A 4th-grader gives her 4 book recommendations for grade-schoolers.
Introduction
Two months ago, I initiated an end-of-term routine with my daughter. Over the past few weeks, we did the same for the paperwork generated over her summer holiday. Below, I reproduced, with some edits, four of the book reviews she had written during this period. If you have children in grade school, why not check these out?
The Fourteenth Goldfish
The book I would most recommend my friends to read is “The Fourteenth Goldfish“. It teaches me about science, friendship and it shows how life can change.
Firstly, the protagonist, Ellie, learns about science when her grandfather Melvin, a scientist, came to stay. Science is important because it is a skill you can use anytime, anywhere. For example, Ellie learnt that cooking involved science, and we use this skill and knowledge in everyday life three times a day. Therefore, science is an important skill in life.
Secondly, Ellie and her best friend Brianna went through a change about friendship in middle school. Brianna finds her passion, volleyball, and starts hanging out with girls in her volleyball team instead of with Ellie. Friendship is important because you can have people who trust you. So it is important that boys and girls learn to foster friendship.
Lastly, it teaches us about life changes. The story had a twist when Melvin wanted to keep the jellyfish, T Melvinus, that helped old people become young again. Ellie thought that they have to throw it away. Changes in life are good because you can try new things, have different experiences and face different challenges. It is therefore vital that we have changes in life.
In conclusion, I recommend this book most to my friends because it teaches us about important things in life. So why not go to the library sometime and give it a go? Let me know what you think!
[Mugz Chill’s note: The first of 4 book recommendations for grade-schoolers, “The Fourteenth Goldfish” is written by Jennifer Holm and published in 2016. I made sure my daughter includes the author’s name and publication year in subsequent book reviews.]
Number the Stars
“Number the Stars” is written by Lois Lowry and published in 1991. It is a story about two girls, Annemarie Johansen and Ellen Rosen. The story takes place in Denmark during World War 2. The Nazis were looking for the Jews and the Rosens were Jewish.
There are two main characters in the book. The first is Annemarie. She is “lanky”, which means ungracefully tall and thin. She lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. The second is Ellen, a stocky ten-year-old, unlike Annemarie. She also lives in Copenhagen.
A few exciting things that they went through were: (a) when Annemarie’s parents pretended that she and Ellen were sisters. They did that to protect Ellen from the Nazis; (b) when Annemarie and Ellen were stopped on the streets by soldiers who said the girls looked like hoodlums when they ran; and (c) when they visited Uncle Henrik and they put their feet in the sea for the first time in their lives.
The turn of events was when Uncle Henrik needed to bring the Rosens to Sweden. The girls were separated. Mr. Rosen dropped the handkerchief that Peter gave him, so Annemarie had to bring it to the boat. She was stopped by soldiers. She later learned that the handkerchief contained a drug that destroyed the dogs’ sense of smell. The Nazis were using the dogs to find the Jews.
The lesson I learnt from this book is to stay calm during hard times. I recommend this book to my friends because it teaches me that although there are times when we feel scared, we must be brave and face them.
The View from Saturday
“The View from Saturday” is written by E. L. Konigsberg and published in 1996. It is about four kids who participated in a competition, and their teacher Mrs Olinski, who picked the kids for her team and helped them practised. Every time the Commissioner asked a question in the competition, one of the kids will narrate how they got to know the answer. The narrator narrates during the Academic Bowl, during the play and some time afterwards.
There are five main characters. Noah Gershom, Nadia Diamondstein, Ethan Potter, Julian Singh and Mrs. Olinski. Noah is curious, knows calligraphy and can solve problems. Nadia does not like interfering with people and feels that anything about her family is important. She got to know her family’s secrets in the end. Nadia’s grandfather married Ethan’s grandmother, so she is related to Ethan. Ethan does not like to ride the bus. He feels there is nothing wrong with his brother, while other people think he will become famous. Julian is cheerful and wears short pants, and does not mind others trying to trip him. Mrs Olinski is an old friend of Ethan’s grandmother and is paralyzed below the waist. All go to the same school and live in Epiphany, New York.
A few exciting things they went through were: (a) The tea party: Before the party, Julian prepared invitations that told the other kids where to go at what time. He slipped these into the pockets or books of Ethan, Noah and Nadia. The kids each brought a present. Noah brought a calligraphy kit, Nadia brought her dog Ginger’s puppy, and Alice and Ethan brought a puzzle; (b) Winning the competition: the kids, who are in 6th grade, beat kids from 7th and 8th grades from other schools in the competition.
I like “The View from Saturday” better than “Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and me, Elizabeth” by the same author because it is funnier and has more details. It helps me learn more through the questions the kids answered, which were mostly about history. An example is: Name the famous fathers of – Elizabeth I, Esau and Jacob, Alexander the Great, and America.
I recommend this book to my friends because it teaches us about teamwork. In the story, the kids practiced together every weekday, so they won.
The Tale of Desperaux
“The Tale of Desperaux” is written by Kate DiCamillo and published in 2003. It is about a mouse Desperaux who fell in love with a princess named Pea. There is also a rat Roscuro, who wanted revenge, and a girl called Miggery Sow, who helped Roscuro with his revenge. The first chapter is about Desperaux, the second chapter is about Roscuro, the third is about Miggery and the fourth about Desperaux saving the princess.
Desperaux is kind-hearted and behaves in a way that the mouse council does not like, such as sitting at the foot of the king. Pea is sharp-eyed, kind and does not like rats. Roscuro behaves in an un-rat-like way and thought that happiness was the meaning of life until a misfortune fell on him. So he wanted to make the princess suffer. Miggery helped Roscuro with his revenge because she wanted to be a princess. All of them live in the King’s castle.
A few exciting things they went through together were: (1) when Desperaux fell in love with the princess when they first met. He met her by following the sound of the music that the King was playing; (2) when Desperaux saved the princess, The head rat, Boticelli, told him where to go because he thought that when Desperaux saw the princesses, he would die of happiness.
I would recommend the book to my friends because it teaches you about friendship. The lesson I learnt from this story is to treat other how you want to be treated. Roscuro learnt this lesson fom Pea and Desperaux. He learnt it when Desperaux went to save the princess. Desperaux tried to kill Roscuro but the princess stopped him. Roscuro felt relieved and learnt that if he wanted others to suffer, he himself will suffer.
“The Tale of Desperaux” also helps me learn how to write in different points of views. Although I liked the book, I prefer other adventure books like the 39 Clues because they have more humour and facts about history.
Conclusion
My daughter’s 4 book recommendations for grade-schoolers provide a wide spectrum of story background. Two of these are contemporary (The View from Saturday, and The Fourteenth Goldfish), one is historical (Number the Stars) and another is a fairy tale. The challenges faced by the characters ranged from relatively minor growing pains (e.g. The view from Saturday) to life and death (Number the Stars). Yet all teach the importance of friendships. Do leave a comment on your views of these, or of your other recommendations, or that of your own child!
