Books for Kids

Iggy Peck Architect

by Andrea Beaty

Illustrated by David Roberts

Yes, It says that she likes tall things, the books she has written, and where she lives.

It's Iggy standing on the title drawing plans to continue building his castle. A woman and a cat are watching him. The woman has a disapproving look on her face. There is another building that looked like he built it next to his castle.

The characters are Iggy Peck, his parents, his class, and his teacher Mrs. Lila Greer

It takes place in his house, his class and a small green island with a bridge too it.

Iggy loves to build things, he wants to be an architect. His teacher is afraid of tall buildings and bans Iggy from building. He then uses his building skills to save his teacher and class.

This book has rhyming, it teaches a lesson, has kids as characters, has adults as characters, it uses humor, it has illustrations, it uses color, and it has a lot of words per page.

"With no chance to build his interest was killed."

6-7 years old because it's around the same age as Iggy so he would be more relate-able  to them.

Definitely the illustrations are very detailed and it's about a topic I would have found very interesting.

About the author

Garrett Peck lives in Springfield Missouri with his parents, his two little sisters, his two puppies, and his two cats. When he's not writing he enjoys playing basketball and video games. He wrote this book because he loves to make people laugh, and help them learn.

Childhood Questions

6. My favorite cartoon when I was little is easily Lunatics Unleashed. It's about the loony tunes becoming super heroes in a sci-fi world. It was always really cool because I loved the loony tunes, and I love super heroes so it was kind of the best of both worlds for me. It has stuck with me because it is such a unique concept, there really is nothing like it. I was go see it if it was made into a Hollywood blockbuster, even if it was terrible, just because the concept of it would be enough for me to hope that it would be good.

12. When I was four I had a streak of just constantly having strep. It was literally me getting strep like seven times in a row before my parents finally got my tonsils removed. I really remember having to drink the medicine that had a bubble gum flavor and was pink just like it. That taste is so recognizable, and it actually brings back good memories, instead of the bad because I was you know sick all the time. I remember after getting my tonsils removed I had this cool bunk bed where the top was my bed and the bottom was a futon. I remember laying on the bottom eating ice cream and watching a cool dinosaur movie. I still remember that movie and I know that it's actually on Netflix right now.

14. My favorite books growing up were the fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. It's a story about these wildlife preserves, that instead of the run of the mill lions, tigers, and bears (Oh My) they have dragons, fairies and other mythological creatures. They have to fight to keep theses preserves safe and the boundaries between the creatures in place. It's very dangerous because not all of the creatures are the friendly. Which makes sense trolls are famous for eating people after all. The sense of adventure and discovery that these books gave me was really changed my life. It is a series that I plan on reading to my kids just because one there really good books and hold up well even at my age now, and I feel like it would be a good way to get my kids interested in reading like I am.

34. This is going to sound arrogant, but I was the one who learned to believe in myself. I got tired of being beat down by bullies though most of middle school, so I decided that I was the only person that I needed, that I could do anything that I wanted or needed to do. So I developed this uncompromising belief of my abilities. It's made me very independent, I can't stand relying on other people. It's also made it very difficult for me to ask for help. Which has forced me to develop excellent researching and problem solving skills because I refuse to do the easy and rational thing and just ask for help. Maybe one day I learn that I can't do everything by myself, I'll probably have to learn it the hard way. That's pretty much how I learn anything anyways.

Shadows Deepen - Color Story

The blackness enveloped me. I stood in an empty cavern I could see nothing around me. All I knew was darkness, an impenetrable void of nothingness around me. I began to blindly feel my way around for something to give me a guide in this void. I started to walk with my hands out in front of me desperately grasping for something, anything.

I kept moving the oppressive darkness started to lighten. I still couldn't make anything out but the void was slowly turning into a dark Slate, I gave me hope that this massive sameness shouldn't stay the like this forever. The haze of gray slowly cleared.

I then reached a warmly lit cave. A flowing river of lava separated the cave into two halves. Shadows danced on the wall, as I moved around the cave searching for an exit, using the dim light of the lava. The glow helped lead me to what appeared to be an exit. As I took the exit the orange glow surrendered to a light.

Finally I had reached the outside world, I basked in the sunlight. Happy to be out of that oppressive prison, I walked through a field and stared in awe of the sunflowers and dandelions. I closed my eyes and tilted my face up towards the sun, I felt its warmth and was finally content. I had survived the darkness to the warm yellow of the light of the sun.

Dream threads

This is what madness sounds like I thought to myself as I listened to the horrific sounds of a city being sacked. This had been a long bloody siege, one that makes soldiers ache for revenge, from those who dared to defy them for so long. I felt the need to stop them, but knew that even as their commander I couldn't, this would be better in the end other cities would surrender quicker than to suffer this punishment.

