Review: Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief

I just finished reading my first book from the Percy Jackson series. Entertaining at times, predictable at most (from an adult's perspective), but it's definitely an accessible read for G.5-9 readers.

Great issues dealt with: ADHD, dyslexia. The main character has these disabilities, and although they do provide some difficulty for him in succeeding with his mission, they don't impede him, or let him feel like he is not good enough to complete the task.

Not so great issues dealt with: marital problems. Although I can imagine a G. 5-9 reader would skip over this part, Percy's mother's relationship with "Smelly Gabe" is dysfunctional and unconvincing. The argument is that she must live with "Smelly Gabe" in order to protect Percy from being detected by monsters. But I think the real reason is entertainment value; Gabe is basically a comical relief punching bag. Percy's mother "kills" him in the end, though a close reader might miss this (she petrifies him by showing him Medusa's head). Problematic on some levels.

Writing Style is quick, focused, witty, and fast-paced. The plot was forgivingly predictable because I was not bored as I was reading, even though I knew what was going to happen. The characters are well-developed and Percy is so well-shaped I felt like I could meet him.

Thematic issues: to present the Greek gods as gods, Riordan had to come up with some clever ways of incorporating them into our Western culture, while remaining politically correct. The Greek religion is presented as something "older" than Christianity (he compares the Greek sign to the sign of the cross). The Greek religion does, however, supersede Christianity since Percy prays only to his father-greek god for help.

When the main characters arrive in the underworld, Percy expects to find the pearly gates, but the underworld looks more like "a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike." As a Christian reader, I always hesitate about any re-interpretation of the Greek underworld. Objectively, it is simply not heaven, and cannot be since it is ruled by Hades, who is generally described as evil, and not God, who is good. So it is difficult to attempt to compromise, as Riordan does, the two world views. But he manages to find a way:

"But if he's a preacher," I said, "and he believes in a dif-ferent hell... ."
 Grover shrugged. "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You're very stubborn—er, persistent, that way."

The answer is that some humans "see" a different heaven or hell according to their beliefs. In this way, Riordan accommodates all worldviews of the underworld. All, except, those who disagree with relativism (which is everyone who has a belief).

My feelings about the book are mixed, but I will keep it on the shelf. It's a fun adventure that is engaging, imaginative, and fun to read. It doesn't offer much more than that in terms of life lessons or virtues.


Favourite quote:

"The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so ..."
 "Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across—hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

Storybooks about Art and Artists

Laurence Anholt's picture book series, "Anholt Artists," tells the stories of art and artists from a child's perspective. In his "The Magical Garden of Claude Monet", we follow Julie as she visits Monet's enchanting garden. The story is based off a real Julie who frequently visited with her dog, "Louie." 

Julie was the daughter of great impressionist Berthe Morisot, and niece of Edouard Manet. And her pet dog was a gift from another famous impressionist, Renoir.

The illustrations of the book mix interpretations of scences from Monet's life, with real presentations of his paintings. There is one spectacular fold-out centre-piece that depicts Monet's lily pond--it garnered a real wow from the students!

Check out the other books in the series:

Leonardo Da Vinci

Edgar Degas

Pablo Picasso

Vincent Van Gogh

Anholt Artists website: http://www.anholt.co.uk/anholts-artists/

Books for Easter

A recent article in Maclean's confirmed for me the need to read religious and spiritual books to children. In "The Science is in: God is the Answer" Brian Bethune and Genna Buck cite a study that claims children (whether atheist or religious) feel a need to belong to something larger than themselves. A spiritual connection helps children through the tougher times of life, that is, adolescence! They claim adolescent teens are more at risk for depression than other demographics.

Long story short: if you are Christian, take advantage of Easter to read some Christian texts. Kids love bible stories. 

Here are some favourites:

K-2 Reading level

These are simple, quick bible stories that are written in an engaging way.

There is dialogue and lots of action!

Boys really like stories about the Old Testament. They couldn't believe the story about Daniel in the Lions' Den and were eager to take out the book.

This is a great Easter fable that follows the story of Simon of Cyrene.

G. 1-3

This one is not specifically Christian, but it has a great message of stewardship and generosity.

Also, beautiful images by Patricia Polacco!

G. 3-4

The Medieval World

Medieval worlds haven't ceased to tickle the imagination, especially Medieval-esque worlds, like Frozen. Here are some of my favourite medieval "worlds."

Midnight Magic

AVI


I must have picked this up as a young student because I was looking for a romance, but the story is certainly more of a mystery. If you know AVI, you know that his endings always beg a longer conclusion, but his stories are so engaging that it almost doesn't matter.

