Sunday, April 13, 2008

Several of the stories we discussed in class were written by authors who subtly subverted the concept of authority in their stories. In "Peter Rabbit," Peter runs away from where he's supposed to be and goes to Mr. MacGregor's garden, the place where his mother told him not to go. He stole and ate food until he was stuffed. Peter was caught Mr. MacGregor, ran all the way home, lost his clothes, and ended up with a stomach ache.

When he got back home, Peter's mother never scolded him for disobeying her and getting into trouble in the garden. She sent him to bed and made him some tea for his stomach ache. Beatrix Potter subverts the authority in this story because Peter deliberately does the exact opposit of what his mother says and he does not get into trouble. "Boys will be boys" is the cliche that comes to mind while reading this story. Potter is not telling kids to disobey their parents, but she's showing that kids will have fun and get into trouble no matter what. "Where the Wild Things Are" and Dr. Suess' "The Cat in the Hat" are other examples of stories in which authority is subverted.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

"I Went to the Barber" - Kenn Nesbitt

Ken Nesbitt is a children's poet who writes most of his works for the webiste poetry4kids.com. This website is very popular among early childhood teachers. Nesbitt has had some of his poems compiled into books and some published in anthologies. His writes humerous, often nonsense poems. Nesbitt's poems generally tell the story of outrageous happenings, but they end on a realistic note. This is an effective method that children love about his poems.

I read Nesbitt's poem about a trip to the barber. It was written if first person point of view. The narrator, perhaps a little boy, is getting his hair trimmed, but the barber is cutting off more than his hair. By the end of the poem, the narrator has lost his eyebrows, ears, nose, lips, cheeks, and finally, his whole head. The narrator speaks pretty narratively for being dead. He doesn't seem to care really about what happened. He just seems to be stating fact.

The poem ends by the author talking specifically to the readers. He warns kids that if their fathers tell them they need a trim, they should let him read this poem. Once the father reads what happened to the narrator when he got his hair trimmed, the father would never make his child get their hair cut ever again. This is the realistic note that the author uses in most of his poems. It only makes the poem all the more humerous and enjoyable. Even I lauged when reading this poem.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar (1954 - present) is a popular, award winning children's author. He has written over 21 fiction and educational books for children. Sachar was a teacher for several years and used this experience and people he knew as inspiration for many of his books. He is most well-known for his book Holes and the Wayside School series. Sachar's book Holes won a Newbery Medal and was made into a movie a few years ago. It was a very popular and loved movie also. The Wayside School series was also made into an animated tv show in 2006.

I read the Wayside School series when I was a kid and I absolutely enjoyed every minute of the books. They are hilarious and very nonsensical. Wayside School was orininally intended to be built as a one-story building with 30 classrooms. Instead, it was accidently built sideways as 30 stories with one classroom on each floor. The students and teachers face unusual but very humerous adventures everyday at Wayside School.

I read the book Holes only after seeing the preview for the movie coming out. I never read it as a child, but I don't think I would have fully appreciated the irony then. I loved the book simply because it was highly entertaing because of all the irony. The book has an element of magic to it in the way of a curse. The main character Stanley and his family were cursed along time ago. This curse causes events to happen that seem almost magical. This book was very entertaining and I would recommend it to everyone.

Peter vs. Max

The opening picture of "Peter Rabbit" is Peter as a wild rabbit. He's wearing no clothes and he looks mischeivious. Wild animals, by nature, get into gardens and steal food. The next picture shows Peter as a civilized boy. He's wearing clothes no. Little boys tend to not listen to their mothers, run off, get dirty, and get into trouble. This is exactly what Peter does. This book examines how little boys are similar to wild animals. Peter starts out as a civilized boy and by the end of the book, he has shed his clothes and is running on all fours.

In contrast, in "Where the Wild Things Are," Max begins the story as a wild animal and becomes a civilized little boy by the end. The pictures at the beginning of the book show Max dressed as a wolf. The pictures at the end of the book him taking off the costume and becoming a boy again. While Max is on his adventure, he faces the wild things and tries to get them to calm down and go to bed. He is saying things that his mother told him to do. This is actually him facing his inner monsters that don't want to be civilized. So, by the end of the story, Max has conquered the wild things, made his way back home, and became the civilized boy his mother wanted.

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

Beverly Cleary

Beverly Cleary (1916 - present) is a famous children's author who's most well-known works are Leave it to Beaver, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and the Ramona Quimby series. She has written over 30 books for children and young adults. Cleary won the Newbery Medal for her book Dear Mr. Crenshaw in 1984. She worked as a librarian and came across several types of children. The children that inspired Cleary the most were the ones that used apple boxes and roller skates to make scooters. They asked her, "Where are the books about kids like us?" Cleary responds to this question every time she writes a new book.

One reason why children love reading Cleary's books is because she writes about everyday events and ordinary people. She can easily make the readers see the humor and delight in the simple things of life. All of Cleary's characters come from people she knew in real life. Her Henry Huggins character was based on children she met at the library she worked at. Cleary also uses her own life experiences and childhood happenings for her books. There are many similarities between her character Ramona and herself. This is another reason why Cleary is a well-loved children's author.

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

Within a few minutes, Emily was a safe distance away from danger. She began to sprint as fast as she could toward the scouts’ designated campsite. When she arrived and removed the cloaking spell, Emily was immediately surrounded by the other scouts. They wanted to know if she was alright and what had happened. Emily recounted her tale and the others were amazed at her bravery. They began to pack their gear and load the horses hurriedly. The tribe needed to know that there was a strong dragon running loose that needed to be taken care of.

The scouts mounted their horses and began to trot in the direction of the village. A dark shadow loomed over them. Emily felt dread overcome her as she looked above them and spotted the same dragon from earlier. It swooped down and dug its claws into the elf riding behind her. The scouts flinched as the dragon used its teeth and claws to rip the woman apart. As it flung the elf’s lifeless body into the trees, Emily steeled her resolve. She was not going to let another person die because of this dragon.

The dragon swooped back around for another air attack. Emily held her break and notched 2 arrows in her bow. She waited until the dragon was right above her before she let loose the arrows. Emily sighed in defeat at the beast only howled in pain and continued its flight. Suddenly, the dragon dropped from the sky and landed hard on the ground. It did not move again. Emily could not hold in her whoop of victory. She had saved her fellow scouts and lived to tell the tale. Emily Dragonslayer was forever remembered for her bravery and skill. The End

Choices in The Giver

In "The Giver," the people are not allowed to make choices of their own. Their lives are organized and everything is pre-planned for them. The choice of where to volunteer to fulfull their hours is an exception. I thought it was a little strange that this was the only decision they were allowed to make for themselves. If everything else was decided for them, why let them have this one choice? I assumed it meant that volunteering could not be tampered with. This should be done out of free will and not be forced. That is the the whole concept behind volunteer work.

At first, Jonas liked the idea of everything being planned and carefully decided for him. He did not understand why anyone would want to leave this community behind. Since all the choices and decisions were carefully thought out and made for the people, they did not have to worry about making wrong choices or mistakes. This was another way to enforce the concept of sameness in this community. Sometimes, I would rather others make decisions for me because they are too hard to make by myself, but I always want the last say. I ask my friends and family for advice on how to approach something and then I decide if that's the way I want to go or not. I could never give over full control of my decisions and choices to anyone.