The books we read this week came from the following categories:
Picture book historical fiction
Historical fiction books for middle or high school
As usual, it was super hard just to pick two to talk about, but these are my choices: The Greatest Skating Race by Louise Borden and The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.
Borden, L. (2004). The Greatest Skating Race. New York, NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books.
This is a really fun book! It's set in the Netherlands during WWII and tells the story of a ten-year old boy named Piet who loves to skate. His family owns a shop that makes ice skates, so he has grown up around skates and skating. He is fascinated by skaters who have completed a race called the Elfstedentocht that takes them to towns all around the country. Piet is called upon to escort the children of some family friends to Belgium to keep them safe during the war. His route is different from the Elfstedentocht, but it's his personal "greatest skating race" since they follow canals across borders and pass numerous German guards along the way. Borden cleverly builds Dutch words and definitions into the story so that readers are learning while they are being entertained.
Picture books are great for readers of all ages, and this one is no exception. I would definitely recommend it for an elementary school library, but would love to see it in middle school/high school/ and public libraries as well since it's such a great teaching tool.
Following are reviews from Kirkus and School Library Journal:
THE GREATEST SKATING RACE (reviewed on September 15, 2004)
One winter day in 1941, in a German-occupied Dutch town called Sluis, ten-year-old Piet Janssen’s ice-skating skills are put to a dangerous test. It’s WWII, and Piet’s schoolmate Johanna Winkelman’s father has been arrested for espionage. Since his friend and her brother are no longer safe at home, Piet must help them escape to their aunt’s house in Brugge, skating over icy canals and outsmarting German soldiers until the three cross the Belgian border. The story of this perilous, bitterly cold flight—a race against time—is told in Piet’s earnest first-person voice and formatted like poetry, with frequent, often inexplicable line breaks. Themes of bravery, strength, and tradition echo throughout—like the “Swisssshh, swissshhh” of the children’s skates. Daly’s lovely illustrations, complete with rosy-cheeked innocents and autumnal tones, effectively evoke a sense of time and place in this slow-moving (but nonetheless moving) tale of a child’s wartime heroism. (information about the Elfstedentocht, author’s note on the history of skating, map) (Picture book. 8-11)
Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 2004
ISBN: 0-689-84502-2
Page count: 48pp
Publisher: McElderry
BORDEN, Louise. The Greatest Skating Race: A World War II Story from the Netherlands. illus. by Niki Daly. S & S. RTE $18.95. ISBN 978-0-689-84502-4.Gr 2-6–A ten-year-old boy's participation in the famous 200-kilometer one-day Elfstedentocht event (Eleven Towns Race) allows him to help two children escape to Belgium by ice-skating past German soldiers and other enemies. Daly's illustrations lend simple charm and comfort to this story that reveals the bravery and heroism of people that had everything to lose.
Kelly, J. (2009). The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. New York, NY: Henry Holt.
I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but I really LOVE this book! My daughter's name is Virinia so I have a soft spot for any character that shares her name and Ms. Calpurpnia Virginia Tate (Callie Vee) is a prime example. Callie is the middle child of seven kids - three older brothers and three younger brothers. They live in south Texas; the year is 1899. Callie is twelve and is facing a long, hot summer! She develops a close relationship with her grandfather, strengthened when he trusts her with his leather-bound copy of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species. Much to her mother's dismay, Callie is more interested in being a scientist than she is in being a debutante or learning to make even stitches on her sampler. Filled with discoveries of all kinds (about science, about friends, about family, about herself), this is a charming story of a young girl finding her place in the world.
This would be a great addition to any middle school library! High school age would probably enjoy it as well since there is a touch of romance surrounding Callie's older brothers. Would be great for getting girls interested in science (or deepening their interest) and would hold the boys' attention too since there are lots of bugs, bats, and whiskey stories woven together!
