Book Search: Community / Neighborliness

A great story about a resourceful young lady who creates a bakery in the family kitchen. Amanda encourages many people to begin their own businesses too, inspiring a whole town to spring up around her! A fabulous can-do book.

We listened to the audio version of The Wheel on the School (320 pages), a 1955 Newberry Winner that had all of us interested in riding in the car so we could hear it. It was really neat to hear about life in Holland, during a time when the village school had only 6 children, with only one girl - Lina. She surprises the teacher by independently writing a short composition, wondering why storks don't nest in their fishing village of Shora but they nest in all the neighboring villages. This inspires them to figure it out and they are are encouraged to spend their school time to work out the solution. It sounds dry but this is a very exciting book! This is a fantastic book about the power of hope, and the idea that it take a village to raise a child.

Our girls (6 and 9) really enjoyed this book and always wanted to hear more each time I had to stop. Laurel tells me she just loves historical fiction when it comes in the form of a journal or diary. This book is a bit intense, starting with two brothers (age 14 - Jasper - and his younger brother Tom) being separated, one goes off on the Mayflower as an indentured servant, and one stays behind. So Jasper creates this journal to tell him about the New World. There are a lot of deaths, even a suicide, so be prepared to explain that one. If you have any concerns about too much death read the book before your child does. Overall, we really enjoyed this tale of Jasper's fascinating adventure, including him running away and being found by Native Americans. In the end (plot spoiler ahead!) he is reunited with his brother. There is a really neat historical note section at the end of the book that we all found interesting, to hear how much of the story was true and just how many of our presidents are decendants from the first settlers.

Written in 1931, this is the tale of a mischievous 5 year old Chinese boy. He lives a simple life in a small village with his family, with two older sisters that often watch out for him, or find him when he runs away - which he does often. Not because he is mad, but simply because he is a curious little boy and he forgets his boundaries. His parents are mad with him, and often say he is a 'bad boy' or a 'naughty boy' but he is not scolded beyond that because he is 'too little.' In the end, after falling in the river and nearly drowning, he decides to grow up and be good.
This is a wonderful chapter book for small people, because every single page has a picture (black and white), and the entire book can be read in a couple hours.

This is the tale of a 13 year old girl, living in Poland, whose father sends for her to join him in America and marry the man he has chosen for her. It is a fascinating story of the coal mine and has a lot of gritty details about how dangerous it is, and of course the 1897 Lattimer Massacre. I had to edit a lot and at the worst point Laurel complained that she couldn't understand why anyone would ever waste their time writing a book like this, that is so sad. I think it's one of the saddest books I've read to them, there is a lot of death but thankfully our heros make it.
I really wondered how they would cover the part about getting married, and it turned out to be very funny. Anetka's mother passed away years ago so she asks neighbors "Is there anything I need to know?" and gets this response: "Can you butcher a hog? A chicken? Can you cook? Can you clean? Tend babies? Plant a garden? Put up jars of berries and vegetables for winter? Smoke sausage? Put up a barrel of sauerkraut?" "Yes," I told her. "But is there anything else I need to know?" Mrs. Szarek thought a moment. "No, that's about it." And later when she writes about her wedding night, I am grateful she wrote, "Some things are too private to put in a diary."

Elizabeth is 9 years old and has just arrived in Jamestown with 4 ships full of pilgrims - 5 other ships were lost in the hurricane. She begins her diary and tells the tale of the first 2 months, gathering food, meeting Native Americans - including Pocahontas. This book was interesting and a little scary - a lot of people get summer sickness and die, none of Elizabeth's family dies but her friends do. There is a burial every day near the end, so many people are dying. Elizabeth's mother is pregnant and spends 2 days in labor where Elizabeth worries about her and wonders if the baby will be born dead. However, the diary ends on a good note, the baby is healthy and everyone in her family is well.