The Giver

Lois Lowry’s Newberry award-winning science fiction novel The Giver tells the story of a 1984-like community. I remember reading it in fifth or sixth grade, and my sister re-read it last summer and suggested that I read it for this class. I have conflicting feelings about this book. On the one hand, I really enjoyed it, but on the other hand, I was so distressed when I was finished reading. I just can’t imagine such a place.

The community has eradicated all pain and suffering, and as a result, it is presented as a fairly utopian society. When the kids turn twelve years old, they are given a job to fulfill without having any say in this process. When Jonas turns twelve, he is selected to be trained as the new “Receiver of Memory”. He is told that this job will bring a lot of pain, but that he is brave and that he Elders, who make the important decisions, have faith in him. What courage Jonas must have as the memories of the past, both good and bad, are transmitted to him! Throughout the year, he and the current Receiver of Memory (the “Giver”) talk about their community and why it is the way it is. Jonas helps the Giver come to the conclusion that something must be done about it. Jonas and the Giver make a plan for Jonas to escape when they watch as a newchild is “released” simply because he was born an identical twin. Their plan has to be put quickly into action when Jonas realizes that he must save a newchild, Gabriel, who came to live with them, from release. He sneaks off in the middle of the night with Gabriel and travels to Elsewhere.

The one thing that struck me as I was reading this book is that Jonas and the other children have no say in what job they are assigned. Jonas never asks or applies to be the Receiver of Memory, but he has to accept his new job. I can’t imagine ever living in a society where that would happen. For example, I can’t imagine someone telling me I have to be a trash collector and I just have to do it. That’s what happens to Jonas. When I was reading the book, I had this sense of fear and anger because this twelve-year old boy is forced to take a job that involves pain and suffering; he never asks for it.

This book brings up multiple themes. First of all, it talks about the importance of individuality. Because of the Sameness in the community, individual differences in people are not emphasized. It is not until children are twelve that their individuality is ever recognized. When they are twelve, they are assigned jobs that fit into their personalities and go along with their varying interests. Lowry is telling her readers to accept everyone’s individual differences. This book also emphasizes the role of memory in the human experience. Without memory of past events, humankind can never learn from its mistakes. This is why the Giver was so important to the community; he alone had possession of the memories with which to guide them in new situations. Everyone needs to have access to memories to help guide their decision-making.

I wish there had been more closure at the end of the book. While it is clear that Jonas is able to escape and ends up Elsewhere, I would like to know what happens when he gets there. Where does he live? What happens to Gabriel? How does Jonas adjust to his new life? What becomes of the community he left behind?

Because of Winn-Dixie

I read Because of Winn-Dixie, a Newberry Honor book written by Kate DiCamillo, in less than 24 hours. It was such a fast read and once I started it, I didn’t want to put it down. I just had to find out what happens to Opal and her dog Winn-Dixie. I loved the description of how the once stray dog came into ten-year old Opal and her father’s life.

One day her father sends her to Winn-Dixie to buy some groceries, and she comes home with a dog she has named after the store. Opal doesn’t think that her father will let her keep the dog, but his reaction surprises her and she is allowed to keep him. Winn-Dixie helps Opal make friends in her new town, like Otis, Gloria Dump, Miss Franny, Sweetie Pie, Amanda, Dunlap, and Stevie. Winn-Dixie also helps Opal get over her mother’s leaving her and her father. Although she will always think about her mother, she will never think of her as much as before she met Winn-Dixie.

Some of the things Winn-Dixie did reminded me of my dog. He used to sit in front of a fan all day during the summer, just like Winn-Dixie does at the library. Laddie even used to sit on an air conditioning vent all to himself whenever he got hot.

When Gloria tells Opal that “you can only love what you’ve got while you’ve got it” (167), it reminds me of a quote from the book Breakfast at Tiffany’s that you should never love a wild thing. Although Winn-Dixie is found at the end of the story and didn’t actually get lost, this quote shows that it is important to appreciate and be thankful for what you have when you have it. You never know when you might not have it any longer.

I loved learning the ways in which Opal is like her mother, other than hat they look alike. Both Opal and her mother are good at growing things, as we see at the end of the book when Opal checks on her plant in Gloria’s yard. They are both also fast runners. Opal says that she used to beat the other kids at her old school, and she beats Dunlap back to the party at the end of the book.

I read this book right after I finished reading DiCamillo’s Tale of Despereaux. They seem like very different stories to me, although animals play a large role in both stories. The Tale of Despereaux was a fantasy story, weaving together elements of other fairy tales. Because of Winn-Dixie is a realistic fiction story. Both, however, teach the reader important life lessons.

Because of Winn-Dixie teaches us that we should not judge others. We learn that Otis has been in jail, but that we shouldn’t focus on that and should instead focus on the wonderful music he plays for the animals and the freedom he grants them. Dunlap and Stevie think Gloria is a witch, but Opal befriends her anyway and gains a wonderful new friend. A second important theme is that people all have a lot in common with each other. Even though Opal doesn’t like Amanda at first, they both have lost someone close to them—a brother and a mother. As a result, they become friends. This is a wonderful read for kids and adults alike!

I remember this book being made into a movie recently and wonder how the two compare. Has anyone seen the movie?

The Tale of Despereaux

Before I read The Tale of Despereaux, written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering, I didn’t think I would like it, but I quickly changed my mind. I wasn’t so crazy about reading it because I’m not such a huge fan of fantasy, and talking mice and rats seemed to fall in the genre of fantasy. The first time I was exposed to it was when I was substitute teaching in a second grade classroom at home over winter break. I read the kids a few chapters after lunch in order to get them to settle down, and I remember thinking what a great book it was. Each chapter ended in such a cliff-hanger that I wanted to make excuses to read the kids just one more chapter.

