Review of Dare the Wind, by Tracey Fern

Adventure, Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

dare_the_wind_largeDare the Wind

The Record-Breaking Voyage of Eleanor Prentiss and the Flying Cloud

by Tracey Fern
pictures by Emily Arnold McCully

Margaret Ferguson Books, Farrar Straus Giroux, New York, 2014. 36 pages.
Starred Review

How wonderful! A nineteenth century young woman navigated clipper ships for her sea captain husband and actually broke speed records because of her daring and mathematical prowess! Who knew? Now this is a true story I’m eager for little girls to know about!

The book starts with Ellen Prentiss as a child, loving the sea. Her father teaches her how to navigate. The illustration shows her using a sextant outside their house, by the sea, under her father’s observation. “Ellen worked for hours by the kitchen fire, learning the complicated calculations needed to navigate a ship.”

Ellen eventually marries a sea captain, Perkins Creesy. He becomes captain of a new clipper ship, built for speed.

If Ellen and Perkins could make the trip faster than any ship ever had, they would receive a bonus – and bragging rights as the best sailors in the world. It was the adventure Ellen had always dreamed of catching!

The author goes on to dramatize Ellen and Perkins’ record-breaking journey, using information from the log. There was plenty of adventure on the voyage, including a broken mast, and time spent in the Doldrums, with Ellen taking a daring new route to escape them.

In the end, on August 31, 1851, they reached their destination and brought passengers and cargo to the California Gold Rush faster than any other ship ever had.

An Author’s Note at the back gives more details of the journey, along with sources of more information for the curious reader.

This is a wonderful picture book about a woman who used her brains to become the best in the world!

traceyfern.com
emilyarnoldmccully.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/dare_the_wind.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Sonderling Sunday – Get Ready for the Quidditch World Cup!

Sonderling Sunday 0

It’s time for Sonderling Sunday! That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.

HPFeuerkelch

Today, in honor of Germany advancing to the Semifinals in the World Cup (something they have done for consecutive World Cups since I lived in Germany), I thought it would be fun to look at the passage in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that covers the Quidditch World Cup. In fact, in hopes that Germany will advance to the Finals, happening next Sunday, I’m going to tackle the beginning of Chapter 8 this week, leading up to the World Cup, and cover the World Cup itself next week. Perhaps we’ll learn some words I heard when I watched World Cup soccer in Germany.

We’ll be looking at Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 8, “The Quidditch World Cup,” which is Harry Potter und die Feuerkelch, “Die Quidditch-Weltmeisterschaft”.

I like beginning with the first sentence:
“Clutching their purchases, Mr. Weasley in the lead, they all hurried into the wood, following the lantern-lit trail.”
= Ihre neu erworbenen Schätze an sich geklammert folgten sie Mr Weasley den laternenbeschienenen Weg entlang in den Wald.
(“Their newly acquired treasures clinging to themselves followed they Mr. Weasley on the lantern-shined path along in the forest.”)

“The atmosphere of feverish excitement was highly infectious.”
= Die fiebrige Erregung war höchst ansteckend.

“talking and joking loudly” = laut redend und scherzend

“Muggle repelling charms” = Muggelabwehrzauber

“appointments” = Verabredungen

“dash away” = schleunigst fort

“Top box!” = Ehrenloge! (“Honor box”)

“goalposts” = Torstangen

“goal hoops” = Torringe

“blackboard” = schwarze Tafel

“scrawling” = krakeln

“advertisements” = Werbesprüche

“Anti-Burglar Buzzer” = Diebstahlschutz-Summer

“Mrs. Skower’s All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!”
= Mrs Skowers Magischer Allzweckreiniger: Kein Fleck, kein Schreck!

“tea towel” = Geschirrtuch

“draped” = geschlungen

“shaking her head” = kopfschüttelnd

“taken aback” = bestürzt

“Freedom is going to Dobby’s head.” = Die Freiheit steigt Dobby zu Kopf. (“The freedom climbs Dobby to the head.”)

