Explore the World Books

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

John Boyne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 104 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas MOVIE Review from The Massie Twins 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The absolute high point of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is the attention to character development witnessed in every persona that appears onscreen. Thought-provoking and powerful, the backdrop of World War II, prison camps, and Nazis perfectly clash with the innocence of a child's mind and the injustice and compassion perceived through his eyes. At once painful, tear-jerking and deeply emotional, this is a film that cannot be easily forgotten.

Little Bruno (Asa Butterfield) and his family relocate to the countryside and out of Berlin during World War II. Bruno's father (David Thewlis) has just received a promotion to oversee a German concentration camp, much to the disapproval of his politically forthright parents, which takes the family away from friends and comfort. Bruno is initially upset, especially with boredom due to the lack of other children around the secluded house they move to, but he secretly wanders outside to investigate his surroundings.

Not far from the lonely home is the camp and its odd "farmers" who occasionally act as servants for the family. When Bruno works up the courage to travel to the gaunt resort, he meets Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) dressed in funny pajamas and looking glum. Soon the two consider themselves friends, even though they are separated by an electrified fence and can only meet in secrecy. Bruno brings food and games to play, but envisages himself as the unlucky one; he is tutored most of the day and trapped in a solitary fortress while Shmuel gets to roam freely (within the confines of the camp). Bruno's family life begins to falter when his mother (Vera Farmiga) discovers the true purpose of the camp and her husband's duties, and so he plots to join Shmuel in his search for his own missing father.

James Horner's preeminent score gives extra depth and resonance to outstanding performances and dire depictions of a catastrophic period. The film is told through the eyes of an innocent boy, giving a considerably unique approach to a Holocaust film. Based on the novel by John Boyne, the film never delves into actual atrocities, but instead focuses on the misinterpretations of a child's mind and the innocent interactions with both dutiful Nazis and suffering prisoners.

Every character is incredibly complex, from Jewish servant Pavel, who was once a doctor and now peels potatoes and serves drinks (Bruno can't understand why he'd give up his career), to Lieutenant Kotler, the intimidating German officer who shows no clemency to the Jews, yet carefully hides his own doubts about the orders he carries out. No supporting character is wasted, and each is perfectly portrayed by an incredibly talented cast.

Some aspects of the film's realism are questionable, from the use of servants to Schmuel's age to young Bruno's naïveté, but the message behind The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is nonetheless powerful and emotional. It's a difficult film to watch, but well paced and enlightening, despite the terribly bleak setting. The acting and character designs are simply phenomenal and unquestionably highlight this traumatizing World War II drama.

- Mike Massie

Editorial Review:

Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

Magic Tree House #40: Eve of the Emperor Penguin (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))

Mary Pope Osborne

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

Excellent New Addition to the Series or Standalone Children's Book 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I have read many of the Magic Treehouse books while recently "studying" for my 6-year old's Magic Treehouse Birthday Party. She really loves this series, reads them ravenously, and plays "Jack and Annie" constantly with her friends. I read around 15 of them, up until now the first part of the series (this is my first of the Merlin Missions), and have found the books to be cute, quick and entertaining.

I have never found anything in them that concerns me for my daughter to be reading, which is more than I can say for many of the series out there for young children, whose main characters are often wisecracking, sibling-hating and constantly in trouble. I love the way Jack and Annie play together and protect one another, even while they don't always agree and have different styles and strengths.

In any case, regarding this specific book, I think it is a wonderful addition to the Magic Tree House Series, or if you child is new to the series, an excellent introduction. My daughter just got it for her birthday.. and I gave it a quick read because now that I've read so many, I wanted to see what the Merlin Missions were all about.

I was quite impressed. This book seemed a little bit more developed and engrossing than some of the early stories. Not in a way that is too difficult for kids, but just more substantial. It was a good mix of fantasy and fact, like usual, with easily digestible facts and lessons, in this case on penguins and the Antarctic. This book was doubly interesting in that it was a culmination of a 4-book set (the magic treehouse books have 4 book sets that circle around a particular theme or type of mission -- in this one they are trying to find 4 secrets of happiness for Merlin who is exceedingly sad and have been asked by Morgan le Fay, the owner of the treehouse, to help). The secrets they share -- nature, curiosity, compassion and taking care of others -- provide just lovely messages for kids.

