A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Books for Upper Elementary

Medal of Honor: Jack Montgomery

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Studying the lives of real-life heroes is important for children.  It gives them someone real to look up to.  Role models show character qualities in real situations to help children learn how to emulate those qualities in their own lives.  Michael P. Spradlin introduces us to real-life hero Meal of Honor: Jack Montgomery who fought in World War II at Anzio. 

Medal of honor: Jack Montgomery

From the cover:

Jack C. Montgomery was a Cherokee from Oklahoma, and a first lieutenant with the 45th Infantry Division Thunderbirds. On February 22, 1944, near Padiglione, Italy, Montgomery’s rifle platoon was under fire by three echelons of enemy forces when he single-handedly attacked all three positions, neutralizing the German machine-gunners and taking numerous prisoners in the process. Montgomery’s actions demoralized the enemy and saved the lives of many American soldiers.

The Medal of Honor series profiles the courage and accomplishments of recipients of the highest and most prestigious personal military decoration, awarded to recognize U.S. military service members who have distinguished themselves through extraordinary acts of valor.

Medal of honor: Jack Montgomery

What You Get:

A well-written story, that speaks not only to the actual action taken, but also to the life of the man leading up to that moment.   So it’s not just a story of Mr. Montgomery being a hero, but how his life made him a hero. 

Medal of honor: Jack Montgomery

Interspersed between the story is material about the US Army, or it’s ordinances, or people involved during the battle.  For instance, readers learn about Mussolini, why the Cherokee symbol changes from a swastika to a thunderbird, the use of deception in battle and more. 

Medal of honor: Jack Montgomery

Numerous black and white images dot the pages, showing us scenes from history that the hero might have seen, or relevant to the historical period.  Some of the images: Hitler reviewing his troops, soldiers manning a machine gun, Montgomery receiving his medal and many more. 

My Thoughts

I’ve struggled reading this book.  Part of it stemmed from I think a missing page.  I reading and then the story just stopped mid-sentence and then picked up later.    The other part was, the story itself kept being interrupted, so I couldn’t just read it from start to finish. 

Was the story itself good?  Yes!  Resoundingly so.  I would happily read more real-life stories like this.  It was good to read.  Good to know how men in the army have to take risks, and simply just do their job to the best of their abilities. 

Medal of honor: Jack Montgomery

Jack Montgomery: World War II – Gallantry at Anzio
Michael P. Spradlin
Series: Medal of Honor
Farrar Straus Giroux
112 pages, paperback, 8-12 years
Military, Hero, World War 2, United States Army
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.

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The Superpower Field Guide: Beavers

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OH!  What a fun book to review.  Seriously, just a hoot.  Learning about Beavers and seeing all the remarkable things about them.  Just a delightful read.  The book: The Superpower Field Guide: Beavers.

From the Cover

The first book in a new series, Beavers is a humorous, informative, and highly illustrated field guide written for middle-schoolers.  Take a look at an unsuspecting animal hero The Beaver.

What you Get

Humour written around highly informative text.  Elmer the beaver has 10 superpowers which we are given in lots of detail.   Some of his powers are his unstoppable fur, his ever-toiling tail, and his winter survival skills.

Each page shows colour in the illustrations.  I was delighted to see the colours suit a book about beavers.   We don’t find pinks and yellows, but rather the blues, greens and browns that would naturally pervade a beavers habitat. 

Every so often you’ll come across a quiz, making sure the reader is paying attention for after all, the goal is to learn about an amazing animal.  So pay attention and rock those quizzes!  🙂   They aren’t hard, but they do cover the super power at hand.

My Thoughts

When I first clapped my eyes on Beavers I thought WOOHOO!   A book about a quintessential Canadian animal!   It’s even on our nickel!  You know what I discovered?  Beavers aren’t just an animal for Canada!  (yeah, I kinda knew that but now I know the nitty-gritty details).  🙂 

If you have a love of Canada, an interest in beavers, or perhaps you are studying mammals… check out Beavers. Learn their superpowers and be amazed, because beavers are really interesting critters!

Beavers
Rachel Poliquin
Nicolas John Frith (illustrator)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Series: The Superpower Field Guide
96 Pages, hardcover, 9 years +
Biology, Science, Canada, Beavers, North America
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.
Click image for Amazon Link
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Lost Boy’s Gift

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The Lost Boy’s Gift by Kimberly Willis Holt offers hope to youngsters  struggling to find their place when family situations change.   Will Daniel find what he needs to meet the challenges before him?

