Family Briefs

Well, I never did get around to posting the “follow-up” final review after finishing the first Daniel X book. We DID finish it and loved the story - from beginning to end (minus the mild profanity, mind you :).

So when MotherTalk sent out information about a second Daniel X book, I was quite ecstatic. I signed up, all giggly that I could surprise my 9 year-old with the next book. (He was quite disappointed upon finishing the first book that the second book wasn’t available yet.) He was so excited when the book arrived, but he refused to wait for me to read it to him aloud. He wanted to devour it for himself.

Of course, the stipulation was that he would have to help me blog my review. You know, 9 year-olds really can’t be trusted. He’s sitting right here pouting about having to help me blog about the book. He’d much rather be out raking leaves (which normally I wouldn’t complain about, but I’ve got this deadline hanging over my head). I don’t know what the real issue is, except it’s something I’ve asked him to do. He thinks I should have read the book myself. Heck! It took me three months to read the 6th Harry Potter to myself; the window to read Daniel X: Watch the Skies was about three weeks. I didn’t stand a chance. Besides, I’d rather have the perspective of the 9 year-old to share with you.

He’s tired of pouting and now seems a bit more willing to cooperate . . . . offering to pay him for his time in screen-time dollars didn’t hurt . . . so, here’s the 9 year-old perspective on Daniel X: Watch the Skies by James Patterson and Ned Rust:

Daniel X is basically the same character as he was in the first book,
except he learns from his dad how to tele-port. So I ask a stupid question, “Isn’t his dad dead?” I am reminded (rather sarcastically) that in the first book, Daniel X figured out how to “be” with his parents by thinking about them real hard. How did I forget that? Anyway, this tele-porting talent comes in handy when he finds himself in the midst of a fight with an alien and needs to “run” home to get something important (he just can’t remember what right now and I’m distracted just thinking about how much good use I could make of this tele-porting ability . . .).

But I digress . . . still loved the short chapter format of the book and loved the science fiction story line with good guys vs. bad guys. Daniel X’s friends (also conjured up by thinking about them) fought about 3000 aliens while Daniel X went after Alien #3 in a really intense part of the book. Daniel X was going after Alien #6 in the first book, which you really have to read to “get” the second book. My son (the smart aleck) won’t tell me who won the battle - he says I’ve got to read the book for myself (and so do you if you want to know).

One of his favorite parts of the book was when Alien #3 appeared on a TV screen and could see Daniel X and his friends about to attack some of the alien’s henchmen. He thought that was a pretty cool power for a bad alien to have. I’m thinking that’d be a pretty handy ability for a mom to have . . . kinda like having eyes in the back of your head :).

All in all, we give both Daniel X books a big thumbs up! Can’t wait for Demons & Druids - the next in the Daniel X series (this book had a sneak preview which makes it doubly hard to wait for it!). Also coming in December 2009 is another book by James Patterson called Witch and Wizard. The preview included makes this sound like an awesome read too! You can find out more about James Patterson by visiting his website at www.jamespatterson.com. Happy reading!

My eight-year-old is an avid reader. He devours books quicker than we can loop back around to the library. And thank goodness for the library, or we’d be living in a cardboard box somewhere to support his reading habit! It’s a good problem to have, so don’t hear me complaining. So when MotherTalk was looking for book reviewers for a new book by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge called, The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, I’ll admit I selfishly signed up just to have another book for my child .

I was a little nervous when the book arrived - the back cover read, “They killed my mother and father - and I will hunt them to the ends of the earth.” Not quite your garden variety “Magic Tree House” adventure series . . . Mmmmmm. I figured I was going to just have to read this to myself and let the eight-year-old wait until his 21st birthday to take this one off the shelf.

Instead, I began reading it aloud to him with the stipulation that I might have to stop sharing it with him at any moment that it became inappropriate. He warily agreed, curious to step into the pages of this seemingly “inappropriate” book!

This adventure/science fiction story is told by Daniel X himself. The first-person dialogue pulls readers in from Daniel’s introducing himself as an alien hunter. Even more of a connection is made when his parents die (no spoiler - remember the back cover?) and he is left alone with just you, the reader.

I have had to be on guard reading this aloud to my son, making corrections - like “smart-alec” and “darn” along the way. I was a little disturbed that a book being marketed to the 10-15 year old demographic would include profanity. Ah well, guess that’s my conservatism showing again :).

As the vocabulary is sometimes a bit over his head and the action often moves very quickly, we have had lots of opportunities for discussion about what is actually taking place in the story and why. There is a scuzzy scene with kids dealing drugs . . . that led to some interesting conversations which made my husband want to toss the book (I didn’t bother to mention the profanity to him . . . ). I just took it in stride as the opportunity to have one of those “Just Say No” conversations.

