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1mirrani
This was my Newbery book for the month. I'd been holding off on reading it because I had in mind that it was something totally different from what it was. I was surprised, but not in a bad way. I really enjoyed reading this book. I actually took it with me to the park one day and just sat in the beautiful day and read... which was almost perfect because half of the story takes place in a barn. That old, worn wooden bench and the outside air, the occasional breeze... perfect atmosphere.
He had always wanted horses. He didn't know why, he just liked them. He liked the way they looked, the way they moved, their smell. He could watch horses for hours. p11
There's a little more of this, but that's the most important part. One thing I liked about this is the farmer researches an animal before he gets it.. and then he takes care of it just the way he should. He takes in all kinds, what no one else would have. And that's touching.
I started to worry that rats were going to be the bad guy all the time, but by page 25 you find out the author actually knows something about rats and helps to change their reputation a little bit. YAY!
"History records the names of men because men write it. Dick Whittington's name survives but his cat's name is lost. That's what's wrong with history. If it hadn't been for his cat, no one would remember Dick. Now no one remembers his cat." p35
Sadly this is true. How many of us realize there are animals doing amazing things each day to help people or their country? Do we even give them a thought or a hero's welcome when they return from a hard job? Or do we just want to pet them on the head when we see them and move on?
"I'll tell you, those teachers are heroes, all that they do."p45
Thank you, kind author.
"Slowly they crept up on London and London crept up on them. First the market gardens, then the smoky outskirts with dumps and stockyards and slaughterhouses, tanneries, fat renderers, rag-and-bone places, smelters -- all the dirty work of a city that the nicer sort of people who live there want to keep out of sight and never smell." p56
Lovely description of a disgusting area, don't you think?
The animals gathered around like the devout witnessing a miracle. It /was/ a miracle. Out of five black marks that had their origins a thousand generations back in a place lost to memory, Ben conjured up sounds that made a word that in turn evoked the presence of something that wasn't there. p72
What a way to describe reading. Wow.
On page 145 there's a discussion about Ben signing up for a special reading class. The rats root for him, the olders one saying that he's noticed more in books than there is out in the world around them, which just proves rats ARE smart and good... and WANT to learn... Someone did their research. :) And actually, it says that on p 189. :)
http://www.librarything.com/review/54252937
He had always wanted horses. He didn't know why, he just liked them. He liked the way they looked, the way they moved, their smell. He could watch horses for hours. p11
There's a little more of this, but that's the most important part. One thing I liked about this is the farmer researches an animal before he gets it.. and then he takes care of it just the way he should. He takes in all kinds, what no one else would have. And that's touching.
I started to worry that rats were going to be the bad guy all the time, but by page 25 you find out the author actually knows something about rats and helps to change their reputation a little bit. YAY!
"History records the names of men because men write it. Dick Whittington's name survives but his cat's name is lost. That's what's wrong with history. If it hadn't been for his cat, no one would remember Dick. Now no one remembers his cat." p35
Sadly this is true. How many of us realize there are animals doing amazing things each day to help people or their country? Do we even give them a thought or a hero's welcome when they return from a hard job? Or do we just want to pet them on the head when we see them and move on?
"I'll tell you, those teachers are heroes, all that they do."p45
Thank you, kind author.
"Slowly they crept up on London and London crept up on them. First the market gardens, then the smoky outskirts with dumps and stockyards and slaughterhouses, tanneries, fat renderers, rag-and-bone places, smelters -- all the dirty work of a city that the nicer sort of people who live there want to keep out of sight and never smell." p56
Lovely description of a disgusting area, don't you think?
The animals gathered around like the devout witnessing a miracle. It /was/ a miracle. Out of five black marks that had their origins a thousand generations back in a place lost to memory, Ben conjured up sounds that made a word that in turn evoked the presence of something that wasn't there. p72
What a way to describe reading. Wow.
On page 145 there's a discussion about Ben signing up for a special reading class. The rats root for him, the olders one saying that he's noticed more in books than there is out in the world around them, which just proves rats ARE smart and good... and WANT to learn... Someone did their research. :) And actually, it says that on p 189. :)
http://www.librarything.com/review/54252937
