thanks

I really enjoyed my time spent in and on children's literature. I liked the flexibility and laid-back nature of discussion. I even liked being forced to read so many books. What was hard was once again getting around to the blogging. I read more than enough books but I didn't always get around to blogging and it kind of piled up on me. That's my fault. I just found it really draining to sit down and get my thoughts out on paper...erm, screen? It wasn't too bad though. I actually got so excited about some books that I shared them with my family and roommates, who couldn't care less mind you. It's nice to feel like something of an expert on the subject and possibly to be able to contribute more than an 'I liked/disliked it' for discussion. If I could do it over, I would definitely stay on top of my blogs. I would also try to look for more books out of my comfort zone. Historical fiction or non-fiction. I'd probably also read longer books. It was hard fitting them in to everything else. However, I have a whole summer to explore the corners left untouched by this course. I look forward to the lazy afternoons.

instead, he is thinking about other things. big things. and small things,

I picked The Paperboy to show not only because it's a Caldecott Honor book, but also because it really highlights Dav Pilkey's versatility and range. Yup. That's the same Dav Pilkey behind such comedic 'classics' as Captain Underpants and Kat Kong and Dogzilla. And the Big Dog and Little Dog board books. Apparently, and this may already be common knowledge, he paints and thinks deeply as well. The quiet and calm Paperboy is a noticeable departure from Pilkey's usual high energy action/adventure. What I found particularly interesting was that Pilkey's paperboy is Afican-american. I see this book as more of a bedtime story someone might read when they actually want the kid to go to sleep. The little paperboy awakens early in the morning and goes to deliver his papers in the complete stillness and silence of early morning, followed by his dog. He does his job and then goes home to climb back into bed and dream with the rest of the world. Trust me, my description has oversimplified the story. The illustrations are, of course, striking. Although, they didn't knock my socks off.

dinosaur wins!

This book is ridiculous! The only reason I'm even talking about it is for the illustrations. I read it with a first-grader who was behind in reading, and he really liked it. Probably because 95% of the text is the word 'roar'. Dinosaur vs. Bedtime chronicles a little red dinosaur as he stalls before bed. He battles a number of inanimate objects (pile of leaves, bowl of spaghetti) and wins! How surprising. Eventually though, bedtime gets the better of him and he's shown passed out. This book is funny, if only for the illustrations. They're bold, bright, and interesting. Bob Shea blends real photos into his strangely full but sparse pictures in a, like, cutout pattern. The spaghetti in the drawn bowl is shaped like a pile of spaghetti but is cut out with real spaghetti placed behind it. Which probably makes no sense. Read the book. And if you can't, my first grade friend says it's also a TV show...what a world.

i was scared

Ah, another 'tough issue' book. And another weird amalgamation of fact and fiction. What is it with books like this that try to tell a story but then randomly insert strangely serious social or medical information in awkward places. I know Earl Alexander, Sheila Rudin, and Pam Sejkora were trying to write book that first- to third-graders could understand, I'm assuming that's their target audience since Lindsey, the narrator, is in the second grade, but it gets to the point that it's insulting. I guess I believe in giving kids the facts, especially if they're curious enough to ask in the first place, and this book is pretty much in direct contention with my views. The dad in My Dad has HIV, has HIV, obviously. But how? Why? It's like it mysteriously and spontaneously generated in his system. Lindsey tells how her dad is brave and talks to people about being responsible for their own health...by eating nutritious foods, getting enough sleep, and washing their hands regularly. To prevent colds and the flu...ok...but where does HIV come in? The entire book likens the disease to the cold or a flu because it's a virus but they kind of leave out any real information or any kind of reaction to the disease. I'm not saying the characters should be stigmatized, far from it, but if you're going to write an informational book for kids, shouldn't you include information? Or if you're writing fiction, shouldn't there be a story? My Dad has HIV has neither.

