Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

Title: Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

Rating: 5/5

Author: KateDiCamillo

Pages: 231

Genre: Children’s

Synopsis:

She is a natural-born cynic! He is an unassuming squirrel! Together, Flora & Ulysses will conquer villains, defend the defenseless, and protect the weak. Or something.

That’s directly from the inside flap of the book cover, and I didn’t think I could do any better than that. Although, I suppose it doesn’t hurt for you to know that this all began when Ulysses was sucked up by a vacuum cleaner, which experience suddenly gives him abnormal powers for a squirrel. Let the adventures begin!

My Reaction:

Unlike Flora, I am not a natural-born cynic. It seems that I am more easily moved by simple things in my old age. (For the record, I know I’m not actually old. It just sounds better to say it that way than, “Man, I swear lately I’ve been turning into a big baby over things like flying squirrels!” Or something.) So it was with this book. The end brought a tear to my eye and I may have even put my hand to my heart—an outward expression of my mind screaming, “This is so sweet!”

But enough about tears. Let me tell you how great this book is.

As I was starting to read Flora & Ulysses, I happened to show my husband, Corey, one of the illustrations. He took a look at the girl and the squirrel then looked at me and said, “You read the weirdest books,” to which I quickly countered with, “No, I read the best books!” Kate DiCamillo is one of my favorite children’s authors, and this book just furthered solidified my love for her work.

This story was a fun and marvelous adventure from page one. Flora, besides being a cynic, loves comics, and I enjoyed the way that often came out not just in the story itself but in how the story was told. On occasion, instead of full text, we are treated to a page or two of panels and speech bubbles (kind of like The Invention of Hugo Cabret if you are familiar with that…only that one just uses pictures). I also thoroughly enjoyed each and every character who is unique in their own way and easily imaginable. And again, here I was just expected a fun story, not really thinking there would be something I could take away from it, and lo and behold! There it was! A golden nugget of wisdom hidden between the pages. It was fun to take part in the adventure and to watch the characters learn and grow. I laughed. I thought. My eyes watered. Yep. Sounds like a keeper.

This book won the Newbery Medal for 2014, and it is well deserving of that award.

Reader’s Guidance:

Nothing to fear as far as I’m concerned.

Similar Books:

The first book that came to mind was The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. They're quite different in nature and style. Flora is more lighthearted and humorous while still dealing with some heavy topics like divorce or feeling like your mother loves a lamp more than she loves you (true story). Gilly is more of a drama dealing with a family situation that is very much not ideal for the main character (i.e. being in foster care and wanting nothing more than to be with her birth mother). Gilly was also the winner of the Newbery Medal in 1979.

Next Book:

Next on our list is Mustaches for Maddie by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown. Be aware that this book is about a twelve year old girl who is diagnosed with a brain tumor. You have been warned!

Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk

Hello, and welcome to another episode of "Listen to Me Talk About how Awesome Liesl Shurtliff is."

Seriously, have you guys read any of these Liesl Shurtliff books yet? If not, what's wrong with you? Just kidding, we can still be friends.

I don't know if you've noticed yet, but I'm a big fan of fairy tales and the retelling thereof. Sometimes it works out great. Sometimes not so great. But all of these books by Liesl Shurtliff fit into the great category. I love seeing how she's re-imagined these stories in a way I haven't seen before. She has good, solid writing that makes this world easy to delve into and imagine. They're fun, touching, adventurous, and there's always something I feel that I take away from the book. Plus, I enjoy how her books have all been connected by the same universe.

Basically, if you are a fan of fairy tales and their retold versions, you must pick up Shurtliff's books!

Title: Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk
Rating: 5/5
Author: Liesl Shurtliff
Pages: 294
Genre: Children's/Fantasy/Fairy Tale

Synopsis:

You know the story--a young lad, giants, and a beanstalk leading up to the sky. Need I say more?

Well, perhaps the story you always knew to be true isn't exactly the truth. Maybe not all giants are bad. Maybe they don't really want to grind our bones to make their bread. They do, however, come down and steal all the crops and villagers...but maybe there's a reason for that, and maybe there's just one lad who can figure it out and save the day.

