Maybe this is because squirrels are simultaneously ubiquitous and forgotten. One way of looking at this book is to consider it a paean to comic book lovers everywhere. You wonder then if, at first, DiCamillo felt any inclination to go whole hog and to turn the whole book into a comic. Comics are their own unique beastie, and anytime you meld image with text you are creating a new style of visual learning.
As it currently stands, Flora and Ulysses is a creature that would have had more difficulty seeing the light of day in anything but the 21st century.
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Only in this new publishing era where the stigma of comics has abated if not disappeared altogether Is it an insult to Mr. Campbell to call him Sophie Blackall-esque? Whatever he is, Mr. Campbell is a true find. Yet Campbell is up to the challenge. His Flora is nicely cynical. His Ulysses is absolutely adorable, in spite of his mostly bald state. Altogether, his contributions make the book more accessible and adorable than it has any right to be. Separately, DiCamillo and Campbell have created strong works of literature. In a way, it all comes down to Ulysses.
Scaredy Squirrel comes the closest but even he turns out to be a flying squirrel and not your common everyday park denizen. Ulysses may crave giant sprinkles, but he also craves poetry and wordplay and affection. Who yearn for the deep underlying context of a Tulane or a Despereaux.
You can have your weighty subject matter all you like. I like a little silliness with my fictional fare. I like my superpowered squirrels and giant donuts and interstitial comic book moments. And I like those moments when depressed dads find happiness and little bald squirrels burrow themselves into the arms of the girls that love them dearly. That, to me, is worth reading. To me, it's exceptional stuff.
View all 9 comments. Nov 10, Jean rated it it was ok. I guess I have to explain myself after everyone I know has raved about this book. Initially I was loving it, but the ending didn't work for me. And after I finished it, I realized that while it was cute and quirky, it tried a bit too hard to be cute and quirky. Whatever it was that bothered me, it didn't get resolved and so I'm thinking this one is just OK. View all 13 comments. Aug 28, Leigh Collazo rated it it was ok Shelves: More reviews at Mrs.
I am a huge Kate DiCamillo fan, so I was really excited to see that she has a new book coming out this month. DiCamillo's skillful use of vocabulary will help expose readers to words they likely have never seen. The squirrel is super-cute and the drawings made me smile. I loved his thought ca More reviews at Mrs. I loved his thought captions, where he is always thinking "I love Flora" or "I am hungry. Judging by the massive early praise I've seen for this title, I know this will be popular with upper-elementary teachers.
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It is definitely unique, and the superhero theme is always a hit with young readers. Children will love the drawings and will laugh at Ulysses the Squirrel, who is just so darn cute that readers will want to adopt a superhero squirrel of their own. Overall, I am disappointed. I expect a lot from my beloved Kate DiCamillo, but I had a hard time caring about this story. While there was some action mostly surrounding the antics of Ulysses , I had to make myself read this.
I was actually happy to finally finish it. All the characters are quirky, but Flora and William Spiver he goes by his full name are so quirky that they got annoying. How do these year old kids or are they 11? How do they know how to use them correctly and off-the-cuff like that? How did so many quirky people find each other living in the same approximate area? I'm also not really sure the point of the story. By the end, very little had changed, except possibly Flora's mother's attitude toward Ulysses. There were some minor changes in understanding between Flora and her divorced parents, but even those changes were not a huge deal.
It's too cutesy for me, but I do think this will be very popular with upper-elementary and lower-middle school teachers and students. I hope to see many more books for young readers that feature this graphic-text format; it's perfect for struggling readers. There is definitely an audience for this at my school.
View all 15 comments. Oct 08, Nicole rated it it was ok Recommends it for: I only picked this up because it's a National Book Award longlist. I read it in a day and I must begrudgingly admit that I didn't hate it. Not much happens, but in a middle grade novel, that's not a bad thing. What bothered me most and I swear this is legit, not just me rolling my eyes at at KD was the narrative voice. It has that adult writer, tongue in cheek, this is what kids sounds like, wry with a touch of nostalgia tone that I just can't stand.
What ten year old runs around saying, "This malfeasance must be stopped"? It's well designed obviously, it's Candlewick and well enough written and I would not at all be surprised if it wins some awards along the way. I won't even hold a grudge against it for doing so View all 10 comments. Una lectura muy recomendada. Nov 07, Joe rated it it was amazing Shelves: Kate DiCamillo's contributions to the literary canon have been many things, but they have never been silly.
The premise itself is head-scratchingly silly especial Kate DiCamillo's contributions to the literary canon have been many things, but they have never been silly. The premise itself is head-scratchingly silly especially coming from DiCamillo: And what becomes of this squirrel? As a result of the incident, he inherits superhero powers.