From the Cover

Nine-year-old Daniel must move across the country with his mom after his parents’ divorce. He’s leaving behind his whole life―everything―and he’s taking a suitcase of anger with him. But Daniel is in for a surprise when he settles into While-a-Way Lane and meets his new neighbours.  These neighbours are Lemonade Girl, the hopscotching mailman, the tiny creatures, and especially Tilda Butter. Tilda knows how to look and listen closely, and it’s that gift that helps Daniel find his way in that curious placed called While-a-Way Lane.

What you Get

Daniel is an interesting young man, such a mix up in emotions and thoughts as you would expect of a boy his age.  Topping off the mix is a mom working long hours and an absentee Dad.    You can feel the angst produced in this lad. 

But While-a-Way Lane…. it’s got a call upon this young lad, what might he learn?   What treasures await?  Well that.. I can’t tell you.  🙂

I can tell that you the Daniel is a well-developed character as is Tilda Butter.  Humour appears in the form of other characters, not quite as well developed, but adding unique elements to the story line.

Moderate length chapters move the story forward at good speed, some surprises await, and situations arise that should delight young readers. 

My Thoughts

Recommend? It’s hard to say as my thoughts are mixed. I know that my lad wouldn’t have been interested, but my lad is from a solid two-parent home and is very sure of himself. For children that are struggling to see their good when their family situations run amuck, The Lost Boy’s Gift, might be just the book they need to read.

It’s a book that offers hope to youngsters, helping them to see how to make connections, and how to see their own unique abilities.

The Lost Boy’s Gift
Kimberley Willis Holt
Christy Ottaviano Books
Trade Paperback, 224 pages, 8-11 years
Chapter book, Fiction,
Separation, Intergenerational Friendship, Divorce,
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.

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Fly Girls by Keith O’Brien

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Five brave women, defying the odds, take to the skies. Fly Girls by Keith O’Brien tells the story of five women in the aftermath of WW1 who took to the skies. Learn the stories of Amelia Earhart, Ruth Elder, Florence Klingensmith, Ruth Nichols and Louise Thaden. This is my review.

From the Cover

Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. While male pilots were lauded as heroes, the few women who dared to fly were more often ridiculed-until a cadre of women pilots banded together to break through the entrenched prejudice.

Fly Girls by Keith O’Brien weaves together the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a high school dropout; Ruth Elder, a divorcee; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, who chafed at her Wall Street family’s expectations; and Louise Thaden, who got her start selling coal in Wichita. Together, they fought for the chance to fly and race airplanes -and in 1936, one of them would triumph, beating the men in the toughest air race of them all.

My Thoughts

Oh, I enjoyed reading this book.  BUT I struggled with it.  I thought it was going to be a book about five women aviators who fought to be allowed to race with men in airplane races. It wasn’t.

Instead, it spoke of the race to cross the ocean.  Focusing, predominately on the failures, of men as well as women.  A big yahoo to Charles Lindbergh, but the first four women were all failures.

I found it interesting that the story of Amelia Earhart didn’t include her solo flights, or her disappearance…but rather included a rather unflattering story.  I was impressed that she wanted female pilots to be organized and worked toward that end.  It was rather odd though, the story they focused on. They didn’t even mention her solo flight across the ocean.  Just left me wondering why?

This 95-page book contains almost 30 pages of footnotes and source material links to help you learn even more about these remarkable women.

I think this book would be an excellent introduction to female aviators but not an ending book.  This book whetted my appetite to learn more about these five women, but wasn’t satisfying in the end.  I suspect that discerning upper elementary youth would have the same reaction.

Click on image for Amazon Link.
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101 Small Ways to Change the World

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Kids today want to be involved in the world around them, they want to know that they can make a difference. Often times though, they don’t know just what they can do.   It’s hard to come up with ideas when you don’t know where to start.  Enter in 101 Small Ways to Change the World.    Just the help a child, teenager or adult needs, to stoke the fires of imagination to change the world. 

From the Cover:

It’s hard to believe that you could change the world, but it’s true! We’ll show you loads of awesome ways to help out family, friends, yourself and the planet – and show how you’re never too young to make a big difference. Includes random acts of kindness, craft projects, energy-saving ideas, and much more.

101 Small Ways to Change the World is a practical, fun and creative book to inspire you at home, school and in your local community and beyond! Remember, all big ideas start with just one person who decides to do things differently. You could be that person.

What You Get

The hardcover tome starts with the encouragement to think big, but to do the small.   For if you want to plant a forest, you need to start with one tree.  One small act combined with another small act changes the world.

This is followed by three sections:

  • 1. Caring for Others
  • 2. Caring for the Planet
  • 3. Caring for Yourself

Section one on Caring for others covers topics such as spreading kindness at school, cheering up a friend, doing your chores, helping wildlife thrive, donating things to charity, being a volunteer and starting a neighbourhood library.

