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1935

Editor's Note: Many of the books are out of print. The header information will be as complete as I can make it.

Dobry by Monica Shannon (Viking, fifth-grade level). Out of print	The Medalist A peasant boy living in a small village in Bulgaria discovers he has a rare talent for artwork. Dobry, the title character, is content with his life working his family's fields until he begins to sketch storks. Everyone quickly discerns his talent but his mother is alarmed that he will neglect his farm work. Eventually she comes around and agrees he should move on to Sofia and advanced training. To say that this book is dated is a grotesque understatement. It has mild interest as a cultural document of a much-neglected group, but the emphasis would be on mild. I can't imagine any child reading this unless they were severely threatened with bodily injury.
The Pageant of Chinese History by Elizabeth Seeger (David McKay Company, sixth-grade level). Reprinted through 1964. Out of print	Honor Book The author provides an entertaining review of Chinese history. This is a wonderful book because it's so different from the style of writing found in modern textbooks. They read like sandpaper. Seeger is an adept at telling stories and drilling down to the nuggets of truth hidden in grand events. She personalizes history, but characters really don't dominate. Character dominates. The Chinese character, that is. Seeger did more in this one book to explain the national character of China to me than any other dozen books I've read. Seeger is of course hurt by chronology. She spends hundreds of pages on the early millennia of Chinese history but comes up short in modern times. Revisions produced after the book's publishing in the 1930s have tried to catch up to the earth-shattering changes that happened to China after World War II, but the narrative flow is lost. Stick to the early chapters. If you ever want to understand Chinese culture and its value system, read this book. I'm speaking to teachers, librarians and perhaps a president or two.
Davy Crockett by Constance Rourke (Harcourt Brace, fourth-grade level). Renewed copyright 1962. Out of print	Honor Book The author provides an interesting biography of one of America's most famous pioneers. This is an unusual book in that Rourke took a modern approach to biography. She saves most of Crockett's warts from exposure, but her attention to scholarship and her open conversation with the reader smack of a later age. Rourke also does a good job of explaining how much of what we know of Crockett is drawn from myth making (on his own) and by others. In any case, she limns an interesting portrait and gives the reader a clear understanding of life on the frontier.
A Day on Skates: The Story of a Dutch Picnic by Hilda Von Stockum (Bethlehem Books, fourth-grade level). ISBN: 1-883937-00-0. Out of print	Honor Book A group of Dutch children join their teacher for an adventurous outing ice skating through frozen canals that lace the countryside. This is an outing that modern kids can only drool over, a dream field trip from another era. The kids in the story aren't perfect angels and the teacher becomes a bit of a worrier, so that part will ring true.

Copyright David Ross 2003-2004