Why I read young children's illustrated books...

Yesterday I wrote about books for older children and young adults. Today, hooray, it's those illustrated books. I declare most of them were created for the child-at-heart adult. None can demonstrate better than Pete the Cat!

How shall I describe our Pete? Fun, fun, fun! Frankly, I want to be just like Pete: unflappable, flexible, and adaptable. Make lemonade out of lemons. Go with the flow. One reviewer indicated the lesson is terrible: Accept your fate. Oh, I disagree. Pete saw no fate--just circumstances to turn into the next pleasant venture on his road of life. Pete? At the beginning he has new white shoes which he loves. In each adventure he steps into colorful piles, each time turning his shoes into a new color. Does he whine? Does he complain? "Goodness no!" He just sings a new song about blue shoes, red shoes, brown shoes. Oh, yes, there IS magic in this story, Virginia!! In my school library PK-4 practically demanded Pete the Cat for three weeks in a row. Never mind my new choice--they wanted Pete!! So Pete it was--for three straight weeks.

Here's another lovable book: Widget, the story of one dog and five cats. The dog comes through the kitty door one night during a story and discovers bowls of food, beds enough, and a kindly old woman who loves them all. Widget must act like a cat to be accepted into the kitty domain. He does, but when their Woman trips, falls, and becomes unconscious, kitty meows and wails and caterwauls simply do not "get" the neighbors. So Widget barks and barks. Kitties join in. Woman is saved, Widget is a hero, and becomes a dog once again.  A totally fabulous book.

Here's another dog and cat book: Hondo and Fabian, one of my secret favorites of all time! Just as the illustrations are soft pointillism, so the the story. Hondo gets to go to the beach and play with his dog friend. Fabian has to stay home and gets played with by the "baby," (a just-walking toddler). She finally escapes and hides to await Hondo's return. When he does, all is right with the world once again. The sequel is Fabian Escapes, which I also adore! Fabian escapes the house to explore but has to hide all day under the house to escape attack by neighboring dogs!

With the ads on television for Disney's new movie, Tangled, I got out a Caldecott winner of one version of Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky to read to the little ones. Even though beautifully illustrated with Renaissance details, the story of Rapunzel and the witch frightens young children, along with Hansel and Gretal, especially the version by Paul Galdone. Do you know what rapunzel is? Greens! The mother-to-be craves rapunzel she sees day in and day out from her bedroom window. There's a price: the owner of the garden (a witch) gets her baby at birth, then hides her away.

 Olivia Saves the Circus is a pure delight! There is a fine line for parents in allowing their child creative freedom and limiting their right to cross the line (so to speak). Olivia's creator walks that line. In this book Olivia is a one-man, er, one-pig circus performer. She is the circus (her imagination) and in her presentation to the class.
"Olivia," says the teacher. "What?" responds Olivia. "Is that true," asks the teacher? "Mostly true," Olivia calmly replies.

And another is Stellaluna, a wonder of illustrations by Janell Cannon. Ms Cannon can take the simplest creature and bring it to life in the most joyous ways! Stellaluna, the fruit bat, is lost in flight one night and lands in a nest of baby birds. She must adapt her ways to theirs to stay, but discovers her true fruit bat calling one night. Illustrations range from poignant to humorous to joyous. It's a must-have book for the 4-8 group!
 Two other whimsical books by Cannon are Verdi (the story of a python) and Pinduli (the story of a hyena). Yes, count on Ms Cannon to make the these into lovable creatures.

One any list of fabulous illustrated books are those by David Wiesner, particularly Tuesday and The Three Pigs. Wiesner's viewpoint is always out of the box and past the lines. In the pig story the pigs climb in and out of the book to share their story with readers, all the while bringing in characters from other books. It ends with no deaths, not even the wolf's.



I'll close with a Christmas story, that of Humphrey. The reader is unaware that this camel belongs to one of the Wise Men of the Christmas story until the end. All along the trip Humphrey is most disagreeble (as camels tend to be), until he meets the baby. Then he, too, wants to share.This illustrated book is a surprise favorite of the holiday season.

There are more reasons for reading illustrated books for children, but these stand on their own as spokespersons.

Why I read children's and young adults novels

Say the term "children's books." What comes to mind? Perhaps Alice in Wonderland? Or the stories about Peter Rabbit or illustrated books about that naughty but clever pig Olivia? Children today are so lucky to have all these wonderful books that did not exist in my day (back in the day).

