This week’s Book of the Week was written by an interesting man, Sid Fleischman. Sid Fleischman was born during the Great Depression (this is the same time period in which last week’s book, Out of the Dust, took place). When he was in 5th grade he decided to become a magician; so after he graduated from high school he traveled with a group of performers. Eventually he settled down and became a Newberry Award winning author.
One of his books, The Whipping Boy, is this week’s Book of the Week. The Whipping Boy is a short book that relates to treating people right. Jemmy is an orphan who was sent to the king as a servant. The king also has a son the same age as Jemmy, and Jemmy calls him Prince Brat. Prince Brat is able to have anything and everything he could ever imagine, and is given the best teachers in the kingdom. Well, Prince Brat hates learning and refuses to even learn how to read. Each time his teachers get upset with him, however, they do not punish the Prince, they punish Jemmy. So Jemmy routinely gets whippings for Prince Brat’s bad behavior.
Jemmy is tired of getting punished for things that he didn’t even do, so he decides he is going to run away. Before he can run away, the Prince gets upset that he has to learn so much that he decides to run away and makes Jemmy come with him. Jemmy then gets charged with kidnapping the Prince and the whole Kingdom is looking for him….
While I was reading this book I found myself getting very angry with Prince Brat and feeling very bad for all of the circumstances Jemmy has to deal with. I’ll be curious to see what you think about this book.
I give it 4 bookworms out of 5.
One of his books, The Whipping Boy, is this week’s Book of the Week. The Whipping Boy is a short book that relates to treating people right. Jemmy is an orphan who was sent to the king as a servant. The king also has a son the same age as Jemmy, and Jemmy calls him Prince Brat. Prince Brat is able to have anything and everything he could ever imagine, and is given the best teachers in the kingdom. Well, Prince Brat hates learning and refuses to even learn how to read. Each time his teachers get upset with him, however, they do not punish the Prince, they punish Jemmy. So Jemmy routinely gets whippings for Prince Brat’s bad behavior.
Jemmy is tired of getting punished for things that he didn’t even do, so he decides he is going to run away. Before he can run away, the Prince gets upset that he has to learn so much that he decides to run away and makes Jemmy come with him. Jemmy then gets charged with kidnapping the Prince and the whole Kingdom is looking for him….
While I was reading this book I found myself getting very angry with Prince Brat and feeling very bad for all of the circumstances Jemmy has to deal with. I’ll be curious to see what you think about this book.
I give it 4 bookworms out of 5.
What do you think? Have you read this book? Have you read any other Sid Fleischman books?
2 comments:
Another good book choice. I read this book a few years ago and while I was reading it, it reminded me of how important it is to treat people right. Sid Fleischman is an interesting man/author. If you have some time you should read more about him too. --Mrs. Kellett
This is a fun choice if you'd like to read a Newbery Award book, but don't want one that's "too long."
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