My Father’s Dragon

Our rating: ***½

Elmer always wanted a dragon, so he’s overjoyed when an alley cat tells him about a dragon imprisoned on Jungle Island. Elmer goes to the rescue, but he has to overcome the animals who live there – with very funny results!

This one is fun, but not too difficult to read. The story continues in two more books about Elmer and his dragon friend.

By the Shores of Silver Lake

Our rating: ****

When Aunt Docia comes and offers Pa a job further west, Pa accepts. The Ingalls move west and settle down by the shores of Silver Lake. (Thus explaining the title.)

There’s a pretty good amount of stuff happening in By the Shores of Silver Lake. The Ingalls don’t stay at Silver Lake for the entire book. I like By the Shores of Silver Lake. You may pick it up and expect to be bored, but it’s really not very boring! Even though there is a somewhat sad part near the beginning, please read this book.

Tucker’s Countryside

Our rating: ***

The Old Meadow is scheduled to be destroyed, and Chester Cricket has sent word to Tucker Mouse and Harry Cat in New York City. Tucker and Harry rush to Hedley, Connecticut. Chester wants Tucker to think of a plan to save the meadow, but what with Harry being adopted by a girl named Ellen, Tucker’s got his hands full.

I enjoyed Tucker’s Countryside a bit less than some of the others in this series, but it’s still very enjoyable and very fun.

Hurry Home, Candy

Our rating: ****

George and Catherine, two children, bought a little puppy and took him home when he was too young to be away from his mother. They named him Candy. Living at their house, Candy learned an overwhelming terror of the broom, as the children’s mother would go after him with a broom when he was bad. One day, just when things were starting to get better, the family got a flat tire and while George and his father were fixing it, Catherine took Candy down to the creek. While they were down there, a storm started up and Catherine lost Candy. Now Candy has been living for about a year as a thin, fearful stray. Will Candy ever find a home?

I like this book. Hurry Home Candy, as well as many others of Meindert DeJong’s, is illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

The House of Sixty Fathers

Our rating: ****

Tien Pao and his family have left their old village in China because of the invading Japanese. They come to the town of Hengyang and there Tien Pao’s mother and father work all day at an airfield, leaving Tien Pao alone in the sampan. On only the second day at Hengyang, the stake securing the sampan to the shore comes loose because of a small herd of water buffaloes and Tien Pao is swept down the river, back to the Japanese-held territory.

This is another great book by DeJong. DeJong describes everything from Tien Pao’s viewpoint. English, for example, is described as the “Strange language of the Americans.” One note, because this book is set during WWII, there are some rather scary parts, so keep that in mind if you are considering reading this.