Posted by Becca
Categories: All Ages, Historical Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Award Winner, Meindert DeJong, Pigs
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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.
Posted by Sarah
Categories: Adventure, All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Dogs, Meindert DeJong, Out of Print
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A boy named Dirk lives in the town of Weirom. One day, an English ship wrecks and Dirk saves a dog, whom he names Bello. Bello then belongs to him by the right of the sea. But how will he and his family afford to feed the enormous dog? And will the English come and claim the saved timbers of their ship — and Bello?
A pretty good book. At one point I was a bit confused as to whether Dirk was running on land or sea, and if he was running in the sea, how he had gone out so far… but I got it figured out. Dirk’s Dog, Bello is written somewhat like a movie script — mostly in present tense. Also, if you take a look at the first couple pages, or the first one, you may think it is probably somewhat boring. However, there is adventure in this book! Though it’s probably not as adventureish as a Narnia book, it still has some action. I’m not sure whether this book would be All Ages or Younger Readers (which is <13). I went ahead and rated it All Ages. This is a rather long review for me, isn’t it? Enjoy!
Posted by Becca
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Award Winner, Chickens, Dogs, Meindert DeJong
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The only red hen in the man’s henhouse has frozen her toes off. The man’s boss advices him to kill the hen, but the man is very attached to her. He decides to keep the hen. Unfortunately, the red hen is repeatedly mobbed by the other hens. Her only protector is a large black dog who even steals eggs for her. But the man doesn’t trust the dog. He tries to lose it in the city. But the dog has appointed himself to protect the red hen, his only companion.
This is a very heart-warming story. It’s more about the hen and the dog than the man, so the man doesn’t really have a name. Not quite as good as some other books by DeJong, but still enjoyable. I very much recommend this book.
Posted by Becca
Categories: Adventure, All Ages, Fiction, Incredibook!, Review
Tags:Animals, Award Winner, Funny, Good Read Aloud, Meindert DeJong, Storks
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Lina, a girl in the little Dutch village of Shora, wonders why the storks no longer come to nest on the roofs of the houses. With a little thought, Lina realizes that all the roofs are too sharp. They need wheels on top for the storks to nest in. So she sets out, with the help of the other six school children, to find a wheel. But it’s not that easy. There are no usable wheels in Shora, Nes, or any other near-by village! How will they find one?
This is one of the best books that I have ever read. There’s plenty of action, and I like the way the whole village has to work together to get a wheel on the schoolhouse roof. The only bad thing I can think of about this book are the character names, which are a little different from what you would normally see. But what do you expect from a book set in a Dutch village? I definitely recommend this book as a must-read.
Posted by Ben 
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