The Green Eyed Reader

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 ...

Snowshoe Thompson By Nancy Smiler Levinson & Pictures by Joan Sandin Summary: This is a story about a little boy named Danny who wants to get a letter to his Pa who's in a town through the mountains digging for gold. He is writing to his Pa to come him because he misses him a lot and wishes that he would come home for Christmas. Unfortunately, the snow is too deep to get through the pass by horse and buggy so his letter cannot be delivered; that is, until John Thompson steps forward and tells Danny that he can make the trip.  The next day, Danny goes to Johns house where he is busy outside making snow skis, something that Danny has never seen or heard of before. But he learns that one is able to "walk" on snow with them attached to your feel and he helps John make the skis over a couple of days. When the skis are finished, John takes off to deliver Danny's letter. John is gone for five days and everyone in town is sure that he was dead in those dangerous ...

Going West By Jean Van Leeuwin & Pictures by Thomas B. Allen Summary: This is a book about a family of five that go west: Papa, Mama, Hannah, Jake, and Rebecca. The family packs up everything they own into a wagon and begin to head west and it isn't easy for them. The trip is not only physically hard with the rain, sickness, heat, and mud, but it was also hard emotionally because they had to leave everything behind. They also had to a cross river to get to the land where they would begin to build a cabin. After the cabin was built they planted a garden and Papa made long trips into town to get the supplies the needed.  But the weather would make living on the land difficult. After one hail storm, their new garden was completely destroyed. They would have Indians come to visit them and eat donuts with them. Hannah mentions how bad a terrible snow storm came though and they were snowed in by 6 feet of snow! They almost ran out of food in the long winter, but fi...

Dakota Dugout By Ann Turner & Illustrated by Ronald Himler Summary:  This book is a story about a mother who recounts here prairie days to her child. She tells of how her husband wrote to her to pack up everything and move out to the prairie where he was building a sod dugout for them to live in. She remembers how hard it was to live in that "house". Dirt floors, poor insolation, and lonely except for the animals and her husband, Matt. She talks about all of the seasons and the heartache and joy they each brought. She mentions that the first year they had a harvest, but then the sun scorched it and so they could not reap it. The harvest was much better the second year and they were able to sell their crops and buy dresses and buggies. With the extra money, they built a clapboard house with insolation, clean floors and bright, clean windows. She reflects that she didn't think that she would miss the Dakota dugout, but she did and thinks that, "Sometimes t...

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...