Click here to go to Armadillo Book Reviews HomeArmadillo Associates Home





Books etc. / For children 5 and under / For children 5 and up / For children 8 and up / Learning to read / For children 12 and up / Sophisticated readers-Fat books (Deep books for sophisticated but young readers) / For grumps / About educators educating / Technical Books / Gifted Education / Books whose protagonists are gifted, intellectually / All book reviews /
Search our reviews


Tree By Leaf : Reviewed

Author:Cynthia Voigt
Reading Level (Conceptual):Children 12 and up
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Children 8 and up
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:1988

A gloomy book about the effects of war and weather on real bodies and minds. And about how a child can come to feel responsible for the acts of man and nature.

My ten year old found it compelling, but depressing. Without an understanding of the hideous weapons used during World War I, the descriptions of the injuries were difficult to understand. (Not that I'd have wanted them to be graphic.)

A child might take the moral of this scary fairy tale to be "Be very careful what you wish. Very careful." And, yes, I approve of that message as it's presented in Into the Woods. "Be careful the wish you make. Wishes come true. Not free."

And I do think it's good for all people to think through the full ramifications of their actions and their wishes. And through the main character, the book does help us to think about how to formulate effective, clear, less dangerous wishes.

But do we want our children to worry that their possibly less-than-perfect wishes will come true?



Other reviews: Tree By Leaf
 
About the Armadillo Associates Web Site
Internet Design & Development
Object-oriented software design & implementation
API Design & Evangelism
Efficient high tech project management
Evocative high tech PR
Perceptive Technical Reporting
Coastside Film Society
Books & etc.
School-related issues
Armadillian wanderings
Click here for graphical Home Page
Click here for Flash-y armadillos
Search our site



Rants and reviews table of contents / Into the Woods / Annie Get Your Gun / Learning to Build and Program Robots / Stomp



©2024 Armadillo Associates, Inc.
Comments, questions? Send us email
Click here to go Home