Puss Reboots: Blog: March 2008: Brighty of the Grand Canyon

Recent posts

Book Reviews:

Bleach Volume 9 by Tite Kubo.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Marakami.
The Boarder by Alexander Jablokov.
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry.
Count to Ten Piggy Wiggy by Christyan and Diane Fox.
Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man by Tim Allen.
Exit Strategy by K. D. Wentworth
Forgive Me by Amanda Eyre Ward.
The Four Ugly Cats in Apartment 3D by Marilyn Sachs.
Flush by Carl Hiaasen.
Frogs by Martin Schwabacher.
He Rents, She Rents by Richard Roeper and Laura Viera.
Hotel Cat by Esther Averill
Immortal by Traci L. Slatton.
The Ka of Gifford Hillary by Dennis Wheatley.
Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes.
Leadership Brand by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood.
Lorna Doone (Abridged) by R. D. Blackmore
Lost Pilgrim by Gene Wolf.
The Magnificent Mummy Maker by Elvira Woodruff.
Manhattan is Missing by E. W. Hildick.
The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes.
Mommy Hugs by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
The Overseer by Albert E. Cowdrey.
Park by Pierre Pratt
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle.
Q & A by Vikas Swarup
The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association by Loren D. Estleman
Rumple What? by Nancy Springer
Sea Turtles by Emilie U. Lepthien.
The Second Descent by Richard Paul Russo.
Stanley in Space by Jeff Brown and illustrated by Scott Nash.
Take a Stand, Rosa Parks! by Peter and Connie Roop.
Tall by Jez Alborough.
Trucks and Diggers by DK Publishing.
Women & Self-Esteem by Linda Tschirhart Sanford and Mary Ellen Donovan

Miscellaneous:
Kirby Went to the Beach by Sean Sammis

Previous month

Brighty of the Grand Canyon: 03/08/08

Marguerite Henry made her career on writing novelizations of the lives of famous equines and other animals (dogs mostly). Of her 59 books I've only read Brighty of the Grand Canyon.

Brighty the burro was named for Bright Angel Point on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. There is a statue of him at the Grand Canyon Lodge which you can snarf. He helped build the modern day trails and was known by President Teddy Roosevelt.

Although I love the Grand Canyon and its history, both times I've tried reading the book, I've had to struggle to finish it. The writing is choppy, swinging wildly from melodramatic to dry book report. As the hero of the story is a burro, the book is light on dialogue and heavy on description.

I decided to reread the novel to give it a second chance. My first attempt at it had been in 4th grade at a time when I was not the book lover I am today. I thought perhaps my dislike of the book had been more a result of my overall disdain for reading. Now I think it is just my dislike of animal centered books.