And he can type! He can type poetry. Combine these ridiculous elements with a veritable parade of kooky characters: This is the formula for fluff. Yet DiCamillo makes it work - and the results are laugh-out-loud hilarious. More than a handful of times I chuckled. And outright laughing, there was much of that, too - especially at K. Campbell's pitch-perfect illustrations of Ulysses, the superhero squirrel. Really, it's Ulysses who steals the entire show. Sure, Campbell's illustrations capitalize on the humor Ulysses' first encounter with the typewriter, rendered with awe and goofiness, is delightful , but DiCamillo's characterization is flawless.
He's so squirrel-like that I wouldn't be surprised if DiCamillo holed herself up for months with a family of squirrels to study their every meticulous and absurd behavior. In fact, the next time I see a squirrel sniff its tail, I might burst into uncontrollable laughing. Coupled with his squirrelish thoughts mostly about food and his simple but sweet observations of the world around him, Ulysses could be my favorite DiCamillo character.
I love your round head, the brilliant green, the watching blue, the letters, this world, you. I am very, very hungry. He loved the world. He loved all of it: Yes, this is DiCamillo reclaiming her sense of humor, her joy of storytelling. She has expunged herself of the darkness that crept into her last couple books stunning as they were and has produced a book that, while probably lacking the 'distinguish' for which Newbery committees seem to look, is deserving of a place in the hearts of children everywhere.
Been meaning to add to this review since awards were announced a couple weeks ago. The book seems to have garnered some vocal detractors, but I stand by my review, and I love that this very funny and very sweet book has been recognized for its charming and odd brilliance. View all 3 comments.
Oct 14, Terri rated it it was amazing. I often wonder what is inside Kate DiCamillo's head and heart Where does it all come from? The Illuminated Adventure" is another story of longing, loneliness, and love from DiCamillo. It tears at the heartstrings long after the reader has finished the book. Again, it is a story of the ages for the ages. With its beautiful imagery, multi-layered characters, messages for all ages, and spot-on illustrations, it is destined to be Read for Children's Literature Network Book Club.
With its beautiful imagery, multi-layered characters, messages for all ages, and spot-on illustrations, it is destined to become a classic. The other nine books long-listed for the National Book Award are lucky to stand next to DiCamillo's latest. When Nancy Pearl talks about the doors by which one enters a book, it is hard to know where to begin with "Flora and Ulysses.
First off, this is DiCamillo's modus operandi. Anyone who has read her before knows that DiCamillo believes in kids and their ability to interpret meaning from context and to learn new words. How powerful is it for a kid, or adult for that matter, to know and confidently use words like "unremitting" and "euphemism. What a great opportunity to teach readers about the power of language! Her work can be read on many levels - one can read simply for story, or dig much deeper. The use of metaphor is very powerful here as well. Maybe I am stretching it a bit, but Dr. Meescham and her stories of growing up in Blundermeesen seemed reminiscent of the Holocaust to me.
Her stories had a deep underlying sadness - though her hopefulness and positivity outshone all of that sadness. The use of sensory language is powerful here as well, particularly the language used to convey the sense of smell - the nuttiness of Ulysses came alive for me as Flora described it! The writing here is so very powerful. I savored all of it.
It takes a master to accomplish what DiCamillo does here.
15 books to read if you want to understand the Irish
Oh, and her stories, including this one, just beg to be read aloud! They begged me to keep reading every day for the ten minutes or so that I read to them. One could literally have heard a pin drop during these sessions. Reading "The Tale of Despereaux" to my students one of my best and most memorable teaching experiences in the 35 years I've been at this!
The character door was also very powerful for me in "Flora and Ulysses. Though this seems to be the first collaboration between DiCamillo and K. Campbell, it appears that they have been working together for years. The mix of the prose and graphic novel format is perfect for today's visual young readers - and isn't too much for we oldsters. I will never forget Flora's reticence to open up her heart, William Spiver's vision, Mrs. Meescham's stories of growing up in Meescham, Rita's big hair - her big everything! The characters, even the "bad guys" are humorous and warm and sad and The plot and setting of "Flora and Ulysses" were less significant for me.
We follow a group of zany, wonderful people and a squirrel who are lonely and trying to find their way to one another, to find "home. Filled with humorous situations at one moment, and serious situations that take one's breath away at other moments, there is something here for everyone. The true strength of the book to me lies in its messages: He needs to be vanquished. He's eating a boat. And he's going to eat all the people on the boat.
Meescham replies, "'Yes, well, loneliness makes us do terrible things And that is why the picture is there, to remind me of this. To me, it is about not closing your eyes and hoping that things will change. To me it says, open your eyes and really SEE what is around you.
Meescham repiles, "'Bah, cynics Cynics are people who are afreaid to believe Pascal had it that since it could not be proven whether God existed, one might as well believe that he did, because there was everything to gain by believing and nothing to lose. This is how it is for me.
