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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Fun a story. Bit of a younger read. Kind of like a water down version of Around the World in Eighty Days.
What's really rare about this is it's a children's book where the hero is an adult and we never really see things from a child's perspective. It made its point (adventure!) and ended abruptly. I really liked the illustrations and I appreciated how businesslike the telling of the story was. It makes me wish there were more stories like this for kids. What's the opposite of condescending? Respectful, I guess. It's just a solid tale.
Now that I think about it, I guess a lot of comic books don't have child characters. Like Batman and Spider Man. But would I compare this book to a comic? No way. It's about an old math professor who wants to sail away in a balloon and ends up landing on an island that explodes. But I still think it's interesting to try to think of books for kids that don't have kids as the main characters.
Now that I think about it, I guess a lot of comic books don't have child characters. Like Batman and Spider Man. But would I compare this book to a comic? No way. It's about an old math professor who wants to sail away in a balloon and ends up landing on an island that explodes. But I still think it's interesting to try to think of books for kids that don't have kids as the main characters.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Cute, interesting concept. A little meh for me.
I remember reading this in third grade and finding it really interesting, at that time never having heard of Krakatoa or much about ballooning. Reading this again to the kids, it didn't hold up quite as well but was still fun. The author tries to explain the life of the "Krakatoans" in a way that could work, but as an adult, I just found a lot of impossibilities. Still, a unique and interesting idea for a book, so well done.
Imaginative, eccentric. A story of culture, politics, relationships.
I love the paradox: a retired teacher of mathematics ventures halfway around the world to escape society, only to find a volcanic utopia.
Brilliantly done.
I love the paradox: a retired teacher of mathematics ventures halfway around the world to escape society, only to find a volcanic utopia.
Brilliantly done.
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
"Juliah- do you want me to read you this book? It has PICTURES in it."
That is pretty much what I said to my neice anytime she would walk by and I was reading the book. Seriously this book was made to be shared, aloud, like in the tradition of reading phantom tollbooth, or peter pan.
In the end I wanted to escape in a balloon and float high above all my troubles too.
That is pretty much what I said to my neice anytime she would walk by and I was reading the book. Seriously this book was made to be shared, aloud, like in the tradition of reading phantom tollbooth, or peter pan.
In the end I wanted to escape in a balloon and float high above all my troubles too.
Delightfully silly book about hot air ballooning and crazy inventions.
I think most younger kids would enjoy it.
I think most younger kids would enjoy it.