Rebecca Reads

Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature

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Tru and Nelle by G. Neri

February 5, 2016 by Rebecca Reid

Tru and Nelle by G. Neri is a book about a young Harper Lee and a young Truman Capote. In this book, however, Harper Lee is known as Nelle and young Truman is Tru. I often heard that the book To Kill a Mockingbird and the characters in that book were based on the childhood friendship of Harper Lee and Truman Capote; this is a children’s book that fictionalizes their friendship.Continue Reading

We Just Had a Baby by Stephen Krensky

January 11, 2016 by Rebecca Reid

I though that We Just Had a Baby by Stephen Krensky was an appropriate book to kick off the new year (and restart my inactive blog) since I did just have a baby. Actually ate my baby was born a few weeks early, in early October of 2015, and she is now already 3 month old. Time flies so fast!

We Just Had a Baby is a fun book about a young boy who welcomes a young baby girl into his family. The illustrations are pencil and gave a delightful cartoonish look to the young boy and his newborn sister.

My daughter Strawberry, who is almost 4, enjoyed reading the book with me because she could relate so much to the feelings the unnamed boy has in the book. The boy expresses his surprise that the baby is so small. He expresses his feelings of delight that his smiles cause her to smile; he also notices that when he frowns it makes his baby sister look scared, so he wants to smile more! Like the boy, Strawberry thought it took a long time for the baby to come. Like the boy, she thought the baby was a lot smaller than she expected. Like the boy, she has enjoyed seeing her baby sister grow.

We Just Had a Baby is a solid edition to the “new sibling” shelf!

Note: I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration.

The Stories Julian Tells by Ann Cameron

July 9, 2015 by Rebecca Reid

The Stories Julian Tells by Ann Cameron (originally published 1987) is a clever early chapter book about a boy and his younger brother, along with the crazy stories Julian makes up to explain the world around him.

When seven-year-old Julian does not know the answer to his three-year-old brother Huey’s questions, he makes up stories! For example, he tells his brother that a catalog is a book to order cats from, and they are sent through the mail. His imagination is ripe and the stories crafted in to his adventures are fun for the young reader. In the first chapter, I was concerned when the kids hid from Dad, afraid of the punishment, but the “beating” and “whipping” in store for the pudding-eating boys was just the right kind!

I was delighted to see such a clever and obviously enduring story (it’s almost 30 years old) for the early chapter book crowd. Although my son reads at a high reading level, sometimes he just needs something short and sweet, about a boy just his age. He read this one quickly and found it quite funny. I look forward to checking out the sequels to Julian’s crazy stories as well!

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

June 10, 2015 by Rebecca Reid

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is a poetic autobiographical reflection on the author’s childhood. The writing is sparse, written in free verse, and yet each poem packs a punch of emotion. Ms Woodson recalls her earliest of memories (fictionalizing events as necessary). Her early childhood is spent with her grandmother and grandfather in South Carolina and then she moves to live with her mother and step-brother in New York.

Ms Woodson’s poems capture the difficult transitions in life, but they also capture the complicate life that comes from growing up in the 1960s and 1970s in the Jim Crow South. She details her frustrations learning to read (due to probable dyslexia) and her persistent dream to become a writer and record the multitude of stories inside her mind.

Individually, each poem is full of meaning that could be enjoyed as the reader may like. There is more than meets the eye in these apparently simple poems. As a whole, the book is satisfying and complete: a story of a girl who lived and dreamed and became.

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Rebecca Reads Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature

Reflections on great books from an avid reader, now a homeschooling mom

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Occasionally, I accept copies of books for review consideration. All such books will be tagged "Review Copy". Accepting a book for review does not affect my opinion of the book.

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