My son and I have read several “Fantasy” books together - our recent favorite is the Deltora Quest series. To me, that’s a lot of very realistic stuff happening with a few twists of fantasy. Daniel X is LOTS of fantasy taking place on our very realistic planet. While it’s not my most favorite, my son is LOVING it. He loves the good guy vs. bad guy stuff (very super hero-oriented) and can’t wait to find out how Daniel X rids the world of all the bad aliens living here.

Oh, did I mention, we haven’t finished the book yet? Sorry, MotherTalk. Reading aloud is very slow, and of course all the discussion about what’s happening and why . . . then there was our week-long trip to Disney, my sore throat, homework, laundry . . . do I really need more excuses??? We’ve done quite well to get more than half way - don’t get me wrong - we are enjoying the book. There’s plenty of suspense such that we’re both disappointed when our schedule doesn’t give us ample time to read several chapters each night (BTW - I LOVE the super-short-chapter format of the book - we’re on page 155 and chapter 59!).

At the point we’ve reached in the book, we have absolutely no idea where the story will go from here or what the ending could possibly entail . . . but we can’t wait to find out! Be on the look-out for a follow-up post with the final “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” - so far it’s definitely a “thumbs up!”

We’ve recorded a few podcasts and just felt like they weren’t clicking, so we’ve been on “sabbatical” and worked on a new format. We’ve tried lots of different things, and now we finally have something to share with you. We’d love some feedback - take a listen and let us know what you think!

During the family meeting segment, we mention Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, my 8-year-old and I began reading a series that I just recently heard about - Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda (see more about what we’re reading by following the link above to the kids reading list). OH MY GOSH! This is one of the best books I’ve read in quite a while! Mind you, I’ve been reading more children’s picture books than anything else, but I don’t think that has clouded my judgment (too much).

Now John Grisham and Harry Potter books keep me on the edge of my seat, turning page after page with suspense. The two Deltora Quest books we’ve read thus far give these page turners competition! “I don’t care if it IS your bedtime, we’re going to read the next chapter to find out if they get out of the quicksand or not! ” Yes, I actually said that to my child this week. I started to tell him that he could go on to bed if he wanted to, but I was going to keep reading to find out what happens next. Of course, that would break our “pinky promise” of not reading ahead when the other person isn’t around!

The basic storyline is that a kingdom (Deltora) has been taken over by a “Shadow Lord” and two people begin a quest to restore the lost gems to Deltora’s Belt that wields great power for its ruler. That’s all I’m going to tell you because I really don’t want to give anything away.

I lied. I am going to tell you a little more. I checked out the first book, The Forests of Silence, for him several months ago. He snubbed his nose at it saying, “It’s not really instrusting.” (yes, that’s how he says interesting - he’ll probably spell it wrong on his spelling test, too). But when I sat down to read it aloud to him, he didn’t want me to stop (and neither did I). Some of the plot is a little confusing for him at times, even though he is an advanced reader. Of course, we stop and “review” what is happening in the story, and he surprises me by how much he is following it. However, sometimes he misses a little detail that turns out to be important later.

If my 8-year-old were reading this alone, it would scare the bejeebers out of him. There are some really scary, yucky, mean creatures in the story. Some of the descriptions of the creatures would lead ME to have nightmares if I didn’t have half-a-dozen other things on my mind by the time I went to sleep. We don’t watch much T.V., so his exposure to scary creatures is quite limited. As a result, his imagination runs away with this kind of stuff and scares him quite easily. So far, he hasn’t migrated into our bed during the night or complained of nightmares in the morning.

That’s my disclaimer, so don’t come crying to me if your child gets in bed with you every night while you work your way through this series of 8 books - the books are quite scary in places BUT THEY ARE REALLY GOOD!

I can’t wait for the library to get the third book in the series, The City of Rats. Some “rat” ate it so we’re just biding our time until the next adventure begins. Happy reading!

Although I normally review children’s picture books to share with you, I feel I’m being remiss if I don’t ever mention at least something about one of the best children’s adventure book series that’s been through our household.

The Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne were a huge hit with our oldest son when he was in kindergarten. We began reading the series to him as he was beginning to learn to read on his own. By the time we hit the fourth book, Pirates Past Noon, he decided we weren’t reading them fast enough; he took off with them on his own!

Listed as a 2nd reading level book, this entertaining series is easily enjoyed by a variety of ages. As we read the first three books to Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve always done well with reading to my children, well at least as part of our bedtime routine. Even when my oldest (an elderly 7) insisted he could read to himself, we chose to read to him anyway. It’s great quality time, but it also continues to expand his listening vocabulary (I learned that great jargon from this guy).

A few weeks ago, I read Ramona The Brave (by Beverly Cleary) to him. I enjoyed it almost as much as he did. I started to Read the rest of this entry »