Holes

For my last outside reading, I chose to read the book Holes by Louis Sachar. This book is about a boy names Stanley Yelnats who gets himself into some trouble. Stanley was accused of stealing a pair of shoes donated to charity by a famous athlete, Clyde Livingston. He is then sent to Camp Green Lake, a boys' juvenile detension center in Texas for 18 months as punishment. There, each boy spent his day in the desert, which contained a lake during the 1800s, digging a hole five feet deep and five feet wide. The Warden and counselors at Camp Green Lake tell them that they are digging to build character and break them of their criminal habits, but Stanley eventually finds that the warden is searching for the treasure hidden by the outlaw Kissing Kate Barlow. In the end we discover that the warden is actually Kissing Kate herself and the treasure is found.

Dr. Seuss

Today we discussed the infamous Dr. Seuss and his works. As a child I LOVED the Dr. Seuss books! Although, after re-reading some of them I got a different idea of the underlying message he is sending. These books are great for children, but also great for adults. Each book entertains the kids while teaching an important lesson about social issues we are facing in the world today. For example, In the book The Cat in the Hat, the children break all the cardinal rules that mother teach their kids. However, the message he is trying to portray is important and meaningful. He is saying that kids need some imaginative space where the parent’s don’t rule. Some other books that have a hidden message in them are How the Grinch Stole Christmas (where we learn Christmas is not about the presents), The Lorax (where we learn the importance of taking care of our environment), and Horton Hears a Woo (where we learn how to accept all races). Dr. Seuss is a wonderful author and his works did wonders for children's literature!

Picture Books

Today in class we began our study of children's picture books. At first I did not think I would enjoy this part of the class because picture books seem so elementary and bring. However, I learned that there is alot more behind picture books than what meets the eye. I found it interesting that in order for it to be a "true" picture books, the illustrations must not onle coincide with the story, but also help develop the plot. An example of this would be in the book "Rosie's Walk" that Dr. R read to us in class. Although most picture book plots are relatively simple to follow, sometimes there are hidden meanings such as in the Dr. Seuss series; but I will talk about this in another journal entry!

Alphabet Mystery

For my next outside reading assignment I have chosen to read the book Alphabet Mystery written by Audrey and Bruce Wood. This is a cute little book used to both entertain children as well as teach them the alphabet. The basic idea of the story is there is a little boy names Charley who has an alphabet. One night the other letters notice the little "x" is gone and they go on a search to find him. They end up finding him at the home of the big letters. He tells his friends he ran away because he felt useless. The other letters convince him that he is needed. They return home just in time for Charley's mom's birthday. And the best thing is that "x" was used four whole times because its the only letter in the alphabet that stands for kisses!

Utopia VS Dystopia

The definition of Utopia is a form of fiction describing an imaginary ideal world. The definition of dystopia is an imaginary place or condition in which everything is as bad as possible. These represent completly opposite worlds. In the book The Giver, the community seems to be a perfect utopia. However in the end we realize this is not a perfect world! This is more like an anti-topia which is the vision of a society that is the opposite of utopia. It is not until the second half of the book that I started to realize there were alot of things missing from the "perfect" community. Things like choices, bonding, religion, color, and especially memories. This is in no way a utopia I would like to be a part of.

The Giver

In class today we went over the idea of Utopia and how the community in the book The Giver seems to be a utopia. Although the idea of a "perfect place" sounds good, in reality it is actually misery! I don't know how anyone could want to live in a world with no real emotions. The biggest thing that gets me is how the live without love. I have had my heart broken a time or two, and it is one of the worst pains you can feel, but I would never want to love without love. There are so many happy times that I can remember that I would not trade for anything! I understand that protecting these people from pain is the main goal of this community, but I think pain is an essential part of life and things would not be the same without it.

Mick Harte Was Here

For my next outside reading I choose the book "Mick Harte Was Here" by Barbara Park. When I began the book I was not sure what it was about, but I did enjoy it in the end. It is a very sad book about a young boy named Mick who was killed in a bicycle accident one day on his way home from school. The story is told by his older sister Phoebe. The author did a wonderful job of describing Mick and making us laugh and the funny things he did while he was alive. There were also those touching moments that made you cry. This is a good book to read if you are dealing with grief over a lost one. In the end Phoebe gives a speech to her school over the importance bicycle safety in hopes that she can save others from making the same mistake her brother did; not wearing a helmet.