Jack has always longed for greater adventure than his simple farm life can give him, and he gets the perfect opportunity when the giants appear and raid his village, kidnapping his father in the process.

Can Jack save his father before it's too late?

My Reaction:

In case you didn't get enough of my reaction above, let me restate that this is a great book! I will admit that I like Rump and Red slightly more, but it still earned a 5/5. Like I said, it's adventurous and fun, and I love the messages that some things are worth more than wealth and that we are capable of accomplishing great things even when it seems like we can't.

Reader's Guidance:

Jack gets into a fist fight with another boy. That's about as violent as it gets. I didn't find anything concerning.

Similar Books:

Liesl Shurtliff's newest book Grump: A (Fairly) True Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs comes out next month! I'm pretty sure it's going to be another winner. Pre-order it here.

Next Book: 

When I was at the library to pick up Jack, I happened to turn Because of Winn Dixie or The Tale of Desperaux. It's been a while since I've read one of her books, and there are some I haven't had the chance to read yet. That means that next up is her book Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. From what I can gather so far, it's about a girl, who is a natural born cynic, and a very extraordinary squirrel, who also happened to get sucked up by a vacuum... Don't worry! He lives!
around, and on the opposite shelf I spotted one of my favorite children's authors, Kate DiCamillo. You may know her as the writer of

Pick up a copy and read along! See you  next time!

Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood

It's official. Liesl Shurtliff has made it onto my list of favorite others. If you haven't read one of her books yet, please do. In fact, she has a new one coming out next month. You can start there if you want. I recommend you start with Rump though.

Is it silly of me that I was actually getting a little anxious when I started to read Red? Rump was so good, and I wanted Red to be equally good, so I was afraid that my high expectations were setting things up for failure. Eventually I got over that I realized that Red is truly a wonderful book that is indeed equal to Rump. Thanks, Liesl Shurtliff, for crafting such wonderful stories!

On to the facts!

Title: Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood

Rating: 5/5

Author: Liesl Shurtliff

Pages: 247

Genre: Children's/Fantasy/Fairy Tale

Synopsis:

After the events of Rump, things are pretty quiet on The Mountain. Most people have gone, but Red is more than content to stay where she is with her family. When her granny gets sick and may be dying, Red is willing to do anything to save her, even if it means meddling with the thing she fears most--magic.

My Reaction:

Clearly you already saw some of my reaction up above, but let me stress why this story is so great.

Firstly, I didn't expect this story to be touching in anyway. But let me tell you, by the time I was down to the last handful of pages, I had a tear in my eye, maybe even two. It may not affect everyone the same way it did me, but aside from adventure and magic and all of that good stuff, at the heart of this story is really a discussion of death. I feel like this was such a great avenue to bring up the topic in a way that a child could relate too without being freaked out, but also it was something I could relate to and reflect on.

One of my favorite lines of the book was, "Life is like a story. It doesn't mean anything if it doesn't end." It was one of things that made you want to appreciate life and the time we are given, not just our own lives, but to value the lives of those we care most about.

Aside from that and other themes such as the fact that it's okay to make mistakes, Shurtliff once again has created great, memorable characters. One of the key characters is Goldie (as in Goldilocks and the Three Bears). The thing I loved about her characer is that I found he just as annoying as Red did, but then also came to love her. She made me smile and laugh, and she was a great addition to the story. 

Like Rump, Shurtliff has taken characters we are familiar with and made them completely their own. I wasn't expecting some of the choices she made, which made the adventure all the more excited. This book is another winner!

Reader's Guidance:

If you're comfortable with Disney's animated movies, you'll be comfortable with this. 

Similar Books:

Aside from Liesl Shurtliff's other books, if you fancy Red you'll may also fancy books by Gail Carson Levine, Shannon Hale, Cameron Dokey, or a few by Robin McKinley. All of these authors have either retold fairy tales or have written books that have the fairy tale feel.

Next Book:

I went to the library today and came out with not one but three books. I almost grabbed more, but I restrained myself. I'm going to start with the first on the stack which is none other than Jack: The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk by Liesl Shurtliff. I can't help it. I just loved the last two! Please pick up a copy and read along!