Review of Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid

Along with lots of Riordan fans, I eagerly awaited the debut of his new series The Kane Chronicles. The first book is The Red Pyramid.

As with his Percy Jackson series, Riordan introduces modern day characters with ties to an ancient civilization and mythology. In The Red Pyramid, siblings Carter and Sadie find out they have the blood of Egyptian pharaohs and are descended from powerful Egyptian magicians. How they come to terms with this is spread out over the course of the plot as they scramble to save their father, uncle and themselves from Egyptian gods long forgotten but brought back to life and now focused on destroying the world.

Riordan’s combination of action and Egyptian mythology keeps the story moving along with a couple of mummies. Readers shift back and forth between today’s world and ancient Egypt easily enough, but other concerns distracted me.

The story is told from the point of view of Carter and Sadie. To accomplish this, Riordan alternates viewpoints every two chapters. Even halfway through, I still found myself unable to remember which character was telling the story. Thankfully, at the top of each right-hand page was the name of the current storyteller.

Another concern is the lack of information on Egyptian mythology to let readers become familiar with the many gods and customs. Unlike Greek mythology which is taught in some degree is schools usually through Greek literature, Egyptian mythology is not well known. It is only through my research over the last year of Egyptian mythology and life that I understood the terms ba and maat which play major roles in the story.

Riordan does his young readers a disservice by not helping them understand this fascinating culture. I understand wanting to encourage readers to branch out and learn new ideas, but this may backfire and turn readers away.

Hopefully, Riordan’s loyal followers will give him another chance to engulf them in Egyptian mythology. I await the next book with that hope in mind.

Review of 2011 Colorado Children's Book Award Nominee

Here is the second review of the 2011 Colorado Children's Book Award Nominees. The age range is 0-adult.

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

The premise of this picture book is “What do you see: a duck or a rabbit?” A simple book with a more complex idea behind it, “Duck! Rabbit!” that appeals to older readers including adults.

Young readers (1st grade and younger) will enjoy looking at the pictures done in vibrant colors, while older readers will understand what the concept the author is depicting.

A delightful addition to a home library or as a short and fun summer read from your public library.

Review of 2011 Colorado Children's Book Award Nominee

Here is the first review of the 2011 Colorado Children's Book Award Nominees. The age range is 9-12.

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DeCamillo

The Magician’s Elephant is filled with just the right amount of hope, love and magic to hook and hold readers. Her use of the elephant as the catalyst in the story brought to mind the story I read eons ago The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett. He also used an elephant as the catalyst but it didn’t come off as well as here.

DeCamillo’s many characters each possesses a part of us all. I particularly found the character of Vilna Lutz to be the most heartbreaking. The choice he made so many years before continues to haunt him even after all the other characters find the happiness and truth they have been seeking.

The flow and rhythm of DeCamillo’s writing moves her story along swiftly (I read the book in under an hour and a half!), and her words almost ring as you read. Like The Tale of Despereaux, her seemingly simple approach to complex ideas in The Magician's Elephant reaches across to fans and new readers of DeCamillo.

An excellent read for all ages. For younger readers, the elephant will be as memorable as Despereaux.

2010 Colorado Children's Book Award Winners

Looking for great reads this summer for kids? Try these award-winning books:

Picture Books

Winner: Once Upon A Cool Motorcycle Dude by Kevin O'Malley, Carol Heyer, and Scott Goto. A boy and a girl have trouble working together when they make things up.

Runner-up: Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival by Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery with illustrator Jean Cassels. Two animal friends stay together in order to survive the hurricane.

Novels

Winner: Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn. In this mystery involving the supernatural, a 13-year-old girl tries to identify the person in an old photograph with her mother and her aunt.

Runner-up: How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor. Homeless and in need of money, a girl tries to steal a dog in order to claim the reward, but finds out that's not who she is.