Clyde Robert BullaRezensionen

A new neighborhood. A new school. An unhappy birthday. Things aren't looking great for Gregory. But when he discovers an abandoned chalk factory behind his house, something magical happens: a beautiful garden and a quiet friendship spring up within its walls.

Who ever heard of a shoeshine girl?

The last thing Sarah Ida wants to do is spend the summer with her Aunt Claudia. But when her parents send her away because of problems at home, that is exactly what she has to do. With no allowance and no fun to be had, Sarah Ida decides to look for a job. But who will hire a ten year old? Al, the shoeshine man, will!

Sarah loves her job, even if it means getting knee-deep in shoe polish everyday. Then something terrible happens and it looks like the shoeshine stand will have to close forever. If Sarah Ida wants to keep it open, she'll have to learn a few lessons about growing up along the way...

In the days of King Arthur there stood a mighty oak tree within the walls of a castle. Peace reigned in the castle until the fearsome night when Lionel, long-lost brother of Lord Weldon, returned to cause trouble and unhappiness.

It was then that Shan, the son of Lord Weldon, took on the duties of a knight and hid the sword in the hollow of the giant oak. The days that followed were filled with adventures that tried the courage of the young boy.

Shan was surprised by bearded robbers in the woods. He met noble knights in plumed helmets, and eventually he even made a trip to high-towered Camelot. His story is filled with the pageantry and color of England in King Arthur's time. It creates a vivid picture of the Knights of the Round Table and the wisdom of King Arthur himself.

Bland, sanitized historical dramatization where the protagonist has to speak in stereotypical broken English because he's Native American, this despite years living amongst English speakers and being portrayed as an interpreter.

Whenever I hear people complain about history being erased nowadays, I always think of whitewashed history like this that has prevailed for centuries. Squanto is basically erased even in a book that's ostensibly about him, reducing him to his value to the white guys around him or making his fate dependent on the good graces of a series of white saviors.

No surprise, I liked this very much. The illustrations are lovely with saturated colors. What child has not wished for a seemingly impossible thing? A good story about complex choices and the wide space of gray between black and white.

Reading Level:6-9
Awards:None

We used this today, on Arbor Day and it was very nice to read while we passed around The Golden Nature Guide to Trees and DK Eyewitness Tree. Beautiful illustrations.

Another odd children's book that has been in my family, unread, for decades. Here's its moment to shine. (Ha! I kill me!)

A girl gets sent off to her aunt when her parents suspect she might be sliding into the ways of juvenile delinquency. And the girl does cop an attitude and strong-arms some money out of a neighbor girl.

But as the title reveals, she gets a job to earn her own money. And, fellow capitalists, ain't nothing like hard, honest labor to straighten a punk out and set them on the right path of taking responsibility for their actions and helping others.

That old trope aside, I still liked the book overall, though I did find it surprising and unsettling when the protagonist is revealed to be a ten-year-old snot and child laborer as opposed to the teenager I assumed she was.

This is a book I believe I have owned since a small child but have never bothered to read for nearly fifty years.

A simple bit of children's literature fluff about a skeptical professor taking his family to the country to prove a farm manor is not haunted. Some mildly mysterious hijinks ensue, but all turns out well in the end.

I'm amused by the major role the wives play in causing everything to happen the way they want it to happen while barely getting to appear in the story at all. The husbands get to sit around talking all the time but are shown to really accomplish nothing. I'm convinced the women had the whole mystery worked out in the first chapter with a couple of unstated glances and nods.

Less a story and more a string of things that happen to a Navajo boy. At one point he agrees to live with and work for a cousin of his father. The new family is full of jerks who push the boy to his breaking point.

The narration is so spare and matter of fact it was hard to get close to the characters or get excited by any of the developments.

Knowing that the abusive residential school system was forcing assimilation on Navajo children at the time the book was written in the 1950s, I was uneasy reading a story by what seems to be a white author about a Navajo boy considering whether or not he even wants to go to school, as if it will even be his choice:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/19/us/us-canada-indigenous-boarding-residential-....

good - Katrina

good - Katrina

Engaging but very intense for sensitive children. Repeated parental loss and danger.

Meh. It's pretty amazing that the main character and his sister are compassionate and caring as it seems that all of the adults in their world are superficial, callous, or mean (except, perhaps, the school teacher).. I am a fan of the illustrations, however, so - three stars.

A little black kitten with a white heart on his forehead is abandoned in the forest in this original fairy-tale from Clyde Robert Bulla, eventually finding his way to the city, where he is adopted by Tell, a talented painter who had given up on his art in despair. Inspired by his new feline companion, Tell takes to painting again, and creates a beautiful room dedicated to his Valentine Cat. But when the cat is stolen by the devious chimney-sweep Ketch, and made to climb down sooty chimneys, it seems that neither will be happy again. Fortunately, the cat finds its way to Princess Florinda, and in turn leads her to Tell, changing both of their fortunes forever...