Although I’ve heard other people in the class say that they didn’t like how the author was talking to the reader, I enjoyed it. It seemed to make the story more personal. When the author told me to look up ‘perfidy’, I did it right then just because she told me to! Every chapter ended with the author telling me as the reader something. I also liked how everyone’s stories intertwined at the end. I knew that they would have to, so I just read the book and waited for it to happen. Each character wanted more than what he or she currently had, and I couldn’t wait to find out if Mig ever got to be a princess or if Roscuro ever got to the light. DiCamillo uses such wonderful words in this book, like chiaroscuro and perfidy.

This book has a lot of great themes. Even though Despereaux is born into an unfortunate family situation (can you imagine your father sending you into the dungeon with the rats?), he is able to overcome this and save the princess. Because the queen died while eating soup, the king outlaws soup and all of its accoutrements. This is just ridiculous and shows the reader that you have to deal with things directly instead of just reacting on impulse. Forgiveness also plays a large role. Despereaux forgives his father for sending him to his death, and the princess is able to forgive Roscuro at the end of the book and invites him to eat soup upstairs in the dining room.

One connection I made between this book and another book is pretty irrelevant, but I thought it was worth sharing. In one of my favorite books, The Poisonwood Bible, there is a chapter called "The Things They Carried", and there is a chapter in this book called "What Mig Carried". While I don't think that was necessarily done on purpose, I always get excited when I see connections. The story also reminds me a lot of the King Arthur stories. Despereaux is the knight in shining armor who rescues his princess from evil. While King Arthur and Lancelot have swords, all Despereaux has is a sewing needle. He has to summon his courage, but he gets the job done.

Follow the Drinking Gourd

I decided to read this book, written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter, after watching a video adaptation of it in a class I was substitute teaching for. I remember watching the same video every year when I was in elementary school, and I was reminded of how great a book it is. I couldn’t get the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” out of my head for the rest of the day!

This book tells the story of runaway slaves following the Underground Railroad making their way north. They use a song about following the big dipper (the “drinking gourd”) to guide them to freedom. I really enjoyed the “Note about the Story” included at the beginning of the book. It gave a bit of background information about the characters in the story, like Peg Leg Joe, and about the Underground Railroad in general as well as information on some notable abolitionists, like Harriett Tubman. The introduction also gives details about what different sections of the song mean; for example, the line “when the sun comes back, and the first quail calls” means when it is spring. This introduction provides information that can be integrated very well into a classroom lesson or unit on slavery or the Underground Railroad. The book offers another resource at the end of the book—music for the song. This could also be integrated into the classroom by teaching the students how to sing the song, and even making up a song of their own.

The text is written in lyric form, which enables it to be read in a sing-song manner. This way the reader can make an easy connection between the text and the song that the slaves use to get to freedom. I only got the full meaning and beauty out of the text when I read it slowly; it can not be fully appreciated when read through quickly. When the family finally gets to Peg Leg Joe on the riverbank, I am always so relieved. I get really enthralled in the story, and I think that is because of both the lyrical text and its accompanying pictures.

I loved looking at the expressions on the character’s faces. They accurately convey the fear about what could happen to them as they were running away. I can’t even begin to imagine what must have been going through their heads as they were following the drinking gourd on their way to the north.

Historical fiction was always my favorite type of book to read when I was younger (and still is, judging by the books I’m still drawn to, even as an adult!), and the way the slaves were hidden under the floorboards in the barn at one of the safe houses reminds me of how families hid Jewish people during the Holocaust. I was reminded of Anne Frank, hiding in an office building, and other characters from books I have read in the past. How must they have felt the whole time they were in hiding?

Smoky Night

Smoky Night, written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by David Diaz, tells the story of a boy and his mother during a night of rioting in Los Angeles.

Diaz’s pictures are wonderful. I loved how the backgrounds of the pages were different textures. It made me want to reach out and touch the pages. There isbubble wrap on one page, textured paint on another, tinfoil on yet another, and cereal on another. The illustrations are made up of warm, dark colors. They are also painted in a way to lend depth and texture to the characters. I thought it was interesting that the African-American mother and son are not depicted as being any different from Mrs. Kim, who I assume is Asian. In that way, the pictures help to develop one of the themes that all people truly are more alike than they are different.

The writing is simple, which makes it easier for the reader to get involved in the story and believe that it is actually happening. I could just imagine a scared, curious little boy and his mother during such an event.

This is a great book to teach students about riots and other conflicts. Bunting lends insight into a scary time for children and adults alike. The book has a great theme—that people need to tolerate each other and get along. This theme is developed both through the characters in the riots needing to get along and the two cats needing to get along.

Smoky Mountain Rose: An Appalachian Cinderella

This book, written by Alan Schroeder and illustrated by Brad Sneed, was recommended me in a comment by a classmate. This blog has been such a good forum for discussion! Since the other two versions of the Cinderella story that I read were from foreign countries, I thought it would be interesting to read a different version from America.

The first thing that struck me about this book was that it is written in the dialect of the people living in Appalachia. I thought that was such a neat addition! It made it seem more like someone was actually telling me this story and less like I was reading it. The use of the dialect also added extra elements of the Appalachian culture to the story. I mentioned this before, but my family is from Appalachian North Carolina and a lot of them still live there, so it was kind of comforting to read something written in this dialect. Schroeder also used wonderful, descriptive language in telling the story, for example “but talkin’ to her was like kickin’ an agitated rattler” and “Now stand up and turn around real fast, like ye got a whompus cat bitin’ at yer britches.” The author could have said that the man didn’t like talking to his wife and that she should stand up and turn around quickly, but instead he chose to convey it this way, which adds even more Appalachian culture to the story.

For some reason, Sneed’s illustrations remind me of the painting “American Gothic.” I’m not sure if it’s the style both artists used, or just that the subject matter reminds me of that picture, but there is definitely some sort of similarity there. While the pictures weren’t particularly pretty, I loved looking at the expressions on the characters’ faces. Everything seemed so comical. I especially liked the picture on the last page of Rose and Seb as adults, still living in Tarbelly Creek. This was a great way to tie the story together.