There are a few scary parts, when they fall down a cliff, or when a predatory bird is attacking a penguin, but Osborne has a gift for having adventure in her stories without the "scary" aspect being too much for kids. My daughter will hardly watch anything these days because of mean or scary characters, and that extends to some books -- but these stories always engage her without frightening her.

If your kids already like the Magic Tree House series, definitely add this one to their collection. If MTH is new for your children, this is a great one to start with. It stands alone nicely (she has a short prologue which explains things well up to this point), and may get your child interested in reading the earlier books. What's so great about Magic Tree House is that it is wonderful for boys and for girls. And it really creates a gentle exposure to history and character often natural science, but in a fun way. And for those kids that love the topic of the book, there are non-fiction research guides, very easily accessible for 5-6 years and up with lots more information on those topic (for this book, the companion research guide is Penguins and Antarctica (Magic Tree House Rsrch Gdes(R)).

This book makes a wonderful gift for any early to mid-level reader. If your child is an early reader, it would be great to read with them. For a mid-level reader, they can spread it out a chapter at a time, or like my daughter, tear through it in an afternoon. Great job, Mary Pope Osborne. Please keep them coming!!!

Editorial Review:

JACK AND ANNIE continue their quest for the secrets of happiness—secrets they need to save Merlin. This time, the Magic Tree House takes them to the one continent they haven’t visited before: Antarctica! What can they hope to learn about happiness in such a barren place? Only the penguins know for sure . . . Jack and Annie are about to find out!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Sherman Alexie

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 98 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I bought the books and it was in excellent condition. I would buy again and the fast shipping. thanks.

Courtesy of Mother Daughter Book Club.com 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Arnold Spirit is a freshman at a high school on the Spokane Indian reservation in northwest Washington. All his life he's been picked on because he looks strange: his head is large because he was born with hydrocephalus, he has seizures, too many teeth and he wears thick glasses. But Arnold is very smart, and he likes drawing. When a teacher counsels him to find hope in the form of attending a white high school off the reservation, Arnold makes a bold move toward a future he didn't think was possible.

Through Arnold's eyes we see the problems faced by many on modern Indian reservations: alcoholism, poverty, lack of opportunity and despair. Yet, we also find acceptance of the shortcomings among those we call family and a way to follow your dreams without denigrating those you leave behind.

Arnold's story is for anyone who chooses to follow a different path than the one clearly laid out before him. Issues of race, friendship, love and community should provide great discussion for mother-daughter book club members.

Editorial Review:

In his first book for young adults, bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by acclaimed artist Ellen Forney, that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

Brava, Strega Nona!: A Heartwarming Pop-Up Book

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Brava Indeed!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Brava, Strega Nona! is a magnificent work of art. The pop-ups and the story work perfectly together to exalt the simple things that are Strega Nona's "magic recipe" for the good life. My immediate urge is to buy one for everyone I know! BRAVO! to Tomie dePaola, Robert Sabuda, and Matthew Reinhart, whose collaboration on this book is truly magical. Each page is full of their artistry, and simply awe-inspiring. I wish I could give it TEN stars!!!!

Editorial Review:

Tomie dePaola’s Strega Nona has been loved by generations of children’s book readers, but they’ve never seen her like this!

In six spreads of pop-up magnificence, paper engineered by the renowned #1 New York Times bestselling team of Sabuda and Reinhart, Strega Nona shares her words of wisdom for leading a magical life, all rendered in Tomie dePaola’s classic style.

With doors to open, tabs to pull, and a host of other interactive features, readers will be drawn into Strega Nona’s world in a way they’ve never been before. Brava, Strega Nona! is a glorious celebration of important values that will introduce a whole new generation of readers to this lovable character.