“blankly” = verdutzt (“puzzled”)

“muffled squeak” = ersticktem Piepsen

“gulped” = würgte

“frowning” = stirnrunzelnd (“forehead wrinkled”)

“replay knob” = Wiederholungsknopf

“velvet-covered, tasseled program” = samtgebundenes, mit Troddeln geschmücktes Programmheft

“team mascots” = Mannschaftsmaskottchen

“wand” = Zauberstab

“gabbling loudly and excitedly” = unter lautem Geschnatter (“under loud cackling”)

“blighters” = Mistkerle

“slim” = schlank

“nasty smell” = üblen Geruch

“It was a tense moment.” = Einen Moment lang herrschte äußerste Spannung.
(“A moment long was there extreme tension.”)

“had a fight” = geprügelt

“swept over” = schweiften über

“purebloods” = Reinblüter

“slimy gits” = Schleimiges Pack

“every corner of the stands” = jede Ritze der Tribünen

A 32-letter word! It’s a number word, so it’s almost not fair, but I have to include it!
“four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup”
= vierhundertundzweiundzwanzigsten Quidditch-Weltmeisterschaft

“The spectators screamed and clapped.” = Die Zuschauer kreischten und klatschten.

“racket” = Trubel

“Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans — A Risk With Every Mouthful!”
= Bertie Botts’ Bohnen aller Geschmacksrichtungen — Russisch Roulette für Ihre Zunge!
(“Bertie Botts’ Beans of all flavor-directions — Russian Roulette for your tongue!”)

“ado” = Brimborium

“absent-mindedly shredding the shamrocks on his hat” = zerpfriemelte geistesabwesend die Kleeblätter auf seinem Hut

“vests” = Schürzen

“tumultuous applause” = tosenden Beifall

“so fast it was blurred” = so schnell flog, dass sie nur verschwommen zu sehen war

“bird of prey” = Raubvogel

“referee” = Schiedsrichter

“Chairwizard” = Vorstandszauberer

“skinny” = hagerer

“completely bald” = vollkommen kahlköpfig

“speed dial” = Geschwindigkeitsknopf

“the scarlet Quaffle” = die scharlachrote Quaffel

“the two black Bludgers” = die beiden schwarzen Klatscher

“the minuscule, winged Golden Snitch” = den winzigen, geflügelten Goldenen Schnatz

And that’s it for the pregame show! When I have lived in Germany during the World Cup, it is true that die fiebrige Erregung war höchst ansteckend.

Next week, if all goes well, I will cover the finals of the Quidditch World Cup! Here’s hoping Germany will be competing in the Fussball Weltmeisterschaft the same day!

Review of Chestnut Street, by Maeve Binchy

Contemporary, Fiction Review, General, Literary, Short Stories, Starred Review 0

chestnut_street_largeChestnut Street

by Maeve Binchy

Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2014. 368 pages.
Starred Review

Maeve Binchy died in July 2012, so this is a posthumous publication. Her husband, Gordon Snell, explains at the front:

Maeve wrote the stories over several decades, reflecting the city and people of the moment – always with the idea of one day making them into a collection with Chestnut Street as its center. I am very pleased with the way her editors have now gathered them together as she intended, to make this delightful new Maeve Binchy book, Chestnut Street.

This book reminds me more of Maeve Binchy’s earlier books than the later ones – it is composed of many short stories, all including someone who lives on Chestnut Street. Her later novels are similar, but have longer stories, with more of the threads intertwined between stories. A few of the characters do appear in passing in additional stories, besides the ones where they are featured, though there’s definitely not the unity of theme found in her later books.

That said, these are some truly delightful stories. Maeve Binchy knows human nature. So many of these stories, short as they are, leave you with a smile or an insight or just a good feeling that someone made a great choice. I liked that they are short, since that way there are more of them, though it did make it take longer to read – because after a few stories, I found myself wanting to give an appreciative pause rather than barrel on to the end, as I will with a good novel.

