The Mixed up files Of
Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler
Summary:
Claudia wanted to run away, but it could not be to just
anywhere and she did not want to go by herself. So she chose the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York and her brother to go with her. Their experience not
only drew the two of them together but also changed their lives forever.
My Thoughts:
I remember when my third grade teacher read this book aloud
to us for a few minutes every day. I thoroughly enjoyed it and when I saw it on
the list I knew I wanted to cover this book.
It is a neat idea of where you would want to be locked in. I used to
dream about getting locked in the store purposefully. Claudia becomes the hero.
Konigsburg, E. (2010). From the mixed up files of
Mrs. Basil E. Frankewiler. New
York: Antheneum Books.
Review:
When
Claudia, eleven, decides to run away from the monotony and injustices of her
life, she first selects a comfortable destination, the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, and then chooses as a companion her nine-year-old brother, Jamie, who can
be counted on to keep quiet and, more important, is “rich.” Through Claudia’s
careful planning and Jamie’s miserly management of their finances, together
with the quick thinking and ingenuity of both children, the runaways take up
residence in the museum, live there undetected for a week, and, before their
adventure ends, ferret out evidence to authenticate a museum statue. Narrated
by the statue’s donor, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the captivating story is
fresh and crisply written with uncommonly real and likable characters and
genuine dialogue and humor.
— [unsigned review]
Booklist review. (1967, October 1). Retrieved from Booklist Online:
http://www.booklistonline.com/From-the-Mixed-Up-Files-of-Mrs-Basil-E-Frankweiler-E-L-Konigsburg/pid=2503612
Activities:
Students decide where they would like to be locked in and
why?
Bridge to Terabithia
Paterson, K. (1977). Bridge to terabithia. New
York: HarperCollins.
Summary:
Jess had an extremely hard home life. It is hard when
farming is your livelihood and the crops are not growing. He was the only son with three sisters. He
was an artist and loved creating but his father wanted him to be rough and
tumble and athletic. Jess just wanted to be invisible. Until one day Leslie
moved to town and she noticed him. She became his friend and they created
Terabithia, a place to escape to where anything was possible. They were
inseparable until an accident that took the life of Leslie. Jess did not know how he would go on. He
remembered what Leslie taught him about life and knew that as long as he had
Terabithia a part of her would still be with him.
Thoughts:
Often times life can be difficult to deal with due to the
twists and turns our journey takes us through. Bridge to Terabithia is about
friendship and building relationships with others. The imaginations of the two
main characters, Jess and Leslie, were something special they shared as an
escape from their difficulties, Jess with his home life and Leslie with feeling
and being different. The book gives a sense of freedom that life can be what
you make it. There is a great
reconciliation between Jess, his father and little sister. Jess learns to
overcome tragedy and press on.
Jesse,
who lives in a poor rural community, has never known a girl like Leslie; her
parents are writers, their home is filled with books, and on the first day of
school she ruins his chances to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. But
Jesse’s natural inclination to support the underdog is the beginning of their
friendship—one that leads them to build a “castle” out of rough boards in a
grove near their homes. They call their kingdom Terabithia and invent magic
rituals to go with it—swinging on a rope over the creek to enter in and calling
to the Spirit of the Grove. Leslie opens Jesse’s eyes to new worlds with her
imaginative stories and different way of thinking. Then one day, while Jessie
is gone, Leslie swings over the flooded creek to her death. Jesse is left with
a myriad of emotions, some of which he is ashamed of, until his deep sense of
loss brings him to the realization that knowing Leslie has made him a better
person. This is not a message book, however; Paterson subtly handles the
complex subject in an eloquent way that makes evident the expansion of her
writing ability. The vivid and sensitive character portrayals and changing
relationships (especially between Jesse and his father) are superb. Diamond’s
atmospheric black-and-white drawings deepen the perceptions of the story.—
Betsy Hearne
Hearne, B. (1977, November 15). Booklist Review.
Retrieved from Booklist Online:
http://www.booklistonline.com/Bridge-to-Terabithia-Katherine-Paterson/pid=2503271
Activities:
Students write about their own Terabithia
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