DeJong, Meindert Books

The Wheel on the School

Meindert Dejong

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A good book but kind of slow by Callum Cotter aged 10 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The Wheel on the School is has a great message about how people working together and never giving up can get things done, but it's a bit hard to read and has no action.

A Wonderful Read Aloud Book 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

[...]It lacks all the typical hooks and gimmicks prevalent in much of today's fiction for children.
This is real literature. It's beautifully written. The writer, Meindert DeJong, is logical, witty and sensitive.
I just finished reading "The Wheel on the School" aloud to my eleven year old daughter. My 16 year old son often sat down and listened. They both liked this book very much. "The Wheel on the School" may be especially enjoyed read aloud. It hasn't a plot that will sound "interesting" to many media-fed, contemporary young people, but it's less the subject than how it is treated that makes this book so entertaining. If you are looking for a book to read aloud, this one has many of the ideal criterium: It is, because of it's non-splashy premise, a book kids might not automatically pick-up, it's beautifully written, full of entertaining voices and characters and it's complex yet clearly written. All together perfect.
Literate Parents, I think you and your family will enjoy this one.

Editorial Review:

Why do the storks no longer come to the little Dutch fishing village of Shora to nest? It was Lina, one of the six schoolchildren who first asked the question, and she set the others to wondering. And sometimes when you begin to wonder, you begin to make things happen. So the children set out to bring the storks back to Shora. The force of their vision put the whole village to work until at last the dream began to come true.

Winner, 1955 Newbery Medal
Notable Children's Books of 1940-1970 (ALA)
1963 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

The House of Sixty Fathers

Meindert Dejong

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

What an adventure! 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I read this book as a child and, in turn, read it to my children. It has a permanent place in our hearts. It is the well written story of a young Chinese boy and his beloved pig, "Glory of the Republic", who get separated from his family and caught behind Japanese lines when Japan invaded China in the late 1930's. It has some very scary moments. It also has tragedy. I think your child should be about 5th or 6th grade to be able to fully appreciate it. But the book will open your eyes as to what it might be like as a child to be caught in a war. The boy does get reunited with his family, but have your kleenex handy. As a parent you will definitely need it at the end.

Editorial Review:

THE HOUSE OF SIXTY FATHERSTien Pao is all alone in enemy territoy. Only a few days before, his family had escaped from the Japanese army, fleeing downriver by boat. Then came the terrible rainstorm. Tien Pao was fast asleep in the little sampan when the boat broke loose from its moorings and drifted right back to the Japanese soldiers. With only his lucky pig for company, Tien Pao must begin a long and dangerous journey in search of his home and family.

`A vividly realistic story of China during the early days of the Japanese invasion [which tells of young Tien Pao's journey to find his family].' —C. `Valuable as enrichment literature for elementary students involved in Chinese studies.' —Scholastic Teacher.

1957 Newbery Honor Book
Notable Children's Books of 1956 (ALA)
1956 Children's Book Award (Child Study Association)

Along Came a Dog (Harper Trophy Books)

Meindert Dejong

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Two thumbs up for this beautiful story 5 out of 5 stars.
26 of 26 people found this review helpful.

This is a lovely, sensitive story about a lonely dog searching for a home and the friendless little red hen he loves and protects. The author tells the story from the dog's and the hen's points of view, displaying a keen understanding of animal behavior. Sensitive children will identify with the protagonists, and it is impossible to avoid caring deeply about the fate of the two friends as the reader is drawn into their world. The story is suspenseful without being too scary for young children, and also includes a valuable message about accepting those who are "different." I loved this story as a youngster, and borrowed it dozens of times from my elementary school library. I just re-discovered it now at 36 years of age (I had assumed that it was out of print). It has not lost any of it's charm in the 25 years since I last read it.

Editorial Review:

The friendship of a little red hen and a homeless dog who appoints himself her protector `is treated by the author with delicacy and strength in lovely and lucid prose.' —C. "A moving story, full of suspense." —H.

1959 Newbery Honor Book
Notable Children's Books of 1940-1970 (ALA)
Aurianne Award 1958 (ALA)
1959 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
Best in Catholic Reading for Children 1959 (CLA)
Honor Certificate 1960, Hans Christian Andersen Award Committee (IBBY)

Hurry Home, Candy (Harper Trophy Books)

Meindert Dejong

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

45 years ago - my first dog book 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I first read this precious book forty-five years ago. It was 1961 and I was in the 5th grade. Until I read this book, I was terrified of dogs, but after reading it, I became a "dog person". Although I own almost every dog book in print, this one is still my favorite. My daughter read it when she was in fourth grade and loved it too. Needless to say, she's also a dog lover. My granddaughter is only two years old, but I have a copy for her as soon as she's ready.

