For the Short Story Reading Challenge – Deal Me In 2018, here is my pick for last week and my list of selected reading for this year’s challenges can be found here.

The Selection: ‘The Story of An Hour’ by Kate Chopin. You can read it here – in way less than that.

Notes from Wikipedia (in lieu of a Description): “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin was originally published in Vogue (the same Vogue that’s around today) on December 6, 1894, as “The Dream of an Hour”. Later it was reprinted in St. Louis Life on January 5, 1895, as “The Story of an Hour”.

My Thoughts: Another short story that captures the reader with its brilliance in spite of its brevity. Every sentence has an impact of its own, from the very first emotional line to the very last tragically ironic one. Chopin’s use of repetition is, for a lack of a better word today, brilliant. An example: “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday that she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.”

To Sum it Up: Simply Brilliantly Ironic!

101 Games to Play Before You Grow Up
Exciting and fun games to play anywhere
by Walter Foster Jr. Creative Team
Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster, Jr.
Walter Foster Jr
Children’s Nonfiction

Description: Playing games is the best part of growing up. Help kids tap into their playful imaginations with 101 Games to Play Before You Grow Up, the ultimate handbook for kids that introduces tons of games to play by themselves or with friends and family!  Offering an extensive list of games, from classic favorites such as H.O.R.S.E., Simon Says, and Handball to quirky card and board games such as Pandemic and Spoons, your children will get up, get outside, and never get bored. 101 Games to Play Before You Grow Up features both indoor and outdoor games for rainy or snowy days. With so many ways to play, kids will always have something new to do!My Thoughts: This is a great resource for discovering games – new and the ones from our childhood – to play for kids of all ages. For all those days that kids are bored or for ensuring a new way of fun away from the screen!

What I liked: Everyone is most likely to discover new games or games lost from their childhood in this book. The book includes a mix of indoor and outdoor games with a good percentage of both. Each game includes the how (instructions to play it), the what (materials and number of players needed, related games), the where (where can it be played), and the details (age levels of players, tips, and fun facts about the game). This makes it a really cool, fun, and informative reference book of games.

What were the cons for me: Some of the games seem similar or repetitive; about one-third of the book was devoted to board games and while I do agree that board games also need a revival of a sort in today’s obsession with video games, having a fewer of the board games and more of the other type of games included (games with no need to buy anything else) would have made it all the more better.

Rating: B-
Reading Level: 8- 11 years
Reread Level: 4/5
Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC of the book

Greatest Magical Stories, chosen by Michael Morpurgo
by Michael Morpurgo (Hardcover: Publish Date, May 1, 2018)

Description: This collection of the greatest magical stories from award-winning author Michael Morpurgo includes everything from tiny heroes and talking frogs to meddling fairies and mysterious sea creatures. Stories include “The Frog Prince,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and more. Award-winning children’s writer and former United Kingdom Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo has collected the greatest magical stories and put them all together for your reading pleasure. From tiny heroes and talking frogs to meddling fairies and mysterious sea creatures, all the wonders of the magical world are right here. This timeless collection will be treasured forever by children looking for something magical to read alone or to share. Stories include “The Frog Prince,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and more. Strikingly illustrated and charmingly retold, there are lots of great stories from around the world that children will explore and enjoy.

My Thoughts: Stories handpicked by Michael Morpugo are retold by well-known children’s authors in this charming, gift-able collection. Each story is illustrated by a different artist, and the illustrations for each one are beautiful and unique.

What I liked about it: A mix of familiar and unfamiliar stories from all around the world makes this book a good collection of stories. The stories have been retold so it is easy reading for elementary age kids who have grasped reading skills, and also make for great read-aloud stories for younger kids to follow along with the illustrations. Each story has an introduction by Michael Morpugo which provides an insight into or a background of the story. My favorite retelling was the one retold by Michael himself – ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. And while all the illustrations wowed me, my favorites were the whimsical, dream-like ones in ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’, and the silhoutte style drawings of ‘The Pied Piper’

Could’ve made it even better: A slightly more modern, more forward-looking retelling of some of the stories, maybe – with more stronger presentations of the female characters.All in all, the selection of stories and the illustrations make this a book that can be gifted, read, and treasured. I am now thinking I should check out the ‘Greatest Animal Stories‘ by Michael Morpugo soon.

Rating: A
Reading Level: 8 -11 years (and to read aloud to younger kids)
Reread Level: 4/5
Disclaimer: Thank you to Edelweiss for the digital ARC of the book