the Graveyard Ghost

by Michele Torrey

c. 2002

This is the third book in a series that is just plain silly. But silly in a good way.

Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey are two fifth grade science detectives who work out of both their homes. They are best friends and live within exact numbers of minutes of every place in town. Their clients are always their classmates and are always referred to by Mr and Ms by Doyle and Fossey. They also have parents who are completely understanding and who appear exactly when they are needed. Somehow or another Doyle and Fossey have a handbook that tells them exactly what to do in any given scenario, no matter how bizarre much like the cartoon characters did in the fifties and sixties.

In this work, Doyle and Fossey don’t just deal with a ghost, which isn’t really a ghost at all but their rival Frisco playing a science trick on people to make money, but also with ugly roses at a botany judging, a grumpy classmate stuck in a laundry shute, and stolen rare parrots. They solve all the cases in two chapters and then go on to another case.

The back of the book gives science experiments to go along with each case giving lists of materials needed and step-by-step instructions. In the case of the Graveyard Ghost, it’s accompanied by a history lesson of the discovery of the technique. In the case of the rare parrots, there are websites listed and safety precautions to keep from encouraging the exploitation of endangered animals.

Good fun book with real science lessons as well. This book is written in the tradition of Encyclopedia Brown but for younger readers. Be warned parents, they may seem very silly to readers over the age of 8.

The Case of the Mossy Lake Monster

The Case of the Mossy Lake Monster

by Michele Torrey

c. 2002

This is number two in a series and this series is just silly. But silly in a good way.

Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey are fifth graders who run a scientific detective agency out of both of their homes. They are best friends, live within exact short numbers of minutes of the entire town and have parents who show up at the exact instant they need them. They also have a handbook that tells them what to do for the exact situation they find themselves in, not unlike the cartoon characters of the fifties and sixties.

Despite the title of the book, this work contains four stories with the kids, only one of which has anything to do with the Mossy Lake Monster. (My sons had a good time laughing at the penguin story, actually.) Each story is two chapters long and is solved with a science experiment. The end of the book is an explaination of how to create your own science experiments. For instance, the first story deals with a cat who is starving to death because of what turns out to be static electricity. The cat’s favorite blanket is angora and his food bowl is metal. While it’s painfully (as in groan) obvious to the older than age 8 reader what is happening, Doyle and Fossey go back to their lab to do experiments then explain in detail to the cat’s fifth grade owner what’s happening. This is followed up in the back of the book with an experiment or two for the reader to make his own static electricity.

The book is great fun and educational but a bit on the silly side. My sons likened it to Encyclopedia Brown but I have a feeling this was written for younger readers than Encyclopedia was.

The Truth War

The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception

by John MacArthur

c. 2007

Should we even fight for the truth in this day and age? Is it even worth it? Is there even such a thing as truth?

John MacArthur answers those questions with two verses of the Bible: Jude 4 and 5. Yes, there is such a thing as truth and yes, we should fight for it, not just because it’s the right thing to do but because this war on the truth of God’s word isn’t new. Jude (the biological half-brother of Jesus) had to deal with the same thing in his day and age. There is nothing new under the sun and nothing new in fighting for the truth in our chuches and in our country and lives.

MacArthur attacks the emerging church movement head on with verses and exposes (where is an accent mark when you need one?) and going right to the core of the deception that the false teachers are choosing to spread in our churches. He shows how they get into the churches and even points out different types of false teachers–those who are accidental, those who are deceived themselves and those who are committed to deception.

This is a well-written, easy-to-read and timely book for our times. MacArthur isn’t afraid to say what needs to be said and we shouldn’t either. It’s time for more preachers and laypeople of MacArthur’s like in this world and especially in our churches. It’s time to start stepping on toes and MacArthur has given the spark to start the fire.

No study guide but well worth sharing with every pastor, deacon and pew sitter you know who believes the truth but isn’t stepping on toes and even those who are.

Chester A. Arthur

Chester A. Arthur

by Charnan Simon

c. 1989

From the Encyclopedia of Presidents series comes this work on a President who actually never wanted to be President. In fact, he wasn’t elected to any public office at any time in his life except to the office of Vice-President. The rest of his adult career, he was a member of the Republican party’s political machine. He received his jobs by being friends with the New York City boss Roscoe Conkling and made large amounts of money because of it. He enjoyed entertaining and being in the lime light as did his wife.

And then, James A. Garfield was nominated President and needed a running mate to coalesce the Republican party. Roscoe Conkling was offered the job and refused and advised his followers to as well. Arthur refused and he and Garfield were elected. While Arthur believed in government jobs going to loyal party members, Garfield believed they should go to the best qualified. As a result, Garfield was assassinated and Arthur became President.