This story also shares some common features with the familiar American Cinderella story as well as the other two versions. First of all, Rose’s father marries another woman, and Rose is forced to serve her stepmother and two stepsisters. The stepmother and stepsisters are invited to a dance by a rich man named Seb who lives across the creek, but Rose is not allowed to go. After her family leaves for the dance, Rose begins crying and the pigs come to talk to and help her, much like Cinderella’s fairy godmother and animal friends in the familiar version. Instead of going to the party in a pumpkin, Rose goes in a mushmellon, again integrating elements of Appalachian culture with the story. Because the spell runs out at midnight, Rose leaves the dance in a hurry and left her glass slipper. The rich man from across the creek finds it, searches for its owner, finds Rose, and marries her.

This book reminds me of some elements of Appalachia by Cynthia Rylant. I am glad I read her book first because it allowed me some insight into different aspects of the culture and way of life of the Appalachian people. It was also interesting to see a different perspective on the same region. Like Rylant’s book, this book would be a great way to teach young readers about a region of the United States they might not be familiar with. On the other hand, this book’s use of dialect might make it a little difficult for readers not familiar with this way of speaking to understand it. Rylant’s book is much more understandable to everyone, so perhaps it would be better to start with her book before moving on to this one.

Domitila: A Cinderella Tale from the Mexican Tradition

This Mexican version of Cinderella, written by Jewell Reinhart Coburn and illustrated by Connie McLennan, is a great way to introduce the Mexican culture to young readers while pairing it with something familiar to them. I have started to read the inside book covers of all of the books I read before I actually read them. I was glad I read this one first because it provides some interesting insights. It mentions that, unlike other Cinderella stories, in this one the “prince” is the only person who transforms. In the American version we are all familiar with, Cinderella’s fairy godmother comes and creates a beautiful dress and shoes for her to wear to the ball, but that does not happen in this story. The inside of the book cover says that “the only transformation in this story is Timoteo’s—Domitila’s suitor—as we watch him mature from an arrogant politician’s son to a compassionate family man…All Domitila has are her innate qualities and her family legacy.” I think that this is an important message for young readers--they don’t need fairy godmothers and glass slippers in order to be happy.

After Domitila’s family’s house and crops are destroyed in the rains, she goes to work as a cook at the Governor’s house. Her mother falls ill and dies, and Domitila is called home, but not before she has impressed Timoteo, the Governor’s son with her cooking. She loses part of her shoe as she is leaving, and Timoteo sets out to find her. He is sent astray by a woman trying to steal him for her own daughter, but eventually finds and marries Domitila.

Coburn uses beautiful languages in this book; for example, when Domitila is describing a shawl she wants to make for her mother, it says “The border would be like our purple Sierras with a sunset sky of rose and gold yarn.” The imagery of this line allows me to be able to visualize the shawl as it is being described.

Both the author and illustrator did a wonderful job of integrating Mexican culture into the book. One element I immediately liked about this book was the sayings set above and below the story. For example, above the first passage is this quote: “Obras son amores y no buenas rezones” and below: “Deeds, more than words, are proof of love.” This adds an extra bit of Mexican culture to the book. I thought it was great that simple Spanish words were used in the text instead of English ones where appropriate, for example “The family worked hard to build their small adobe casa.” Everything about this book worked together to instill Mexican culture in the reader while pairing it with something familiar. At the end of the book is a glossary of Spanish words used in the text and a recipe for the nopales mentioned in the text, which are both great instructional tools.

The illustrator did a wonderful job of recreating the Mexican setting. I have never been to Mexico, but after looking at these pictures, it seems just a little bit closer. The colors she uses are beautiful, a lot of bright reds and blues for the clothing and deep yellows, browns, and reds for the landscape.

Certain elements are similar to elements in the American version. The girl in both versions is forced to work as a servant, either for her step-mother or for the Governor of Hidalgo’s family. Although Domitilia does not have a fairy godmother, her mother’s spirit appears to her at her family’s home. Her spirit offers Domitila advice, much like the fairy godmother does in the American version. In the American version, Cinderella loses her glass slipper after the ball, but in this story, she loses part of her sandal when she is called home because her mother is sick. A widow along Timoteo’s way tries to trick him into marrying her daughter by tricking Domitila’s father into marrying her. Domitila is then forced to work as a servant for her stepmother and stepsister. Fortunately there is a turn of events that the stepmother did not foresee, and Timoteo meets and marries Domitila.

This book reminds me a lot of Climo’s The Korean Cinderella for obvious reasons. Both are about another country’s version of the Cinderella story, and both integrate elements of their own culture into a well-known tale so that readers can learn from the story.

“Bridge to Terabithia” movie

I must say that this movie was really not quite what I expected it to be. It seemed so much sadder than the book was. While I was upset by Leslie’s death in the book, it wasn’t the main focus of the latter half of the book like it was in the movie. I thought that the book did a better job of emphasizing the hope for the future and less of the sadness that came with her death. Perhaps actually seeing it on the big screen made for the difference in my reactions; while reading the book, I was just imagining what happens, but I actually saw it happen while watching the movie.

I have been seeing the previews for a long time now and was afraid that the book would somehow be turned into a fantasy movie. Fortunately, after reading the article about how Patterson’s son was not happy about how the movie was being portrayed in the trailers, I felt a little bit better. While there were definitely some things I thought the movie could have done without, overall it was a good adaptation of the book.

Like other people I talked to after the movie, I was surprised it was adapted to the present time. I’m not sure why they chose to do that. I don’t think it would have changed anything if the time period had been left in the 1970s like the book; in fact, it would have made the adaptation more realistic and true to the original. While I enjoyed the special effects playing up Jess and Leslie’s imaginations, I thought that some of it was unnecessary. Some of the battle scenes during their adventures dragged on. I liked that the book just told the reader that they were imagining their own world where they ruled but didn’t actually describe the Terabithians or their enemies. What the people might look like was left up to the reader’s imaginations, but I guess this could have been difficult and boring in a movie.

