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1952

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

Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes (Odyssey, $13.60, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0152024999.	The Medalist A boy and his sister adopt a puppy that is later stolen by a mean kid. Eventually they are reunited. Cute story about family life in the 1950s. Very gentle sense of humor based on Estes' keen observations about the antics of kids and pets.
Americans Before Columbus by Elizabeth Baity (Viking, sixth-grade level). Out of print	Honor Book The author provides a wide-ranging overview of the inhabitants of pre-Columbian North and South America. This book almost reads like a companion piece to New Found World, and in fact Baity cites that earlier Newbery honor book as one of her sources. Whereas Shippen focused on life in Latin American after the arrival of the Europeans, Baity does just the opposite. She on occasion reveals feelings of cultural superiority, but she also throws a few hard punches at the excesses of Europe and what its civilization produced in the way of tyrants and despots. Recent scholarship contradicts or expands upon what Shippen shares, but I found much of interest in stories of the Aztecs, Mayans and Incans. Shippen focuses a chapter on the mysterious Mound Builders of the Mississippi basin, but so few artifacts are left from their culture that she has to construct much of the detail from sketchy facts. That said, there are no recent books that deal so effectively with pre-Columbian America. Too bad.
Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling (Houghton-Mifflin, $16, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 039517578X.	Honor Book The fact-based story of a turtle that wanders from the headwaters of the Mississippi to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. Fascinating, fact-filled story. The illustrations and facts crowd the page and sometimes overwhelm, but it's worth the effort. Holling presages the move toward information picture books by a couple of decades.
The Defender by Nicholas Kalashnikoff (Walker & Co., $6.25, paperback, fourth-grade level). ISBN: 0802773974.	Honor Book A old man living in the Siberian highlands befriends a herd of skittish mountain goats. Nice moral to the story about living a clean life. Simple, well-told story.
The Light at Tern Rock by Julia Sauer (Peter Smith Publishing, $18.75, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0844668044.	Honor Book A boy and his aunt spend a wonderful Christmas on a little island that holds a lighthouse near New Brunswick, Canada. Horribly hokey story that is too sugar-coated for today's kids - or adults.
The Apple and the Arrow by Mary and Conrad Buff (Houghton-Mifflin, $12.80, sixth-grade level). ISBN: 0618128077.	Honor Book The famous story of William Tell and his brave son is retold by the Buffs. I don't know that modern readers are aware of the story but I remember it from my childhood. Anyway, the Buffs focus on William Tell's fierce bravery and the courage of his young son Harold as they faced the wrath of their Austrian overlords in Switzerland, circa 1200 AD. The writing style is slightly antiquated. The narrative lacks drama. The publisher is re-releasing this book for its 50th anniversary, but I think parents and grand-parents will be more interested than the kids. For a companion piece, read the 1931 Newbery Honor book Mountains Are Free by Julia Davis Adams. It relegates Tell's dramatic shot to a couple of pages late in the novel.

Copyright David Ross 2003