The Adventure

As I have continued reading The Hobbit I have come to enjoy it more. One of the things I noticed is how Tolkien writes in such descriptive language. I really enjoyed the scenes where Bilbo and the dwarves are in the dark forest because the way he decribes it really makes it sound utterly horrible! Also it is very evident that the lack of food is a serious issue for the group. Many times throughtout their journey Tolkien talks of the maddening hunger they are experiencing. It almost makes me hungry just reading it! I am not quite to the end of the book yet, but I am still rooting for Bilbo and the dwarves to come out victorious!

The Hobbit

I have already read The Hobbit once before when I was in Jr. High. However, as I began reading it again I realized that I have forgotten alot about the story. Like we talked about in class today, one of the things I find interesting about the book is the opening pages. I think Tolkien did a fabulous job of introducing Bilbo Baggins to the readers by describing the setting and his hole rather than describing the hobbit himself. Also, I have recognized that Bilbo really does not want to be out on this adventure! At least once every chapter he is wishing that he is at home rather than where he is at that present moment. I really hope this passes because I want him to have a successful adventure and come home with some gold!

Children's Illustrators

Alot of this class is focused on the words of children's literature. I agree that the authors and what they write are of much importance, but I also feel that we don't focus enough on the works of the illustrators. After searching online, I found a very talented illustrator of children's books and I think her work deserves to be looked at. Her name is Barbara Cooney and she has illustrated over 100 children's books. Ms. Cooney compares a picture book to a string of beads. "The pictures may be beautiful jewels in themselves, but they don't hang together unless there is a string of them, which is the text, and that's the foremost thing". Barbara Cooney says she illustrates with honesty and integrity. If you would like more information on her you can visit her website at http://www.lib.uconn.edu/about/exhibits/cooney/conyfpg.htm.

Are You There God? It's me, Margaret

For my next outside reading I chose to re-read the book "Are You There God? It's me, Margaret" by one of my favorite children's literature authors, Judy Bloom. This book is all about a young girl who moves to a new town and is beginning to go through puberty. Throughout the book, Margaret faces issues such as buying her first bra and learning how to talk to boys. The main conflict in the book deals with Margaret and her relationship with God. She grew up without religion and has one christian parent and one jewish parent. In the end, Margaret learns to listen to God and herself and this should always lead her in the right direction. I loved this book as a young girl and I still love it today!

Sing-Song

I did not enjoy this book of poetry as much as I enjoyed the Child's Garden of Verses. However, I did like some aspects of the work. Some of the things I found interesting are how the book both begins and ends the same; with a child sleeping in its bed. I also found it interesting that the poems move through phases that coinside with seasons. I can see how this book is meant for children, but I can also see how adults are able to relate to some of the poems. I think Christina Rossetti did a good job of writing these poems so they can be interpreted by the individual based on their own life experiences.

A Child's Garden of Verses

I liked reading A Child's Garden of Verses. I think Robert Louis Stevenson is a very talented writer and I admire him for his ability to write for children. I like how there are many different sections such as The Child Alone and Garden Days. To me, this really sets the scene while I read a poem in that section. One of my favorite poems from this collection is The Unseen Playmate. I love it because the way he describes this unseen friend. Everyone had an imaginary friend when they were a child, and this poem describes how fun they can be. My favorie verse is " Nobody heard him and nobody saw, His is a picture you could never draw, But he's sure to be present, abroad or at home, When children are happy and playing alone." When a child is alone, their unseen friend is always there for them!

Lyrical Poetry-E.E. Cummings

Like I said before I really enjoyed the narrative poetry, but I also enjoyed the lyrical poetry also. I liked many of the authors such as Robert Frost and Emily Dickenson. However, the most interesting of the bunch was E.E. Cummings. I really like the poem maggie and milly and molly and may. This poem just seems to flow and speaks to me. The weirdest poem by far was in Just-spring. The way he uses punctuation (or lack there of ) is odd yet intriguing. Also, he almost never uses capitol letters which is also odd. I like how he plays with the "white space" by randomly spacing apart the words.