A wonderful chance to treat yourself to Maeve Binchy’s characters one more time.

maevebinchy.com
aaknopf.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/chestnut_street.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot, by Robert Arthur

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Mystery, Old Favorites, Starred Review 0

stuttering_parrot_largeAlfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators in

The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot

by Robert Arthur

Random House, New York, 1964. 179 pages.
Starred Review

This is the second book in The Three Investigators series, but the fourth I’ve read in my current rereading spree. I remembered this as being my favorite, and on rereading it, I have to say that’s still true. The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot, more than most of the others, is a puzzle-mystery. There are seven cryptic clues leading step-by-step to treasure. The scenario may not be completely realistic, but it is definitely a lot of fun.

They’re also working out some of the themes of The Three Investigators. This is the book that introduces the Ghost-to-Ghost Hookup. They also discover a down side to traveling in a gold-plated Rolls Royce. It’s highly noticeable and easy to follow.

As in the other books, there’s physical danger to the boys. It seems there’s always at least one person who carries an ethnic stereotype. Maybe they were trying to include a wide variety of cultures in the books? The bully Skinny Norris makes a mercifully brief appearance.

Mostly, this is a chance for Jupiter Jones to display his powers of deduction as the reader puzzles along with the group all that follows when the boys try to find a missing parrot – that stutters.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/stuttering_parrot.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an interlibrary loan borrowed via Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Randolph Caldecott: The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing, by Leonard Marcus

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

randolph_caldecott_largeRandolph Caldecott

The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing

by Leonard Marcus

Frances Foster Books (Farrar Straus Giroux), 2013. 64 pages.
Starred Review

I got to hear Leonard Marcus speak about this material at the 75th Anniversary Caldecott Preconference last June in Chicago. There and in this book, he tells why Randolph Caldecott completely changed children’s books, and why his name is a fitting title for the award for the most distinguished picture book each year.

The book is filled with art work done by Caldecott and related images such as pictures of the places he lived or contemporary art work shown for contrast. Every double-page spread has at least two images, usually more. The format is large, like a picture book, but the text is detailed, like a chapter book.

The material is varied as well, with sketches interspersed with watercolors and photographs. The story told is the story of someone who started out as a bank clerk but eventually doodled his way to a distinguished career as an artist who will never be forgotten and who made books for children all the more accessible.

leonardmarcus.com
mackids.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/Randolph_caldecott.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Sonderling Sunday – Harry Potter und die Heiligtümer des Todes

Sonderling Sunday 1

Hooray! My Harry Potter in German collection is now complete!

HP_Deathly_Hallows

My son got back tonight from a Study Abroad program in Prague, and he brought me back Harry Potter und die Heiligtümer des Todes, Harry Potter #7, the only volume I didn’t have the German version of. So today’s Sonderling Sunday, of course, will begin this book.

My son pointed out right away that the title, directly translated “Harry Potter and the Hallows of Death,” sounds better than the original English title, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He’s right.

And I love the way Harry on the cover looks totally like a German teen!

I’m amazed that the new volume, in paperback, actually is smaller and thinner than my English hardback. They used thin paper and small print, and there are no pictures at the chapter headings. My English book has 759 pages, and the German book 767, so there are still more pages in German, but just barely.

The first chapter title is “The Dark Lord Ascending” = Der Dunkle Lord erhebt sich

And here’s the first sentence:
“The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane.”
= Die beiden Männer kamen aus dem Nichts, erschienen wenige Meter voneinander entfernt auf dem schmalen, mondhellen Weg.

“wands” = Zauberstäbe (“magic-rods”)

“The best” = Hervorragende (“Excellent”)

“brambles” = Brombeersträuchern (“Blackberry shrubs”)

“hedge” = Hecke

“impressive wrought-iron gates” = imposante schmiedeeiserne Doppeltor (“imposing smith-iron double gates”)

“footsteps” = Schritte

“peacock” = Pfau

“strutting majestically along the top of the hedge”
= der majestätisch auf der Hecke entlangstolzierte

“Gravel” = Kies

“pale-faced” = fahlgesichtigen

“heartbeat” = Herzschlag

“handle” = Türklinke (“door-handle”)

