The Magician's Elephant

The Magician's Elephant is a good book. I hope to read more books like this one. I think that my favorite part of the book is the ending, it was very sweet. I like Kate DiCamillo's books. Reading Kate's books makes me smile.  

Antarctica

The continent of Antarctica is very interesting. Not many animals live there. The penguins are very fast and amazing creatures. The sea lion can also be found and will attack penguins. Antarctica is at the bottom of the world. This continent is very similar to the Arctic. One good book on the continent is Antarctica by Madeline Donaldson. What an interesting place Antarctica is!

My Pop

Here is an essay that I wrote for a contest. I can win cool prizes. I hope to show people how my Pop influences me. Wish me luck!

Pop

            Many people, artists, actors, writers, and even teachers influence me. Those in my family also influence me. Of all these whom I love dearly, my father is the person who influences me the most.

            My Pop influences and inspires me in many ways, but here are some ways that stand out the most. My Pop encourages me to write a lot and gives me notebooks to write in. My father inspires me by whisking me away with his stories. He tells all kinds of stories; fantasy stories about ogres, fairies and goblins. He tells make-believe stories about adventures our family has. His stories inspire me to write my own. I write about adventures that I wish I could have.

When I go into his study I feel like I have entered a new world. We listen to music from the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. I smell the vanilla and pine scented candles he has burning. Art supplies and books on favorite artists surround me. There are wonderful colors and pictures all around. There, he and I draw together. My Pop and I are close; we are a team.

            For many more reasons than these: his jokes, his photography, his painting, his Shrimp Special (he also cooks), my father influences me more than any other person. He is a very important person in my life. I will keep him in my heart forever.

Jean Lafitte

The dreaded pirate Jean Laftitte, is whom I am writing about. When a young man, Lafitte ran a blacksmith shop with his brother. He didn't get much money out of this and so Lafitte became a privateer. A privateer is not a pirate. Nobody could arrest Lafitte. Lafitte did not care to be called a pirate. He was a very caring, smart, and handsome man. He could navigate his way through the bayous. When Lafitte stole goods and sold them in New Orleans, the governor was angry. When the war between the Great Britain and France came, Lafitte decided to fight. He had respect for America. When the British soldiers offered Lafitte $13,000 and a place as a captain in the army, Jean Lafitte said no. I think Lafitte was a brave man. Especially as he became a pirate-hero in 1812.

The Mysterious Benedict Society & the Prisoner's Dilemma

This story is a thrilling adventure. This book is a very good book. It is the third book in Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society. The friends have had three adventures so far. I wonder if there will be a fourth book? I really like these books. I hope to read these books again.

Mike's Mystery

This book is a Boxcar Children book. The book tells about what happens to Mike, the boxcar children's friend. Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny find out why Mike's house burned down and who the man in the blue hat is. The man in the blue hat is one of the men who tried to buy Aunt Jane's ranch. I liked this book. It is a wonderful book and I hope to read more boxcar children books.

Little Town on the Prairie

This is a "Little House" book. These books were written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura is fifteen in this book. There are two more books in the series that I must read before I am done. The next book is called These Golden Years. I hope to read that book soon. Laura is a very intelligent girl. I wish I knew what it would have been like being Laura. I know Laura's thoughts and her feelings, but I do not know what it would actually be like being her. In this book, I finally read that Laura meets Almanzo Wilder. She marries him in the next book, I believe. I think this book is a very good book.

The Mysterious Benedict Society & The Perilous Journey

I had been reading this book for some time and just finished it! If you have read my blog before, you'll know about the Mysterious Benedict Society and everything that happened. This book takes up from book one's end. In this story, Mr. Curtain captures Mr. Benedict (his twin), along with Number Two (Mr. Benedict's adopted daughter). Mr. Curtain hopes to gain important information that will help him to cure his narcolepsy. The children race after Curtain in hopes of saving their friends. This book is just as good as the first book. I think the next book will be good as well. I feel happy to know I finished the book. I want to be like Kate, she is my favorite character. I am, after all, fast enough and nimble enough. I can get things done quickly. I like the Mysterious Benedict Society.

Millard Fillmore

Here is a book I recently read. This book has to do with a man that ruled our nation. His name was Millard Fillmore. He was our thirteenth president. He was a normal guy. He was an American. At first he did the usual things, Fillmore would go to work in the wool factory every single day. Trust me, it was hard work! He would be carding (untangling) sheep wool all day. Fillmore hardly knew how to read! His parents decided he would go to school. The school was a very well built one too. Fillmore met his teacher, she was his age. Fillmore started to fall in love with her, he was very happy. Fillmore later became a judge. He wore very nice clothes for Abigail. Fillmore married Abigail and both were happy. People thought a lot of Fillmore. Fillmore was our president and he died, but we remember he was our president. I liked this book and I thought about how many people were our presidents. I am glad I got this book.