African American Poets

I was very interested about the topic african american poets we talked about in class yesterday. My favorite of the four authors we discussed is Countee Cullen. The fact that he writes about real experiences the african americans had to experience touches me. I especially enjoyed the work "Incident". This is a sad story and the awful thing is it has probably happened to people before. It breaks my heart to think that a boy could visit somewhere for seven months and the only thing he can remember is being called a nigger. Race issues are still a problem in America. Why can't we just all get along!?

Stephanie's Ponytail

The next outside reading I have chosen is called Stephanie's Ponytail and it is by Robert Munsch. It is a cute little story about a girl named Stephanie who just wants to be different. One day she wears her ponytail coming out the back and the next day everyone copied her. After that she wore her ponytail by her ear and the next day everyone copied her. Then she wore her pony tail right on top of her head and everyone copied her. She was finally fed up and so she told the kids she was going to shave her head that night! The next day at school everyone had a bald head...except for Stephanie who had a ponytail coming out the back. This is a funny little story and if I had to pick a moral I would say it is:Think for yourself and do not copy others because you could end up bald!

Young Children

My mom is a kindergarten teacher in my hometown Magnolia. Texas. Each day my mom will read a book or two to her class and the kids love it. While I was on spring break I went to visit my mom and her class (they have a later spring break). While I was there she read the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" to the children. I was amazed at how quiet and intrigued the children were while she read. The book is about the alphabet. It seemed to me that the kids learn more while they are having fun and they were having fun while listening to this book. I found a cute video about the book on youtube. If anyone wants to see it the URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtvtYjLbnDk.

Judy Bloom

In an earlier entry, I wrote about the author Laura Numeroff who I like. Another amazing children's literature author is Judy Bloom. She is such a diverse author who writes everything from picture books to middle grade books. Some things I learned about Judy Bloom through her website are she dreamed of being a cowgirl when she was a child, many of her stories are set in New Jersey because thats where she grew up, and more than 80 million copies of her books have been sold. My favorite book by Judy Bloom is "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret". My mom gave me this book to read when I was in fifth grade and I absolutly loved it. It is about how a young girl grows up. I might even read it again for one of my outside reading assignments. If you want to learn more about Judy Bloom her website is http://www.judyblume.com/home.php.

Casey at the Bat

I enjoyed reading the narrative poems a lot more than the nonsense ones. I like the fact that they tell an actual story rather than just talk about random things. My favorite of all the narrative poems we read for class was "Casey at the Bat". I am a big sports fan and this is a great sports poem. I like how the story begins during the last inning and there is excitement in the air in Mudville. The tone it is written in makes for an intense scene where Casey is up to bat and must have a hit to win the game. You can clearly in vision this in your own mind and I love that!

Nonsense and Humorous Verse

I am not a big fan of all of the Nonsense and Humorous Verse Poetry. Some of the ones I dislike are Jabberwocky and My Brother Bert. I disliked Jabberwocky because of the nonsense words it used. I had to google this poem and look up the word meanings just so i could understand its basic idea! I did not like My Brother Bert because none of it makes sense to me. I can see how this may be entertaining for young children, but i find it rather silly. I liked the poem The Boa Constrictor alot. I remember my mom reading this to me when I was younger and it always made me laugh. Perhaps that is why I still like it today.

If You Give A Pig A Party

For my next outside reading I choose a book called "If You Give A Pig A Party" The book starts out with "If you give a pig a party, she's going to ask for some balloons". It goes on to talk about all the things this little pig is going to want, such as putting on a dress and going to a fair, after she gets the balloons. The book ends with "If you give her some balloons, she's going to ask you for a party". I think this book is probably pretty entertaining and funny to young children. However, when I read it, I saw it from a different point of view. I see this little pig representing a little girl. Now this little girl just wants more and more. This book represents the fact that children do not have boundries and always want more and more. We should be teaching children not to be greedy in books instead of encouraging them to ask for more things!

