By Kendal Rautzhan
There are a lot of things vying for a child’s attention, and the electronic age that we’re mired down in competes with reading as a form of entertainment. The most certain way to keep reading in the forefront is to establish a pattern of reading aloud every day to the child in your life. Of equal importance is to read books that will grab the child’s attention and hold it throughout every page of the story, such as those books reviewed below.
Turn off the TV, the music, the computer, the video games and read aloud to a child. A sensational book makes far better entertainment than electronic stuff and what a child gains from being read to outweighs any other form of amusement.
Books to borrow
The following book is available at many public libraries.
“Thunder from the Sea” by Joan Hiatt Harlow, McElderry Books, 256 pages
Read aloud: age 8 and older.
Read yourself: age 8 – 9 and older.
In 1929, thirteen-year-old Tom Campbell had lived the last ten years of his life at an orphanage in Newfoundland. When fisherman Enoch Murray and his wife, Fiona, ask the orphanage for a boy to come live with them on Back o’ the Moon Island and work with Enoch, the orphanage sends Tom.
Tom has always wanted a family and a dog, and Enoch and Fiona are very kind and good to Tom. Tom thinks maybe he has found the family he has longed for. Adding to his good fortune, Tom rescues a Newfoundland dog from the sea, names him Thunder, and the two become the best of friends. But when Fiona becomes pregnant and word comes that Thunder’s owner has been found, Tom is crestfallen. Will the Murray’s still want Tom once their baby is born, and will Thunder be taken away from him as well?
Beautifully written, “Thunder from the Sea” strongly echoes what it means to be a family and what it is to love and be loved in return.
Librarian’s choice
Library: McClure Community Library, Library Lane, McClure
Branch Librarian: Joe Hall
Choices this week: “Dream Snow” by Eric Carle; “The Sands of Time” by Michael Hoeye; “The Ink Drinker” by Eric Sanvoisin
Books to buy
The following book is available at favorite bookstores.
“Dodsworth in London” written and illustrated by Tim Egan, Houghton Mifflin, 2009, 48 pages, $15.00 hardcover
Read aloud: age 4 – 5 and older.
Read yourself: age 7 – 8.
Dodsworth and his friend, the duck, have just arrived in London and are eager to see the sights. First the two decide to get something to eat before touring the city and go to a pub. Before they could even order a morsel of food, the duck tries to play darts, creates a huge mess, and the two are asked to leave.
Seeing a double-decker bus, Dodsworth decides this would be their best bet to see the city and keep the duck out of trouble. But the duck boards the bus without Dodsworth knowing it, leaving Dodsworth behind on the sidewalk. At that very moment, Dodsworth mistakes another duck for his friend, even though this duck is wearing a different hat and has a British accent. When it becomes clear to Dodsworth that he has lost his friend, Dodsworth panics. How will he ever find the duck in all of London?
A clever and very amusing story, “Dodsworth in London” is certain to appeal to children as a read-aloud book and for the newly independent reader.
-- Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan, of Lewisburg, writes and lectures on children’s literature. She can be reached via e-mail: kendal@sunlink.net.