Ants, Bees, and Wasps of North America

This book was a very good book, it talked about many insects that I think are interesting. It tells about all the insects that do their part in North America. I liked the chapter "The Honey Ant" in particular. The honey ant is a very interesting creature. The worker ants store nectar and honeydew inside the body of fellow ants called repletes. The replete ants will throw up drops of nectar when a hungry ant comes near it. All repletes hang upside down on the wall (ceiling) of the cave. The repletes live as long as ten years. The ants though, have a very thin and easy to break storage tank. The ant's storage vessel inside it's body will burst open sometimes! The other worker ants in  the colony then patch up the storage tank with sticky silk and saliva. Like some other ants and insects, the honey ants will also tend aphids. The aphids will squirt out sweet honeydew and the ants lick up all of it. The repletes are responsible for tending the aphids. This insect is a very interesting one that lives out in the southwestern areas, in the desert. We can learn a lot about other insects that do their part in the world. These honey ants may collect nectar differently then honey bees, but they do a big job! 

The City of Ember

The City of Ember is one of my favorite reads! I really liked the book. It also has to do with a really fun thing my family does. When my sister Noel or I finish a book, we get to stay up and watch the movie. We both enjoy having this time. It was fun to read the book. I think back and I really hope I do it again. There is a feeling I get when I read books like this one. This is how I feel. I feel... "Wow! I really just finished a great book and now I get to watch the movie!" I can tell you this book is a book, a lover of books, will want to read again and again! Everybody can say what they want to say about it, but I have my opinion write here. Ha, Ha, Ha! Very funny; but that's not saying what I think of it. This is what I think of it; it makes me smile and I want to put it in my library book pile.

"Me, Myself and I"

Here is a poem I decided to write, that my dad said I could use for the blog. He took three pictures of me and then made them fit together. So again, it's a poem I decided to write, but my family helped me out a lot to be who I am; especially my mom and dad. They're all a bunch of special people; but here we're not talking about my family, we're talking about the poem. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; I am proud to display my poem: "Me, Myself and I".

Me, Myself and I

I think of me,

Who should I be?

Should I be myself?

I don't sit on a shelf.

I should be

The creative me.

So I am I;

With no tail to hold up high.

We are we;

So you see.

It is Me, Myself, and I.

Midnight in Lonesome Hollow

The thing about Midnight in Lonesome Hollow is, it's a great read! I enjoyed reading this and I knew I had chosen a fabulous book! Many mysteries to me are great reads. I wish I owned this book! It gives you time to think about what The Depression was like.  I can't stop thinking that if my life was hard, then it would have been harder for them. Since we're learning about the fifty states in our home-school lessons,  maybe we'll learn about The Depression. To me this book is fabulous, amazing, wonderful...  I could put it in a lot of fancy words but here's the way I truly feel about it... I would definitely read it again.

In a Blue Room

In a Blue Room is a very good book to me. This is a picture book, it shows how a little girl feels about her room at night. When her mother turns off the lights, the moon shines and the room is a pretty shade of blue. The soft, pale, silver color of the moon makes her smile. She listens to the rustling sound of flowers blowing in the wind. She listens to the rippling brook. She dreams of silver ponies running near the brook in a glade. Ponies laugh and play in the brook, their hair shines bright in the light. The girl dreams of riding a pony and having blue tea and being wrapped up warm in an blue blanket. I dream of these things a lot. I dream of the ponies running wild near the brook and I am riding one. The mermaids laugh and play; then I wake up. It made me wish I was in a blue room.

Secret of Shadow Ranch

Secret of Shadow Ranch is a good book. This was one of my favorite summer reads. Many of the Nancy Drew books are very good. This one was just as good as the other ones I read. Nancy Drew is called in on a mystery at a ranch. One of the ranch hands seemed to be missing something that he was supposed to inherit, that was his father's. Upon going to the ranch Nancy meets her cousin, Alice. Alice tells Nancy of the strange happenings of the last few days. Nancy goes into town and discovers a few things that might help her with her mystery. Alice tells Nancy that on every night when there's a full moon a strange horse appears; one that nobody has ever seen before. The horse is a ghostly white, as if a phantom. The horse is running wildly around the ranch. Ed Rawley (Nancy's uncle) thinks that it might have something to do with the man who wanted to buy the ranch. Nancy is taken to the mountains on a ride, she and her cousin are lost. Nancy thinks it has something to do with the mystery. She might have got lost on purpose! Nancy is able to get home and solve the mystery. It turns out the man who wanted to buy the ranch also wanted the family treasure buried beneath it. It's a great book.