Monday, September 28, 2009
The Adventures of Vin Fiz
***½ The Adventures of Vin Fiz by Clive Cussler. Juvenile action/adventure.
I bought this for Camden, then when he was finished reading it, I put it in my TBR pile.
The story is about twins Casey and Lacey, who live on a farm. They meet a new hired hand, Mr. Sucoh Sucop (hint: read it backwards), and discover he's invented a magic mat that will turn their toys life-sized. So they try it out with their toy plane they call "Vin Fiz" and go on some adventures.
You'd think that with the name Clive Cussler on the cover, those adventures would be exciting. But they aren't, really. It reminds me a bit of Stuart Little, in the types of adventures, and in the way that there's no overarching plot to the book--it's just a series of things that happen. Actions have no consequences, and there's very little emotional component to any of the things the kids do.
The writing, as well, is rather stilted, something that surprised me after years of loving Cussler's grown-up fiction.
Camden liked it more than I did--he read it when he was 11--but even then, he said it was "good but not great." Which doesn't surprise me. I know kids can enjoy books and movies that don't follow the rules of good storytelling (like having a coherent, logical plot), but the more they experience well-constructed stories, the less they'll enjoy the poorly-constructed ones, even if they can't explain why.
And no, I absolutely do not mean that kids should be reading classics or award-winning books--far too many of which are dull or depressing. But there are a lot of better-written books for kids that are also fun.
Categories: Books, 3.5stars, Juvenile, ActionAdventure
Labels: 3.5 stars, action, books, JuvenileFiction
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
**** Stuart Little by E. B. White. Juvenile.
I'd never read this book, so when I found it among the kids' books, I decided to give it a shot. And yes, I feel guilty for not having read it to my kids when they were small. Not to worry--I read to them a lot, just not this one, possibly because I wasn't familiar with it myself.
I'm sure everyone already knows the plot--my ignorance notwithstanding, it is a classic children's story. It's not the same as the movie, by the way--which I haven't seen, but I've heard about.
The Littles' second child turns out to be a mouse. The story tells about his struggles living as a mouse in a human household, and then about his adventures when he leaves home to find his bird friend.
It's very much a product of its times--written in 1945, it's a completely different style from most current children's books. The language isn't dumbed down for children, nor does the story have a sugary-sweet ending that seems a requirement nowadays. At the same time, it's not a story for adults. Stuart is obviously meant to be identified with by young children, and his adventures involve situations and emotions that will be familiar to them.
I do wish I'd read it to my kids when they were small. Maybe I'll hang on to it for eventual grandchildren.
...more
Categories: Books, 4stars, Juvenile
Labels: 4 stars, books, JuvenileFiction
Friday, October 20, 2006
**** The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. Juvenile fiction. Re-read.
I couldn't find a picture of the cover of my copy--unsurprising, since it's about 20 years old, and the Narnia books have been reprinted so many times, particularly since the recent movie.
I put the series in my TBR pile when it dawned on me that I'd never read them. My kids have, and I'd read this one aloud to them several times, but it seemed like a cultural thing I was missing out on, so in they went. The Lemony Snicket books are in there, too.
I have no idea what to say about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that hasn't been said. I don't even know how I feel about it, because the story's so very familiar. There's the heavy-handed Christian allegory, I suppose, which doesn't take much to uncover. And there's really not a lot of depth to it, nor are the characters all that well-developed.
But it is, after all, a children's story, a fast-moving tale of adventure and imagination, and Good vs. Evil. Hopefully, I'll have more to say on the subsequent books, which are new to me.
One aside: reading this always brings to mind my daughter's kindergarten best friend, who maintained that she did have a doorway to Narnia in her bedroom closet. This frustrated my realist daughter no end, because she couldn't convince her friend that it was just a story.
...more
Categories: Books , 4stars, JuvenileFiction
Labels: 4 stars, books, JuvenileFiction