As I watched my once disciplined soldiers let loose their rage and anguish upon the city, I lost myself deep in thought and my plans. This was my first strike too uniting the shattered princedoms of the empire. I must unite them to stop the savage hordes of the south, before they came upon us like the crashing waves of the coast.

I just needed these fickle Princes to acknowledge my rule, I needed their obedience. I cared not for their loyalty it was necessary for my purposes,  and irrelevant once their power was broken. They were foolishly refusing to unite against me to eager to watch pettily as their rivals fell before me one by one.  This must end we must become the empire we were meant too so long ago. They would resist me. Why should I let that hold me back? 

Comments: Artist Inspired Pieces

I really like the similar feel to both of these stories. It sounds like something you would find on a conspiracy theorist web site. They also feel linked together even though they are based upon different pieces. It reads like a monologue of someone telling me why I shouldn't trust the government.

You have a very funny style of writing that I really appreciate. Your optimistic vision of the future is really interesting, your thoughts on the one world culture really made me think about what it would look like. This piece really made me think about the future, and I really enjoyed it.

The way you described the storm was really vivid, it brought back memories of really bad thunderstorms that I have experienced. I'm actually from Dallas, and I know how hard it is to find stuff to do there if you don't know what to look for. Awesome job with the story.

This is very informative, I recognized those famous pieces but I never knew who had painted them until today. I think the first one is especially powerful, due to it's representation of the French revolution. I also like that you linked the second piece to something more modern in the Vietnam war.

The first story started off really creepy, until you discovered it was just his dad, it was also very realistic I could imagine something like that actually happening to me. The second story while not as realistic is still interesting, you interpreted to mean that the ship was just stuck. I thought it as the ship was being pulled back into to the city by some mysterious force.

Dream Marks Writing

The exhaustion of my body makes every movement a battle of will. I struggle to focus and not to drift off. The mistake of not getting enough sleep weighs heavy on my body. It cries out for sleep even as my will struggles against that urge. The need to continue on with my day overrides the calling of sleep. I tell myself never again will I stay up that late knowing that I would do it again.

He Finally Understood: A Harris Burdick Inspired story

The door had always been the least favorite part of his house. It was strange, way to small for a normal person to comfortably use, and it had this sense of wrongness about it. Whenever he looked at it through the corner of his eye he could’ve sworn he could see symbols traveling along it, His heart was pounding. He was sure he had seen the door knob turn. He hurried to grab the can of paint he had come to the basement for. He then turned his back toward the door and quickly walked up the stairs, until he heard a creaking behind him. He whipped around and stared at the door. It hadn’t moved, he shook his head convinced that he was just imagining things. He then continued up the stairs, as he left the basement he let go of the breath he didn’t realized he was holding. The tension left his body as he locked the basement door. He thought he was being paranoid but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with that door.

He awoke to the sound of something moving through his house, he could hear the opening and closing of drawers and doors. He prepared himself to go and investigate, when the door to his room began to open. He instantly froze and feigned like he was sleeping. He peeked and saw that the door was wide open. Standing in the frame was a creature that defied reality. It’s face was frozen in a grotesque smile that defied it’s cold dead eyes. It was incredibly tall with lanky limbs that seemed to have no weight to them. It moved towards his bed with a smooth gait that seemed so incredibly normal. He scrambled up to the other side of the bed. It didn’t even react to his movement, except to adjust its path towards him. As it approached it simply asked him “ Why did you ignore the door?” By the time the last word had been spoke the monster had reached him. It towered over him, looking down upon him with those beady black eyes. As he stared into them he began to see the door, and the symbols, he finally understood.

They found the man’s body in his basement with his hand wrapped around a doorknob, His eyes had turned a deep inky black and his face had a look of profound terror. The Forensic experts were puzzled they could not understand how the man had died he had no marks upon his body, and no sign of any damage at all. It was late at night when finally there was only one police officer there to guard this crime scene. The officer decided to check the basement, he didn’t know why he just felt uneasy about it.

He made his way down the basement stairs, staring at that little door. It seemed wrong, impossible, like it shouldn’t exist. How such a mundane thing could give off such a feeling the officer did not know. He froze on the steps as he could see the doorknob slowly turn. The door opened and the creature seemingly unfolded from it. He was petrified with fear he couldn’t move or think. The creature approached and he stared into the void of those eyes, and he finally understood.   

