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Post by Kylie90210 on Nov 11, 2008 23:21:01 GMT -5
Please discuss this book here.
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Post by annieb on Dec 10, 2008 21:51:27 GMT -5
I used to have this book! The kite flying contest seemed like fun. I felt bad for Natalie. Karen was nice to share her gift certificate with Natalie.
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Post by sparklymouse on Dec 11, 2008 19:22:28 GMT -5
There was a kite store in Stoneybrook, no? I swear that town doesn't have any useful stores in it.
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tiff85
Junior Sitter
Posts: 583
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Post by tiff85 on Mar 20, 2009 21:10:53 GMT -5
Yeah I agree sparklymouse. A kite store?? Maybe kites were very popular in Stoneybrook.
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Post by sweetvalleygirl99 on Mar 22, 2009 16:37:40 GMT -5
There was a kite store in Stoneybrook, no? I swear that town doesn't have any useful stores in it. Lol I agree ;D. I never saw a kite store in my life, before or after reading this book. And I never understood the fun of kite flying. It frustrated me more than anything because my kite would only fly in the air for like five seconds before nosediving to the ground.
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Post by sparklymouse on Mar 22, 2009 19:06:47 GMT -5
It wasn't my favorite activity by any means, but I did enjoy flying a kite every once in a while. My parents would buy the cheapy plastic ones with cartoon characters and superheroes on them. I think we may have duct taped a few back together because they didn't handle slamming into the ground so well.
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scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
Posts: 414
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Post by scrounge on May 10, 2010 21:45:34 GMT -5
Reading this book kind of makes me wish I could fly a cool kite, like the dragon and fish kites Karen describes. Unfortunately I know the novelty would wear off fairly quickly, so I'm not actually going to go out and buy a kite.
If they hadn't gotten into trouble for them, some of the things Natalie wanted to do sound pretty fun. Filling up the bathtub and playing in it in their bathing suits, making wings and seeing if they could fly, both didn't work out too well and the second one is pretty dangerous, but it sounds like in other circumstances Natalie could be a fun friend, thinking up ideas that are a little different from the games the kids usually play.
I still don't understand why Natalie's parents left her with a classmate instead of taking her with them to her grandfather's funeral.
It was nice of Karen to share the prize with Natalie at the end, but she was pretty rude about Natalie's kite in the rest of the book. She'd say out loud "I really like the color you chose" while telling the reader that it was the color of a dirty nickel. Usually even though Karen thinks her own things are the best, she doesn't tell us anything rude about her classmates' efforts.
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Post by anzuhana on Jul 19, 2010 20:01:44 GMT -5
I liked that Karen shared the prize with Natalie. I think I've liked to join the kite flying contest.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Apr 21, 2011 0:27:22 GMT -5
I liked seeing more development between Natalie and Karen in this book. I also thought it was cute how, in the end, Karen ends up sharing her kite-winning prize money with Andrew to buy him a new kite. Cute older sister moment.
Did anyone else think that this book might be boring upon reading the name? How interesting could kites be? But I liked the Natalie visits the Little House subplot and the sleepover contest at the school sounded like fun.
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Post by zoar3 on Jun 11, 2013 11:17:19 GMT -5
I have one very vague memory of flying a kite as a young kid but that's all. I'm not quite getting how the kids' kites "flew" all night? It sounded like one of the strings attached to each kite was anchored to the ground with a stone? Eventually when the wind died down the kite would just float to the ground. What am I missing? The kites themselves were interesting to read about. I was reminded of the first Bobbsey Twin book where all 4 twins make kites, just the flat kind. I will also always think of a little boy named Peter when I read about kites. He was one of my 2 year olds a number of years ago now. He loved everything about cars and trucks. He especially enjoyed watching monster truck and go cart races. Peter wasn't much of a talker early on and had some difficulty pronouncing words and names that had "ar" in them. For the longest time when he talked about Go Carts. I wasn't sure what he was saying because it sounded like "Go Kites." Finally his dad explained. I loved Peter, he was such a sweet little boy. Good memory.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Jun 11, 2013 11:53:12 GMT -5
Am I the only one who associates kites with around Easter (Spring)? This book is also set during the same time. The only time I remember being "into" kites is during Spring, and it was for a very fleeting moment. I don't think kites are the things to attract most kids attention for very long.
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scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
Posts: 414
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Post by scrounge on Jun 11, 2013 13:09:46 GMT -5
You're not the only one, virgo. Kites are a very spring thing for me. Where I live it is so windy that you can't fly kites except maybe one day a year.
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Post by maddieruns on Jun 11, 2013 14:51:37 GMT -5
My family's really big on kite flying. We have have a whole bunch of them. Now I'm curious about the kites in this book. Are there any creative ones?
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Post by sparklymouse on Jun 11, 2013 15:01:25 GMT -5
Virgo, I often see kites included in those big packaged Easter baskets for sale at Wal-Mart or Target.
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Post by zoar3 on Sept 19, 2014 18:02:50 GMT -5
I reread this last night and thought the best part at the very end with Karen deciding to buy Andrew a kite. The rest of the story came across as OOC for Karen to me. She was as others of you have posted to direct in sharing with us her unkind thoughts on Natalie and her parents, too. There really was no need for Stephanie Calmenson to share that Mr. and Mrs. Springer all had droopy socks and looked unkempt when they arrived with Natalie. Maybe because they had come over to the Engles to bring Natalie while they attended a funeral that that bothered me a little more. Ms. Colman's drawing of 6 things that can fly on page 3 make me smile and I enjoyed reading that discussion. Mr. Mackey sounds like a great art teacher, I hadn't remembered he spent Friday (kite flying) night at school, too. He also went to Mrs. Moody's kite store with the KIMCC. I noticed this time around that only Ms. Colman's class was at the sleepover and entered in the contest. I wish for one book Mr. Berger's class had gotten to join in, too. I always hope they and other classes also enjoy at least some of the KIMCC field trips. We could have gotten to know Karen's class better, too but I understand that might have made the stories not as KIMCC focused. Oh, I'm not big on birds but I loved reading about Hank's canary Sassy. Something new for this book.
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