BECOME A MEMBER
Join Pivotal Gold
and you have
private access to free and heavily
discounted resources (including one
book a month)
More information here
FREE
NEWSLETTER
Get news of the
latest games, book reviews, articles
and more that have been added to the
website.
(We do not share, give or
sell email addresses)
Paper folding ...
The Taj Mahal
(Advanced!)
 |
|
Pivotal Book Review
Masterpiece
 |
|
By Elise Broach
Illustrated by Kelly
Murphy
Holt, 2008;
Gr. 3-6
|
Marvin lives with his family
under the kitchen sink in the
Pompadays’ apartment. He is very
much a beetle. James Pompaday
lives with his family in New
York City. He is very much an
eleven-year-old boy. After
James gets a pen-and-ink set for
his birthday, Marvin surprises
him by creating an elaborate
miniature drawing. “It was as if
his legs had been waiting all
their lives for this ink, this
page, this lamp-lit window view.
There was no way to describe the
feeling. It thrilled Marvin to
his very core.” James gets all
the credit for the picture and
before these unlikely friends
know it they are caught up in a
staged art heist at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art that
could help recover a famous
drawing by Albrecht Dürer. But
James can’t go through with the
plan without Marvin’s help. And
that’s where things get really
complicated (and interesting!).
Not only is this the story of
the friendship between a boy and
a beetle, it’s an introduction
to the work of Dürer and a
mystery as well, in which Marvin
and James manage to thwart a
perfect crime, an art heist at
the museum.
This fast-paced mystery will
have young readers on the edge
of their seats as they root for
boy and beetle.
In Shakespeare’s Secret
Elise Broach showed her keen
ability to weave storytelling
with history and suspense, and
Masterpiece is yet
another example of her talent.
This time around it’s an
irresistible miniature world,
fascinating art history, all
wrapped up in a special
friendship— something for
everyone to enjoy.
This book is available from
Amazon
The Cricket in Times
Square by George Selden ...
Chester Cricket, newly
arrived from the Connecticut
countryside, navigating a busy
Manhattan subway station
James and the Giant
Peach by Roald Dahl
Shoebag by
Mary James ... in which a Boston
cockroach awakens one morning to
find he has been transformed into a
little boy
Trouble in Bugland: A
Collection of Inspector Mantis
Mysteries
by William Kotzwinkle ... five
insect mysteries
Chasing Vermeer
Blue Balliet
The
Wright 3
The Calder Game
|
Watch a video of Peter Rabbit by
Beatrix Potter
What is it that
excites you, makes
you smile and fuels
your dreams?
Click on
the picture for more about this
inspirational book for children.
For
children, sight word
recognition is an
important step to
being able to
efficiently learn to
read. If they don’t
have to stop and
consider what each
word is, they will
have the freedom to
comprehend the
meaning and context
of sentences and
paragraphs.
Consequently, it’s
critical for
parents,
babysitters,
guardians,
grandparents and
educators to help
beginning readers
|
