Archives for June, 2010
Posted by BOOK NAME: Ranger’s Apprentice: The Kings of Clonmel
AUTHOR: John Flanagan
Welcome to the last DogEared book club meeting of June! We just finished The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan. It’s the eighth book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. So we don’t give anything away to people who aren’t following along, click “See More” to keep reading this post.
If you don’t want to read any spoilers, don’t keep going!
Warning–we’re talking about things that happen at the end of the book! If you haven’t read it, STOP HERE!
Read the whole post »
Posted by The National Zoo’s female red panda Shama gave birth to her first cub on June 16! This is the first red panda born at the Zoo in15 years. Red pandas are an endangered species–there are only about 2,500 red pandas left in the wild. But if you visit the Zoo, you may be able to see Shama and her little one from the upper viewing platform on the Asia Trail.
Learn more about the baby red panda on the National Zoo’s website.
Get the facts on giant pandas on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph courtesy of Mehgan Murphy, Smithsonian National Zoo
Posted by BOOK NAME: The Red Pyramid
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan
It started off when my Mom brought me home a book order from school (she’s a teacher there). I decided to get a Gary Paulsen book called Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats and The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. I wanted The Red Pyramid because it looked like it had some cool adventure. Everyday after school, I’d ask my Mom, “Did it come? Did it come?” It took a while for it to finally come because it hadn’t even been published yet! It finally came in the middle of one school day and I started reading it that night.
The story’s narrators switch off between the two main characters, Carter and Sadie. Carter and Sadie’s mom died when they were young so Sadie had to go live with her grandparents on her mom’s side of the family. Carter lived with his dad who’s an archaeologist, but they only went to visit Sadie twice a year. Carter was named after Howard Carter, who discovered King Tut’s tomb (if you want to learn more about King Tut and mummies, read Braden’s review of the book Mummies).
Carter and Sadie’s dad takes them to the British Museum in London, where they see the Rosetta Stone, a famous archaeological discovery. He tells them to stay in an office, but when they leave the office they find their dad doing something that looks like magic. It turns out to be that he’s summoning gods from the Rosetta Stone. One of the gods puts their dad into a coffin which then sinks into the ground.
The rest of the story is about how the kids, along with their uncle Amos, try to find their dad. It’s story is full of twists and turns and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
It’s really for advanced readers who are 8 and 9 and other readers who are 10-12. It’s sort of like The Lightning Thief where there are gods in modern times. You should definitely get this book. It may take you a while to read because it’s 514 pages long, but it’s definitely worth it.
Until next time…SEEYA!
Posted by BOOK NAME: The Owl Keeper
AUTHOR: Christine Brodien-Jones
Maxwell Unger is allergic to the sun. Or at least that’s the condition he was diagnosed with when he was younger. The doctor told him that he couldn’t ever be touched by sunlight, or he’d have a terrible reaction, burn up, and die.
Before Max was diagnosed with the disease, before the High Echelon asserted full control, his Gran told him stories about silver owls. After she died, the High Echelon declared that silver owls are evil and that they need to be hunted down and killed. But Max has a secret. He knows of a silver owl that is still alive – what is more, he visits her every night after the sun goes down.
Because he has to stay inside all day, Max doesn’t have many friends and isn’t connected with the outside world except for at night. But when he meets a strange girl one evening while he’s out walking, his life changes forever. Max begins to question the High Echelon as he gets to know more and more about the girl. Every week, he has to be injected with medicine to make sure his condition won’t get worse. But as he talks to his newfound friend, Max starts to wonder if his allergy is even real.
This book was a refreshing break from the monotone of other science fiction and fantasy novels on the shelves. For once, I didn’t find myself groaning once a vampire or werewolf was introduced. In fact, I couldn’t put it down until I was done. Along with providing an enticing storyline, the novel had deeper meaning to it as well–kind of like The Giver, which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. For me, the character of Rose, Max’s friend, was the most interesting. She is a fighter, and never gave up no matter what hardship befell her. She never stopped trying to find out the truth, and didn’t let anything put her down. I think that she is a great model for kids our age today–never give up and persevere, and you’ll achieve your goals.
