Skip to main content

The Big Balloon Race

The Big Balloon Race

Written by Eleanor Coerr & Pictures by Carolyn Croll

Summary: This is a story about a woman named Carlotta Myers and her daughter Ariel. Carlotta was  an aeronaut who flew in hot air balloons. One morning, it was the day of the big race. Balloonists from all over the country would come to compete for the gold medal. Ariel wished that she could ride in the balloon with her mother, but she said no because she was too young. When they got to the grounds of the race, everyone was there. The townspeople, the other competitors, and even the mayor! Carlotta told Ariel that she could stand in the basket until take off, but that she would need to get out when the race was about to begin. Ariel agreed to her mothers conditions and sat in the basket. 
However, this is when the mayor began to give his speech: a long one. Ariel quickly became bored and curled up in a storage space and fell asleep. She did not hear the race begin! When she woke up, she was in the air! Carlotta was shocked when she saw her awaken and suddenly realized, with Ariel's extra weight, they were going to hit the trees! So she threw some of the bags of sand she had out of the basket and up they zoomed! After getting caught in an updraft, an air stream, and a dark rain cloud the basket was headed for the lake! Ariel and Carlotta threw everything that they could spare overboard, but it was no use: they hit the water! Ariel jumped overboard where the water was shallow to help lighten the load, but the basket was already too wet to be lifted back into the air.
Just then, Carlotta saw all of the other competitors heading for them! They were going to beat her and her mom! So Carlotta handed her a rope from the balloon in a last chance effort to win. The basket was easy to pull because the Ballon was still filled with hydrogen. Carlotta jumped out of the basket to help Ariel pull the basket onto land and the next thing they knew, they had won the race! The mayor gave Ariel the gold medal and everyone was so excited for her. 

Review: This exciting story is marked for children grades 2-4 for independent reading. This read is sure to keep students excited with its quick paced plot and exciting ending. The illustrations look like cartoons and portray vivid and beautiful colors. I enjoy this book a lot because it focuses on a time in history that isn't really talked about our history classes. There really was a time in the 1800's when people gathered for large balloon races. This is a cool fact, I think. This chapter book would also be a great book for classroom read alouds. 


-The Green Eyed Reader
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tar Beach

Tar Beach Written & Illustrated Faith Ringgold Overview: This is a beautiful quilt story about a girl who lies on her "tar beach," her rooftop, with her family. She talks about how her father is a construction worker and looks for new work for lengthy amounts of time. The little girl decides that she is going to fly over the union building, the ice cream factory and a great bridge so that they will be hers forever. I believe that she means this in a figurative manner, in a sort of dream. She takes her little brother with her at the end and they fly with their eyes closed.  The paintings in this book have an unclean, but beautiful nature to them. This book provokes deep thinking and even has some historical events in it that would be great to explain to a classroom. 2nd graders would enjoy reading this book by themselves.   To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Tar-Beach-Faith-Ringgold/dp/0517885441/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=15120130...
1 comment
Read more

The War That Saved My Life

The War that Saved My Life  By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley  Summary:  This story follows the lives of a young brother and sister duo, Ada and Jamie Smith, during World War II. These siblings have grown up in the same house with their mother, who they call Mam, but with two very different lives. Jamie, a 7 year-old, is the youngest, and for the most part, has a normal life that includes going to school and playing with his friends around the block. Ada, on the other hand, who is 11 years-old, lives the life of a crippled and abused shut-in. This is in thanks to her Mam, who is embarrassed by the fact that she had a daughter with a club foot. Because of her foot, Ada cannot walk correctly and is not allowed to go outside of their London flat. However, that all changes when the Germans invade and their city is predicted to be bombed. For Ada and Jamie's safety, not only from the bombs, but also from Mam, they runaway with Jamie's local school to the countr...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit Written by Drew Daywalt & Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers Overview: One day in class, a little boy named Duncan took out his crayons and found a stack of letters with his name on them. Each letter was written by one of his crayons. The red crayon, the pink crayon, the green crayon, and so on. Each crayon had written Duncan about he felt in regards to their overuse or underuse in his drawings or other issues that they felt needed to be addressed. When Duncan was finished reading all of the letters he tired to think of a way to appease all of his crayons and decided to draw and incredibly creative picture with all of his crayons. Duncan got an A+ on his drawing! This book takes a comical look at creativity from a crayon's perspective. This entertaining book can be read by 2nd graders and would make such fun read aloud for children.  Awards: 2014-2015 Bluebonnet Award To order your own copy:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-day...
Post a Comment
Read more