YELL FAVORITE BOOK CONTEST WINNERS CHOSE SOME CLASSICS

read by joe s.

YELL Favorite Book

contest winners

Seven grade school students have won Six Flags Over Mid-America tickets in the YELL (Youth, Education, Literacy and Learning) Favorite Book Contest.

Students from the 4th and 5th grades entered the contest.

Fourth grade winners were Tara Allee, Alexandra Wieser and Heather Davidson, all students at Trinity Lutheran School in Cape Girardeau.

Fifth grade winners were Dustin Koch, Trinity Lutheran, Cape Girardeau; Daniel Leimbach of Jackson North Elementary; and Jamie Egan of Jackson North Elementary.

Sixth grade winner was Erin Cook of Delta in Chaffee.

For the contest, students wrote a brief synopsis of their favorite book and why the felt other children would enjoy reading the book.

Here are the fourth grade winners' reviews:

"Monkey Trouble"

Monkey Trouble is a good book for people who like furry animals and monkeys that are very alive. There is a girl nine years old and she want a pet. But, there's a problem, a pirate that the monkey likes a lot wants him. Read this good book to find out who the monkey picks to be with every day.

--Heather Davidson.

"Yours Truly Shirly"

I choose "Yours Truly Shirly." It is written by Ann M. Martin. The book is about a girl named Shirly who is going to get an adopted sister named Jackie from Vietnam. Jackie can not say her r's right and people make fun of her. Shirly has dyslexia and Jackie is very good in school. So they have some fights. But soon, they become friends.

--Tara Allee.

"The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System"

The best book I ever read was "The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System." I like it because the teacher and the students ride in the school bus in space and visit every planet. The teacher, Miss Frizz, gets stranded in outer space while the students are stuck in the bus and do not know how to drive the bus. The students are scared to move but after a while some instructions were found on how to control the bus and they pick up the floating Miss Frizz.

I also enjoyed reading the notes written on each page about outer space and the planets. Those were very interesting.

--Alexandra Wieser.

Here are the fifth grade winners' reviews:

"Charlotte's Web"

The book I like the best is "Charlotte's Web." I really think you should read it because it's interesting. This book is aboaut a farm girl who adopts a little pig.

The pig was a runt, too. Well, Fern had to sell the pig because it was getting too big. So, she sold it to her uncle who lived down the road. She visited the pig every day.

The pig was going to be butchered, but he met a spider. helped him so he wouldn't get butchered.

The townspeople think it's a miracle. The fair comes and the pig's owner enters him in the fair. He won first prize and didn't get butchered after all.

--Jamie Egan

"Sharks"

I think you'll like "Sharks," by Michael Chinery because it will teach you something new.

Sharks are the most dangerous fish in the sea. Some sharks' teeth are 6 cm. long. Divers photographing sharks often work in steel cages.Sharks can travel 43 miles per hour. Sharks have gills like other fish do and feed mainly on other fish.

Some of the larger ones eat seals and some will attack people if they get a chance. Sometimes, they eat other sharks. This book kept my interest, and I think it will keep yours.

--Daniel Leimbach.

"Old Yeller"

The book, "Old Yeller," was written by Fred Gipson. Travis, his dad, mom and little brother made a home out in the Texas wilderness where a man and woman could build a dream. These people got joy and courage from the land. Travis was fourteen years old. His father left him on the farm to take care of his mother and little brother. All the farming and hunting was a big job for a boy to do all alone. He had a big yellow dog named Old Yeller. This dog helped him learn to love and laugh.

One day Travis and Old Yeller went to a pig pen hid in the forest. Travis climbed on a tree branch over the pen to try to rope a little pig. He lowered the rope and accidentally caught a big pig. The branch broke and Travis fell into the pig pen. He twisted his ankle. Old Yeller ran and protected him from the pigs. Before Old Yeller had gotten there, two pigs had attacked him. Old Yeller got his back leg hurt by one of the pigs. Old Yeller was hidden in a cave for while. When the mother and father found him, they took him home. They found out he had rabies. Travis had to get the shotgun that his dad had given him for hunting. He to shoot him and bury him in a field.

--Dustin Koch

"Little Town on the Prairie"

I just read a book that was amazing. It was "Little Town on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was about living and surviving in the late 1800's. School was so different, and much harder, back then. They didn't have many books, they wrote on slates, and the desk was just an old table and chair. Laura liked school the most because she wanted to become a teacher. She finally did at age 17. School was the hardest for Mary because she was blind. She went off to college and didn't come back for a few years. The clothes they wore were long dresses, with their hair up every day. It would be hot if you asked me. I guess it wasn't too bad in the long, cold winters. then they went home to a house made from sod, ro mud, with mice everywhere and no electricty. Laura and Carrie were surprised when Pa said they could work in town. Laura got a job sewing buttoholes in shirts for $9.00 for 6 weeks, $1.50 per week.

You would enjoy this book for th history and people. All of the author's (Laura Ingalls Wilder) books are neat to read

--Erin Cook