Number the Stars (Yearling Newbery)

Lois Lowry

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Features:

• CHILDRENS BOOKS & MUSIC
• Childrens Books
• Language Arts

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 710 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Holocaust tale appropriate for younger readers 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

10-year-old Annemarie Johannesen narrates this story (based on real events) set in Denmark during WWII. The Danish resistance arranged to transport many Jews to safety in Sweden after they found out that Jews were being sent to concentration camps by the Nazis.

Annemarie is not Jewish, but her best friend, Ellen, is. Annemarie's family helps smuggle Ellen and her parents, along with several other Jewish families, out of the country. Lowry manages to give the reader a sense of the horror of the Holocaust without going into graphic detail.

Wonderful book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Every few years I read this book over and love it every time. It is a great book to introduce kids to the plight of the Jews and non-Jews of German-occupied countries during WWII. My 10 year old read it and loved it too and it brought up a lot of questions. Highly recommended.

Editorial Review:

It’s 1943 Copenhagen and the Jews of Denmark are being “relocated,” so Annemarie Johansen’s best friend, Ellen, moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be part of the family. When Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission, she must find the courage to save her friend’s life.

Hatchet (Piper)

Gary Paulsen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1163 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An Exciting Survival Story 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Hatchet is one of Gary Paulsen's finest works. I think his goal was to establish a great young adult novel that is easy to become immersed in. He looks to create a book that is enjoyable and also has a lot of useful information about life in the wilderness.
Paulsen, a writer from Minneapolis, writes young adult novels usually about nature. He has written over 200 books, short stories, magazine articles, and plays. He enjoys dog sled racing and has participated in many Iditarod races.
Brian Robeson is trapped in the Canadian wilderness with nothing more than the clothes on his back and a hatchet, given to him by his divorced mother before his trip. He crashes from a bush plane after the pilot has a heart attack and the plane runs out of fuel. He is forced to eat whatever he can find, which includes fish, turtle eggs, wild berries, and a few birds. Isolated from any outside help, Brian must find out on his own by making fire by hitting flint with more flint and other survival tactics. Many dangers seem to get in Brian's way as he tries to get by until he can be rescued. Among these dangers, Brian must face a porcupine, a moose, and even a tornado. Will he survive the elements and get rescued or will the wilderness be too much for him to handle?
I feel that Gary Paulsen has achieved his goal with flying colors. You could read this book over and over again and still find inspiration from it. Hatchet sparked the mind with exciting conflicts and kept me entertained from cover to cover. I felt that Hatchet has a certain special touch that no other writer could compare. If you are ever stuck in the wilderness, do not look for a survival guide, look for Hatchet. It will teach you more about the wild than most guides out there.

Editorial Review:

Haunted by his parents' divorce, Brian Robeson, sole survivor of a plane crash, must draw on his untested skills to survive in the wilderness.

Christmas in Camelot (Magic Tree House, No. 29)

Mary Pope Osborne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Magic Treehouse Series 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The magic treehouse series has been and continues to be a wonderful series for my son. Educational and interesting, these books capture his attention and inspire his imagination. It is so rewarding to see your child be enthusiastic about reading stories and reading in general. I have and will continue to suggest these books to other parents.

Book-Series 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Book arrived in a timely manner. Was suprised it didn't have a dust cover as that was not stated in advertisement. However, book was in good shape.

Editorial Review:

The Magic Tree House series has become a staple for inspiring kids to read. Christmas in Camelot is a very special Magic Tree House book. Here, author Mary Pope Osborne uses the literary skills for which she’s known to create a longer, more in-depth story featuring the characters kids have come to love. The result is magical: a fast-paced but detailed, easy-to-read story. Jack and Annie go on a quest to save Camelot, a quest that will prove to a beleaguered King Arthur that children and imagination really can make a difference.

Madeline (Caldecott Honor Books)

Ludwig Bemelmans

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A great children's book 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

"In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines." In 1939, Ludwig Bemelmans began writing stories about a group of girls in a school in Paris, foremost among whom was the irrepressible Madeline. Those books are now considered classics in children's literature, having collected many awards.

