Reviews

Eight Days: A Story of Haiti by Alix Delinois, Edwidge Danticat

worldlibraries's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a discerning, helpful picture book for children living in earthquake-prone areas.
It suggests a way of psychologically surviving until rescue.
Even though the book is about something awful that happened, an earthquake,
the book reads with optimism and joy celebrating the rituals of a boy's life.
Beautiful artwork by Alix Delinois makes Haitian life come alive.

apworden's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

jesab's review against another edition

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5.0

Fall into Reading Challenge
Prompt: Historical fiction

NEWTS Readathon
Training: Learn How to Operate Locomotive Trains
Subject: Muggle Studies
Prompt: Read a book written by an author of a different race than yourself.
Grade: E, Exceeded Expectations

Dare to Dreamathon
Advanced Challenge: The Sword in the Stone- to read a historical fiction

trixie_reads's review against another edition

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3.0

I hope kids are not as dense as I apparently am. I didn't realize his friend was trapped with him and died until I read a review of the book.

mari77's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad fast-paced

4.0

bougainvillea's review against another edition

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3.0

More like 3 1/2 stars, I think. I liked it fine, I wasn't blown away or anything. I need to get the French or Creole version and see how Ana reacts to it.

mountie9's review against another edition

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4.0

Mom's Note: As mentioned before, Jake has a hard time with books that deal with sadness so it always affects his reviews -- nothing against the talents of the author




Jake's Review: Mom this book is odd looking and I really don't get it. I did like that it was hopeful about the families that survived the earthquake, but I didn't like the fact that one of the kids died. Although I think it was nicely written for younger kids who probably won't realize that the other kid died. I don't like books like this because they are too serious and I really didn't like that a young boy died. This would be a good book for teachers to talk to us about though

Jake's Rating: 6/10




Mom's Review: A beautifully simple and subtle story of the power of imagination and of hope and resiliance. I did however think the art work was a little too sophisticated for the suggested age. That is just a personal opinion and mostly based on my child's tastes. However, I do think this will be an award winner. It would be a fantastic addition to a classroom library where a teacher would have the ability to discuss Haiti and the earthquake with the childeren. I have a feeling though that unless there is some promotion of it in the classroom or the library, that the children will overlook it because of the sophisticated artwork. That being said it really is beautifully and sensitively done. You can really see the author and the illustrator's love and admiration for Haiti and its people.

Mom's Rating: 8.5/10



lmurray74's review against another edition

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5.0

A subtle yet powerful story that touches on the devastation of the 2010 earthquake. At a first glance I wasn't sure what was going on but on rereading I understood too well. I don't think this could be read on its own without pertinent discussion. It's certainly not an end of the day read aloud but I can see it being read to children as young as four or five if there's a personal connection to the story. Edwidge Danticat has such a beautiful speaking voice that make her work all the more appealing to me. She is soft spoken yet deals some hard blows. You couldn't call this story bittersweet but it does end happily with a tragic undercurrent.
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