Morgan on Ice

Volume XXV / Issue 8 - October 26 / 2018
Morgan on Ice
Morgan on Ice
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Morgan on Ice

Author: 
Ted Staunton
Illustrated by: 
Bill Slavin
Series: 
Be Brave
Morgan!
Halifax, NS: Formac, 2013
54 pp., hardcover, $14.95
ISBN: 
978-1-4595-0289-5
Grades: 
2-5
Ages: 
7-10
Review by: 
Mallory Dawson
2
Excerpt: 

When Aldeen’s mom finally picks her up, first thing I do is say to Mom and Dad, “Charlie invited me to Monster-Truck-A-Rama. Can I go? Please?”

“Well, that’s nice,” Mom says. “I don’t see why not. When is it?”

“There’s an ad for it right here in the paper,” Dad says. He shows us. There’s a picture of an orange monster truck flying over a heap of cars. “Coooool,” I say. But Mom says, “Oh, no! It’s the same day as Princesses On Ice.”

“Hey,” I say, “That means I can’t go to Princesses On Ice!” This is great.
“Well, no hon. It means you can’t go to Truck-A-Rama. Aldeen invited you first and you said yes. You can’t change your mind. That would be rude.”

“But,” I say. “But this is trucks crushing stuff. That’s way cooler than –”

“Sorry, Morgan, but that’s the way it is.”

Morgan is back in Staunton’s fun series of “First Novels” for children ready for longer independent reads. As with others in this series, each chapter is roughly five pages long with Slavin’s black and white hand-drawn illustrations sporadically inserted throughout. While the illustrations don’t bring anything new to the content of the story, they are a welcomed add-on for children who are just starting out in novels. Staunton’s simple language and repetition also aid in the appropriateness of this book for grades two and up.

The story, as with others in this series, is not so much a timeless classic, but, as a first novel, it is a nice story that will engage children with an interest in skating, monster trucks, and realistic fiction. Morgan’s father has said on a few occasions “Man up”, which some children and educators may find insensitive.

Recommended
Reviewer: 

Mallory Dawson is the Community Engagement Librarian at Whitby Public Library.