Frederick Lipp

A little girl living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, wishes she could do something to help her poor family. With the money she earned selling flowers, she heads to the bird lady at the market to buy a bird and set it free. If the bird flew away, her wish would come true, but if it came back, her wish would not come true. The first bird she picked returned to the bird lady, and the girl was angry. She continued saving more money, and with encouragement from her grandfather, she bought another bird using her knowledge of which bird was blessed. This bird flew far away toward the rice fields, making all of the girl's wishes come true.… (más)

The book, Running Shoes, was an amazing and inspiring reading experience. The illustrations showed the unique Asian countryside, while the story goes on to tell an inspiring story of a young girl named Sophy. At the beginning of the story, Sophy meets a businessman who brings her a present of running shoes. Sophy is thrilled because that means she can finally go to school which is 5 miles away! She gets up before sunrise to make it to school on time and when she faces teasing from her male classmates she just proves them wrong! I loved this story because of the message it portrayed. A person who is determined can conquer any adversity and when you get knocked down you just have to stand up and keep going! Sophy was the perfect character to demonstrate that belief and she left me feeling inspired by her refusal to give up. Another reason I liked this book was because I enjoyed the illustrations of the East Asian country side. The sunrises and sunsets that were illustrated in the book were beautifully constructed with yellows, pinks, and oranges. They also included rice patty farms in the pictures along the path that Sophy ran to school, which helped the reader visualize the distance she was running because it seemed like the farms continued on forever. Overall, I liked this book immensely, and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in East Asia.… (más)

I loved this book so much. I loved how the little girl had so much motivation to learn and go to school no matter what. I thought this book was very inspiring and very motivational to anyone that says they can’t do something.
One thing that I enjoyed about this book was the characters. I loved how the little girl was so motivated to go to school and when she finally could, she would run so far just to go to school. I also enjoyed the mail guy who gave her the shoes. It showed a lot of love to help others rather than just bringing them down.
The second thing that I enjoyed about this book was that illustrations. I loved how you can see her running and how much these shoes meant to her. I also liked that visual of the little girl putting her shoe print in the sand. I think that it is very powerful and moving to see. I also liked how it showed her emotions. For example, when she got to school, it was full of boys and she looked embarrassed but when she learned not to care her face became brighter and happier.
Overall, I believe that the big idea of this story is to chance you dreams no matter what. I think that this story talks to every, rich or poor, to try and reach all of your goals if that’s what you really want to do. I also believe that this book is that kindness last a long way and that we should be kind and giving to everyone.… (más)

I read “Running Shoes” by Fredrick Lipp. This book was realistic fiction. I really liked this book because of its main idea of inspiration. The author used characters, plot, and point-of-view to create inspiration.
Characters: Each character had a significant effect on the main character, Sophy, by giving her the inspiration to become a teacher. The first character was the man in the jeep who bought her running schools, which allowed her to run to school. The boys in the school were mean, which inspired her to show them she was better than them.
Plot: The plot of the story creates inspiration because each event in the story leads Sophy to become inspired to become a teacher. The man who buys her shoes inspires her to go school and her classmates inspire her to want to succeed.
Point-of-View: The author chose to tell the story by the point-of-view of Sophy, which allowed me as a reader to want to keep reading to see how her emotions lead her to wanting to inspire students as a teacher, just as the man in the jeep inspired her to go to school and fulfill her dream of reading and writing.… (más)