The Princess and the Goblin: World Levels

While we were discussing the book The Princess and the Goblin in class on Friday I found it surprising that it was written from such a spiritual point of view. I did not know that MacDonald was so religious and felt so strongly about God. I find the parallel with the "levels" of the worlds in the book and the real world very interesing. I see the "Goblin's" world which is full of darkness and evil alot like hell. Also, the fact that the Goblins are so infatuated with fire and the bible talks alot about a "fiery hell" is ironic. I read the second half of this book knowing more about the spirituality issues within it and i enjoyed it alot more than the first half.

I'm Sorry

For my next outside reading I chose to read the book "I'm Sorry" by Gina and Mercer Mayer. I got this book from my mom who is a kindergarten teacher, and after reading it I can see why she chooses to read it to her 5 year olds. The basic plot is about a young boy who keeps messing up and having to apologize. He does things such as mess up his mother's garden, wake up his baby brother, and break his sister's dollhouse. He tells each person he is sorry after each incident. In the end, the young boy has messed up so much that his mother tells him "Sometimes sorry is not enough" and that it is better to just be careful. This is a good lesson young children should learn about!

Confusion in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

After finishing the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I felt a little confused. The first half of the book seemed to flow better and have more organization than the second half. When the reading is difficult it is hard to enjoy what you are reading. The part where I began to wonder what was going on was in chapter 9 when the dutchess took Alice to meet the mock turtle and the Gryphon. This whole "scene" with the history of his life and the demonstrating of the dance seems to be completly irrelevant from the rest of the book. However, the whole book seems to be crazy and somewhat irrelevant so maybe that is the point. If this book is hard for me; a 21 year old college senior, to understand, how in the world is a young child supposed to understand it? I feel I may be over analyzing the story and because young children don't normally do this it is easier for them to comprehend.

Junie B. Jones and that Meanie Jim's Birthday

For my third outside reading I chose to read the book Junie B. Jones and that Meanie Jim's Birthday. The basic storyline is about a little girl, Junie, who seems to get herself in trouble alot. One day while she is at school, she makes fun of a boy named Jim and he tells her she is not invited to his birthday party that weekend. This upsets Junie because she does not want to be the only one in her class not invited. After they get in a fight and are sent to the principals office, Jim's mother makes him give Junie an invitation. In the end, Junie realizes she really does not want to go to the party and would rather play with her grandad instead. The moral of the story is that it is ok to be different and to be the only one not at the party. I think that these types of stories are good for kids to read; however, the one thing that bothered me was the grammar style Barbara Park used. She wrote the story from Junie's point of view and therefore used incorrect grammar such as "B is my bestest letter". I think this might teach kids the wrong way to write and speak correctly.

Identity in Alice's Adventures in Wonderladn

After reading the first half of the book, it is obvious that Alice is faced with identity issues. These issues are different from those that Ella felt in the book Ella Enchanted. In that book, Ella knew exactly who she was but was unable to express herself because of her curse. In the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice is confused and does not know who she is anymore. The main issues Alice has are size, her lack of remembered knowledge, and how she is being perceived by others. In chapter 6; however, she learns she can control her size changes to her advantage this issue seems to disappear. I predict that Alice will shead the other two indentity issues also.

Creative Writing

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Aubrey. Aubrey had a mommy and a daddy. One day, Aubrey's mommy told her she was going to have a baby brother or sister. This news worried Aubrey because she had never had a brother or sister before. A few months later, Aubrey's mommy was ready to have the baby. The whole family got into the car and drove to the hospital. While mommy was having the baby, Aubrey asked her daddy "Will mommy still love me even when the new baby comes?" Daddy told her "Of course mommy will still love you. Nothing will ever make her stop loving you." After mommy was done having the baby, Aubrey got to visit her and her new baby brother! Mommy gave Aubrey a big hug and a kiss and told her how much she cared about her. Now Aubrey would have a whole other person to love and she was happy.
Moral: Just because mommy has another baby does not mean she will love you any less.

-I decided to do a creative short story on this because I am the oldest child and I remember being scared when my mom told me i was going to have a baby brother. Even though the story is short it was difficult to write because you have to make sure the reader (young children) will be able to comprehend it. I have a new found respect for children's literature authors.

