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Chessville
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Often a book about chess is involved. I touched upon a number of them in my review of Chess for Children by Murray Chandler and Helen Milligan. Whether it is an instructional book, such as Garry Kasparov’s Checkmate! My First Chess Book, an inspirational book as with Maurice Ashley's Chess for Success, or a literary book, such as Manus Patrick Fealy’s The Great Pawn Hunter Chess Tutorial - Stories, Poetry and Games, the goal of each is to convince the reader: this is worthy of your time. Some children tip toe up to the game, dipping a metaphorical toe into the water to test how warm it is, before committing themselves; others cannon ball in without the least bit of hesitation. Wise parents, teachers and librarians have a variety of resources to allow for differences in children’s learning styles, ability levels, and interests. A new entry into the field is Duane Porter’s Charlie and the Chess Set from Buried Treasure Publishing. (I keep trying to write “Charlie and the Chocolate Chess Set” – which would be a whole different story, I’m afraid.) Porter has provided a warm and endearing "chapter book" which will entice the reader, even as the main character, 12 year old Charlie, is drawn to and learns about the Royal Game. The story line moves along easily. Typically, Dad’s well-meaning attempt to teach chess to his son becomes a “dull throb” in Charlie’s head. It is only when the young hero finds himself among a life-sized set of chess pieces (my favorite is the Knight, although my kids might suggest there is a bit of the Bishop about me) upon a vast chess board that he finds the fascination that can last a lifetime. Every chess master who has ever told his or her student to “Listen to the pieces” as a guide to which move to make, will get a earful from this chessic bunch! Charlie and the Chess Set is perfect bound, with a fun picture (drawn by the author’s daughter, Karen) of Charlie catching a ride on the Bishop as they slide down a diagonal. The text in the nine chapters is well laid out, making the book readable for an older elementary school or early middle school student. As with all early chess books, Charlie and the Chess Set is accessible to younger students if read by a parent or older sibling. Porter has made use of the services of Lulu, a print on demand publisher, to produce his book. Buried Treasure Publishing is his own firm, however. His first BT book (not about chess) was The Best Ride, and Molly O'Malley and the Leprechaun is forthcoming. I mention this for fans of Patrick Whalen’s Write Your Own Chess Book: Regardless of Your Strength, if only because Porter notes in his Acknowledgements: “This book began as an idea to fulfill a 10-minute writing exercise for a course in writing children’s stories.” The author
believes in his book, and has put his time, talent, and, yes, treasure
behind it. I didn’t get to read Charlie and the Chess Set with
The
Kennedy
Kids
(in their alternate universe called real life, Jon just turned 21), but I
wish I’d been able to.
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