Photo de l'auteur

Esmé Raji Codell

Auteur de Sahara Special

15 oeuvres 3,029 utilisateurs 113 critiques 5 Favoris

A propos de l'auteur

Esme Raji Codell is an avid collector of sparkly stickers and a pretty good roller skater. She is also the author of Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year, which won an Alex Award, given for the best adult books for young adults, among many honors. She has worked as a children's afficher plus bookseller, teacher, and school librarian, and now runs the popular children's literature Web site www.planetesme.com. Esme lives in Chicago with her husband and son afficher moins

Œuvres de Esmé Raji Codell

Sahara Special (2003) 1,039 exemplaires
Diary of a Fairy Godmother (2005) — Auteur — 200 exemplaires
Vive La Paris (2006) 154 exemplaires
Fairly Fairy Tales (2011) 114 exemplaires
Hanukkah, Shmanukkah! (2005) 86 exemplaires
It's Time for Preschool! (2012) 46 exemplaires
The Basket Ball (2011) 26 exemplaires
Maybe Mother Goose (2016) 14 exemplaires
Fairly Fairy Tales (2011) 1 exemplaire
Sahara Special 1 exemplaire

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Date de naissance
1968
Sexe
female
Nationalité
USA

Membres

Critiques

Johnny Appleseed is a legend. This picturebook biography attempts to shed light on John Chapman, the man who became Johnny Appleseed. The author shows the reader a man who loved and wanted to preserve nature, a man who cherished peace, and a man who used his resources.

Early elementary teachers may want to share this book with their students on or around September 26 (John Chapman's birthday).
 
Signalé
MrsBond | 13 autres critiques | Jun 27, 2023 |
A little slow to start and then, wham! right in the feels. Between the marvelous Ms. Pointy and Sahara's magical prose, it's an absolute delight.
 
Signalé
jennybeast | 27 autres critiques | Apr 14, 2022 |
When I picked this up at a library book sale for ten cents, my expectations were low. I mean, look at the cover. It couldn't be more obvious that it's trying to appeal to a younger crowd. But I bit my tongue; after all, there's a certain kind of magic to be found in children's books. They're among the first thing a soon-to-be avid reader comes into contact with. There's a reason why kids read books like "Diary of a Fairy Godmother" that are supposed to kindle a love for the English language and continue reading thereafter. Something hooks them. And when I was finished reading, let me tell you, I could understand full-heartedly how this book could do such a thing for a child.

The first thing I noticed is that it's rather beautifully written, especially for a standard children's book. Before I receive any sort of wrath for that statement, let me say explain. Many children's novel authors seem to have this idea that they need to boil all of their sentences down to practically nothing to get their stories across, with perhaps a few metaphors thrown around like stale sprinkles if they want to splurge. You find this writing most commonly in mass-series books like "The Babysitters Club", but it's also present in other children's novels. This book is not like that. The writing is simple enough for a child to understand but certainly retains its own unique, recognizable style. There's a particularly awesome sequence where our main character looks into the dreams of one of her best friends; this is the text:

"Adorned in an armor of emerald scales and talon-like white fingertips with a matching bony crown, she looked quite beautiful and fearsome at once, wielding a scepter topped with a poison apple. Who dared approach this mighty queen? Oh, a Chameleon Prince, who wound his graceful tail around her and unsheathed his sword, lifting it high in her honor before slashing the hands off of a clock...on rows of shelves behind him, jars full of newts in every color swam in joyous circles at the prospect of their union...the scene was as dizzying to watch as the turning of a kaleidoscope."

That is way more detail than I expected this book to bring to the table in general, and that's only in the first thirty or so pages. When I read this from the eyes of a child, I don't feel like I'm being talked down to in the least. It's refreshing.

Now, don't get me wrong. It's still a children's book, not Hemmingway. The descriptive language at the beginning falls kind of flat, as the author needs to introduce her readers to the topsy-turvy world of witches where bad is good and good is bad. This partially isn't her fault, but talking about poison mushroom pizza and a Hogwarts joke doesn't flow very well. But that's minor, as the book picks up very fast from there. It is also important to mention that the story is fairly predictable. It doesn't make it any less worth reading, but it's still there. You know that our lead is going to become a fairy godmother despite being raised as a witch. You know that everyone is eventually going to accept her. And those are our two major plot points.

Regardless, this is something I would definitely give to a a child reader. It's relatively short for an adult, only clocking in at 167 pages, but it might prove to be a good lengthy read for its younger audience. It's definitely worth to be the center of your kid's book report, or a check-out at the library, or really, just an addition to a classroom.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
Dendy | 11 autres critiques | Jan 20, 2021 |

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Statistiques

Œuvres
15
Membres
3,029
Popularité
#8,432
Évaluation
3.9
Critiques
113
ISBN
68
Langues
2
Favoris
5

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