The next section is Caring for the Planet which included ideas such as turning off the lights, walk instead of drive, picking up litter, recreating out of old, make a game, using less plastic, buying local, planting a tree, taking a short shower, and planting a garden. 

Caring for yourself encourages the reader to stand up for yourself, be positive, eat healthy, find a hobby, be involved with your family, challenge yourself, and to share your abilities.

My Thoughts

There is so much in this book that I like.  Practical ideas for kids, teens and adults to engage with, to make small changes in the world and their communities.  A great book for that, and the learning how to care for yourself too!  Excellent stuff.

I did struggle with the “don’t eat meat” mantra.  It wasn’t balanced with the good that animals do, only the negatives were addressed.  This section could easily have addressed “try alternative proteins like crickets etc”. 

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The Secrets of Tutankhamun

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King Tut, boy king of Ancient Egypt.  Who was he?   Where was he buried?  Why did it take so long to discover his tomb?  What secrets did it hide and what did we learn from it?   These questions and more, answered in The Secrets of Tutankhamun by Patricia Cleveland-Peck. 

From the Cover

When a series of family deaths led to the nine-year-old Tutankhamun’s unlikely ascension to the throne of Egypt, the young Pharoah inherited a land in the midst of conflict and change.   His rule was short and tumultuous, and at around age nineteen, Tut died.    Three thousand years later, Howard Carter, a British archaeologist …. made a discovery that shocked the world. …. Featuring the story of Tut’s life, the archaeological advances made through the discovery of his tomb, and guides to hieroglyphics and the mummification process. …..

What you Get

The life of Tutankhamun is brought to us in this oversized paperback tome.  A meaty book filled with his life and the life of the men searching for answers, and then discovering them!   

Divided into three parts, this 64 page book talks about how Tut lived and died, the discovery by Howard Carter and how the mysteries were solved around the discoveries made at his burial site. 

Now, what I received was the advanced readers’ copy, so most of the book I received was done in grayscale images.   There were numerous images scattered throughout the entire book that really brought the well-written text to life.

A few pages were included so we could see what the final book will look like. All seven pages of colour were filled with shades of blacks, blues, yellows and whites.  

Highly informative history spills out of the pages.  There is so much to be learned as well as life lessons.  For instance, the persistence of Howard Carter in his quest to find the tomb.  Questions to be asked at the time of discovery that weren’t answered until much later.  The excitement the discovery brought.  The uniqueness of his tomb, and all the questions it raised, along with the discovery of two infant tombs.  Just a treasure trove of information.

My Thoughts:

People have long been fascinated with Tutankhamun and this book delves deep into the mystery of who he was and how he lived.  There is much speculation of course, based on archaeological finds.  Overall though, it’s a great look into the lives of two men….one young, living with health problems and dying young.  The other older, determined to solve a mystery, persisting even when it seemed he’d never do it.

I found it a well-written book that gave a great amount of information, I learned so much.  Meaty picture books are just the best, you know?

I thoroughly enjoyed all the add-ons… learning the hieroglyphic alphabet, how they read the paintings in the tomb, the mummification process and more.  It would be a great addition to studies on Ancient Egypt. 

Links to other books on Egypt to help round out your studies.

Egyptomania. 

Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt. 

 

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Crafty Ideas from Junk

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crafty ideas from junk

Crafty Ideas from Junk is a book I pulled from my art shelves.   It’s not a large book by any means but has a number of fun crafts in it to delight your budding artist.   (or simply a child looking for some way to occupy their time) Games, robots, necklaces and plant holders are just a few of the activities waiting to be discovered.

crafty ideas from junk

Each craft/activity comes with a needed supplies list.  Some are more loose in their requirements than others, as well as instructions following. I found that some of the directions left me a bit confused as to what I was to do first or next or just how to accomplish the task at hand, but that gives the opportunity to do some problem solving, which is a great part of doing crafts isn’t it?  To have to figure some of it on your own.   Helps make the craft or game more your own.

crafty ideas from junk

One of the things I would like to do with a Co-op class sometime is to have a “make games for your siblings class”.  I look at the instructions above and think… this would be a great game to older kids to make for their siblings.   What do you think?

crafty ideas from junk

More than 25 crafts, games and activities fill the pages of this softcover tomb by Myrna Daitz.   Children will find themselves encouraged in their efforts to keep themselves busy.   I like this little book and it will rejoin the others on my shelf. Perhaps in the spring I’ll actually host a “Make a gift for your Siblings class”.  Would be fun don’t you think?

crafty ideas from junk
Crafty Ideas from Junk
Myrna Daitz
Exley Publications Ltd
48 pages, softcover,
art book, elementary, craft, art