Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator: K.G. Campbell Publisher: Candlewick Press Year of Publication: 2013 Genre: Fictional Novel Horn Book or Kirkus Reviews rating: Horn Book rates “Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventure” as 2. “Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventure” received a Kirkus Starred review. Summary: Flora befriends a squirrel in a very strange manner, and something happens that causes Flora to confront many aspects of her life. Summary of Professional Reviews: Kirkus Reviews calls the book dialog “witty”, and the characters and the adventure “hilarious”. Horn Book calls attention to the real “life issues” the character, Flora, faces. |
Review by Christine Grasser: What I like most about this book is how the author portrays a child having to deal with a broad range of things going on in her life. I like the complexity of Flora's character, and a study of how her dialog alone can tell much about this novel and reveal more about her personality. Illustrations vary between drawn and graphic novel pages, which I feel helps the reader understand a plot idea better.
This book would be useful when teaching…
I would use this book no earlier than third grade as a read-aloud or shared reading. It would be helpful to pause at certain areas to talk about the rich vocabulary in the story, such as ask what “illuminating” means in context with the story. There are also multiple new character introductions throughout the story and it would be good to make sure the readers or listeners understand what purpose the new characters serve in the story.
This book would be useful when teaching…
I would use this book no earlier than third grade as a read-aloud or shared reading. It would be helpful to pause at certain areas to talk about the rich vocabulary in the story, such as ask what “illuminating” means in context with the story. There are also multiple new character introductions throughout the story and it would be good to make sure the readers or listeners understand what purpose the new characters serve in the story.