Literature
The More the Merrier
Subject(s):
Grade / Age level:
Review:
Beany takes in boarders and deals with the guilt of a petty theft.
First reviewed:
2/18/06
Welcome Stranger
Subject(s):
Grade / Age level:
Review:
Beany sympathizes with Tony Lombard who is dealing with guilt from a hit-and-run accident.
First reviewed:
2/18/06
A Boy and His Pony
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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 Forest Fire
Subject(s):
Grade / Age level:
Review:
Reviewed by:
First reviewed:
5-23-05
Blaze and the Lost Quarry
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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
Subject(s):
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.
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
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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
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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
Out of the Silent Planet
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Grade / Age level:
Review:
The first story in the "Space Trilogy", Out of the Silent Planet begins with a man of such littleness that he is only known, for now, as the pedestrian. He is taking a summer holiday - trying to 'get lost' - from his philology professorship.
This is NOT a nailbiter yet.
By accident Ransom (Lewis himself was a Cambridge professor keen on words - so you know you have been given his name for a reason) stumbles onto an old schoolmate, Divine, and another professor, Weston, in a strange house. The bizarre scene sees them drug our poor Ransom and gives way to the much more bizzare rest of the book. They travel through space to Mars (or Malacandra as the inhabitants call it). But like a mystery novel the strange story starts to give way to order. Ransom is smart. He gathers that he is being brought back to Mars by these two as a sacrifice to creatures called Sorns. They had been to Mars before and started happily collecting gold there. But the inhabitants told them they would have to present themselves to the world leader. They dreaded this so much they returned to Earth just to retrieve that sacrifice, that Ransom! (see I told you)
Ransom escapes shortly after they arrive and goes about trying to survive, understand and finally love this new world. There are 3 or 4 species on the planet which are intelligent (it's handy to be a philologist when you have to learn a few new languages in a hurry!)
I can't tell you more because it really is a book that is hard to put down. After you get through the first bit you will drink in the rest with exceeding pleasure.
Lewis has given himself a tool to really explore different mindsets. Here he is not bound by current conventions - not even by 'terrestrial' conventions. In fact we are allowed to explore a world that is so different Ransom at first has trouble separating out the geographic, plant and animal features - they are all just a sort of blur when he first sees them. And just when he has allowed us to wonder about talking with different species he gives us some of the most eloquent defenses of what in life, in every life of every intelligent species, is good and strong.
There are many things to explore in this book. I am sure that I have not plumbed the depths of allegory and language that Lewis, a professor of Medieval and Renaissance literature, is sure to have woven in. But even the first reading will bring to the surface an abundance of issues to discuss and ponder.
This book could be read as early as 7th grade. But it would be better understood by high school age.
Reviewed by:
First reviewed:
3-17-2001