Love You Forever

The second outside reading book i choose was called Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. It is a short picture book but holds alot of meaning. Even though it is meant for children, adults can relate to it as well. It is about a young woman who holds her baby son and sings a lullaby to him. It goes "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, My baby you'll be". This is a story of how that little boy goes through the stages of childhood and becomes a man. To me it represents the enduring nature of parent's love and how it crosses generations. No matter what you do, your parents will love you.

Ever After

In class we talked about how the writer of Ever After was a male, and more importantly a father of two girls. We then discussed the importance of this role and reasons why he wrote the story the way he did. I have found other reasons, on top of the ones we talked about in class.
-In this Cinderella, the father was present and more importantly played a postive role in Danielle's life. The writer probably did this to show his daughters it is good to have a strong relationship with your father.
-Danielle is a very strong minded individual in this film. She is very capable of taking care of herself as well as others and is not relient on the prince to sweep in and save the day. This was written to show his daughters the importance of self-relliance.
-Also, Danielle was extremely loyal to her family and those that she loved. This showed the writeres daughters to always trust and love her own family and not to take them for granted.

Laura Numeroff

One of my favorite children's literature authors is Lauran Numeroff. While surfing the web the other day I ran across her website and I thought it was the cutest thing ever! I was surprised to find out that she is not only an author, but also an artist. There are some pictures of her work on her site. A few things I learned about Laura through her web site are she was born in Brooklyn, New York, her books are published in many different languages, and she usually writes (or works on projects) for at least 6 hours each day. Some of the books Laura Numeroff is famous for are If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and What Mommies do Best. If you would like to check out the website the URL is http://www.lauranumeroff.com/index.htm.

Educational Children's Books

I babysit a 3 year old boy named Cole each week. His absolute favorite thing to do is watch the Disney channel in the mornings. After we watch his shows, he always grabs a book and has me read it to him. One morning a few weeks ago, we were watching a show called Little Einstein’s when Cole turned to me and said “this is just like my book!” He then went and grabbed his book and sure enough it matched the show we were watching. I think it’s incredible that a child as young as 3 has the ability to recognize the similarities between educational books and the shows he watches on TV. Both the book and the show teach simple things such as colors, numbers, shapes, and sounds. I think that this recent change in children’s literature to be more educational is having a great impact on young children. Instead of hearing simple fairy tales or stereotypical bedtime stories, children now have the opportunity to learn while they are having fun. I think it’s wonderful!

Ella Enchanted: The Book VS The Movie

After finishing the book and then watching the movie Ella Enchanted, the differences were very apparent. I only found a few important similarities between the two which I have listed below:
SIMILARITIES:
-Ella is still cursed with obedience yet still demonstrates her rebellious side.
-Prince Char recognizes right away that Ella is not like other girls and this draws him to her.
-Ella’s love for Char is what breaks her curse.
-The story ends happily ever after
Although there are these few similarities, the differences outweigh them in large amount. Some of the differences are small such as how Char and Ella meet. However, here is a list of major differences I recognized.
DIFFERENCES:
-Ella’s father is only seen for a very small amount of time. Ella also respects and loves her father in the movie.
-The king in the movie is King Edward which is Char’s uncle and he is very evil. The king in the book is King Jerrold which is Char’s father and is pure at heart.
-The language barriers seemed to be a major theme in the book while everyone spoke the same language in the movie.
-Ella is told she must kill Char in the movie but is able to disobey this order because her love breaks the curse. She ultimately saves him rather than him saving her.
I think the major reason the movie is so different than the book is to keep the audience’s attention. Although it is interesting to be able to read all the letters Ella and Char write to one another, watching that in a movie might not be as exciting. The movie puts a modern spin on the book and although it was very different, I still enjoyed it. Also, I found it funny that during one of the scenes in the movie a Giant blames the Grimm’s Brothers for stereotyping fairy tales.

