The Twenty-One Balloons
This was kind of a funny book. It kept my interest, and was definitely about ballooning, but I also felt that it was a lot more about Krakatoa than hot air balloons.
I feel like a lot of these Newbery books are reminding me of other Newbery books. This one, for example, is a combination of Dr. Dolittle 1923) and Call it Courage (1941). That's not a bad thing; just something I've been noticing. That happens all the time -- 2 meteor movies come out at the same time, everyone is into vampire books, etc., etc.
The best way to explain this book is to quote from the flyleaf, which is both totally entertaining and ... explanatory:... Telling of life on Krakatoa, and filled with the best of balloon inventions, more than half this book is based on scientific truths. The rest is absolute nonsense. The author has made no attempt whatsoever to separate the two, feeling certain, after close association with Professor William Waterman Sherman, that this voyage was completely authentic, word for word, no matter how fantastic it may prove to the reader.
And there you go. If I could do math, I could tell you if we're halfway done, but I don't think we are. However, we are done with 1948.
I feel like a lot of these Newbery books are reminding me of other Newbery books. This one, for example, is a combination of Dr. Dolittle 1923) and Call it Courage (1941). That's not a bad thing; just something I've been noticing. That happens all the time -- 2 meteor movies come out at the same time, everyone is into vampire books, etc., etc.
The best way to explain this book is to quote from the flyleaf, which is both totally entertaining and ... explanatory:... Telling of life on Krakatoa, and filled with the best of balloon inventions, more than half this book is based on scientific truths. The rest is absolute nonsense. The author has made no attempt whatsoever to separate the two, feeling certain, after close association with Professor William Waterman Sherman, that this voyage was completely authentic, word for word, no matter how fantastic it may prove to the reader.
And there you go. If I could do math, I could tell you if we're halfway done, but I don't think we are. However, we are done with 1948.