What do I lose if I choose to believe? What a message for the cynical world we live in!! I get so tired of cynicism and mean-spiritedness around me that I want to bury my head in the sand sometimes! He opened his arms wide And she felt it. Her father's heart, beating there inside of him. It felt very certain, very strong, and very large And isn't "capacious" just the right word? By opening our hearts to others, the hearts of others will be open to us.
In that knowledge there is certainty. It would certainly make my life easier,'" the power of words is confirmed for us. Flora calls these words "slabs of stone" that have the power to knock her over, to make the heart of a cynic hurt. And the world is not kind to the strange I want things to be normal. I want a daughter who is happy. I want her to have friends who aren't squirrels. I don't want her to end up unloved and all alone in the world.
The answer, of course, is to love Flora for who she is, as her father and Ulysses and William and Mrs. Always opening the door in the middle of the night and finding the face of someone you wanted to see. Sometimes it was the face of someone you did not want to see But always, always in Blundermeecen, you opened the door becuase you could not stop hoping that on the other side of it would be the face of someone you loved And maybe, too, the face of someone you did not yet know but might come to love.
Aug 19, Jason rated it it was ok Shelves: It had no clear indication of an initial or final destination which was one of its largest failings. Within it we have the magically superhero squirrel. Flora looking for independence, security, and love. But flora lives vicariously through the animal's accomplishments using them as some sort of extension for herself, almost as if she can get the life, hope, self love etc that was absent before she met this squirrel.
Loneliness absent of the animal continues to plague here; she regresses. Friendless, she has the forced eagerness to attach to something that, if it wasn't a squirrel it might have been an ant; they too can lift things that are very heavy If you can call them that We have a father who has apparently had a stroke and says 'how do you do' so many times my eyes are bleeding except he hasn't had a stroke his character just seems like it was composed of those drawings pre-schoolers do where the teacher says 'what's this what did you draw johnny' and he said 'it's a man saying how do you do to a waitress'.
The next day, same assignment, same question and the kid said' it's a man saying how do you do to a neighbor' Over and over again. Then you have William the child with somatic disorder that apparently derives from trauma that is cute eh, in the manner in which it is conceptualized and personal and could have gone in some constructive direction, but faltered and developed into deflated slush.
Then you have a mother you wish was killed in some Dexter manner that is both detached and reactionary in this give and take, push and pull manner that really echos borderline personality disorder. Trust me you will want her dead by mid-book. Then you have the father's next door neighbor who is overly philosophical like one of those desk day calendar your mom sent you on your first job post graduation, because, having a law degree and becoming a desk clerk can't get anymore splendid. God enters here in a shapeless and underwhelming forced manner that deluded this one, perhaps only really developed character.
However her delusions and the lifelessness of loss pervades her very skin leavin a shell of her former self She also reflects on this childhood that is more out of xfiles meets harry Potter with a bit of lsd in the mix, which is, by far the most totally irrelevant element of the story. Ok, what else do we have. You have the symbolism of an object that stands quietly in a room and creates this sort of atmosphere between child and parent that brings to mind a Flynn novel but more desperate.
Oh and a psychotic cat too Antisocial and apt to attack without cause or provocation, this cat will slice your throat without a flick of its whiskers. Actually if you open your diagnostic and statistics manual for mental illness you will be able to go front to back and find an example of each character in this big gray book used by clinicians.
What brings this all together where the rough sketches that could bring an adult to his or her knees in terrorizing nightmares. I know they are raw drafts, but come on. The dialog is a nightmare. It is without soul. It is void of feeling and passion. It takes a really special author to make an eleven years old talk like a pompous undergraduate in his second semester of a lit major; Good Will Hunting bar scene. It takes a special person to make a father that repeats the same line ten times, while also using Freudian tactics to avoid any sort of emotional connection.
It really takes a special, and pretty off balanced author to write three hundred pages without a hint, a grain of emotional reflection or an ending that may—even to the younger age child targeted—provide a semblance of meaning at its completion. This book tried to hard, fails to collectively address the many, many subplot that end abruptly, not contributing to the larger concepts, and includes narrative that, upon reflecting on my early elementary school 'complete the sentence work sheets', really carries the same lack of effort and haste.
The philosophical notions seem endlessly piled on top of one another in an apparent urge to teach the reader some concept that, after their clumsy inception, is reminiscent of a really dreadful meal with good ingredients, but horror execution and poor seasoning. It's tiresome, regurgitation of the themes of friendship, heroism, life, personal change, relationship problems, parental issues, etc in a very juvenile and novice manner.
