Ginger+Pye


 * __Biographical Data:__**
 * -Age Range:** 8-10 years old
 * -Grade Level:** Grades 3-5
 * -Paperback, 320 pages**
 * -Publisher:** HMH Books for Young Readers; 1st Harcourt Young Classics Ed edition (September 1, 2000)
 * -Language:** English
 * -ISBN-10:** 0152025057

This book is about a puppy named Ginger. Jerry Pye bought a puppy he wanted from someone, Jerry was pleased with the puppy and headed home. On the way home, Jerry and his sister Rachel heard footsteps behind them. When they turned back, they did not see anything. Jerry decided that if anyone was following them, then that follower was after his dog. Jerry needed help with picking out a name for the dog, he asked his mother and his mother said Ginger because he looks like ginger and has quality of ginger. So they called him, Ginger or Ginger Pye. Ginger was a smart dog and almost all his neighbors and friends knew Ginger. But then suddenly, Ginger disappeared! Later on Thanksgiving Day Jerry and his sister Rachel tried to find him, but they could not. They go all around town and ask neighbors to help. They found out that Ginger had been tied up in a shed. Then they find out who the person was that stole Ginger was Wally Bullwinkle. At the end Uncle Bennie had found the dog.
 * __Summary of book:__**

Eleanor Estes’s //Ginger Pye//, a 1952 Newbery Medal winner, is a warm, witty mystery set in a small-town American community. Ginger Pye, the main character, is the very smart dog that ten-year-old Jerry Pye buys for a hard-earned dollar. The most famous pup in Cranbury (a town between Boston and New York), Ginger knows many tricks, is as loyal as he is smart, and steals the hearts of everyone he meets until someone steals him! The author’s created her own black-and-white sketches to add to your imagination while reading the book.
 * __Review of the book: __**

Eleanor Estes (1906-1988) was the author and illustrator of a number of children's books over her long career. Born in West Haven, Connecticut, Estes worked as a librarian at the New Haven Public Library before winning a scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She worked as a children's librarian for the New York Public Library until her first book was published in 1941. She was the recipient of the Newbury Medal in 1952 for //Ginger Pye//. Ginger Pye won [|the Newbery Medal] in 1952. The book is still popular today with kids because. Young students are gripped by the mystery, and own Ginger and worry when she is taken. Eleanor had an understanding of what's important to children when dealing with the funny and unsuccessful bits of everyday living.
 * __Author biography: __**

A literary element that is used in this book is personification. When human qualities are attributed to animals or inanimate objects, we call element personification. If you take the word apart, you can see that its root is “person.” Ginger Pye is a great example of personification. For instance, when the pup Ginger discovers himself in the mirror, Estes (the writer) talks about Ginger’s discovery of the “enemy dog.” Estes is observing the behavior of dogs when they bark at their reflections and then investing it with a human quality: naming the mystery dog an “enemy.” Ginger exhibits many human qualities in the few chapters he’s in. Ginger has feelings: “Ginger’s feelings were hurt, being deserted this way…” (page 122). Ginger asks questions: “Where could he go anyway?” puzzled Ginger. Ginger was calculating: “He was winning, he thought. Mrs. Pye no longer looked so stern; her eyes were laughing in fact. But to assure victory, Ginger cringed.” In each of these examples, Ginger exhibits thoughts and behaviors ordinarily assigned to humans which are examples of the popular literary element, personification.
 * __Analysis of literary element: __**

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