Wingwalker

Rating:
Summary: You can tell a book by its cover... it's beautiful
Review: In large type (maybe 16 pt), with dusty 1930's illustrations, the authors recreate a prairie boy's life during The Great Depression. Reuben, a small second grader, is called shrimp-boats by his classmates, and a scaredy cat by Mary Ellen, until he wins a ride in a barrel rolling, Curtiss Jenny barn storming bi plane. His mother serves chicken a la king to truckers at the Lariat Café. His father teaches dancing, and wears a silk handkerchief, just like the U.S. President. But as the Depression continued, both his parents lose their jobs, and his father must find work with dangerous oil drilling rigs. Reuben expects to start 3rd grade in his comfortable Oklahoma town, but his father loses his job, and must find work anywhere doing anything. When he finds an ad for a wingwalker, the family leaves Oklahoma for a new adventure. While his father works in the circus, more as a wing-dancer than a wing walker, Reuben must make new friends, and some are quite unusual, like the Tattooed Lady. Traveling with the circus, they cross Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. A sweet, quiet, timeless book for summer reading.

Rating:
Summary: You can tell a book by its cover... it's beautiful
Review: In large type (maybe 16 pt), with dusty 1930's illustrations, the authors recreate a prairie boy's life during The Great Depression. Reuben, a small second grader, is called shrimp-boats by his classmates, and a scaredy cat by Mary Ellen, until he wins a ride in a barrel rolling, Curtiss Jenny barn storming bi plane. His mother serves chicken a la king to truckers at the Lariat Café. His father teaches dancing, and wears a silk handkerchief, just like the U.S. President. But as the Depression continued, both his parents lose their jobs, and his father must find work with dangerous oil drilling rigs. Reuben expects to start 3rd grade in his comfortable Oklahoma town, but his father loses his job, and must find work anywhere doing anything. When he finds an ad for a wingwalker, the family leaves Oklahoma for a new adventure. While his father works in the circus, more as a wing-dancer than a wing walker, Reuben must make new friends, and some are quite unusual, like the Tattooed Lady. Traveling with the circus, they cross Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. A sweet, quiet, timeless book for summer reading.

Rating:
Summary: Delicious!!
Review: This story of a young boy who lives through the Great Depression will give readers a delicious taste of the period. Imagine your father losing his job and becoming a stuntman who walks on the wings of an aeroplane!! Scary! Selznick's unique illustrations complement Wells' vivid writing. I always feel like I'm right there in the story when I look at Selznick's illustrations...Wells' text pulls me in even farther.
Wow!! Read this to a whole class group (2-8) to get a flavor of the Era and to study the craft of writing - Wells stuffs this story with passages that should be highlighted and analyzed as models of how to capture a reader's imagination.

Rating:
Summary: Good Blending of Text and Art
Review: WINGWALKER by Rosemary Wells is the story of a young boy, who at the age of seven experiences the loss of security as a result of his parents losing their home and jobs during the dust storms of the 1930's. The family is forced to move and meet new challenges and people. During the time his mother and father go to work for a traveling carnival, Reuben grows from a young boy very afraid of riding in an airplane to being able to ride the wings of a carnival airplane with his father. The book is a touching story of a young boy's growth from babyish insecurity to courageous adolescence. The illustrator, Brain Selznick tells the family's story through muted pastel color paintings that have a dusty overglazed appearance. He does an outstanding job of capturing the thoughts and feelings of the characters, especially Reuben, with very meaningful facial expressions. Overall, the book shows skillful blending of text and artwork.