Ella Enchanted - Part 1

The character Ella in the book Ella Enchanted is somewhat similar yet very different from the classic Cinderella character. Some of the ways they are similar are their names (in part), the fact that there are two girls harassing her, and the loss of her birth mother. Although there are these similarities, Levine has made Ella significantly different in many ways. For example, the biggest difference is that Ella has a curse put on her by a fairy rather than a blessing as in the original tales. Another difference is that Olive and Hattie are simply girls she is going to school with rather than her stepsisters (but there is foreshadowing they might eventually become related). Some other differences are she was sent off to finishing school, there are all sorts of fairy tale creatures instead of just fairy godmothers and magical animals, and she and the prince interact with each other much more. I think the changes Levine made were great. She kept the basic idea of Cinderella but gave it her own twist. This story has kept me interested because it is not as predictable as the original tales were.

Where the Red Fern Grows

I was in elementary school the first time I read the book Where the Red Fern Grows. I chose to read it over again for one of the outside reading assignments. The basic storyline of the book is about a boy, Billy, who has “dog fever”. He saves all his money until he finally has enough and buys two hound dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann, to go hunting with. Billy and the dogs are unseperable throughout the entire book. He loved his dogs more than anything else in the world. They did everything from hunting coons to playing in the woods together. In the end, Old Dan was injured while saving Billy from a bobcat. This injury resulted in his death. Little Ann died shortly after. Billy buried the two together and there grew a red fern, hence the name of the book. In class we talked about how authors sometimes use animals to describe human behavior. I think that Wilson Rawls used the dogs to help introduce the concept of death to children in a gentle way. It is never easy for a parent to explain death to children so by reading this book, the child can learn about losing something, or someone, you love and how to cope.

The differences between Cinderella and Catskin

The two categories that the Cinderella fairy tales fall in to are A) the classic Cinderella story and B) the Catskin version. The main difference between the two is in the Cinderella versions, it is the mother’s (or stepmother’s) hatred and jealousy of the daughter that causes distress. In the Catskin versions, it is the lustrous father and his attempt to marry the daughter that causes distress. The main difference I recognized was that when the father was the cause of the distress, the daughter left the home permanently. However, when the mother figure is the one causing the daughter distress, she has a more passive personality and does not resist punishment. This could be because she fears the mother figure more than her father and thinks the mother will chase her while the father just let her go.

Little Red Riding Hood

After reading the Little Red Riding Hood assignment in The Classic Fairy Tales book and seeing the cartoon that Professor Robinson showed us in class I could not help but compare the two. It seems to me that the classic story of Red has made a complete circle. I say this in reference to the sexuality aspect of the story. As we read in the book, in both “The Story of Grandmother" and also Perrault's "Little Red Riding Hood" Red was convinced by the wolf to remove her clothing before getting in bed. Later versions of this same story have eliminated that part. My thoughts on why they removed this from the story is because they did not want children to think it was ok to take your clothes off in front of people. However, in the video, we see Red portrayed as a very sexy young woman. This cartoon, which was obviously meant for children, seems to be promoting sex; something the earlier versions of the fairy tale did also. But the real question here is this: Does portraying characters that are meant for children in a sexual way make them think sex at a young age is ok?

Book 1: Where the Red Fern Grows
Author: Wilson Rawls
Picture Book? No
Posting date: February 3

Book 2: Love You Forever
Author: Robert Munsch
Picture Book? Yes
Posting date: February 17

Book 3: Junie B. Jones and that Meanie Jim's Birthday
Author: Barbara Park
Picture Book: No
Posting Date: February 24

Book 4: I'm Sorry
Author: Gina and Mercer Mayer
Picture Book: Yes
Posting Date: March 1

Book 5: If You Give A Pig A Party
Author: Laura Numeroff
Picture Book: Yes
Posting Date: March 5

Book 6: Stephanie's Ponytail
Author: Robert Munsch
Picture Book: Yes
Posting Date: March 15

Book 7: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
Author: Judy Bloom
Picture Book: No
Posting Date: March 26

Book 8: Mick Harte Was Here
Author: Barbara Park
Picture Book: No
Posting Date: April 5

Book 9: Alphabet Mystery
Author: Audrey and Bruce Wood
Picture Book: Yes
Posting Date: April 12

Book 10: Holes
Author: Louis Sacher
Picture Book: No
Posting Date: April 19