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!