“roaring fire” = prasselnden Feuer

“handsome marble mantelpiece” = hübschen marmornen Kaminsims

“the new arrivals” = die Neuankömmlinge

“gloom” = Düsternis

“snakelike” = schlangenähnlich

“a pearly glow” = ein perlmuttartiger Glanz

“nightfall” = Einbruch der Dunkelheit

“place of safety” = sicheren Aufenthaltsort

“others fidgeted” = andere rutschten unruhig auf ihren Stühlen hin und her
(“others slid restlessly in their chairs back and forth”)

“intensity” = Eindringlichkeit

“scorched” = versengt

“curved” = krümmte

“Confundus Charm” = Verwechslungszauber (“Confusion Magic”)

“wheezy giggle” = pfeifendes Kichern

“enchantments” = Zauberbannen

“squared his shoulders” = straffte die Schultern

“Curse” = Fluch

“Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement” = Leiter der Abteilung für Magische Strafverfolgung

A 23-letter word!
“Ministry departments” = Ministeriumsabteilungen

“high-ranking” = hochrangigen

“destination” = Bestimmungsort

I’ll finish tonight with this sentence:
“That Potter lives is due more to my errors than to his triumphs.”
= Dass Potter noch lebt, ist mehr meinen Irrtümern zuzuschreiben als seinen Erfolgen

I’m finishing on page 6 of the English version, Seite 14 of the German (more front matter is counted). (Interesting — the German book is 8 pages longer than the English, and that might be the difference right there.)

It’s good to be back with Sonderling Sunday! Have a hervorragende week!

Review of The Interrupted Tale, by Maryrose Wood

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Historical, Humorous, Starred Review 0

interrupted_tale_largeThe Interrupted Tale

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 4

by Maryrose Wood
read by Katherine Kellgren

Listening Library, 2013. 8 hours, 19 minutes on 7 compact discs.
Starred Review

Brava! Another installment in the incredible series about The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place. This series makes fabulous listening. I laughed and laughed during my commute, my only regret being that in my own car I had no one to share the joke with, and since I listened to it, I can’t quote hilarious bits in this review.

The plot is outrageous, but told in all seriousness. Katherine Kellgren’s proper British accent strikes exactly the right note.

In this fourth book, mysteries that have followed the Incorrigibles through the entire series are beginning to be uncovered. For the bulk of this book their governess, Penelope Lumley, is invited back to her former home, the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, just in time to learn of an insidious plot to change it into the Quinzey School for Miserable Girls.

Meanwhile, the charming Simon Harley-Dickinson, he of the spark of genius, has been silent, captured by pirates, and the cannibal book from Lord Ashton’s library gains weighty importance.

The plot is wild and unlikely – and oh, so much fun! The style reminds me of Lemony Snicket’s, only far more hopeful and uplifting. This is a series I highly recommend listening to, because you will appreciate its brilliance even more than if reading it on your own.

maryrosewood.com
booksontape.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/interrupted_tale.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Northanger Abbey, by Val McDermid

Austenalia, Contemporary, Fiction Review 0

northanger_abbey_mcdermid_largeNorthanger Abbey

by Val McDermid

Grove Press, New York, 2014. 343 pages.

Another modern Jane Austen update! Very fun! Val McDermid takes the exact story of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and writes it as Jane herself might have written it if she were alive today.

Now, with Sense and Sensibility, Joanna Trollope took an Austen novel I wasn’t terribly fond of and translated to modern times, which had it make a lot more sense. In this case, Northanger Abbey is one of my favorite Austens (or at least in the top half, after Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion), but in translating it, it actually seems a bit less believable to me.

The original Northanger Abbey made fun of gothic novels. Catherine Morland imagined Northanger Abbey as the setting for one, and fantasized a sinister mystery in the family’s history. In the modern version, Cat Morland imagines that vampire novels are real. To me, it was a much bigger stretch that Cat would believe in vampires than that she’d believe a gothic novel was real. I don’t care how much a girl likes to read paranormal romances. I don’t think anyone would start believing they are real, no matter how mysterious the family.

