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EASTERN EUROPEAN ODYSSEY
For Kids
Europe, A True Book
• Sandra Newman
HISTORY •
2009 •
PAPER
• 48 PAGES
• MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)
Part of the True Book series, this illustrated, readable volume geared toward middle readers introduces children to the geography and diverse cultures of Europe.
(EUR336, $6.95) |
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Eyewitness Castle
• Christopher Gravett
HISTORY •
2008 •
HARD COVER
• 72 PAGES
• MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)
Take a look behind the walls of these fascinating fortresses and learn how they were built to house hundreds of people and animals; how a young boy rose from lowly page to noble knight; and what life was like for the castle residents. With a CD of clip art and a poster.
(EUR335, $16.99) |
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Golem
• David Wisniewski
• Lee Salsberry
LITERATURE •
1996 •
HARD COVER
• 32 PAGES
• MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)
A retelling of a Jewish legend, set in Prague in the 16th century, a dark time for the city's Jewish residents. A rabbi builds a clay giant to protect his people from persecution; the golem, in this version, speaks with a child's simplicity. The remarkable paper-cutout illustrations brilliantly evoke the Prague of old, and the author includes a helpful historical note. It's suitable for 7 to 10 year-olds. A Caldecott Medal book.
(CZH38, $17.00) |
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Marie Antoinette, Princess of Versailles (Austria-Hungary, 1769)
• Kathryn Lasky
LITERATURE •
2000 •
HARD COVER
• 238 PAGES
• MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)
The ill-fated future queen of France records life at the Habsburg palace in Austria in this novel-in-diary-format, written by the reliably excellent children's author Kathryn Lasky. The teenaged Marie is almost of marrying age, and the future is full of possibility. An entry in Scholastic's "Princess Diaries" series, for ages 9 to 12. The book is designed to feel like a real princess's diary, with gold-embossed pages and a sturdy binding.
(FRN342, $10.99) |
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The Good Master
• Kate Seredy
LITERATURE •
1986 •
PAPER
• 196 PAGES
• MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)
Here's a book that will make 9-12 year-olds wish they had lived in Hungary a hundred years ago. First published in the 1930s, "The Good Master" tells of two cousins who ride horses across the Hungarian plains, encountering shepherds and gypsies en route. It's all marvelously evocative of the folk customs and lifestyles of old Hungary. Kate Seredy continued the cousins' story in a sequel, "The Singing Tree" (HGR26).
(HGR25, $5.99) |
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The Singing Tree
• Kate Seredy
LITERATURE •
1990 •
PAPER
• 247 PAGES
• MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)
The sequel to "The Good Master," in which cousins Jancsi and Kate are now older -- and Hungary (and all of 1914 Europe) are on the brink of war.
(HGR26, $6.99) |
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The Trumpeter of Krakow
• Eric Philbrook Kelly
• Janina Domanska
LITERATURE •
1992 •
PAPER
• 208 PAGES
• MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)
Winner of the Newbery Award, this classic tale of a young boy in medieval Krakow is an excellent introduction to the history and texture of the city for middle schoolers. Although this is a children's story, it deals with rather weighty issues of greed, loyalty, bravery and the great Tarnov Crystal.
(PLD12, $5.99) |
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The White Stag
• Kate Seredy
LITERATURE •
1979 •
PAPER
• 96 PAGES
• MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12)
It isn't every children's novel that features Attila the Hun among its cast of characters, but this re-telling of the Hungarian national epic not only casts the long-vilified Attila, it casts him as none other than the father of the Hungarian nation. And so he was. Kate Seredy drew on oral traditions and folklore for this gripping novella about the Huns' and Magyars' fifth-century migration from Asia to Central Europe. It won her a Newbery Medal in 1938. Ages 9 to 12
(HGR27, $4.99) |
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Upon the Head of the Goat, A Childhood in Hungary, 1939-1944
• Aranka Siegal
BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •
2003 •
PAPER
• 224 PAGES
• YOUNG ADULTS
This spare memoir of a Jewish girlhood in a German-occupied Hungarian town won its author a Newbery Honor citation. Its serious subject and introspective tone are recommended for sophisticated young adults.
(HGR24, $7.99) |
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The Three Golden Keys
• Peter Sis
LITERATURE •
2001 •
HARD COVER
• 64 PAGES
• FAMILY
Either by magic or trick of memory, author/illustrator Peter Sis is transported to the Prague of his childhood. As in all of Sis's books, the imaginary gets mixed up with the real -- in this book, he meets characters from Czech folklore, including the Golem and Hanus the Clockmaker. Prague, so often called a "fairy tale city," is at its most fairy tale-ish in this sophisticated, entrancing picture book. Intended for grade-school children, the book will appeal equally (or more) to parents.
(CZH39, $24.99) |
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