nature camp was bill's idea

I had the pleasure of reading A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever for the first time with a third-grader over 2 weeks or so, but reading this book would have been a pleasure any way I did it. Marlee Frazee jam packs her book with subtle humor in comedic asides and cool illustrations. I would describe the book's format as, like,...a comic book diary...from the third person omniscient...if such a thing exists. Frazee tells the story of James and Eamon (sounds like AY-mun) who go to visit Eamon's grandparents so they can go to a nature camp nearby. However, it turns out nature camp isn't quite as interesting as direct contact. Now, ask me how I knew how to pronounce Eamon's name? Because Frazee put the pronunciation on the character list on the back cover! This immediately made me like the book because I can't stand not being able to pronounce some of the more interesting names in literature (Hermione anyone?). It would have been especially embarassing as a so-called 'reading tutor'. Plus, I hate missing out and all the neat names. Another thing that immediately made me like the book as an in-between (not a child, yet not quite a 'responsible' adult), was the generation gap, emphasized by Frazee. The boys were very clearly in a world of their own that they knew how to navigate very well. And I will be the first person to admit that Eamon's grandparents are a little wacky, especially with Grandpa Bill's fondness of penguins, but Frazee does an awesome job at showing how age does sometimes bring wisdom. It's easy to see why it won the Caldecott. The only thing I didn't like was how the book became predictable, which would have been okay (many children's books are), but the ending I saw coming came at a moment I wasn't expecting it, making it a little abrupt.

just the b and that's it

Junie B. Jones is quickly becoming one of my favorite children's literature characters. She has a sophistication I doubt the 8-year-old I read her to actually understands. But boy do I have fun getting into character! Even the sentence structure, how part of her confidence is lost in all the extra words she uses, is perfection in my opinion. We've discussed before how children's literature is really just adults writing books for kids but this book feels like it's written for an older crowd anyway. I honestly don't understand what the girl I read it to gets out of it. I think she finds Junie's predicaments funny but doesn't catch most of the subtle humor. I'd never read one before I started reading them to her and we didn't get through the book in one session but I was so impressed with Junie B. Jones is a Party Animal that I sat there after our session was over and read the whole thing. I know these books run pretty much in the same vein as say, Eloise, but I like them so much better somehow. I think it's an interesting concept to create a book for older readers (read: upper primary/middle school) about a younger character. It's simple enough for younger readers to get through but challenging enough for older readers to want to read...I think. Plus, they're just dang funny.

year of impossible goodbyes

Wow. I'm so glad Sook Nyul Choi chose to tell her story. Not only because it's a piece of history that is largely marginalized in our classrooms, but because it fills in a gap that I think exists in most people. This gap I'm talking about is a result of the way social studies curriculum is set up. In my opinion at least. And it's one I didn't even know I had until I read this book. Usually, when we study history, even contemporary history as I believe this story would fall under, we study dates. We study political conflicts. We study the cold hard facts. This war went from this year to this year, it was a result of this and that, how did it affect the US or Europe? Ok done. This book changed that for me. And I don't mean 'oh, it put a human face on the conflict'. It did more than that. It, like, toyed with my concept of time. We say, oh Korea's been divided for this many years, after the Japanese left, this amount of time passed before Russia came. These are the transitions, here are the effects. And then it's generally over. We learn about the country but not about the people. And that's really what makes a country isn't it? We all get so offended when we here how the rest of the world generalizes the United States (especially recently), we say 'hey man, I am not my government' and so on. Some of us even go way the hell out of our way to disassociate ourselves with our political agenda. But when we talk about other countries, we tend to contradict ourselves. We say 'Japan did this' and 'Korea did that'. It's unsettling really. Choi's story gave me something to put into the empty spaces on the 'conflict' timeline. When we or anyone else were not involved. Those parts where we always assumed nothing was happening. But we learn from Sook Nyul Choi's story that, in fact, a lot of things happen in those spaces. I can definitely admit this wasn't the most entertaining book I've ever read. There were moments where her repetitive writing made me cringe (but there were also parts that made me so uncomfortable, I had to put it down for a while) and much of the dialogue was...unrealistic. It's not one I would read over again. But that's not it's purpose. When you tell someone about yourself, when you're telling your life's story, is it to entertain? Maybe sometimes. But really, the point is to make people understand you. Where you're coming from. Year of Impossible Goodbyes is no different. Choi didn't write an action flick, she wrote a partial autobiography. I understand that because it's a book, by nature it should be able to hold people's attention, but I think if you know what you should be expecting, this book totally does that. Yeah, I spent most of the book wondering what, if anything, was going to happen. And yes, that was frustrating. But that's how it was. No one knew. They especially didn't know many of the things we know now. The had no media. They didn't even have media to lie to them like we complain about. Word of mouth was literally...it. Think about it.