Pocahontas & the Strangers was a hit with my 5th grade class! What a joy to hear the kids say, "Can we keep reading?"! Bulla has done his homework. He portrays the Algonquin Indians with historical accuracy. This book allows the readers to get to know historical figures in a realistic way. When it came time to read about Pocahontas in our Social Studies book, the kids said, "Hey! We know her!" Easy reading + fun and factual + makes readers want to know more about historcal figures...all this = adds up to an excellent book and teaching tool. Thanks Bulla!

I thought that this book was a very excellent book, especially for young children. The story about the sweet, unhappy artist, becoming a happy-go-lucky guy because of this kitten, is the sweetest thing I ever read. This kitten is a special kitten with a white heart on his forehead. This lonely kitten finds a lonely yound man, and now they have each other to be happy with. The young man becomes happy again in this sweet, caring story. When the cat gets stolen, find out what happens when the young man is looking for his little, lost cat. This story is a very sweet story to have your children read, especially around Valentine's Day! The illustrations in this book were also neat, with only using four colors - white, black, red, and teal-green.

I will always remember when Luke saw John in the cradle.
This book was very Exciting!
I think others should read this book because there are exciting things on every page!

I will always remember... The ending. This book was... exciting!
I think others should read this book because I think others will relate to it.

I will always remember the ending.
This book was... excting,awesome, and sad!
I think others should read this book because it is fun to read! It made me feel sad,excited, happy, and glad!

The author wrote this book like an adventure story. There was a boy named Ty who lived in a town where everyone had moved away except his family. His friends came to visit and brought along their grandfather's diary. The author used the diary to give clues on how to find gold in Gold Rock. The children had many adventures trying to find the treasure. The writer wrote about things that boys like me would enjoy. This made the book very interesting to me.

This was one of my favorite books from childhood. Clyde Robert Bulla writes great adventure stories. For years, my sister and I fantasized about looking for "gold in the cave" in our neighborhood....Truly an exciting, memorable tale.

This book is about three children whose father is in America helping to settle the colonies. Shortly after he leaves for America the children's mother dies leaving them with nothing and no one to look after them. The oldest child Amanda decided to take a boat to America and find their father. On the ship ride to America, there is a terrible storm and the ship is wrecked. The three children are forced to live in a hut on an island with other families from the ship until a new ship can be built.
This historical fiction is a great adventure for children in 3-5th grade. I enjoyed the vivid details that helped draw me into the story. I couldn't put the book down. It is a story of courage sure to get the imaginations of children going.
The author of this book conveyed a strong message of courage and a determination to live your dreams. This adventure had an inspiring tail of overcoming struggle and working together to survive.

My children and I read this as part of our unit on the Colonial History of the U.S. We found it well-written without being bogged down with facts, and the plot was strong enough to keep the entire family interested in listening, from the Ph.D. to the three year old.

A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla tells the story of Amanda, Jemmy and Meg who live in England in the 1600's. Their father goes to Jamestown, and their mother becomes very ill, falls on the stairs, gets sicker and dies. They live with Mrs. Trippett, a rich, cold-hearted lady that Amanda works for. Mrs. Trippett won't give them the money bag that was around their mother's neck when she died. They want the money to go to Jamestown. Mrs. Trippett kicks them out, but Dr. Crider finds them and takes them to his home. Then they get on a ship to Jamestown. Dr. Crider falls overboard during the trip, and Amanda doesn't know what to do next. A horrible storm hits, and they crash on Bermuda. Read this book to find out if they ever get off the island and find their father. The book shows how people had some hard times going from England to Jamestown in the New World. This book made me feel like I was there in the story. I like how Amanda didn't give up. I think that when you read this book it will inspire you and interest you.

The author proclaims that St. Valentine's day is one of our oldest and most mysterious holidays, then reveals the speculations to its origins with the words "perhaps," "legends," "story," and "believed". Students looking for research will be disappointed, but those who just want to hear some possible explanations will be satisfied. No sources are cited, although Bulla says that there are church records for some information; he also cites Valentine's Day as the most popular day for weddings, and the busiest day for post offices, but offers no facts to support these claims.
The illustrations are charming and energetic, mixing the traditional red, white and pink with purple, hot pink, blue, green and gold. Instead of delicate hearts and cupids, the endpapers are jazzy with an Escher-like dove carrying a heart in its beak. Design is consistent throughout with a full-page color illustration opposite text with a related border. The font is a bit spidery and wordy for younger readers.
In spite of its shortcomings, the book remains a good source for those looking for old customs or games to celebrate the popular holiday. Appended activities include pinprick valentines, writing acrostic valentines, and baking cookies. The book itself can be a valentine gift for little ones.