Reading Level: G. 5 and up

Knight at Dawn

Mary Pope-Osborne

The Magic Tree House series has continued to be immensely popular among emerging readers for obvious reasons.

First, the writing style. Mary Pope-Osborne keeps short sentences and reduces the text on the page. She asks questions first and answers them later.

Second, the content: who wouldn't be intrigued by finding a secret tree house that opens doors to other worlds? There are so many imaginative possibilities here.

Third: there is a larger story that binds all the smaller stories together that gets kids hooked on reading them all.

Reading Level: G. 3 and under

Ella Enchanted

Gail Carson Levine


 This classic that was made into a movie is considerably less popular today than it has been, but it's still a great read and wow, Newberry Honor!

Gail Carson Levine has a quick, easy way of writing that lets you enter the story fairly quickly. The characters are mostly predictable, but if you have a student looking for a romance, this is a great story.

Reading Level G. 4 and up










If we want a rendition of Cinderella, my personal favourite is....




Just Ella

Margaret Peterson Haddix

Definitely this is a more mature version of the story, but there is nothing in the book that is innapropriate for younger readers. Margaret Peterson Haddix weaves a convincing, compelling, and very convincing story that leads you on a more emotional ride than Levine's Ella Enchanted. I think for this reason, that it has more "adult sentimentality" that I give it an older rating.

Haddix is also just a brilliant writer!

Reading Level G. 7 and up

Ancient Civilizations

Did you ever wish as a child that you could travel back in time to Ancient Egypt or Greece?

Children's imaginations today still sparkle when you tell them about how Egyptians were mummified, Roman gladiators fought, and Greek temples were built. And there is so much more to tell about the ancient world: samurai warriors in Japan, forbidden silk secrets in China, and the haunting empire of the Aztecs.

Here's some great books for 10-12 year olds that read like a story book--with a quick pace, dialogue and even great pictures:

This is such a fun and intriguing way to learn about the Aztecs. It's extremely informative, but also riveting at the
same time! The students were really into it as I read the excerpt. The book in length is like a short novel, but there are
a number of photos and artful renditions of events.
By Shelley Tanaka

Follow the events of this great historical disaster with a young
boy named Eros. Real photos of artifacts are also shown.
By Shelley Tanaka

"The room is dark, even though it is early
afternoon. Heavy curtains have been
pulled across the tall windows, blocking
out light and noise from the busy city
street outside...The guests are waiting,
their voices hushed."
Excerpt from book, by Shelley Tanaka 

This series follows two modern characters as they
get lost in different historical periods!
By Linda Bailey

 

Reading for Science: Space

I am a firm believer that the primary purpose of library time should be about expanding the imagination, not teaching information. However, I am a big lover of learning.

So here's my compromise:

"The library is a place for love of reading and independent learning."

Let's face it, the library is the only unstructured learning environment in the school!


Even so, it's still not usually very interesting to read a non-fiction book out loud to classes. Better, I will read through the non-fiction text on my own, and then give the students a guided reading, speaking ad-lib about the subject and pointing out the pretty pictures.

My theme of the week is accompanied by a display table with a number of topical books, non-fiction and fiction. It's not enough to leave the books there. I find the most effective way of encouraging children to try new books is to take the first step myself . So I give a short phrase about a few of the books, and then open some up (some kids are hesitant to do this!) I find this introduction is enough of a hook to have a few kids crowding around the table to check the books out for themselves.


Read-alouds should be either interesting, or fun, or both. Even a simple, easy-to-read book like, "Going Around the Sun: Some Planetary Fun" is enough of an appetizer to get some students interested about bringing a book home about space.

This book by Marianne Berkes and illustrated by Janeen Mason gives some information, but the rhyming made it a great favourite with my kindergarten and Gr. 1 classes. The kids enjoyed counting along with me too as we named each planet.

Here's an example of a page from the book:

 

Great Books for Literacy Week

There are some fun grammar books like "To Root, to Toot, to Parachute" by Brian P. Cleary that reads like a fun rhyming story.

Students can read the book to each other and then make up a list of verbs on their own.

One activity you can do is set up stations with one of these books at each table: verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns.

In small groups, the students move from one table to the next, reading the book and then making a list.

The students have 5 minutes at each table, and its a competition to see which group can come up with the greatest list of words at each table.

I had a Gr. 5/6 class that really enjoyed this activity!

My Gr. 1/2 class were surprised when I read them this book by Jo Ellen Bogart:

Not very many students know that there are people in the world who cannot read or have not gone to school. "Jeremiah Learns to Read" was very eye-opening for them.

Here is a more modern version of "Jeremiah Learns to Read." What a great way to open children's minds to situations in our world today:

This book can be bought through Scholastic!