Following are reviews from Kirkus and Through the Looking Glass:
THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE (reviewed on April 1, 2009)
“Mother was awakening to the sorry facts: My biscuits were like stones, my samplers askew, my seams like rickrack.” The year is 1899, the place Texas and the problem is 11-year-old Calpurnia Virginia Tate, who is supposed to want to cook, sew and attract future beaux, not play in the dirt, examine insects and, perhaps most suspect of all, read Darwin’s controversial The Origin of Species, the source of the novel’s chapter introductions. A natural-born scientist, she alone among her six brothers has discovered the rare specimen under her own roof—a funny-smelling, rather antisocial grandfather who preoccupies himself with classifying flora and fauna...when he’s not fermenting pecans for whiskey. Their budding friendship is thoughtfully and engagingly portrayed, as is the unfolding of the natural world’s wonders under Calpurnia’s ever-inquisitive gaze. Calpurnia is not a boilerplate folksy Southern heroine who spouts wise-beyond-her-years maxims that seem destined for needlepoint—her character is authentically childlike and complex, her struggles believable. Readers will finish this witty, deftly crafted debut novel rooting for “Callie Vee” and wishing they knew what kind of adult she would become. (Historical fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: May 1st, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8841-0
Page count: 352pp
Publisher: Henry Holt
Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Jacqueline Kelly
Fiction
For ages 12 and up
Henry Holt and Co., 1992 ISBN: 978-0805088410
Calpurnia Tate lives in a big house with her father, mother, grandfather, and her six brothers. It is summertime in 1899 and to say that it is hot is an understatement. It is so hot in fact that everyone is too uncomfortable and tired to keep a close eye on what Callie is doing. Being a clever girl, Callie takes full advantage of this situation, and she spends a good deal of her time floating in the river. She also decides that she is going to be a naturalist. After all, why not?Fiction
For ages 12 and up
Henry Holt and Co., 1992 ISBN: 978-0805088410
And so, Callie starts writing down her observations in a notebook. She wonders why dogs have eyebrows and why the cardinals are behaving so strangely. Then Callie notices that there are two kinds of grasshoppers around. Usually there are only small green ones, but this summer there are large yellow ones. No one seems to know where these newcomers came from, and Callie finally decides that she has no choice, she is going to have to ask her frightening grandfather.
Grandfather tells Callie to "figure it out," which is what, in time, Callie does. After much thought she decides that the yellow grasshoppers are a different version of the green ones. They are basically the same animal! Full of excitement, Callie tells her grandfather what she has learned, and he discovers that he has a granddaughter who loves to learn, to question, and to observe.
Thus begins a wonderful summer for Callie. She and her grandfather become good friends, the old man helping his granddaughter to learn the scientific method. He lets her borrow his books – including the controversial Origin of Species – and he encourages Callie to use her mind in new ways. The problem is that Callie lives in a time when people do not believe in educating girls. Will Callie ever be able to pursue her interest in science, or will she be forced to spend her time learning "cookery" and how to tat lace?
In this wonderful title, Jacqueline Kelly tells a story that is funny, thought provoking, and thoroughly addictive. Callie's evolving relationship with her grandfather is fascinating to observe, and the various misadventures that her family members experience are enormously entertaining. One brother falls in love, while another grows too fond of the Thanksgiving dinner turkeys.
Set in a time of great change, this story combines humor, beautiful writing, and unforgettable characters, to give readers a book that they will remember long after the last page is read.
These are both great books for getting kids interested in history. They bring the past to life in a story format, so they're very "user friendly". The Greatest Skating Race could be used in conjunction with other winter sports books, other stories about WWI, other stories about the Netherlands, or other stories about skating (what little girl is not fascinated with ice skating?) - would be a great tie in when the winter Olympics were happening.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate would work well as supplemental reading in a science class. Charles Darwin (or the delightful Charles and Emma) would be easy bio tie-ins, as would stories about female scientists since that's what Calpurnia wants to be. Examples of scientific drawings, National Geographic magazine/pictures, state-fair samplers, or bug collections are some other examples of things from the book that would be of interest to kids in a library or classroom lesson.
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