One thing I thought the movie did a better job of than the book was emphasizing the themes. This could, however, be due to the fact that I didn’t really start noticing and thinking about the themes until I was almost finished reading the book and planning what I would say in my blog response to it. I thought that it was really interesting how the creatures they were trying to escape from in Terabithia were like the actual people at school they were escaping from in their imagination. The one example of this I found most memorable was the giant forest troll as Janice. I noticed this when Leslie told Janice “Nice feet” when Janice was trying to get her to pay $1 to use the bathroom. Janice’s toenails were painted black. When Jess and Leslie were trying to escape from the giant troll, its feet were disgusting and had black toenails as well. This also tied in with the story Leslie started telling Janice about trolls when she was trying to distract her so she could go into the bathroom.

I liked the actors who were cast in the roles of Jess and Leslie. Although they were not what I had been picturing in my mind while reading the book, they were believable and I really enjoyed watching them interact with each other. Overall this was a good adaptation of the book into a movie, although the book was definitely better. I’m so glad I read the book before seeing the movie!

Sidewalk Circus

Sidewalk Circus, presented by Paul Fleischman and Kevin Hawkes, s a wordless picture book. It was so interesting to compare this book to the other one written and illustrated by the same people. The pictures are painted in bold colors, much like they are in the other book. The text on the inside page automatically draws the reader into the book and really puts you in the circus frame of mind. It activates previous knowledge and memories relating to circuses and circus performers.

Having no words and only pictures was a different idea. It was fun to be able to create meaning out of the pictures for myself. I can’t remember the last time I read a book that didn’t have words, so it was a good experience. Before I started reading the book, I assumed that it would be about an actual circus. I imagined parents taking their children to see the clowns, tightrope walkers, and lion tamers, so I was surprised to see that the stars in this little girl’s circus were people she saw on the street. It’s such a fun concept; it challenges you to think about the world a little differently. That woman walking her dog could be a lion tamer. The little boy running down the street could be a marathon runner. How you look at the world is up to you.

The pictures were so visually pleasing. I felt like I could stare at them for hours and keep noticing something new, like a facial expression or a new detail. I liked that the little girl watching everything was in color while the other people on the street were in black and white. This represents the fact that she is seeing things with her imagination and the others are not. In the picture of the whole street, you can see everything coming together. The dentist and his patient (the sword-swallower) are on the far right, the painters (trapeze artists) are in the middle, the other painters (the stilt-walkers) are in the middle, and the boys on skateboards (clowns) are on the far left. After the little girl gets on the bus, a little boy comes and sits down and starts to see the circus as well, starting with a squirrel tightrope walker. In this book, a picture really was worth a thousand words.

Weslandia

I really enjoyed Weslandia, written by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. Sometimes I have trouble deciding how to respond to a book, but not this one! By the end of it, I had used about 20 post-it notes to comment on different things. I felt like I could really relate to a lot of Wes’ traits. Although I probably wouldn’t take it as far as Wes did, as a child I might have created my own land where I could be in charge. I felt such a triumph for Wes when the other kids came to Weslandia and he allowed them to use his mortar and they bought the suntan lotion/mosquito repellant from him.

I was immediately drawn into the book by Wes’ parents saying that he was unhappy and didn’t fit in. I wondered…what’s wrong with this kid? I had to keep reading this story to find out. I thought it was so sad that Wes’ parents of all people would say that about him, but it was his own fault for listening in on their conversation. That’s something I would have done as a child; I used to always listen in on my mother’s phone conversations. When Wes was coming up with his idea for his summer project, I was reminded of what I used to do during the summer. One year, I read a book about a woman who really liked to garden, so I decided to have my own herb garden. It didn’t work out quite as well as Wes’ garden and my parents ended up taking it over.

Wes’ idea to wait and see what kind of seeds the wind carried his way was really a neat idea. I wonder what would happen if I did that? It probably wouldn’t turn out as well as Wes’ did, but it would be a fun idea.

Hawkes’ pictures added so much to the text. They are all full bleed pictures, painted in bold, natural colors to show Wes’ outdoor civilization. His pictures made Westlandia look like such a fun and peaceful place to be. For example, a parrot and other exotic birds and snakes appear in the flowers as they grow, setting Weslandia apart from the rest of the neighborhood. It makes Weslandia appear different since he doesn’t know what the plants are and he can’t find them in a plant book. I really enjoyed looking at the surprised and jealous expressions on the other kids’ faces. Through the pictures I could almost tell exactly what they were thinking. I especially enjoyed the picture with the aerial view showing Wes and his parents in Weslandia in the middle of the neighborhood. Just look at all those identical houses and then look at Westlandia, different and exotic.

It was great that the plants are different, just like Wes, but that they are wonderful to eat. Even though he is different from the other kids, he is no better or worse than they are. That is such a great message to tell kids. I was so glad that he was nice to the other kids and designed games to play with them even after they were mean to him. This just goes to show that you have to treat others like you want them to treat you.

In November

In November, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Jill Kastner, is by far my favorite book written by her that I have read so far. The book talks about what happens both in nature and to people during the fall. Its tone is warm and makes me think about my family and sitting together around a fire or enjoying a good meal. The mouse on the cover, title page, and dedication page draws the reader in. He then makes another appearance on the first page of the book, which describes how the earth is growing quiet and getting ready for winter. The mouse is getting ready to “hide beneath its [the earth’s] blankets.”

The pictures all take up the entire spread. They are done in warm, earthy tones, going well with the warm tone of the book. Again, they are the perfect complement to Rylant’s lyrical language, full of similes. For example, “Without their leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers.” One line I enjoyed immensely was how during the fall, food smells differently. “It is an orange smell.” For some reason, I was able to conjure up vivid images of pumpkin pie and squash, just like she went on to describe. Each picture focuses on a different aspect of fall. One focuses on the trees losing their leaves, one focuses on birds flying south, another shows a family enjoying a Thanksgiving meal.