NASA wants to put your face in space during the final space shuttle missions! People can send their pictures and names to NASA, and the photos and names will be electronically transferred to the space shuttles during an upcoming mission. The files will then be transferred back to Earth, and people who entered their photos will be able to print a certificate saying they had their faces in space!
“Since the space shuttles belong to the public, this is an opportunity for the people to ‘ride along’ [during the final shuttle missions],” said Kyle Herring from the NASA press office. Lots of people are interested in the program. NASA has received over 170,000 entries so far!
The program is open to people ages 13 and up. If you are under 13, ask your parent to upload your photo.
Learn more about the Face in Space program on the NASA website.
See pictures of space shuttles on National Geographic Kids.
How much do you know about NASA history? Quiz Your Noodle and find out!
Photograph courtesy NASA
BOOK NAME: Ranger’s Apprentice: The Kings of Clonmel
AUTHOR: John Flanagan
Welcome to today’s DogEared book club meeting! We’re continuing to read The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan. It’s the eighth book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. So we don’t give anything away to people who aren’t following along, click “See More” to keep reading this post.
If you don’t want to read any spoilers, don’t keep going!
Arrr! Here be spoilers! Turn back now if you haven’t finished chapter 36!
Read the whole post »
Yesterday was the summer solstice, which means that summer has officially started! The summer solstice marks the point where there is the most daylight in a 24-hour period in the northern hemisphere (above the Equator). The winter solstice, which will fall on December 21, marks the day when there is the least daylight. In the southern hemisphere, it’s switched–the summer solstice is the shortest day of the year, and the winter solstice is the longest.
The first day of summer may get more daylight than any other day of the year, but that doesn’t mean it is the hottest. Astronomer Robert Howell from the Universtiy of Wyoming compares the solstice to turning on an oven. “If you think about turning up an oven–it takes it a long time to heat up, and after you turn it off, it takes a while for it to cool down. It’s the same with the Earth.”
Learn more about the summer solstice on National Geographic News.
Looking for ways to have fun this summer? Try our Boredom Busters!
Posted by MOVIE NAME: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
BASED ON: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
The question I kept asking myself when I read The Lightning Thief was “who is the Lightning Thief?” This book is full of characters based on Greek and Roman mythology that are living in today’s world, and one of them has stolen the master lightning bolt of Zeus, the king of the gods. There are many mythological characters and creatures that are friends, foes and relatives of Percy Jackson, who the book is all about. Percy finds out that he is the son of Poseidon, the god of water, and that he has magical powers.
They made a movie out of The Lightning Thief, which I saw at the theater while reading the book. The book had a lot more detail than the movie, including some characters such as Ares and Kronos. Overall, I thought the book was better than the movie. One part of the movie that I did like was how they turned seven security guards at a museum into the seven heads of the hydra monster. While the ending of the movie was all wrapped up, the book had such a strong cliffhanger that I found myself reading the second in the series, Sea of Monsters, before I had a chance to write this review.
The winner of the National Park Foundation’s First Bloom garden design contest has been announced! Fort Smith National Historic Site in Arkansas came in first place. The design features raised beds planted with native Arkansas plants, vegetables, fruits, and flowers. To fit in with the historic nature of the park, youth from Girls, Inc. of Fort Smith will help maintain the garden wearing costumes from the 1860s.
The Fort Smith National Historic Site’s First Bloom group will be taking a trip to Washington, D.C. to visit national parks such as the National Mall. The other winners will get grants to help them with their projects.
Visit the First Bloom site to see a gallery of all the entries.
How much do you know about the national parks? Quiz Your Noodle and find out!
Illustration courtesy National Parks
Foundation
BOOK NAME: Ranger’s Apprentice: The Kings of Clonmel
AUTHOR: John Flanagan
Welcome back, book clubbers! This week we continued reading The Kings of Clonmel. We’ll be talking about chapters 13 through 24. If you haven’t made it that far yet, you might not want to keep reading this post–we wouldn’t want to wreck anything for you!
Warning: There are spoilers ahead!
