Philirya says:
This is going to be a long dark summer for me as my favorite television series ended in a cliff hanger. To distract myself, I’m taking off my floaties and jumping in the deep end of the reading pool, hoping to read books outside my comfort zone.
My first book is Apples are from Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins.
If you are anything like me, the only things you know about Kazakhstan are the name, and that it is a former Soviet Republic.
What I didn’t know before reading this book is that wild apples originated in Kazakhstan and spread around the world from there. I also didn’t know that both Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Alexandr Solzhenitsyn were exiled there.
The book covers a year’s stay by Mr. Robbins as he takes a tour and learns the history of Kazakhstan.
The second book is Gadget Nation by Steve Greenberg.
Mr. Greenberg profiles American inventors and their strange and sometimes useful inventions. For instance, Clocky, the alarm clock on wheels. When you press the snooze button, Clocky rolls off your table and across the room, forcing you to get out of bed if you wish to shut if off when the alarm goes off again.
Also there are Mac and Cool bowls. You place Mac and Cool bowls in the freezer. After you make supper, you place it in a Mac and Cool bowl. This way, your child can eat supper when it is the right temperature for them.
Last, I have The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley.
It is the first in a series of books about Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, descendants of Wilhelm Grimm. They are surprised to find out that Grimm’s Fairy Tales are a chronology of actual events as experienced by Wilhelm.
They are sent to live with their grandmother Relda Grimm because their parents are dead and there is no one else to care for them. When they come to live with Granny Grimm and her lodger Mr. Canis, they meet Puck, Jack the Giant Killer, and Mayor Prince Charming.
At this point, either you get why Mr Canis living with Granny is clever, or you don’t. Look up ‘canis’ if you don’t. I’ll wait.
See, wasn’t that clever? Granny Grimm takes the girls to find out why a local farmhouse appears to be flattened, with an imprint of a foot surrounding the wreckage. When Granny and Mr. Canis are kidnapped, it’s up to Sabrina and Daphne to save the day.