This book was wonderful. It gave a great explanation of how the story of Valentine's Day came about. It also had crafts and other fun stuff you could do in the back of the book. This book can teach the history and meaning/purpose of Valentine's Day in an interesting way. The pictures are wonderful. The bright colors add so much to the story. I would recommend this book in a hearbeat!

Lud,a young boy,cared for an old man,who was a king but Lud didn't know it.When the old man died Lud received a very special gift in return for his kindness.So I learnded that being a caring person to others is what is important.Don't be thoughtful just to receive some special gift back in return.Be nice just for the sake of being nice. I liked this book because it had many exciting adventures.

In this juvenile biography for younger elementary students, Clyde Robert Bulla tells story of how Abraham Lincoln grew up to become a great man whose birthday was celebrating as a way of honoring his life. Bulla describes Lincoln's boyhood, his years as a lawyer and legislator, his election to the Presidency and the tragedy of the Civil War. He also explains the beginning of the holiday observance of Lincoln's birthday and the ways American has paid tribute to the Great Emancipator over the years. Obviously, since Bulla wrote about "Lincoln's Birthday" in 1965, this was before Presidents' Day effectively combined the February birthdays of Lincoln and Washington. Ernest Crichlow provides the illustrations for this book, which is part of the Crowell Holiday Book series an in which young readers will find basic information about both Abraham Lincoln and the holiday celebrating his birthday.

This is a good follow up book to "The Chalk Box Kid". The main character bravely works to help his uncle by using his artistic skills. If you like art, you will really like this book!

This book (Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla) is about a girl named Sarah Ida that moved to Palmville to vist her Aunt Claudia. Sarah's parents sent her to Palmville because her parents could not take care of her over the summer. While she was on the train Sarah Ida wanted to start her life all over because her life was miserable. Sarah asked Aunt Claudia for money, but her mother said "No" because Sarah needed to learn the value of money! Sarah found a job. It was at a shoeshine store. Do you think Sarah learned a lesson in the ShoeShine Stand? So that's why the title is called the ShoeShine Girl. Do you think Sarah learned the value of money? What do you think Sarah spent her first day's pay on and why? How do you think Sarah feels working in the ShoeShine Stand?

We like this book because we can relate to Sarah at the begining of the book. One time one of us was on the train going to school, and we didn't feel like getting off. Similar to Sarah she didn't want to get off on the train because she wanted to change her life all over again.

Our opinion for this book is really good because every chapter tells you something new. For example in chapter 4 it was very suspenseful. We were thinking that she was going to steal the money and spend it. Maybe she would get caught and would have to look for another job instead of working at the ShoeSineStand.

So now you know about this girl named "Sarah Ida" who works at the ShoeSine Stand. We would like to recommend this book to people that like reading realistic fiction books!

The book is called Shoeshine Girl by Clycle Robert Bulla. This book started with a girl named Sarah Ida who was told to get on a train to Palmville but she didn't want to. She had no choice but to go. She planned on staying and did she get off? Well....read the book and find out. They got the title of the story when Sarah went to find a job and found one in a shoeshine stand and one day Al, her boss, went to buy some shoe polish. Do you know what happened afterwards? Al got hit by a car and was sent to the hospital. Sarah Ida kept the shoeshine stand open and polished people's shoes all by herself. Do you think it's good so far? Do you also think that Sarah Ida is a responsible person for taking care of the store?

We learn that if you want money, you need to earn money yourself. We like this book because it talks about character's feelings. For example, Sarah felt hurt when Sarah wanted money and Aunt Claudia didn't give her money because she said "Your mom told me not to give you any." We disliked the part when Al got hurt. We like this book because it was good and because it was talking about her life. Her life changed a lot throughout the story. She use to be with people that are so awful. It was awful because she had friends that would take things. What we think that changed her life was being with Al and her aunt because they taught her how to cook, the value of money, and how to polish a shoe.

We think that this book would be good for people who want to find a job. We also recommend this book to fourth and fifth graders.

I remember when I was in third grade, I would go to my grandmother's house and ask for her to read me The Shoeshine Girl over and over again. This book is great to help children understand the importance of unselfishness and responsibility with money. Sarah Ida's character in the book starts off being a cold and uncaring little girl, but through her experiences with living with Aunt Claudia and working for Al at the shoeshine stand, she becomes a responsible and loving child. I would highly recommend reading this book with children, it is a great story and they will learn the moral of responsibility from it too!