Childhood Literacy

Written & Narrated  by Nitin Jagdish

Maryland

 

Childhood Literacy

 

First Book Report

            For my book report, I read Felix the Zombie.  The book is about Felix, who is a normal man.  He has a normal home.  He has a normal job.  He eats some bad mashed potatoes at a restaurant.  The restaurant is called Binky Banky Bop.  The next day Felix turns into a zombie.  He grunts and squeals when he tries to talk.  Everybody thinks he is dumb.  He crawls very fast when he is hungry. Everybody feels dizzy watching him.  He eats only garbage.  He chews with his mouth open.  Everybody sees him eat and feels yucky.  Felix is normal no more. 

His friends laugh at him.  Their names are Lester, Joe, and Phil.  They are not good friends.  Clyde is Felix’s landlord.  Clyde kicks him out of his normal home.  Robert is Felix’s boss.  Robert kicks him off his normal job.  They both tell Felix to go away.  Clyde and Robert are mean men.  It stinks being different.

Felix has to make a new home in a tree.  The tree is the only tree in the sad park nobody loves.  Felix does not like being bored.  At night, Felix paints pictures on buildings and fences.  He has special painting powers.  Everybody loves the pictures.  They are pretty and funny.  Sometimes they look like comic books.  Nobody knows Felix painted them.  Felix makes sure nobody sees him painting.  He does not want to get in trouble.

One evening, Felix leaves his home to paint a new picture.  He sees a robber trying to steal Mr. and Mrs. Jordan’s groceries.  Felix stops him.  The police take the robber to jail.  Everybody loves Felix for stopping the robber.  Everybody finds out Felix painted the pictures and love him more. 

Clyde asks Felix to come back to his normal home.  Robert asks him to come back to his normal job.   They say sorry for being mean.  Everybody wants Felix to leave the sad park nobody loves.  Everybody wants Felix to stop painting the pictures everybody loves.  Felix decides he wants to stay in his tree and paint pictures.  He likes his new life.  Everybody understands and becomes his friend.

            My favorite character was Felix.  I like Felix because he helped people and painted pretty pictures.  He would be a good friend in real life.  If my friend becomes a zombie, I will hug her.  When I grow up, I will be a painter too.  I hated Clyde, because he kicked Felix out of his home.  Daddy’s new friend kicked us out of our home.  She is like Clyde.  But Clyde said sorry.  I still hate him.

            My favorite part of the book was looking at Felix’s paintings.  I like copying them.  They create a happy pretend world.  I hated two parts.  I hated when Felix left home.  Leaving home is a very sad thing.  A new bed feels weird.  I cried when Felix’s friends teased him.  He needed his friends, but they acted mean.

            I loved this book. Debbie Nkrumah wrote it.

Second Book Report, Six Months Later 

            For my book report, I read Archie the Mummy.  The book is about a mummy who is kept in a museum.  People come to see him because they want to see an Egyptian pharaoh.  A pharaoh was a king.  Archie is the name the museum workers call him.

One night the museum workers throw a secret party in the museum.  All parties should be secret.  It’s yucky to know about a party and not be invited.  They play games, dance, and drink a special fruit punch.  The punch spills on Archie.  Archie comes to life!  The workers are scared until Archie starts dancing and telling silly knock-knock jokes.

The curator, who is the boss, is an expert on ancient Egypt.  She wants to learn what it felt like to be a pharaoh.  She asks Archie.  He tells stories about ruling Egypt.  They sound strange to the curator.  She figures out Archie never was a pharaoh.  The curator is very smart. 

Archie tells the true story.  The real pharaoh was dying.  His oldest son, Re’hotpe, thought he would become the next pharaoh.  The pharaoh, though, told him he was too mean to rule Egypt. He then died.  

When pharaohs died, they were buried in a pyramid.  Re’hotpe ordered two of his friends to steal his dad’s body and feed it to the crocodiles in the Nile.   This would make it harder for his dad to get to heaven.  They needed a fake pharaoh.  Otherwise, people would get suspicious. 

Archie was a dying shopkeeper. Re’hotpe’s friends told him about Re’hotpe’s plan.  They did not want crocodiles eating the pharaoh. But they did not want to grow old in jail.  Archie made a plan, too.  The pharaoh would be buried in Archie’s grave.  Archie would be buried in the pyramid.  It worked.

The curator believes this story.  She and Archie fly to Egypt and find the real pharaoh’s remains.  Archie uses disguises, and the curator becomes famous. 

            My favorite character was the curator because she was smart and knew a lot about ancient Egypt. When I grow up, I will be a curator too.  Girls make great bosses.  My least favorite character was Re’hotpe, because he tried to keep his dad out of heaven.

            This book has so many great parts.  I loved learning about ancient Egypt.   I will learn more. Mommy gave me a new book that has the true facts about ancient Egypt.  Hobbies are good for your feelings. I loved the disguises Archie wore in Egypt.  I loved his jokes.  You can be funny without making fun of someone.  My least favorite part was when Archie was sad because he missed his family and home.  I think the museum workers looked at Archie the way Mommy’s friends look at me.  I will be happy soon.

            I loved this book.  Debbie Nkrumah wrote it.  One day, I will ask her what the real names of the pharaoh and Archie were.   She also wrote the book for my last book report.  She is the best.