Last chance to turn back. Really!
Read the whole post »
Do you like to explore? Kids living in the U.S. spend 50% less time outdoors than kids did 20 years ago. Forests are great places to have outdoor adventures and learn about nature. You’ll never know what you’ll discover. Grab your parents and tell them you want to go on an outdoor adventure this weekend. Visit the Discover the Forest site to get inspired and print out a book full of cool stuff to do featuring Shrek!
Why does Shrek like visiting the forest? Watch the new Discover the Forest video on YouTube to find out!!
Visit Discover the Forest to find a forest or park near you.
You can go on a camping trip in your backyard! Find out how on National Geographic Kids.
Posted by BOOK NAME: Shadow of a Bull
AUTHOR: Maia Wojciechowska
Everyone expects Manolo to be like his history making, bullfighter father, Juan Olivar, who died when Manolo was 3. Inwardly, he is a coward, a boy who can’t even jump down from a haystack. With these characteristics, Manolo doubts he could be anything like his father. With 6 men teaching him everything about bullfighting, Manolo worries about letting down his dead father, encouraging mother, and the whole world. Manolo has a choice; he can be like his father or let everyone know who he is… as himself.
I’ve never been into bullfighting so this book didn’t really interest me. I can’t say it wasn’t a good book, either. The author made the characters real, but I was kind of disappointed that the “6 men” didn’t have names. I don’t think the author thought through the story well before she wrote it, either. Maia Wojciechowska, the author, did however know her bullfighting, making the bullfights and characters come to life with her knowledge.
I’d probably recommend this book to someone that likes bullfighting. The whole book is filled with bullfighting terms and words. In the back of the book, there is even a glossary of terms! That is the part of the book, I liked, though. I believe she did a great job with getting all her facts right. It’s an interesting Newberry Medal winner book.
A giant sinkhole appeared in downtown Guatemala City, Guatemala on May 30. It’s about 60 feet (18 meters) wide, and appears to be 30 stories deep! Scientists think that tropical storm Agatha caused the sinkhole to form, although one geologist believes that it may have been because of leaky pipes.
Guatemala City is built on ground known as pumice fill that came from many past volcanic eruptions. Water soaked the loose, gravelly ground particles under the topsoil and the particles shifted causing the top layer to collapse.
See pictures and learn more about the giant sinkhole on National Geographic News.
Get facts about Guatemala on National Geographic Kids.
What’s it like to live in Guatemala? Read Keli’s blog and find out.
Photograph by Daniel LeClair, Reuters
The oil that began leaking with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20th continues to spill into the gulf. This oil spill is now the worst in U.S. history.
The spill is taking a heavy toll on wildlife. More than 800 dead animals, including birds, fish, and dolphins, have been found in areas affected by the spill. The number of affected animals seems to have been increasing in the last few days.
Oil is hard to clean up. Try rubbing some olive oil and canola oil on your hair to see how hard it is to clean off. Now imagine trying to clean crude oil off your whole body using your mouth. Oil-coated birds are unable to keep the oil off their feathers, but while there is oil on their feathers they are unable to fly. Rehabilitators are trying to clean some of the birds by rubbing them with vegetable oil, which breaks down the heavier oil, and then washing them with detergents. Because the oil from the spill is toxic, not all cleaned birds will survive.
Scientists are not yet sure how the deaths of so many creatures will affect the Gulf ecosystem.
See more pictures of affected wildlife on National Geographic News.
Photograph by Win McNamee, Getty Images
BOOK NAME: Ranger’s Apprentice: The Kings of Clonmel
AUTHOR: John Flanagan
Welcome to the first DogEared book club meeting! This week we started reading The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan. It’s the eighth book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. Since not everyone reading the blog has a copy of the book, click “See More” to keep reading. We wouldn’t want to spoil anything for people who don’t want to know what’s going on before they get a chance to read the book themselves!
Last chance to turn back. There are spoilers ahead!
Read the whole post »
National Geographic Explorers working on projects all over the world are meeting at NG headquarters in Washington D.C. to share their latest fieldwork. Want to learn more about each of the Explorers and their projects? Visit the Nat Geo E-Team online!