In November reminded me a little bit of Ox-Cart Man since both books talk about what people do during the fall in order to prepare for the winter. The latter book focuses more on how people prepared to survive the fall by preserving food and selling all of their wares that they had made or grown during the last year. Like many of the other books I have read by Cynthia Rylant, this book mentions dogs, saying that they “lie before the fire” during the fall. She seems to be a big dog-lover. This book would be a great way to teach kids about the fall and what happens during that season.

I will leave you with a quote from the last page: “In November, at winter’s gate, the stars are brittle. They sun is a sometime friend. And the world has tucked her children in, with a kiss on their heads, til spring.” This is such a fitting description of what happens during the fall, and I love the personification of the world as if it is a loving mother.

Tulip Sees America

Tulip Sees America, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Lisa Desimini, is about a boy who goes on a road trip to see the county. The first thing I noticed about this book was the dog. The picture on the front cover is of a boy and a dog by some body of water, and the book is dedicated to Rylant’s two dogs, Leia and Martha Jane. Without even having read any of the book, I automatically started thinking about The Woman who Named Things because the woman in that book loved the dog but was afraid of losing it, so she didn’t name it. Dogs seem to play a huge role in many of Rylant’s books. As I was searching for books written by her in the library, I came upon some others that starred dogs.

I really enjoyed this book. I have never been to any of the places Tulip and her owner went in their green Beetle, but the description allowed me to picture them in my mind. I can imagine the farms in Iowa, the Nebraska skies, the wind in Wyoming, the mountains in Colorado, the desert in Nevada, and the ocean in Oregon. It was a clever idea for Tulip to star in the story.

The book starts out “When I was a boy, I didn’t see much of America. My parents were homebodies, so I stayed home.” This reminds me a lot of my childhood. While my family took a vacation nearly every summer, we never strayed anywhere west of the East Coast. We never flew anywhere; instead, we drove everywhere we went. The book is written in a simple style; it is easy to imagine the boy narrating the story of his trip. The pictures are beautiful. They take up both pages of the spread and depict the place that the boy and his dog Tulip visit. Desimini’s pictures complimented the text very well. The deep green grass makes the pictures seem so lush. The description of the Nebraska skies is beautiful; “it is like one great long breath of freedom and air.” My favorite place was the deserts of Nevada. “Tulip and I did silly things we would do only in Nevada. I took all my clothes off. I don’t know why. Because no one was there. Tulip wasn’t as silly. She just dug a big hole for no reason.” Even as an adult reading this the randomness of it struck me as funny; I’m sure it would be even funnier for a kid.

The Dreamer

The Dreamer, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Barry Moser, tells the story of a young artist who creates what he is dreaming of—the world. I did not really think I liked the book until I got to the last page two pages; until I got there I was generally just confused. I knew that the story must be related to the Bible story about the creation of the world, but I wasn’t completely sure what point the author was trying to make. It wasn’t until the last two pages that I understood the point; the last two pages said “The first young artist, still a dreamer, has always called them his children. And they, in turn, have always called him God.” Knowing this, I looked through the book again and enjoyed it more the second time than the first. The book seems to be aimed at teaching children about God’s creation of the world.

Because this book was written and illustrated by the same two people as another book I read recently, I expected it to be a lot like the other book. I was confused and surprised that it was not. I think that my expectation that this book would be similar to the other book was the main reason for my not quite knowing how I feel about this book. It was not at all what I expected it to be, and I kept trying to create connections between this book and Appalachia, but I just couldn’t.

Moser used a lot of blues and greens in his pictures. This is probably because these colors reflect the colors normally found in the world and nature. The picture I enjoyed the most was one of the first ones, occurring after the artist had created the stars and heavens but before he had created the earth. The picture is of the heavens, drawn in a mix of dark blues and blacks, with yellow stars sprinkled in. It’s such a pretty picture. I’m looking forward to reading other books by Cynthia Rylant to see how they compare to the first two I have read.

Bridge to Terabithia (pre-movie)

I never had the opportunity to read this book as a child. Although I had heard of it as a child, I dismissed it because I thought it was something that I wouldn’t like. To be honest, I had completely forgotten that it existed until I started seeing previews for the movie coming out. I was thrilled when I saw it on the syllabus for this class because it gave me a second chance to read it because I always try to read the book version before I see a movie. Before starting the book, the only thing I knew about it was that it was controversial; I guessed that it was probably because someone died.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I was able to finish reading it in two sittings, over that many days. Although the main characters were children, it seemed to be a very adult story. The book deals a lot with loneliness and other heavy topics. For example, my heart broke for Jess whenever the book mentioned how he wanted to hug his dad or have his dad say something encouraging to him. “It seemed to him that he had been thought too big for that since the day he was born” (16). Just because Jess is a boy, it does not seem right for him to “run after him and grab him and kiss him” (16). May Bell is a girl, and almost merely because of that fact, it is alright for her to do these things. Jess’ father does not encourage his drawing because he does not think it is an appropriate hobby for a boy. Because Leslie is a girl, Jess’ family and her classmates are put off by her appearance. She does not wear dresses, has short hair, and is athletic. Jess likes this about her; she is what helps Jess to realize that he does not have to be what society expects him to be. What is this book saying about what is appropriate for boys and girls to do?

One passage I found extremely powerful was the foreshadowing when May Bell repeatedly asks Leslie “What if you die? What’s going to happen to you if you die?” because Leslie questions May Bell’s insistence on reading and believing in the Bible. This is the point where I realized that the character who dies would probably be Leslie.

Friendship seems to be the central theme of this book. Through their friendship with each other, Jess and Leslie are able to escape the cruelties of their peers and the world. They find solace in each other and in Terabithia, which becomes a sort of Utopia for them. It is important that everyone have their own Terabithia, whether it’s cooking or exercising or reading a book.

