River Boy The Story of Mark Twain

•  Title: River Boy The Story of Mark Twain
  
•  Author: William Anderson
  
•  Illustrator: Dan Andresen
  
• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
• Grade Level: 2 - 5
• Lexile Measure: 880L
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (February 18, 2003)
• Language: English (Amazon.com)

Synopsis: This biography on Mark Twain goes through and shows how his childhood had such an important impact on his future writings. Sam Clemens was born in Missouri and raised alongside the Mississippi River. He had a decent childhood until his father died and he had to start working to help support the family at age twelve. Clemens worked at a newspaper, on a steam boat, and then as an author and lecturer. Clemens married, had children, and grew into an old age with a fantastic home he built for his family.

My Review: This book provided lots of fascinating information about Mark Twain's life without once being boring! One fascinating piece of information found is that Sam Clemens was born on and died during the arrival of Haley's Comet. I especially loved all of the scenes mentioned from his childhood that come straight out of some of his more famous novels. I never knew that Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were based so much on his real life. The full page illustrations were nice, but the colors weren't vivid enough for me. Perhaps the color scheme was supposed to mimic the murky waters of the Mississippi? Not sure, but I definitely think that the illustrations need some work bringing more life into the story. Another awesome thing I learned was that Clemens actually was a steamboat pilot at one point in his career. The only "tool" provided in this book is a timeline at the back of "The Life of Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain." The lack of bibliography is a little disturbing, and I think an author's note would have been helpful as well so the audience could get to know more about why the author chose to write about Mark Twain. Overall, I'd  say that it was fun and interesting, but lacked crucial tools to enhance the story. 

A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams

 

• Title: A River of Words The Story of William Carlos Williams
• Author: Jen Bryan
• Illustrator: Melissa Sweet
• Age Range: 7 and up
• Grade Level: 2 and up
• Lexile Measure: 820L (What's this?)
• Hardcover: 34 pages
• Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (July 9, 2008)
• Language: English (Amazon.com)

Synopsis:

This book walks young people through the life of William Carlos Williams from his childhood through his death while incorporating his poetry throughout the illustrations of the book.

Characters:
William Carlos Williams: a renowned poet who spent most of his life as a doctor
Hilda Doolitle, Ezra Pound, and Charlie Demuth: friends that WCW met in college and encourage his writing.

My Review:

This biography of WCW was great because it didn't just highlight his poetry, it highlighted his day-to-day of being a doctor and dealing with real-world concerns of providing for his family. The book is inspiring because Williams managed to be a doctor and still stay true to his passion for writing. The layout of the book is intriguing because there are images just layered over one another, almost like the story is just part of a scrap-book. It was a nice touch when they added a few of his full poems at the back of the book. The snippets that they provided throughout the book left me wanting the entire poem. The book has an "Author's Note", "Illustrator's Note", and "For Further Reading" area. The one thing I wish this book provided was an actual reference page. Overall, I would recommend this book for younger audiences who want a general description of William Carlos Williams. I think it could have gone more in-depth in certain areas, but for an introductory piece, it was good.

•  Title: Hurricane & Tornado
  
•  Author: Jack Challoner
  
• Age Range: 8 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 3 - 7
• Series: DK Eyewitness Books
• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN (August 9, 2004)
• Language: English
                       -Amazon Review  

This book gives a wide coverage on not only Hurricanes and Tornadoes, but many other natural disasters as well. Flash floods, droughts, blizzards, and landslides are a few other topics covered. This book includes an: "Amazing facts" section, "Questions and Answers" section, a "Timeline" section, and a "Find out more" section in addiction the glossary, index, and acknowledgments sections found in most books. Because I chose a topic for my last entry on something I knew nothing about, I chose this week to focus on something that I did know a little about.

My Review:

This book is full of information. So much information it was hard for me to believe. The text itself is only half of the information of the book, if that. There is so much information gained from reading the detailed captions that go with each photograph and illustration. I thought I knew a lot about weather, but I knew almost nothing about the history of early forecasting, which is the first section of the book. There were some fascinating instruments developed prior to Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment. Another section taught me how much I did not know about hail. Did you know that there is actually a "Hail Alley" in the U.S.? I mean, we've all heard about the "Tornado Alley", but I've never heard of this "Hail Alley" term. Apparently, hail creates millions in crop damage each year.
Besides all of the textual information I learned, the photographs found in the book are captivating and illuminating. Certain pieces of information are just too hard to learn without visualization. One example of this would be the development of a supercell. Without the diagrams and photographs, I never would have known what a supercell was merely from the text.
  One thing that I noticed was missing was a bibliography. Looking at the acknowledgements section, I saw that most of the recognition was for the photography found within the book-not the knowledge. So, after realizing there was no bibliography, I looked for an "About the Author" page. No go. I know that this DK series is very popular and is a reputable company, but I still think that the author's credentials should be in the book, as well as a bibliography section.
Overall, I would recommend this book for kids to read if they are interested in extreme weather. There is a "Useful Website" section in the back of the book that would definitely help kids out to further their knowledge on the subject.