Oh yes i get the idea that I am not the targeted audience here. But this book is a direct insult of an eight to twelve years old's intelligence. Oct 12, Eija rated it it was amazing Shelves: I loved this, and thought it was perfect. All those goodreads haters on this book picking apart Flora's vocabulary need to see that Flora is trying like hell to guard her heart, and this little squirrel comes along and opens her heart. Since when would someone say, "That word is much too large fo I loved this, and thought it was perfect.
Since when would someone say, "That word is much too large for you. Please use small, tiny, ten-year-old brain words. Is that a bad thing? Did William Steig ever dumb down his picture books? This book was hilarious and a joy to read. I have zero issues with the sub plots, and thought things came together nicely. Ulysses finally wrote his poem, the terrible banishing and the temporary blindness, Dr.
Meescham and her horsehair couch, being hopeful and finding love, and having someone believe in you, that dangerously lonely squid, and that stupid heavy lamp actually being useful. This is my favorite book. Nov 07, The Library Lady rated it did not like it Shelves: But I've hated everything you've written since. And it's not because I don't love fantasy and whimsy, because I do. But your whimsical prose inevitably makes me want to throw your book out the window.
And this one is no exception. However, I will not throw it out the window. Instead, because it is a best seller I will carefully put it on my new book shelf and leave it for someone who takes the best seller lists seriously to read, or give Dear Ms DiCamillo, I loved Because of Winn Dixie. Instead, because it is a best seller I will carefully put it on my new book shelf and leave it for someone who takes the best seller lists seriously to read, or give to their child.
Better them than me. Sincerely yours, The Library Lady View all 6 comments. Es una novela rara en el buen sentido , llena de situaciones irreales donde prima la inocencia infantil y el humor. Oct 20, Laura rated it it was amazing Shelves: November My daughter, who previously didn't want to read this book, confiscated my copy and finished it in one day. Now, we both have a soft spot for William Spiver and the poetic Ulysses. I have also decided that our next dog should be named Flora Belle. October I went into this middle grade book, thinking I wouldn't like it.
I had gotten it out of the library hoping that either my 9 or 11 year old kids would be interested in rea Reread: I had gotten it out of the library hoping that either my 9 or 11 year old kids would be interested in reading it. After reading only one or two chapters, my 9 year old handed the book back to me and said she didn't want to read it because she didn't like the way the characters talked.
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I then decided I would read it and see what the book was all about. I am pretty sure it was the euphemisms, attitudes, and life styles that aren't, per-say, the sweetest, that caused my daughter to pass on this book. MacLean's experiences in the Royal Navy during World War II provided the background and the Arctic convoys to Murmansk provided the basis for the story, which was written at a publisher's request after he'd won a short story competition the previous year. Some editions carry a prefatory note disavowing any connection between the fictional HMS Ulysses and the U-class destroyer of the same name.
The novel features HMS Ulysses , a light cruiser that is well armed and among the fastest ships in the world. Her crew is pushed well beyond the limits of endurance and the book starts in the aftermath of a mutiny. Ulysses puts to sea again to escort FR, a vital convoy heading for Murmansk.
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They are beset by numerous challenges: All slowly reduce the convoy from 32 ships to only five. The Ulysses is sunk in a failed attempt to ram a German cruiser after all her other weapons had been destroyed. The book uses a set of events to paint moving portrayals of the crew and the human aspects of the war. His heroes are not especially motivated by ideals, they rarely excel at more than one task and they are overcome by a respectable enemy.
It is their resilience that pushes these seamen to acts of heroism. The realism of the descriptions, the believable motivations of the characters and the simplicity of the line of events make the story all the more credible, though the number of coincidental accidents that plague the crew is startling. HMS Ulysses is similar to the real Dido -class cruisers. Stirling is virtually untouched during most of the novel, until the final act where Stirling is repeatedly attacked by dive bombers.
Accidents and enemy attacks conspire to remove all the aircraft carriers from service before the convoy is even halfway to Russia. The Defender in particular is rendered inoperable due to freak accident which results in the aircraft flight deck being partially torn off during a heavy storm. HMS Baliol , a Type 1 Hunt-class destroyer described as "diminutive" and completely un-seaworthy for the harsh weather of the North Atlantic.
HMS Nairn , a River-class frigate. HMS Gannet , a Kingfisher-class sloop , nicknamed Huntley and Palmer due to her boxy superstructure resembling a biscuit tin. Alistair Maclean had written a short story, which was published to acclaim. A literary agent asked him to write a novel and Maclean originally refused, believing there was no future in it. However his boat business failed so he decided to write a novel. The book was based on real life convoys Maclean had participated in when a sailor aboard HMS Royalist.
I drew a cross square, lines down representing the characters, lines across representing chapters Most of the characters died, in fact only one survived the book, but when I came to the end the graph looked somewhat lopsided, there were too many people dying in the first, fifth and tenth chapters so I had to rewrite it, giving an even dying space throughout.