I had not listened to the interview with Katherine Patterson before reading this book, nor had I read the article on why she wrote the book. I think if I had had some background knowledge before starting reading, Leslie’s death would have seemed less senseless to me. Although I knew, on some level at least, that there must have been some sense to it, I was dumbfounded after the part where Jess visits her family after she dies. I could not fathom why any author would have had a little girl die. After getting some background, it made more sense to me that Patterson was trying to make sense for herself of the death of her son’s friend. This just goes to show how important it is to make sure students have at least a modicum of background knowledge before beginning a book.

Appalachia

Appalachia, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Barry Moser, won the 1991 Parents’ Choice Award. This book is a description of the daily lives of people living in the Appalachian Mountains. The thing that struck me the most about this book was the positive way she portrayed the people living there. Whenever I think of Appalachia, poor towns and tired, dirty coal miners come to mind. While she did mention this a little bit, she also focused on people who go on to become professionals and how happy the people are who live there.

The first thing I noticed about this book was that the text carries on to the next page mid-sentence. Authors have a reason for everything that they do, so there must be a reason for this. As I was reading the book, I thought that maybe she chose to do this in order to make the book more like a chapter book, where sentences often carry on to the next page. Adding to this, the pictures in this book are small and don’t take up the whole page. Generally the pictures in a picture book will cover a significant portion at least one of the two pages; however, the pictures in this book are centered in the middle section of the left page and hardly take up half of it. Moser’s illustrations are like pictures in a photo album. While reading, I could easily imagine the people Rylant was describing looking through the book and seeing pictures of their grandmother and grandfather, their dog, or their church, for example.

When I was reading this book, I was constantly reminded of my family who lives in Appalachian North Carolina. Rylant mentions the names of some people who might live in Appalachia, like Mamie, Boyd, and Oley; I was reminded of my family members Melvin, Wade, Foster, and Ora. Like Mamie, Boyd, Oley and their dogs Prince and King, Melvin, Wade, Foster and Ora have were born and have lived in Appalachia their entire lives.

One thing she said about the people of Appalachia that surprised me was that most of the people living there don’t end up leaving. I thought that recently, younger generations have been leaving the area and moving elsewhere. That is what my grandparents did. They left rural North Carolina to start a family in Richmond, Virginia. Although they never moved back to North Carolina, they did visit often and always helped out their family and friends in any way possible. Rylant talks about how people have quilts in their bedrooms and that they are folded up and stored during the summer, making them smell like old wood and moth balls. This part reminded me a lot of my grandmother, even though she does not live in small-town Appalachia anymore. She stores everything in moth balls for some reason, so everything she pulls out of the attic smells like them.

This book is a great way to expose young readers to one of the many different ways of life within their country. It would be useful even for young readers who are familiar with the region because it might conjure up some great memories for them, just like it did for me!

Ox-Cart Man

This Caldecott award-winning picture book written by Donald Hall and illustrated by Barbara Cooney shows a year in the life of a family living long ago. It begins in the fall where a man is packing his cart to go into town to sell goods his family made during the year and ends the next spring when the land was renewing itself. This book is a great history lesson for young children. It is a wonderful depiction of how they made use of every last thing that they had, whether they used it themselves or traded or sold it to others. The book shows how the cycle of life continues on for this family, year after year.

A major literary device used by Hall in this book is repetition; for example, “He sold the bag of wool. He sold the shawl his wife made. He sold five pairs of mittens. He sold candles and shingles…etc.” This helps to make the story a little easier for younger readers because it allows them to realize the emphasis placed on this aspect of the story.

I am always bothered when I am not told where a story takes place, and although the author of this book never told me, the pictures allowed me to imagine where this story took place. I imagined a small town in rural New England, fueled by Cooney’s illustrations of quaint farmhouses and rolling hills. The pictures made me want to jump into the book and become part of the family. I could see myself sitting around the fire with them, making candles and embroidering. Because the book is an accurate depiction of family life at a time in the past, it is appropriate that the pictures are all accurately drawn. All of the people look so life-like and happy. All of the pictures make me think of two pictures in my house at home that depict early American life. The pictures in this book seem to be drawn like folk art of the time, adding to how realistic the book is.

The reader can get a real sense of what life might be like just looking at the pictures. Although some of the words Hall uses are difficult, the illustrations help the readers understand what the words mean. For example, Hall says “in April they sheared the sheep, spun yarn, and wove and knitted”; on the accompanying page is an illustration of the father and daughter shearing a sheep. This way, young readers can know what shearing a sheep is, even if they have never heard the phrase before.

Lon Po Po

Lon Po Po, translated and illustrated by Ed Young, tells the Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. A mother leaves her three children alone to go visit their grandmother, warning her children to be good and to lock the door when it gets dark. A wolf watches her leave and knows that the children are alone. Taking advantage of this fact, he pretends to be their grandmother (or po po) and goes into their house. The children then outsmart him and he dies.

The dedication (“To all the wolves of the world for lending their good name as a tangible symbol for our darkness”) helped me understand the story on a different level. Last class we talked about how every part of a book has a meaning, and this dedication helped me to see that point. I have never thought about this story where the wolf is anything but a wolf, but according to the author, the wolf represents humans’ fears. This is such an interesting way of looking at the story. The author views the wolf as symbolizing humans’ fears. In this way, humans represent everything they are afraid of as the wolf in the story.

Each illustration is framed on the page. This framing helps to order the story and assists the pictures in telling the story. The illustrations are beautiful. They are muted and done with a lot of dark colors, to show the darkness of the story. They are made up mostly of black, greens, blues, and yellows. Young uses the contrast of lightness and darkness to create shadows on the page. The effect of the shadows is to create in the reader a feeling of fear and darkness as well. Both the colors and shadows allow the reader to feel a little of the fear the three children are experiencing. The pictures of the children’s faces drew me into the story even more as I was reading it. Just looking at their expressions, I felt that I could feel their fear.