Window Poem

A band of trees

The beautiful open sky

The leaves are falling

Sometimes I think I'm like those leaves

The sun sinks down, it's light retreating

A deer traveling through the trees

A family of Ducks nesting near a pond

Artist Poems

The prison fell, and I rejoiced

My bonds had been destroyed

I was free

I must have my revenge

The crimes committed

Must not go unanswered

The tragedies befallen me

Will be there final regret

With revenge

I will find Peace

They watched as people passed them by

Forgetful of the old ways

The traditions of mankind

Forgotten they had lost their power

But not their ambition

A return to the old ways

A restoration of how things were

Until then they would wait, and watch

Patiently waiting for a return

An awakening of the truth

Favorite Quotes

"It doesn't require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires to people's minds."- Samuel Adams

"If a man neglects to enforce his rights, he cannot complain if after a while, the law follows his example."- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Tell them of us and say, For their tomorrow We gave our today."- Kohima Epitaph

"In the end what separates a man from a slave? Money? Power? No, a man chooses, and a slave obeys!" Andrew Ryan - Bioshock

"No one rises so high as he who knows not whither he is going" - Oliver Cromwell

"The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood." - Otto von Bismarck

"Nearly all mean can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character give him power." - Abraham Lincoln

"The mob is the mother of Tyrants."- Diogenes

"In a rich amn's house there is no place to sput but his face." - Diogenes

Artist profile: AI Weiwei

Ai weiwei is a Chinese artist who was born on August 28, 1957 in Beijing, China. His father was the famous Chinese poet Ai Qing, and his mother was Gao Ying a stay at home mother. He has a younger sister Ai Xuan. He started his schooling at the Beijing film Academy, then he moved to America and studied first at University of Pennsylvania then at University of California Berkeley.

Some important world events that happened during Ai Weiwei life are the fall of the Soviet Union, the Cultural Revolution of China, the Vietnam war, 9/11, and the Iraq War. One thing that most people would not know about Ai Weiwei is that his father was Ai Qing.

The Mediums that Ai Weiwei uses are Film, sculptures, photography, and architecture. The movement that Ai is most associated with is Excessivism. His most famous works are Sunflower Seeds, Beijing National stadium, and Dropping Han dynasty Urn. The two pieces that I could write about are Dropping the Han dynasty urn, which is him taking pictures of himself dropping an ancient Han urn. I could also write about The Circle of Animal Heads, which is just sculptures of animal heads in a circle.  

Fist Line and Last Line Make Them Yours

"Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I've come to learn, is women." -

The old question rings particularly true, is it better to have love lost or to never have loved at all. I wish I would have never loved at all. To never know the pain of having your heart ripped out as someone you loved betrayed you would be worth never loving. It creates this howling emptiness a void of hatred and regret. All other feelings are numb with in your chest. The disgust that simple memories could bring. So I ran. I ran until I hit an ocean, and decided that I had found the perfect escape. The next day I had enlisted in the Emperor's Navy. I was stationed on the HMS Charlemagne, the flag ship of the entire navy. After ten years of service fighting pirates, raiders, and massive monsters of the deep ocean. After distinguishing myself in many battles and skirmishes I was finally given my captaincy.  My first assignment was the dreadnought the HMS Attila. We immediately sailed off to patrol the fat reaches of the empire. as we finally reached our destination in the cold winter north, we ran into a raider fleet. I called for my ship to go into battle stations as I sent a message warning the empire of the oncoming enemy. We set course directly for the center of the raider formation. We entered the center of the formation all of our weapons firing. After minutes of constant firing, we begin to take heavy damage. My men began to give their lives to continue to fire at the raiders. Suddenly I found myself on the ground unsure of how I got there. I continued to bark orders until I saw my second in command in my vision. I told him "... you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on." As everything faded to black.

Memorable Passage

"Men and women, Canadian and American, who have been born in the concept, instilled in the idea, of liberty. These people of the fields, woods and mountains, pour from these regions to fill our military. Not, as many city folk think, because they're poor or desperate but because this is their essential nature. No person is happy to give their life, but the people of this region believe that there is something larger than their selves. Not just God, although many are believers in God, but a vision, a philosophy, a shared belief in freedom and justice and the battle against tyranny. From their mother's milk they are filled with this belief, that to die in the cause of freedom brings not heaven but a better place here on Earth for succeeding generations." - Live Free Or Die - John Ringo

This passage really speaks to me because I really feel the same way. I believe that freedom truly is worth dying for. It is something that is precious for me. I do see my goal that before I leave this Earth I want it to be a better place not only for my children but for everybody on the planet. The fact that they're judged by the city people that the only do this because they're poor or desperate, but because they believe in something. This belief is something that I think is beginning to disappear with all of the political infighting that America is facing. I hope that we can make a comeback, and return to the time where freedom is more important than anything else.