Carnival At Candlelight

I am so impressed, and so excited by this book! I forgot how much fun it is to read Children's Literature! The Carnival at Candlelight really impressed me. Despite its short length (for a reader my age) I didn't want to put it down! I could definitly see how young readers could be sucked into the plot.

One of my favorite aspects of the book was how Mary Pope Osborne broke it up. I loved the idea of incorporating letters, "reference sections," and pictures into this novel. It really allowed me to feel as if I were right beside Jack or Annie. As many people have said, I loved the "reference sections." The bold print allowed the reader to easily identify them, but I also enjoyed learning about Venice, Tiepolo, and winged lions! This is such a wonderful way to teach children! The disaster chapter was one of my favorite, "we have to save all of Venice?" This quote exemplifies Jack's paranoia. This chapter is a great lesson for responsibility, and even service. Another one of my favorite aspects was the idea of imagination. Kids are often discouraged to use their imagination because of standardized testing and unexcited teachers. This book really encourages the use of imagination, "in his imagination, Jack saw Neptune..." This book really sucks you into reading the rest of the series too. "We have eight rhymes left....for our next three journeys," Jack says. I really want to read those next three journeys! I am sure many students would as well.

I connected this book, immediately, to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado." I learned that the setting was in Venice, Italy, probably during the time of carnival. I could definitely see this book being a seg-way into this short story, especially in a classroom of students with reading defiencies. Students who cannot read well in high school could read "Carnival at Candlelight." Then, they could transition into reading "Cask." This would be so wonderful! They could get some excellent reading time with Osbornes book and then get some "classic" reading in with Poe! Another experience I connected this to was just the experience of Venice. I have always wanted to go there, and I almost was able to in this book.

This book teaches so many different things at once. Social studies, science (flooding in the lagoon,) mythology (Neptune,) patience, responsibility, and much more! This is such a great novel that can be used on so many different levels. Again, I am very impressed and very excited by this wonderful adventure of Annie and Jack.