Like the familiar American version of Little Red Riding Hood, this story addresses multiple themes, such as trust and courage. The children learn that they should not trust strangers, even when those strangers disguise themselves as a familiar person, like their grandmother. The children also learn how to be courageous when they come up with a plan to outsmart the wolf. They tell him that they are going to pick magic gingko nuts. The wolf says that he is too feeble to climb up into the tree, so the children offer to carry him up in a basket. When he is almost to the top of the tree, the children drop the basket and he dies. They learn to work together and be brave to overcome their fears.

This book made me think about the other Asian take on a familiar fairy tale that I recently read, The Korean Cinderella. Both stories had the same general theme as I was used to, as well as a few variations from that theme. The illustrations in both books are beautiful, although the illustrator of The Korean Cinderella was able to incorporate more culture into the story than in this book. Both books offer young readers a way to see a different culture through a fairy tale that is already familiar to them.

Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are, written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, won the Caldecott Medal in 1964. This story, about a little boy named Max who imagines he goes to a land with wild things, is accompanied by beautiful pictures. Dr. Johnson mentioned the book’s opening sentence (“The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another his mother called him “WILD THING” and Max said “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” so he was sent to bed without eating anything”. I had the same reaction as she talked about—how did the author come up with it? It is so simple and child-like, while still automatically capturing the reader’s attention.

When I was reading this book, it made me think of books by Dr. Seuss. Both this book and books by Dr. Seuss involve children’s imagination, which is the major theme of this story. Max is sent to his room without dinner, and imagines himself traveling the world in a boat, arriving in a land where wild things live. After staying on the island for a while, he imagines himself sailing home, where he finds warm dinner waiting for him. The initial place in which he begins to imagine things is where the forest starts to take over his room. Sendak devotes three pages to this, until “his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around”. Another theme of the story is conflict; Max is in conflict both with his mother and himself. His mother punishes him for causing mischief, and he is in conflict with his imagination about the island with the wild things. He eventually triumphs over this by coming home to his warm dinner.

Sendak uses both repetition and the pictures to frame the story. Its climax is the wild ‘rumpus’; there are repeated elements in both the pictures and text before and after the climax. During the six pages of wild ‘rumpus’, there is no text and the pictures consume the entire page. Leading up to it, the pictures begin taking over more and more of the pages, to show the wild things taking over. After the ‘rumpus’, the pictures begin taking up less and less of the pages because Max leaves the creatures and sails home. While Max is sailing to the island where the wild things are, there is a sentence that says “he sailed off through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are”; when he is sailing back home, there is a sentence that says he “sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of his very own room”

The pictures in this story have so many different elements to them. They are drawn roughly so that the reader wants to get up close to the book to have a better look. The way they are drawn makes the creatures appear even scarier. Even though the reader knows that the wild things are made-up creatures, they still look real; there is just so much detail to them—claws, teeth, hair, horns.

One reason this book is so timeless and appealing to young children and adults alike is because people can all relate to the story. All kids have gotten in trouble with their parents at one time or another and been sent to their rooms. It is easy to imagine a child in this situation thinking about what might happen if he or she traveled to an imaginary land. In this land, the child could do whatever he or she wanted to, and perhaps even become the ruler! It is also easy to imagine the child getting tired of the new land and wanting to come home for their dinner.

Snow is Falling

I chose Snow is Falling, written by Franklyn M. Branley and illustrated by Holly Keller, because I was curious about what a non-fiction picture book for children might be like. I was surprised to find out that it was fun to read! It included a lot of resources that could be used by teachers as well. I really enjoyed that the author was able to teach young children about a scientific phenomenon. While reading it, I couldn’t help but remember think about the scientific videos I watched while in elementary school. This book is probably better than they were!
It tells a little bit about how snow is formed, but really focuses on why snow is good for people, animals, and the environment. The first few pages act as frameworks for the story. They set the mood, telling the reader that it is a cold day and that snow has been falling since the last night. This way, even young readers will be able to envision the scene. The pictures are often counted upon to supplement the text. For example, the text suggests that the reader use a magnifying glass to look at a single snowflake. Included on the same page are three pictures of snowflakes as if they are being looked at through a magnifying glass.
Some of the writing seems overly simplistic. For example, the last page is a sum-up of what has been learned throughout the book. It says “Snow gives us water for wells, streams, and rivers. Snow is good for plants and animals. Snow is good for people. It is good for you and me.” To me, this just seems to be a repetition of lines that have already been used in earlier parts of the books. Another line from the story is “It is always cold when snow falls”. Shouldn’t children already know this? Perhaps it is intended for a younger audience than I was picturing while reading it.
The pictures are not particularly exciting. They were not bad, but they were not wonderful either. They all depict scenes of snow, whether it is children playing in the snow or animals being kept warm underground by the snow. I would have enjoyed seeing more actual snowflakes or snow falling.
The best thing I thought about this book was that it could be easily integrated into the classroom on so many levels. At the end of a book, the author has included a list of experiments to try with snow, web site about snow, as well as other books written about snow. It could be used as part of a science lesson about weather where the teacher reads the book to the students and then they perform one of the experiments. It could also be integrated with a lesson on technology by visiting some of the websites the author lists. In conclusion, this book would be a great way to integrate literature into an early elementary science or technology lesson.

The Little House

Growing up, Virginia Lee Burton’s The Little House was one of my favorite books. I’m not sure if it’s the book itself, or just the memories of my mother reading this book to me while I was curled up in her lap that makes me enjoy it so much now. Reading it again as a 21-year-old, I found myself appreciating the simple, almost child-like pictures, the language, and how the text was arranged on the page. I was amazed again and again at the beautiful phrases and words Burton uses to tell the story of the house. The language and pictures work together to establish the story from the beginning of the book. Burton is able to integrate the text and illustrations into this story about a house in the countryside, uniquely told from the point-of-view of the house. A city grows up around the Little House, bringing with it bustling people, tall buildings, and dirt. At the end of the story, the house is moved once again to the country. I am always reminded of this story whenever I see two houses in Williamsburg that are currently in the process of being moved. I wonder what their stories are—why were they moved? Where did they come from? Were they happy where they were?

