From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsbirg, is about two children, Claudia and Jamie who run away from home to go live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. They settle down in the museum and become accustomed to a life of avoiding guards and bathing in fountains. One day however, a special piece comes to the museum. It is an angel said to have been made by Michalangelo, and mystery surrounds the sculpture. Soon Claudia and Jamie are caught up in the adventure as they try to solve the mystery of Angel on their own. Their search takes them to Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler and a challenge that even they might have trouble passing.

I throughly enjoyed this book. It had genuine and enjoyable characters, and had a good mix of humor and adventure. I also like the story of the runaways and the daring nature of their escape appealed to me when I first read this book. Though it might be a short read for middle school students, higher elementary children will really enjoy this book. It offers them a good mix of adventure and suspense, and they might even learn something about art in the process. The book also has a good pace for elementary school students, and the action never really dulls, which will help keep them engaged in the story, even due to its cultural content. This is a great book for reading with a child, and even adults will have a good time reading this book.

The Wheel on the School

The Wheel on the School, by Meindert DeJong, is a book about a small fishing town named Shora, and the adventures that they children of Shora have as they try to get storks to nest in Shora. It all starts when a girl named Lina writes a composition about Storks. This sets off a frenzied discussion that soon turns into an adventure that has the children searching the whole country-side for a wheel. They search far and wide, in places where a wheel could be, and places where a wheel could not be. In the process they make friends of he most unlikely of people, and learn important lessons about themselves and their village.

I really enjoyed Meinder DeJong's story. It was both entertaining and heartwarming, and I have read it many times since I first opened it. The book won a Newbery Medal, and is a great story of friendship and adventure. Though I read it when I was in fourth or fifth grade, the story can also appeal to middle school students. The book offers some great points for discussion and will have you wanting your own pair of Storks on your roof. It will also leave you questioning your own life, for that is what this book is really about. It is a book about questions, and the ways in which a simple question can transform a person, a school, and a village.