I’m reading the first book in The 39 Clues series, The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan, with my 4th grade classes this year. We’re using it as a tool to learn research and library skills as we go. I filmed this video at the Franklin Institute in December, and this week we’re finally to the Franklin Institute part of the book. Can’t wait to show it to them. Thanks to Adam as always for being my cameraman.
Tag: rick riordan
This was the most fun I’ve had at the movies in quite a while.
I was getting really nervous about the film adaptation of one of my absolute favorite children’s novels of recent years. I love all things Percy Jackson, and I’ll go ahead and commit the blasphemy of saying that at times I love him even more than Harry Potter. I am a huge HP fan, too, but sometimes those books (and movies) can be so English that I myself start to feel like I have ADHD. Hermione’s restrained indignation, Snape’s perfectly articulated villainy, Harry and Ron’s wide-eyed, schoolboy senses of humor. Sometimes I want to bury myself in those characters and not come out, and sometimes it all just makes me…itchy. So when Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson, a street-smart New Yorker with a more relaxed, jeans-and-hoodie sense of humor, burst onto the literary scene with The Lightning Thief, it was kind of like exhaling for a Jersey girl like myself. It was funny, quick, mischievous, and with just enough attitude to appeal to me. Percy Jackson is my people. So the film adaptation is a big deal.
Read more on Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief…
After the success of The Da Vinci Code it felt like everyone was throwing their own stories of historical intrigue and adventure into the ring (say what you will, I personally enjoyed National Treasure and Sahara). The time had come for a kids’ series that packs the same historical truths with high adventure, and I think The 39 Clues does it exceedingly well. I think this kind of story is made to be read by kids who will want to read more about the historical figures and events mentioned. It’s a perfect tie-in to all kinds of research. The first book in the series, The Maze of Bones, was just published in September 2008 and we’re already up to the release of Book 6. It’s become a phenomenon complete with online clues and hints accessed through special collectors’ cards through the series’ website.
Read more on 39 Clues Book One: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan…
I can’t believe it’s come to an end. The Last Olympian marks the final book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. And I’ve finally finished reading it.