A delightful story from Bulla is paired with lovely vintage illustrations from Leonard Weisgard in The Valentine Cat, a simple six-part chapter-book first published in 1959. Whether the beginning chapter-book reader enjoys stories in which homeless animals find a family and home, or loves fairy-tales featuring princesses, this book is sure to please! The only other Bulla title I have read, The Wish at the Top, was also a fairy-tale of sorts, and both stories are enough to convince me that I should seek out more from this author. Recommended to children who are just getting going with longer fiction, and who enjoy animal stories and/or fairy-tales.

Allen's sister and brothers, Jenny, Mike, and Howard love to run, and they run so fast that, no matter how hard he tries, poor Allen cannot keep up. But finally, when Allen is too tired to run any more, they all discover something wonderful -- thanks for their littlest brother.

This book tells the story of Joseph. He is the favorite of his father, and his brothers are jealous of him. They become even more angry with Joseph when their father makes him a coat of many colors, and Joseph has a dream that his family is going to bow down to him. The brothers throw him into a ditch, but then a group of Egyptians pass by and they decide to sell him instead. After Joseph is accused of something he didn't do, he is thrown in jail. He is still able to get by because of his ability to interpret dreams. He comes a leader, and his family come to his area one day because there is a famine at home, and they need food. They bow down to Joseph, not recognizing him, and Joseph frames one brother making it look like he stole something. However he can't stay mad at his brothers and he forgives them. He allows his family to stay in Egypt with him, so they can share in the blessings God has given him. This would be a good story to read to children, so they can become familiar with the Bible and the biblical characters that may be alluded to in literature later on. I enjoyed that the book took a story from the Bible and made it feel like any picture book a child may want to read.

This was a strange little book about new neighbors in a rural area. The characters are barely two dimensional, and there is no plot, just vignettes. I was disappointed that potential was squandered.

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Jan was the son of a blacksmith, and lived in the shadow of his city's great church. His best friend Viktorin, who liked to tell tall tales, one day shared the story of the great golden ball at the top of the church's steeple, said to grant wishes to anyone who could climb up and rub it. When Jan discovered that his mother was deeply unhappy at the fact that she was unable to cross the mountains to see her parents, due to the outlaw Laszlo and his band, he decided to make the dangerous climb in order to wish for her heart's desire. Succeeding in his aim, he found it difficult to come down again, and became stuck. No one in the city could think of a way to rescue him, until a strange man showed up and saved the day, leading to an very unexpected happy ending in which Jan and his mother's wish was granted after all...

The Wish at the Top is the first book I have read from prolific children's author Clyde Robert Bulla, but I certainly hope it will not be my last! I initially sought it out because it was illustrated by Chris Conover, whose artwork I find very appealing, and whose books I have lately been exploring. As it happens, the illustrations here are in a different, more painterly style than Conover usually employs, and are apparently inspired by the work of the early Flemish painters she admires. However that may be, they were lovely, and were well-suited to the story, which appears to be set in a medieval or early modern central European city. I suspect that the setting is meant to be Hungarian, given the name of the outlaw, but it is never specified. The story itself is engaging, and although short, fully involves the reader in Jan's dangerous task. This was text-heavy for a picture-book - more of an illustrated short story, really - but I would have enjoyed having even more, perhaps even a short novella. Recommended to older picture-book and beginning chapter-book readers who enjoy (ostensibly) historical fiction, and tales of daring children.

jB

Ex libris Rebecca Schaffner

A professor and his family are asked to temporarily vacate their rooms in Boston in favor of a residence in a small country town. The reason behind this is that the country home's owner wants to prove to his wife that there is no ghost on the property, and the professor has a reputation of scaring away ghosts. While staying at the farm over the course of a summer, the professor's two children encounter interesting people who inhabit the countryside and find some unexplained happenings.

I recall this book from childhood, although I was a bit murky on the details. This book is my kind of horror, in that it's really more a mystery with a touch of eerie elements. Reading it again as an adult, the writing style is rather bland; however, the simple, declarative sentences, short chapters, and occasional black-and-white illustrations should make this book a good bridge between early readers and chapter books.

On June 2, 1609, the Sea Adventure plus eight other ships sailed from Plymouth, England bound for the colony Virginia. These ships were bringing relief to the settlers of Jamestown as this young colony was at war with the natives and facing starvation. A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla is a children’s tale based on this episode. During the crossing a massive storm struck and drove the Sea Adventure aground off the shore of Bermuda. The settlers spent nine months on Bermuda and managed to built two smaller ships that they sailed safely to Jamestown. They luckily brought a lot of food with them from Bermuda and these supplies helped to keep Jamestown going until more ships arrived from London.

A Lion to Guard Us is aimed at children that are 8 to 12 years and because of this there really isn’t a lot of detail added to the story or character development. Amanda is a thirteen year old girl who after the death of her mother, is trying to get herself and her younger sister and brother to Jamestown to find their father. They find a berth on the Sea Adventure. The historical details are slight with most of the author’s attention being on the story of these children dealing with all that is placed in their way. Written in a straight forward, simple style for middle school age children, I think perhaps this story might be too simple to appeal to today’s children. It is interesting to note that the story of the Sea Adventure caught the attention of William Shakespeare and he went on to base his play The Tempest on this lost ship.