This is a great children's book, one that my four-year-old likes having read to her over and over again. Indeed, we now have it down to where she finishes the sentences for me. "In two straight lines they..." I start, and she finishes with, "broke their bread." Well, it's a lot of fun. We both love this book and highly recommend it!

Editorial Review:

For 50 years, the adventures of Madeline have delighted millions of readers. Now, here's a special introduction to the famous "old house in Paris all covered with vines"--a paperback edition of Bemelmans' Madeline, packaged in a bright box along with a Madeline doll. She's child-safe, and machine washing keeps her as good as new!.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 511 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Huck Finn 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is required reading for my 16 yr old son....the
book arrived quickly & in great shape! Saved me driving all
over town to compete w/ other parents also looking!! Thanks!

Huckleberry Finn 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Huckleberry Finn is a classic. Simple as that. It provides a look into what life was probably like for a 19th century boy. It was different than the life of children today, because today life centers around education. Back then, it was a regular thing to play hooky, even though they got in trouble for it when they were caught. And when they were punished, usually it was with a beating instead of `You're Grounded!'.

The book shows us how badly slaves were treated. They weren't even considered humans! It was like they didn't have feelings, and didn't see things the same way white people did. They way the slaves actually did think was odd. It was sad to see that they could slap a slave for no reason, and the slave would accept it either because they were used to it or they thought that whites were better than them.

Huck Finn is rather unrealistic in the aspect of adventure. I'm guessing most boys back then didn't run off with an escaped slave to Cairo. The way that Mark Twain wrote the book was different than other first/second person books I've seen. The dialogue was very much like the 19th century southern Mississippi talk. Sometimes it got hard to decipher what a paragraph in slave-speak meant because it was so obscure.

All in all, Mark Twain's writing style is different than the traditional Southern book, but that doesn't detract at all from the story. I liked it!

Editorial Review:

'Cordially hated and dreaded by all the mothers of the town because he was idle, and lawless, vulgar, and bad - and because all their children admired him so', Huckleberry Finn, the fourteen-year-old son of the town drunkard, joins runaway slave Jim on an exciting journey down the mighty Mississippi River on a raft.

The Clique Collection: The Clique / Best Friends for Never / Revenge of the Wannabes (Clique)

Lisi Harrison

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 438 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Shallow-coated lesson 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book series has always been stereotyped as the book that only shallow and rich girls read. Well, I am neither shallow (I hope not) nor rich (maybe in my dreams) but surprisingly, this book was strangely good.

If you read hard enough, you'll discover the message that Lisi Harrison intended to put out. It describes the trials and woes of school, peer pressure, making new friends, dealing with enemies, and just being a girl.

In reality, the girls LH describes are the girls seen today. They are superficial, mean, and catty. But does one really know what goes on in their heads? The insecurities of the populars are revealed, and that is what redeems this book series. How not everyone can be perfect, but still want to act like it.

LH probably wants to show girls that being popular isn't everything. That, in reality, it is the silliest thing to want to fight for. Claire was ridiculous for fighting to be friends with girls who didn't like her. Massie manipulated her friends to terrorize Claire just because she felt threatened. Really, what teenage girls would want to live like this?

The author didn't want girls to model after her characters, but learn from their mistakes. But still, I think that it is a bit silly to put out a strong lesson in such an immature setting. I doubt that 7th graders live like this, try high school.

The humor is a bit sappy, but the characters are all unique and represent the different kinds of obstacles that girls today face. Dylan, with her body issues. Kristen, with her poverty. Alicia, a person who is always overshadowed. Claire, a new girl who just wants to fit in. And Massie, a girl who seems perfect, but actually isn't.

So when reading this book, look through the glamour and glitz and try to see the real message. That makes reading this book worthwhile, I think.

Editorial Review:

A boxed set of three books (The Clique #1, The Clique #2: Best Friends for Never, The Clique #3: Revenge of the Wannabes) in the New York Times bestselling series.