Illustration by Chris Rooney
Posted by BOOK NAME: A Faraway Island
AUTHOR: Annika Thor
TRANSLATOR: Linda Schenk
During the time of World War II, children were sent off to other families in safer countries so they could be protected. Nellie and Stephie were just two of the girls that had to leave their home in Germany. They were separated into different foster families across the street from each other in a little Swedish town. Nellie, who was younger was getting along with her new life fine. She made friends and had gotten used to the different culture and language. Not so much for Stephie. The kids picked on her for being Jewish and she felt like this wasn’t her real home. She was especially worried for her parents, who were trying to get their tickets into America where they would all live a new and better life. Both girls don’t know what will happen next or how long the war or their foster life will last.
It is hard for me to find a book that I’m willing to actually reading in my spare time or even say I enjoy. This was one of the few books I loved! I liked reading about a girl who lives during the time of War World II. It wasn’t a completely boring book either, which I find rare. The book did get a little emotional when the girls didn’t know how long it would be until they got to see their parents again. When I read about Stephie, the main character, being embarrassed I could relate that to my own life. She had a little sister that she had to take care of and I know how that feels because I have two little brothers that I feel are my responsibility to take care of when my parents aren’t around. This was a really good book and sometime in the future I know I will read the sequels to it!
Posted by BOOK NAME: Redwall
AUTHOR:
Brian Jacques
As a book reviewer I can’t say that all the books I review are my favorites, but yet again I have to say Redwall is one of my favorites! This is an absolutely charming story of peaceful mice and the woodland creatures of Redwall Abbey. They are under attack by the legendary Cluny the Scourge, but the peace seeking creatures have a legendary person on their side also. Martin the Warrior is gone, but he is a symbol of hope and courage to the woodland creatures. Martin the Warrior is especially a hero to a young mouse named Matthias who lives in the abbey.
Matthias was found orphaned as a young child and was taken to the welcoming abbey. Now in this time of war, Matthias has to look upon Martin the Warrior and his wits to save the Redwall Abbey. You wouldn’t think that this young mouse would soon be a hero, with robes that are many sizes too big and he walks with a clomp-clomp sound because his sandals are much too big for him. This is a story that plays along with the unlikely hero plot. But don’t think that Matthias is in this alone! He has friends such as Constance the badger and Cornflower the field mouse to help him through his quest.
This book was a real cliffhanger with lots of great suspense. I really liked the animal themes and I especially like when animals act like humans and have human quirks and personality traits. I most wanted to be like Basil Stag Hare who was a funny and courageous character. He likes to tease and torment the enemy and I think this skill could come in handy in middle school.
Redwall is a long book, but never boring. It would be a lovely addition to your collection!
Did you know that fish can walk? This photograph shows an Australian fish called a pink handfish. No one has actually seen this tiny four-inch (ten-centimeter) fish since 1999, and no one is sure exactly when this photo was taken. These fish have been spotted a total of only four times in the shallow waters near Hobart, a city on the island of Tasmania.
Scientists recently determined that the pink handfish is a distinct species from other handfish. They haven’t been studied very often, and there is not much information on their behavior. There are 14 known species of handfish, and they all live in shallow water on the southeastern edge of Australia.
See more handfish pictures on National Geographic News.
Watch a video about fish camouflage on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph courtesy Karen Gowlett-Holmes
Guess what? Summer’s starting, and that means time to read on the beach (or in a hammock, or in your room… wherever!) To kick off your summer reading, we’re staring a Book of the Month group. Every month, we’ll feature a book that we think sounds really cool. You can pick up your own copy and follow along with us. Visit DogEared each Wednesday to follow the discussion with
other DogEared Book Club readers like you!
What’s the first book? It’s the newest book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series. It’s called The Kings of Clonmel, and it’s the eighth book following the adventures of new ranger Will and his mentor, Halt.
Click here to visit the Book of the Month page and to learn more about this month’s pick!
We’ll be reading the first 12 chapters this week. See you on Wednesday, June 9!
-DogEared
