Nightlight

Nightlight
By The Harvard Lampoon
Publisher/Year: Vintage Books New York 2009
Number of Pages: 154
Reading Level: 5th Grade
Genre: Parody

Summary:

Belle Goose is the new girl in her town. She left Her mother to go live with her father in Oregon. Her first day of school she meets some new friends, but in her biology class a boy named Edwart catches her eye. She tries to talk to him, but he isn't very friendly to her. Over the next couple of days she keeps trying to get him to talk to her until on the day they are experimenting with blood in class, Edwart doesn't show up. Bell deducts that he must be a vampire because he doesn't like blood. Edwart also saves her from a big snowball, and when she goes to Port Angeles with some friends, he saves her again. On the drive home, they decide that they can be boyfriend and girlfriend. Belle wants to kiss Edwart, but he believes in moving slower. The next day, Edwart wants to take Belle on a hike. She agrees, and they hike up to a meadow. There they spend five hours staring at each other before they decide to go home. At the end of the date, Belle again tries to kiss Edwart, but he will not. Belle is very disappointed about this. She decides that it is time for her to meet Edwart's family, so they plan to the next day. Edwart drives her to a beautiful house and they walk in to find a family of vampires who want to drink Bell's blood. Edwart then says that he must have gone to the wrong house and they leave. When they get to his real house he plays her a lullaby on his triangle, and they meet his parents. When it's time to go home, Belle suggests they walk through the cemetery. Edwart doesn't like the idea because he's scared of cemeteries, but he goes anyway. In the cemetery they run into a vampire named Josh. Belle tells Edwart to fight Josh because he's a vampire too. It is then that Edwart tells her he is not a vampire, and Belle breaks up with him. He runs away and then Belle becomes Josh's girlfriend. Belle realizes after awhile that she still really loves Edwart after she attends the vampire ball with Josh, and she goes back to Edwart. They play video games, and Belle tells him she loves him. It is only then that he finally kisses her... on the neck.

Who would benefit from reading this book?

This book is not for everyone, but I think that those who have read the "Twilight" series will enjoy the humor. It is just a light, fun, easy book to read.

What Conflicts or problems could this book potentially cause?

It could be said that the book contains violence. Blood is also mentioned quite a bit.

My Reaction:

I wouldn't recommend this book for young readers. However, I found it humorous, and I think a twelve year old girl who has read "Twilight" would find this book enjoyable. I've never read a parody before, and I probably won't again after reading this one, but once I had started it, I couldn't stop reading it.

Heckedy Peg

Heckedy Peg
By Audrey Wood
Illustarted by Don Wood
Publisher/Year: Voyager Books 1987
Pages: 29
Reading Level: 3rd Grade
Genre: Fairy Tale/Fable

Summary:

A poor mother living in the country has seven children: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They mother has to go to the market and tells the children she will bring them each back something since they've been so good. They each ask for different things like butter, a pocket knife, a china pitcher, honey, salt, crackers, and egg pudding. The mother tells the children not to let in any strangers, and not to touch the fire as she leaves. An old witch named Heckedy Peg tricks the children into letting her into the house for a sack of gold. Once she was in the house, she turned all the children into food such as bread, pie, milk, porridge, fish, cheese, and roast rib. She took them to her house, and the mother came back to find her children gone. A bird tells the mother what happened, and she goes to find her children. She tells the witch to let her in, but first the witch makes her remove her dirty shoes, socks, and feet. She finally lets the mother in after she tricks Heckedy Peg into thinking she cut her feet off. Heckedy Peg tells the mother that she can have her children back if she can distinguish which food item her children are. The mother matches each food to the items they asked for, and she guesses all of them right. The children turned back into their real selves and they all chased the witch off a bridge.

Who would benefit from reading this book?

Anyone who enjoys reading fairy tales or fables would benefit from reading this book. I think it also teaches a good lesson to children about obedience, so any child would also benefit from reading this book.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

This book could be said to be violent. The mother pretends to cut her feet off, and the witch kidnaps the children. However, I don't personally find great problems with this book.

My Reaction:

I enjoyed reading this book. I had never heard this particular tale before I read it. I thought it was very clever how the childrens' wanted treats from the market matched up with the food they were turned into by the witch. I also found the illustrations to be very well done, and I appreciated the beautiful depictions.

The Eleventh Hour

The Eleventh Hour Curious Mystery
By Graeme Base
Publisher/Year: Abrams Books for Young Readers, New York (1988)
Reading Level: 5+
Pages: 30
Genre: Children's Mystery

Summary:

Horace the elephant is turning eleven. He decides to invite his eleven friends to come to a party at his house. Horace makes a fantastic feast for his guests to eat at the party. The guests arrive in various costumes ready for the fun activities Horace has planned. They all see the magnificent feast that Horace has set out for them. However, Horace tells them to wait to eat the feast until the eleventh hour. Then Horace and his guests proceed to play eleven different party games including: a sack race, musical chairs, cards, snakes and ladders, cricket, pool, blind man's buff, tennis, hid and seek, chess, and tug o' war. When their activities are finished, and it is finally the eleventh hour, they proceed to the dining room only to find that someone has eaten all the food! All the guests are upset and give their alibis for why they didn't eat the feast. Nobody admits to the crime, but Horace saves the day by making some delicious sandwiches for everyone to eat. They all have a picnic of sandwiches and birthday cake, and the reader is left to figure out the mystery of who stole the feast.

Who would benefit from reading this book?

I would recommend this book to anyone. I think it is a fun book for people of all ages. The mystery is not only for children, but for adults as well. I myself spent about two hours with this book looking for all the different clues and finding the hidden mice within the beautiful illustrations. I would recommend parents reading it with their children. It is a good book that they can interact and figure out the mystery together.

What problems/conflicts would this book potentially cause?

I couldn't find any problems with this book. It is a fun children's mystery book that has beautiful illustrations to explore.

My reaction:

I had a really enjoyable time with this book. I was able to spend a couple hours trying to figure out the mystery. I did have to cheat however and look in the back at the "inside story" to find all the clues included in each page. I loved the way it was written in rhyme, and I loved the detail of the illustrations. I read it to my 4-year-old nephew, and we had a good time together looking at all the pictures and trying to solve the mystery.