4thgradereading

Written by Jessie Haas

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Saige is about to start fourth grade. Everything should be great yet she and her best friend seem to be growing apart. Add to that budget cuts and her favorite subject, art, is being canceled. Her grandma suggests that Saige can do something to stop that, but then she gets hurt.

This is an excellent story involving realistic conflicts that young 4th grade level readers, particularly girls, face every school year. The language is sometimes challenging, but the plot is easy for the reader to comprehend and the characters are easy to relate to for this level. And what fourth grade reader doesn’t love horses or stories about horses?

Budget cuts are something that most everyone understands. Saige faces the possibility of giving up art and current fourth grade teachers must decide on the most appropriate books for the classroom. Saige is an excellent book for free reading and reading for pleasure. Teachers should encourage students to choose this as a fun and enjoyable book as a personal choice, but it may not be worth the price for the classroom. It is not necessarily a book that works for boys, nor does this book offer the historical references that may work in a general classroom setting.

That being said, this is well written and covers many aspects of family life, the emotions of a fourth grade reader, and the relationship of a grandmother and granddaughter. If money for the classroom library is not a problem, this is a great choice to promote reading for pleasure and wholesome family relationships. It also does well to encourage students to use critical thinking skills to solve real life problems.

• Title: Saige (American Girl Today)
• Author: Jessie Haas
• Publisher: American Girl Publishing
• Website: www.americangirl.com
• Reviewer: Terri Forehand
• Genre: Juvenile fiction/girls/horses

Written by Wanda Brunstetter

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Readers at the fourth and fifth grade levels will love to read about nine-year-old twins, Mattie and Mark Miller. Because of their selfishness, the twins often get into trouble—make that double trouble. When scene after scene in their Holmes County, Ohio, Amish community presents yet another opportunity to get into trouble, the twins do not disappoint. Whether it’s trying to avoid work—as Mark does when he’s expected to help man the fruit stand—or trying to avoid putting extra thought into a writing assignment—as Mattie does when she asks Mark for an idea—the result is disastrous and well-deserved. It’s bad enough when the twin’s selfishness leads to hurt feelings—Mattie abruptly leaves her grandmother with sad eyes after delivering flour and Mark abandons his friend when he doesn’t get the pony ride he expects—but the selfishness reaches an all-time high when it results in injuries to both their little brother and their horse. Will these two ever learn to avoid the bumpy ride and simply share?

Since the twins are Amish, unfamiliar words will strengthen fourth and fifth grade reading skills. The words alone are fun and may even cause the more advanced reader to read aloud to their younger siblings. The glossary at the front of the book could be the basis for a reading worksheet, which would no doubt lead to increased reading comprehension. In addition, the Amish Fiction for Kids website provides ideas for crafts, games, and other fun stuff. Wanda Brunstetter’s Bumpy Ride Ahead! (Double Trouble) should be on any value-based reading list that covers the topic of selfishness.

Author’s website: http://amishfictionforkids.com/

Additional website: http://www.wandabrunstetter.com/

Double Trouble Series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jumCQOeQKvM

• Title: Bumpy Ride Ahead! (Double Trouble)
• Author: Wanda Brunstetter
• Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
• Reviewer: Bonita Herold
• Paperback: 154 pages
• ISBN: 978-1-61626-790-2
• Genre: Social Studies

Written by Joyce Magnin
Illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov

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Wilma Sue is wary of the world and she is only twelve. She has been in and out of foster homes since she was a baby. She can’t figure out why no one wants her. She longs to fly like a bird somewhere, anywhere to get away from this feeling. But for now she has to go where the home sends her and this time they send her to two sisters who have spent many years in Africa as missionaries. This is no ordinary place where Wilma Sue finds herself. Ruth is always working at one of her causes. Naomi is always baking cakes for people in the neighborhood who needs a special gift. And Penny, the little girl next door, says awful things to Wilma Sue for no good reason. Wilma Sue tries so hard to get along and do the right thing, but things go wrong so easily. For instance, there is the time that Wilma Sue’s garter snake gets away from her in church and makes a mess of the service. She loves taking care of the chickens and helping with the baking, but she just can’t make sense of why Penny seems to hate her. Then, the chicken coop catches fire. Penny goes so far as to say Wilma Sue did it. Wilma Sue may have to go back to the home after all, just when she was starting to love being with Naomi and Ruth.

The voice of this first-person narrative is charming, a rather modern day Anne of Green Gables. She has a big vocabulary and an almost encyclopedic way of expressing herself which is explained by the fact that she had no friends her age and spent her time reading. The sisters are eccentric but loving, the adult characters they visit have funny names and Penny is really unpleasant, which makes most wonder why Wilma Sue would even try to be friends with her.

One suggested literacy activity would be to make a list or a chart of the cake-recipients and explain the hidden meanings of their names, paired with the hidden meaning of the hymn that Naomi sings when she bakes that person’s cake. Penny’s name alone will get a lot of interesting discussion: Pigworthy. This would make a good book for a class read aloud or book discussion group in a private school, church group or a home school. There are discussion questions at the end of the book along with a glossary and a recipe.

• TITLE: Cake
• AUTHOR: Joyce Magnin
• ILLUSTRATOR: Olga and Aleksey Ivanov
• PUBLISHER: Zonderkidz, 2012
• REVIEWER: Risa Brown
• EDITION: Hardcover, 221 p.
• ISBN:
• GENRE: Middle-grade fiction

Written by Naomi Kinsman

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Sadie Douglas is dealing with a lot of events, most of them beyond her control. How she reacts to those events are important factors in her growth and development. Her father works as a mediator. One of the participants in a dispute he’s mediating is so angry he’s determined to draw Sadie and her mother into the fray. So Sadie needs a nanny/bodyguard. The nanny keeps people away and protects her. Also, Sadie has taken a younger girl under her wing. The young girl has a twin who could die from cancer. And the girl’s father is the other party in the mediated dispute. Meanwhile, Sadie’s group of friends is engaging in activities Sadie finds distasteful and, in some ways, dishonest. What will happen if she refuses to participate or, worse, tells them what she thinks? Last, Sadie misses her friends in Michigan, where her family lived for a time. Her art continues to tie her to those friends. The reader gets to see her emails to those friends.

As a level headed young woman, Sadie tries to think before she speaks, and she uses her art to reflect her thoughts. In fact, she pours her whole heart into her drawings and paintings. This book, at a fourth grade level, shows how a religious girl can find answers within herself and her community, but it has life lessons for everyone. Obvious reading activities follow the text, with many possibilities for art and writing projects. As the fourth “Faithgirlz: From Sadie’s Sketchbook” volume, this links well to the www.faithgirlz.com website with tons of information and more activities.

• Title: Brilliant Hues
• By: Naomi Kinsman
• Publisher: ZonderKidz
• Reviewer: Sue Poduska
• Paperback, 224 pages
• ISBN: 978-0-310-72668-5
• Genre: Chapter book, Religious, Christian, General
• Lexile Score: 940L