James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

I'm not much a fan of Roald Dahl. He seems to a take an "us against them" kind of attitude, writing life as a kind of battle between the good (kids) and the bad (all adults), and most of his stories are pretty dark and pretty non-sequitur. Calvin, however, is far less discerning at this age and we had a pretty good time with James and the Giant Peach, between fun science in the bathtub and side projects about grasshoppers.

Science in the bathtub

We are in the middle of reading James and the Giant Peach and if you've ever read it you'll understand how that book led us to doing a "sinks or floats" experiment in our bathtub. We didn't have a giant peach, or even a peach of standard size, to test in the tub, but we did find a myriad of other items to sink or float, like spoons, spatulas, toys, and even underwear and socks. It was a fun, and slightly wet, experience.

The Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (our reviews)

Baum actually wrote and published this story four years after the first Oz book, and apparently it was not part of his original plan but was in answer to the numerous letters he received asking for more stories about the first book's quirky characters. As with so many sequels this Oz book didn't have quite the power of the first one, but according to Calvin's reaction that slight disappointment belongs to me alone. Maybe I'll just blame it on having grown up with the movie and the closer connection I'd feel to the first story. And before you think that this is a bad review let me make amends by saying that this is really a great, fun fantasy book in the same vein as the Wonderful Wizard, and in The Marvelous Land of Oz the reader gets to meet several new characters and is even treated to a mystery with a somewhat comedic, if likely suspected, twist at the end.

Here is Calvin's review, composed and written entirely by himself, though with the obligatory spelling assistance.

Making the train costume happen

Last year, after spending some time trying to figure out how to make a train costume and then having Calvin fall in love with a Winnie the Pooh costume at the resale shop, I told Calvin that he could be anything he wanted from then on as long as he could make the costume. About the same time I told me that this year he would return to the train idea, and that he wanted his dad and myself to be signals. As long as we can make it, kid...

This year, as the date neared, I found myself wrestling with ideas and plans. There is nobody else out there making a train costume that isn't Thomas, but I found another mom's costume plans posted on her website and adapted them to fit our own needs. I followed her plans for basic box assembly—starting with a paper box (the same box we used over seven years ago to deliver the decorations to our reception site, and again three years ago to move baby items to the new house), a shoe box of matching width, and (thanks to my mom) two hat boxes.

Calvin helped me shop or search the basement for all the necessary items, and then he helped me use the t-square and pencil to mark the boxes for cutting. We used the hot glue gun to attach the boxes initially, then covered the whole thing with black duct tape; Calvin helped hold the pieces in place while I applied hot glue, and he helped press the black tape into place. The duct tape added stability to the whole ensemble and also made it relatively water-proof just in case.

Calvin picked out black paper plates for wheels and silver and gold poster board for accents. He also picked a picture from his historical trains book for me to use as inspiration. He decided on silver for the wheels and gold for the accents. I cut the accents and wheels after he went to bed (since I'd waited until last minute and wanted the costume done before the costume parade in Dexter the next morning—nothing like last minute). There's nothing like scrapbooking materials for a project of this kind—I used my circle cutter on the wheels, the t-square and my circle punch for the side accents, and the Cricut to cut the fours. Engine, engine number four...

The straps are nylon and I stapled and duct taped them to the inside of the box before applying adhesive backed Velcro at the appropriate sizing for Calvin. The final addition, though, was the smoke stack. The original plans called for a tube but Calvin wanted an old steam engine, which would have had a conical smoke stack in front, so we stopped by our downtown hardware store while we were trick or treating on parade (even without the smoke stack he was a hit on the first dry run) where we found the perfect metal funnel. At home Calvin helped me measure for the location, I used a box cutter to make two diagonal cuts, and I adhered it to the front with hot glue.

You'll remember that he also asked us to be signals, so to round out the ensemble on Halloween night I made a RR sign and a railroad crossing sign which two of his loving entourage (including also his Oma, Opa, and Aunt Ann) carried throughout our neighborhood escapades.

My favorite part of this costume was Calvin's involvement. He picked the costume and he helped make it, which means that when person after person asked him if his mom made it he was able to say, truthfully, "we made it together," and then often went on to explain what each part was made of and how it was assembled. Even the remotely curious were treated to his well spoken explanation.

The (Wonderful) Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (our reviews)

I loved discovering this story all over again, the right way. While this movie is a classic that will long endure, like most books made into movies it just doesn't do justice to the original, and for all these years I'd had no idea. I'd heard all kinds of references to Baum's fantastical writing and some hints at political symbolism and dark mystery, but having now put all skepticism aside and read the book, I find it to be neither dark nor so rife with political commentary that it can't be enjoyed for the fantasy that it is. My only regret is that I hadn't read it earlier, as in almost 30 years earlier and long before watching the movie.

Obviously I recommend this book. Sure it won't be for everbody—it's much longer than the other youth books we've read and the sentence structure is very different, having been written at the turn of the century (the 20th) and possibly for an older audience. That being said it was not over my four year old's head and he greatly enjoyed it. So greatly, in fact, that we have since looked up information about the rest of the books in the Oz series and moved on to the next one, The Marvelous Land of Oz.

But first, the rest of our review. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (or just The Wizard of Oz as it was titled after the stage and screen successes) was a big hit with Calvin. Here is his final journal entry about the book, and the rest of his illustrations.

I think this entry is fairly easy to read so no deciphering is necessary.

And I think his descriptions are also fairly readable here, but I will add that the lion is being rescued by field mice and the scarecrow and woodman who are pulling him out of the poppy field on a wagon, and the great castle in the Emerald City has a huge downspout. That's just good architecture.

Oz in this picture is just a giant head because that is how he first appears to Dorothy in the throne room. And who doesn't love flying monkeys?

The Humbug of Oz? That's what they call him when they find out he isn't really a Wizard but has been fooling his subjects all these years. And notice the green glasses on all our characters—they all wear green glasses in the Emerald City.

Hammerheads, like the Kalidahs, will be unknown characters to those who have never read the book, and you'll notice that the shoes taking Dorothy home are silver, not red like they are in the movie (I guess silver just wasn't exciting enough for an early technicolor movie).

The end all of this is that we highly recommend this book to people who enjoy a good fantasy and love using their imagination.