Hurry Home, Candy; The BEST read for stray dog lovers! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Even though there are not many stray dog lovers out there, it also goes good for a must read for dog or even pet lovers!
I agree with 5 stars being the average consumer rating. It is a story of a nameless dog who finds a home. As it thinks life is just the children, they go to school during the day, and terror and frigtening, not to mention a broom, are awaiting him at home.
Car accident, Candy looks for a new home. When he does, the indivials there love him, and when he needs to hurry home at the end, he does on the last sentence.
Ask for quiet as you settle down and begin to read one of Meindert DeJong's best Newbery Honor book. You can omit this last sentence: be sure to look for Along came a Dog and The house of Sixty Fathers at your local library, another great Newbery Honor books by the great Hans Christian Andersen Medal winner author Meindert DeJong. If you like Caldecott books, however, he's the author of Where the Wild Things Are!

Editorial Review:

The dog was lost. He had no name, and no one to love him. He has only the silent, empty countryside, and a few crumbs and bare bones he could pick up. He had only himself, and he was afraid. Along the way, the little dog found a few friends, people who gave him shelter for a while, but always he moved on -- until he found a place he could call home forever.

Shadrach (Harper Trophy Books)

Meindert Dejong

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Davie wants a little black rabbit, and he wants one badly. Fortunately, his grandfather has promised him one. While waiting for it to arrive, he wonders what he should name it. Satan? Too sinister. Shoe Polish? Too sticky. Night? No good. Lily of the Valley? Too white. Finally, he decides to name his future rabbit Shadrach after one of the three young men in the Bible that "old Nebuchadnezzar in the old testament had tossed into the fiery furnace." No doubt about it, Davie is obsessed.

Davie's almost religious zeal for his soon-to-be pet, of whom he sings, "fairest of ten thousand to my soul," doesn't fade with the arrival of the actual rabbit. "To think he'd had Shadrach two weeks now! It was almost unbelievable, and it was still a miracle. Every morning you woke up it was a miracle all over again, that there in a barn across the Dutch village sat a little rabbit, and he was yours. Something breathing, nibbling, hopping, and it was yours! In all the world it was yours. It was alive, and it was yours!" Any child who has ever cried with happiness to have a pet will completely understand young Davie's emotions. Meindert Dejong, award-winning author of Newbery Medalist The Wheel on the School and The House of Sixty Fathers, has created a strikingly emotional novel for young readers, perfectly complemented by the illustrations of Maurice Sendak. (Ages 9 to 12)

The Last Little Cat

Meindert DeJong

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Sweet Story 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

A sweet little story about how a runt kitten and blind old dog find friendship. Easy and short enough for a 2nd grader to read on their own.

Editorial Review:

The winner of the 1954 Newbery Award for The Wheel on the School, Meindert DeJong wrote this story originally published nearly four decades ago. The Last Little Cat is now back in print to delight both children and adults. The last little cat was born in a kennel, surrounded by dogs and dog cages and dog noises. The little cat was always half cold and half hungry - until the day it fell into the cage of the old, blind dog. Then, for a while, the last little cat was warm, and the last little cat was well fed. But how could such a small cat know that barn doors are closed at night and that there are people in the world who do not want to help a helpless kitten? This story of how the last little cat found a home, and not only a home, but the perfect home, again confirms DeJong's place among the finest writers of this or any day.

Far Out the Long Canal

Meindert DeJong

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Unforgettable treat! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Each time I read "Far Out the Long Canal," the response of upper elementary listeners is the same - wide-eyed wonder and rapt attention. Could it be that they love Meindert DeJong's story as much as I do? Do the canals of the Netherlands come alive for them, too, as they wait with nine-year old Moonta for the first ice?

DeJong's word pictures carry the reader breathlessly through fog and cold, waiting and waiting for that ice to come and solve Moonta's dilemma - "he was the only one in the big room of the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders who couldn't skate."

Day after day, Moonta waits - waits impatiently - waits grudgingly - waits for ice that refuses to form. And then comes the day when Lees, the neighbor woman who knows more about weather than most seamen, comes out to shake a rug, sniffs the air, and says, "...there's a change coming. It's going to freeze, Moonta."

Freeze! Will Moonta learn to skate this year?

DeJong's strong moral values shine through as he weaves a story that models for his readers patience, courage, and obedience to those in authority.

All of DeJong's books are classics, but this one ties with "The House of Sixty Fathers" as my favorites.

The Easter Cat

Meindert Dejong

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Editorial Review:

Lonely in a house and neighborhood full of grownups (not counting her annoying neighbor Sarah), Millicent craves the comfort of a kitten to call her own. Unfortunately, her mother's allergies make it impossible for a cat to be anywhere near their house. So when Millicent wakes up early one Easter morning and finds a blue-gray kitten by her Easter basket in the living room, her luck seems too good to be true. Unfortunately, it is too good to be true. In no time at all, Millicent and her Blue Angel have become "fugitives from the law," hiding in a secret room under the house while her entire family searches the neighborhood for them, and her mother sneezes miserably.

Meindert DeJong's portrayal of a lonesome girl seeking to forge a connection in her world has a subtle yet moving authenticity. Winner of the Newbery Award for The Wheel on the School, DeJong writes with quiet wit and sensitivity--and a lot of excitement! Lillian Hoban's familiar line drawings are invitingly fuzzy, recalling the illustrations in her picture book series about Arthur (Arthur's Birthday Party) and Frances (A Baby Sister for Frances). (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Lina and the Storks (SRA Pilot Library IIa, #43)

Meindert DeJong

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