But, Arthur then turned a complete 180 and left his former party loyalist friends wondering what happened. Under his administration, it became illegal to give jobs based on party loyalty and to kick back part of your salary to the party for getting you the job. Arthur’s former friends were left shaking their heads at the administration under a man they thought they knew and who didn’t even want to be President.

This series is wonderful for teens and adults alike. Black and white photographs of the people mentioned in the book including political cartoons of the era. The author doesn’t whitewash anything about the President’s life from birth to death and includes as much as can be included about the wife and children of the President. In the Arthur volume, you’ll find out when his parents died and of what causes, his other losses along the way, his various jobs and money made and how, his courtship and marriage as well as education and cause of death all in 8 short chapters. Well worth the read in order to understand our history better.

The Purple Coat

The Purple Coat

by Amy Hest

c. 1986

Every fall Gabby goes to her grandfather’s tailor shop and gets a new navy blue coat. But this year, she doesn’t want a navy blue coat. She wants a purple coat down to her ankles with purple buttons and a hood to keep her head warm and a pleat in the back so she can run fast.

Gabby’s mother says Gabby ALWAYS gets a navy blue coat with two rows of buttons. Gabby’s grandfather over lunch says sometimes it’s nice to try something new but wonders how Gabby’s mother will view a purple coat. Then he comes up with a way…..to make them both happy.

This is about a child stepping out into her own idea of what she wants and breaking with tradition just a bit. It’s not about disobedience or rebellion but the simple fact of a child growing up into her own opinions of what she wants to wear. Along the way we meet sandwiches and a “tangerine” dress.

This is a fun book about how to let a child make some decisions of his or her own and not let them make total spectacles of themselves. Gabby’s grandfather found a way and it suited both Gabby and her mother.

Tough Times

Tough Times

by Barbara Shook Hazen

c. 1979

Our narrator just wants a dog. He doesn’t understand why he can’t have one and why he must eat lima beans when he hates lima beans.

This book is timely in that it deals with something most families have to deal with–tough times. Times when money is tight and even when the father loses his job. Things change in our little narrator’s life and he doesn’t like it and, more importantly, he doesn’t understand it.

This book will help a child feel not so alone in a world they don’t understand. It may not help them understand why they can’t have a new coat or new shoes or that special game or a store-bought birthday cake, but they will at least know that they are not alone in wanting and being told there are hard times–tough times–and he or she will have to wait.

Paddle to the Amazon

Paddle to the Amazon

by Don Starkell

c. 1989

This one has been on my shelf and my to-read list for quite some time now. My husband read it some years back but I just never got around to it.

Don Starkell was raised in Children’s and foster homes as a boy in the 1930’s and 1940’s and wanted a better life for his children. When his marriage broke up, he sought how best to maintain a good relationship with his children, especially his sons who lived with him. What he came up with was the trip of a lifetime. When his younger son graduated from high school, he would retire from his job (at 47 years of age) and he and his two sons ages 18 and 19 would embark on what would become the longest canoe trip ever–from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Belem, Brazil.

And so in June 1980, Don, Jeff, and Dana Starkell started out in a specially built orange canoe for the mouth of the Amazon River. They had passports, maps, food, credit cards, water containers and a plan. They planned to paddle across the border into South Dakota using the Red River, then the Minnesota River to the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, hug the Gulf Coast, then paddle upstream ont the Orinocco to the Rio Negro and then down the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean.

Along the way they made friends, were robbed, held at gunpoint, arrested, denied entrance into countries, made more friends, got food poisoning, parasites, salt sores, and countless other things. Jeff abandoned the quest after the first year but despite fights between them, Dana and Don stuck it out to the very end in Belem which Don points out means Bethlehem in Portugese. Don developed a deeper relationship with God on the trip and Dana aquired a Bible at a mission in Venezuela where they made friends and set a goal of reading it by the time they reached Belem.

This book is an edited version of Don’s journals that he somehow managed to keep through all their difficulties, type up and give to Charles Wilkens after their return to Manitoba for editing into this book. It is good reading and an adventure that some of us might dream about but that they really took.

Moderate language warning–yes, there is language but not much–less than 10 words.

Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones

Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones

by Ruth Heller

c. 1081

Chickens lay eggs but not only chickens lay eggs. In this easy to read book, we find other animals that lay eggs and learn a bit about where they lay them. Color illustrations show what the eggs look like and Ostrich and Hummingbird eggs are even shown full size.

This is a neat book for a beginng discussion on egg-laying especially in the spring or early summer when birds are building nests and frogs are hatching tadpoles. The book is written in rhyme and keeps the words per page to a minimum. Includes animal names and some other words making this not for beginning readers but still a good book to introduce various egg-layers to children. Can be informative for adults as well.