Customer Reviews

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and Other Man-made Catastrophes

5 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

that he finished this third book.....because there isn't yet a follow up! He is a bright kid, reads well, BUT HATES reading fiction. I've tried so many series with him and he just doesn't enjoy them. However, this is the first fiction book he has enjoyed, he just giggles and laughs while reading. I don't think he identifies with the main character's anxiousness or shyness, but he just loves the humor in the book. Somehow he hated the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing/Fudge series, he has complained that its like reading a whole book of an introduction, but somehow this series has more plots...whatever...I'm just glad he enjoyed a fiction read finally.

He is 7 1/2 yrs old. I don't know what reading level it is as we use the GRL coding system, but he does have trouble with a few words here and there, but overall it was an easy read for him.

Now he wants to go back to books about spiders, scorpions and sharks...bleh.

Poor Alvin Ho! But Alvin Ho is definitely a character! Can't help but giggle to myself whenever i read any of these books.

Great book in great condition. My son loves Alvin!If you have a 3rd grade boy that is a reluctant reader, you need to get this series of books.

This book is full of stereotypes of Native (American Indian) people and tries to bring back the horrible game of "cowboys and Indians" in the guise of "settlers and Indians." Does anyone actually think it's ok to dress up like some tv idea of what "Indians" used to look like? Look misrepresents history in the guise of "teaching" about King Philip's (Metacom's) War. She describes the "Indians" (that is, Wampanoags, Narragansets, Pawtuckets) as fighting "viciously." The English were invading their homeland, threatening families, homes, and the land itself. This stereotype of Indigenous people as "savage and vicious" is unfortunately an old stereotype, a racist stereotype. In fact, it was the British who were particularly vicious during and after this war, when they displayed Metacom's head on a stake in Boston.

When I was a child, back in the 1950's when there were Westerns on every night, we played "cowboys and Indians" because it was what we saw. As an Indian child, I was confused by this. I am Abenaki, my people are from Ndakinna, which is now called northern New England. If Indians rode horses and wore those big headdresses, how could I be Indian? My grandfather didn't ride a horse, or wear a headdress. This is one of the ways in which stereotypes harm Native children.

This story harms non-Indian children, also, by misrepresenting modern day Native people, and by telling them it is ok to play racist, colonial games. Children are not playing "cowboys and Indians" anymnore, at least not here in New England. My grandsons play aliens, Star Wars, Mario and Luigi games -- and lots of sports and running and exploring. The last thing we need is a book that pretends that children still play, not cowboys and indians, but "cowboys and settlers." That just sounds like a bad Thanksgiving's day play.

If you value diversity, if you want your child to grow up with a sense of justice, with a sense of truth about themselves and history, then DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. I would like to see everyone boycott this book. There are lots of other, much better books that children can enjoy reading on their own, books that can teach them truths, give them a sense of fun that is not based on other's pain, and written by authors of integrity.