Other than that, it was again a good translation of all the situations to modern times. Though I have to face that I’m not crazy about the plot of Northanger Abbey other than the fun it has with gothic novels. The story of her supposed friendship with Isabelle Thorpe is a bit more painful. And while Val McDermid did give the final problem with the General a modern twist, she left in the foreshadowing of the problem from the original novel, which ended up falling rather flat.

Still, Austen fans will enjoy reading the update. It’s a bit amazing how neatly the situations fit in modern life. And bottom line, we’ve got a light-hearted romance and the story of a young adult going out in the world for the first time and making new friends – some better than others.

valmcdermid.com
groveatlantic.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/northanger_abbey.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Don’t Say a Word, Mama, by Joe Hayes

Contemporary, Folk Tales, Picture Book Review, Readalouds 0

dont_say_a_word_mama_largeDon’t Say a Word, Mamá

No Digas Nada, Mamá

by Joe Hayes
illustrated by Esau Andrade Valencia

Cinco Puntos Press, 2013. 40 pages.

Here’s a charming story told in both English and Spanish, and one that’s worth telling in either language.

Rosa and Blanca’s mother has always been proud of how good her daughters are to each other. When they grow up and each grow a garden, each wants to share her bounty with her beloved sister.

First, when their tomatoes harvest in abundance, each sister goes to Mamá and tells her plans to share her windfall with her sister.

Of course, Blanca took some of her tomatoes to her old mother too. She told her, “My poor sister Rosa has a husband and three children. There are five to feed in her house. I have only myself. I’m going to give half of my tomatoes to my sister. But it will be a surprise. Don’t say a word, Mamá”

Both sisters have the same idea, and they don’t even notice the other sneaking to their house in the dark. Mamá sees, but she’s sworn to secrecy.

In the morning, when the tomatoes have mysteriously multiplied, each sister decides to give some of the overflowing tomatoes to her mother.

Mamá now had a very big pile of tomatoes in her kitchen. She shrugged her shoulders. “Oh, well,” she said, “you can never have too many tomatoes.”

The same thing happens when the corn is harvested. But when it comes time to harvest the chiles, Mamá decides that she may not say a word, but she will have to put a stop to the silly charade her loving daughters are carrying out. Because what will she do with all those hot chiles?

This has the humor and charm of a tale worth telling, no matter which language you choose to tell it in.

cincopuntos.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/dont_say_a_word_mama.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Black and Blue Magic, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Old Favorites, Starred Review 0

black_and_blue_magic_largeBlack and Blue Magic

by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Atheneum, New York, 1975. 186 pages.
Starred Review

Well, my co-worker opened up the floodgates when he decided to order Three Investigators books via Interlibrary Loan. That got me thinking about the other books I loved in childhood but that are no longer in print.

Many other books by Zilpha Keatley Snyder are still in print, so I don’t know why Black and Blue Magic is not among them. It’s the one I checked out from the library over and over again and dearly loved.

And it was just as good as I remembered it! (A lot shorter than I remembered it, but just as good!) Harry Houdini Marco is clumsy as can be, always tripping or running into things. His mother says he’s just still growing, but all he knows is that he’s clumsy. And Harry believes that if his father were still alive, Harry would be a disappointment to him. Harry’s father was a skilled magician, and wanted Harry to be the same, which explains the name he was given. He even brought him to the Great Swami and got a prophecy that Harry’s “magic will be of a very special kind.” But Harry has tried doing magic tricks, and he’s just not coordinated enough.

But then one day Harry sees a little man who’s clumsy lose his big suitcase on the bus. Harry gets off the bus and takes it to him. The man’s a salesman, so Harry recommends his mother’s boarding house. Before the man leaves, he gives Harry a magical reward. It’s an ointment, and when Harry puts a drop on each shoulder, he sprouts wings!

Harry has to learn how to use the wings safely and unobtrusively. He’s accidentally seen by a few people, and it’s quite amusing the conclusions those people draw.

This book is wonderful because there’s magic and adventure combined with character growth and personal problems that Harry is able to solve.

It’s a delightful book about a good-hearted kid who finds out that special magic might make him a little black and blue. And it definitely stands the test of time.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/black_and_blue_magic.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!