Language Arts

A Boy and His Pony

Book cover: 'Billy and Blaze: A Boy and His Pony'
Author(s): 
C.W. Anderson
Number of pages: 
56 pages
Copyright: 
1936
Publisher: 
Aladdin Paperbacks
Binding: 
Softcover
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 
This book is about a boy and his horse. The boy and his horse like to go riding together. He got his horse for his birthday. And later on he saw a dog in the woods and brought it home. My four year old brother likes the story and so do I. I am six years old and I can read it. The other book that we have in the series is called "Blaze and the Indian Cave".

Additional notes: 
Reviewer age six
Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
1998-99

Blaze and the Lost Quarry

Book cover: 'Blaze and the Lost Quarry'
Author(s): 
C.W. Anderson
Number of pages: 
48 pages
Copyright: 
1991
Publisher: 
Aladdin Paperbacks
Binding: 
Softcover
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 
Billy visits with a friendly old neighbor who tells him of a quarry he used to visit as a boy the location of which had been lost to the townspeople for many years. With some clues, he and Blaze find the old quarry - a beautiful spot and a great place for swimming. They rescue and befriend a dog.

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
5-23-05

Blaze and the Mountain Lion

Book cover: 'Blaze and the Mountain Lion'
Author(s): 
C.W. Anderson
Number of pages: 
48 pages
Copyright: 
1959
Publisher: 
Aladdin Paperbacks
Binding: 
Softcover
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 
This book is a bit shorter than others in the series, and so might be a particularly good one for less-confident readers. It seems to average about five lines per page.

In this story, Billy and Blaze search for the lair of a mountain lion that has been troubling ranchers and rescue a baby calf from a ledge on a cliff.

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
5-23-05

Blaze and Thunderbolt

Book cover: 'Blaze and Thunderbolt'
Author(s): 
C.W. Anderson
Number of pages: 
48 pages
Copyright: 
1955
Publisher: 
Aladdin Paperbacks
Binding: 
Softcover
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 
Billy and Blaze are on a family trip out west where they encounter Thunderbolt - a beautiful wild horse that is the envy of every cowboy. Rather than trying to capture Thunderbolt with fast horses and lassos, Billy makes friends with Thunderbolt slowly and eventually gains his trust.

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
5-23-05

Blaze Shows the Way

Book cover: 'Blaze Shows the Way'
Author(s): 
C.W. Anderson
Number of pages: 
48 pages
Copyright: 
1969
Publisher: 
Aladdin Paperbacks
Binding: 
Softcover
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 
Billy and Blaze befriend another horse and boy-rider team. Tommy and his horse Dusty are just getting used to each other and Dusty is a little nervous about jumping. Nevertheless they decide to try out for a pairs jumping contest.

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
5-23-05

Catholic Heritage Handwriting

Author(s): 
Nancy Nicholson
Publisher: 
AMDG For Little Folks
Binding: 
Spiralbound
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Resource Type: 
Review: 
It’s often the little things that make a resource stand out from the myriad of great products out there. Maybe it’s color pictures instead of black and white; or maybe it’s the typeface used; or maybe it’s the weight of the paper. There are many reasons why I like the Catholic Heritage Handwriting series more than the many other options available for practicing writing, spelling, even grammar and punctuation. For this review, I’ll be referring to Level 2 (about a 6 or 7 year old level – basically 2nd grade). With the revised handwriting series written by Nancy Nicholson, a big plus is the spiral at the top. I’m left-handed, my husband is left-handed and two of my children are left-handed. The one who will be using the Catholic Heritage Handwriting Series – Level 2: Finding the Way is one of my lefties. Being a boy, he already has to work so hard on his manual dexterity without also having the encumbrance of the spiral always in his way! Believe me, it makes for stress that can be easily avoided by placing the spiral at the top. THANK you, Nancy Nicholson! The organization of this handwriting series is great for a multi-aged home learning family. Each lesson is titled with the week and the lesson number – making it extremely easy to schedule the handwriting practice into a four-times-a-week time slot. Additionally, the lessons are short – maybe taking a total of 15-20 minutes (which is about the concentration span of a very active 6 or 7 year old). I like too that Nicholson has woven in Catholicism in the practice sentences and phrases. If this book was used during First Sacraments preparation, the words could be incorporated into spelling practice while the phrases could be memorized for recitation practice. Another cool thing is the subtle shrinking of the lines as the student progresses, from 3/4-inch uppercase to 1/2-inch uppercase! The lessons build bit by bit until, by the end of the year, the student will be copying out full prayers, poems and thoughts. These are all geared toward receiving the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion; however, even if your student is not yet ready to receive (or has already started receiving), these sentiments are still worthwhile for learning. The one down side is that for these longer copywork exercises, the author turned the page to allow more writing space. I’m sure though, that by the time my son gets to those longer lessons, he’ll be confident enough and his manual dexterity will have improved enough to avoid the despair the spiral unnecessarily engenders.
Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
6-22-2009

Catholic National Readers

Book cover: 'Catholic National Readers'
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

The Catholic National Readers were originally published in the 1890s by Benziger Brothers Publishing. They have been reprinted by Savio Books and Neumann Press in 1997 in hardcover editions. They are frequently compared to the McGuffey's Readers and are illustrated with charming pictures of the sort you'd expect to see in "antique" books. Because of the sometimes archaic language and vocabulary, some homeschoolers (particularly those with more reluctant readers who want stories that are a little easier and a little more fun) prefer the American Cardinal Readers or the Faith and Freedom Readers. The Catholic National Readers are used by Kolbe Academy, Our Lady of Victory School and St. Thomas Aquinas Academy. Kolbe Academy sells some study guides that accompany the books.

First reviewed: 
Feb 21, 2001

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