Burton chooses to use both child-like language and pictures to tell the story. The simplicity of both the language and illustrations allows readers, young and old alike, to be drawn into the story. The opening sentence is “Once upon a time there was a Little House way out in the country”; this is just one of many examples of the simplistic language. The pictures are all simplistic and show the house sitting on the hill in the various seasons and at different times.

The illustrations are my absolute favorite aspect of this book. The house appears in the same place in virtually all of the pictures. This is done to draw the reader’s attention to the changes taking place in the surroundings. First, the surroundings are the same except for the changing seasons; later, the city begins to grow up around the house, changing the landscape. In this way, the pictures help tell the story of the Little House. It is interesting to note that while the house appears in virtually the same place in every picture, its color changes to represent the crowding of the city and its feelings. It starts out as pink and slowly changes to brown and then fades to tan until the great-great-granddaughter of the man who built the house finds it and moves it back to the country. The text almost always appears on the left page, and the illustrations appear on the right page. Often an aspect of the illustration is carried from the picture over to the text page. For example, on the pages with the line “She watched the sun rise in the morning and she watched the sun set in the evening”, pictures of a sun start at the bottom left of the two pages and travel across the page to show the rising and setting of the sun. In this way the text and illustrations are integrated.

Burton chose to have the placement of the text help tell the story as well. When she talks about the leaves changing colors and falling from the trees during the fall, the text is arranged so as to remind the reader of falling leaves. As the house is invaded more and more by the city, the text on the page seems to represent this invasion. There are only three instances of text appearing on the page with the illustration. The first instance is the last page that describes how unhappy the Little House is due to the crowding of the city. The text on the page with the illustration accompanying this is arranged so as to show the crowding of the city. It is located in the space below where the house sits. The second and third instances of text being located on the same page as the illustration occur on the two last pages of the book. This is done perhaps to bring the story full-circle and help tell the reader that the house is once again happy.

The house in the story is talked about as if it is a living person; for example “One day the Little House was surprised to see a horseless carriage coming down the winding country road….” (14). Burton refers to the house with a female personal pronoun, saying things like “As the Little House settled down on her new foundation, she smiled happily” (38). This allows the reader to sympathize with the house more as a character than merely as an object or setting. Additionally, Burton chose to capitalize the words “Little House” in order to make it more like a name and more human-like. The family is mentioned at both the beginning and end of the story to frame it, but other than that the house is really the only character present throughout the story.

Edit: Feburary 11, 2007
I looked at this book a second time the other day and noticed something else about the pictures that I didn't originally include in my post. In addition to being talked about as a living person, the house is drawn with human qualities. It looks like a face. If you look at the house when it is in the country at the beginning and end of the book, it appears to be smiling. Looking at it when it is in the city, it appears to be frowning. The frowning gets more and more severe as the house becomes more and more distressed. I just thought this was worth adding to my original post.

The Korean Cinderella

While browsing through the children’s section of the Williamsburg public library, I stumbled upon Shirley Climo’s The Korean Cinderella. I was instantly drawn to it because I used another of her books, The Egyptian Cinderella, while teaching at the Children’s Museum of Richmond last summer. The reason this book appeals to me is because a familiar story (that of Cinderella) is told, although it incorporates learning about a foreign culture. This juxtaposition of the familiar and the novel seems to be a god way to capture and hold young readers’ attention.

I am often guilty of selecting a book based almost entirely on its cover, and this book’s cover did not disappoint me. A close-up of part of a girl’s face appears on the cover. She is wearing a crown and covering the rest of her face with what appears to be a fan. She is surrounded by a flower blossom and blue, orange, and green designs. The reader immediately wonders about this girl and about what the various elements on the cover have to do with her story.

The girl on the cover turns out to be the Korean version of Cinderella. The girl, Pear Blossom, lives in ancient Korea, and her story parallels the basic elements of the American Cinderella story. Her mother dies while she is a young girl, and her father remarries a mean widow who also has a daughter. Her step-mother orders the girl about and forces her to wait on both herself and her daughter. After cleverly outsmarting the widow with the help of animals, Pear Blossom loses her shoe and meets the magistrate. She ends up marrying him and living happily ever after.

The book’s illustrations add to the story. For example, accompanying the first page of text is a picture of a couple with a baby. Looking out of the clouds and down on the couple and baby is a cow, sparrows, and a frog. These animals later come to have significance in the story. All of the illustrations take up the full page, with the text appearing on alternating pages. Each of the pictures are bordered with what appears to be a traditional Korean decorative patterns, usually composed of blues, greens, purples, and oranges. This border works with the Korean words in the text to bring an added element of Korean culture to the book as well as to contain the full-page illustrations.

Climo integrates both simple narrative and dialogue into this book in order to make it seem like a more realistic story. It is both accessible and interesting to the reader. Some Korean words are integrated into the text, and although they are not particularly difficult, they could pose some problems to a young reader. Although these words are a necessary element of the book because they infuse an added element of Korean culture into the story, it might be best for a parent to read this book to his or her child.

The easiest work to make connections to is the well-known American version of the Cinderella tale. There are really only a few variations from the version of Cinderella I grew up with; instead of a fairy godmother, animals are responsible for looking out for Pear Blossom; instead of two stepsisters, Pear Blossom has one. In both the American and Korean versions a girl’s mother dies; her father marries a mean widow with a daughter (or daughters); the girl’s new mother is mean to her; the girl overcomes the tasks given to her by her step-mother through the help of kind beings; the girl loses a shoe; she falls in love with and marries a government official. This book also reminded me of Climo’s The Egyptian Cinderella for obvious reasons—the shared subject matter.

Shirley Climo’s The Korean Cinderella offers young readers a chance to be exposed to a different culture within the comfortable environment of a well-known fairy tale. This incorporation of new and comforting elements is important for children to learn about cultures other than their own. It is important to keep in mind that this book should not be used in isolation as a single demonstration of the Korean culture but should be used as a tool to foster more integrated learning and discussion of cultures from around the world.