In the children's section of my local branch library these were the books: all the various of fairy tales--Blue Fairy Book, Yellow Fairy Book, the Brothers Grimm, Mother Goose, Hans Christian Andersen's tales, all the Black Stallion novels, the dog books--Lassie, Big Red--Nancy Drew, the Bobsey Twins, and the Hardy Boys mysteries.

By high school I was reading the classics, not realizing these were books I was supposed to hate. Ha! My favorite books were Wuthering Heights and Exodus and Gone With the Wind. "Heathcliff," I yelled across the imaginary moors of my mind, just as Catherine did. I feared what was in the attic in Rochester's mansion in Jane Eyre. "Oh fiddle-dee-dee," I declared with Miss Scarlett when perplexed. And, oh, how I wanted Rose to choose Mac in Rose in Bloom, THE most romantic book I've ever read (at least from the memory of a sixth-grader)

Children today, of course, still have these books, but they have so much more, oh so much more. Lately, I've been reading as many of these books as I can to be an efficient recommending machine as librarian in my school. I want to give readers as many books as I can for variety, theme, appeal to both boys and girls, and so on. Here I go:

First, the best I've read: Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech. Two children, twins, boy and girl, age 13, are the main characters. They live in an orphanage and go to live with an eccentric, aging, Baby Boomer couple. Here's a link to my Amazon review: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1R41QEP5LUGAX/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Other books by Ms Creech include  Love That Dog, Hate That Cat, Walk Two Moons.
Books by Robert Cormier: These are NOT heart-warming and are serious and reflective of a terrible human condition. Not for easily disturbed older children and middle school students. Why do I recommend them? Because they do reflect life--unfortunately.
The Rag and Bone Shop is profound. It will haunt the reader long after the last page is turned. A friend and I still disagree concerning the ending. Other Cormier's books I can recommend is We All Fall Down and The Chocolate War. Again, these are not happy books.

In my introductory comments I listed Rose in Bloom and want to call attention again to this, my personal favorite book in middle school. I would love to see this group of students begin a renaissance with Louisa May Alcott books. I read and loved them all in the sixth grade! Others: Little Women, Jo's Boys, Little Men, The Eight Cousins (the precursor to Rose in Bloom).


Another favorite writer in middle school in my library is Caroline Cooney with her milk carton series as a purely popular favorite.
 Janie finds her picture on the the milk carton one day during lunch. Shock is hardly the word for her reaction. Why is SHE on that carton? The explanation is beyond the pale. The next three novels take up Janie's search for the truth of her life.
Others in the series include The Voice on the Radio, Whatever Happened to Janie?, and What Janie Found. Read the entire series.

 Then find  Code Orange, a young adult medical thriller. The main character finds a medical journal left by his grandfather, opens it, perhaps looking for a topic for is science fair project, finds a packet, opens it and, poof, this powdery substance explodes. Then he fears he has been exposed to smallpox. The novel is a race against time to discover the truth.


I recently discovered Gary Paulsen's Hatchet series and could not put these four books down. Hatchet is the first of these survival novels. Twelve-year-old Brian crashes into a lake in the Canadian wilderness on his way to spend some time with his father. The pilot has a heart attack. The novel tells the story of how Brian survives with only a hatchet. Imagine three months of living on your own in survival mode. After he was found and returned home, Brian found it difficult to live in civilization again. The next three novels detail more trips into the wilderness. Each is as exciting as the next: Brian's Winter, The River, and Brian's Return.

Another thriller/adventure is Elephant Run by Roland Smith. It is set in Burma (now Myanmar) during World War II. Fourteen-year-old Nick Freestone is sent from bombarded London to his father's teak plantation. A hidden interior of the plantation provides escape from Japanese military who confiscate the plantation for its own headquarters in Burma. A fascinating story of Japanese occupation and elephant handling.

Another exciting read is The Great Wide Sea, a first novel by M.H. Herlong. Not one word is false in this first-person narration by Ben, a fifteen-year-old who loves sailing with his father and brothers. After the mother dies, the father kind of goes off the deep end, selling the house and all their possessions to buy a sailboat and they go off around the hundreds of islands that make up the Bahamas. One morning the father is gone and the three boys must go into survival mode. What a page-turner!!

Then there's Write Before Your Eyes, with a little wordplay in the title. Twelve-year-old Gracie acquires a strange journal at an estate sale, only to be haunted by "the Cheshire Cat" throughout the novel. He wants the journal back. You see, whatever the writer puts into the journal comes true! What escapades ensue!



Part II later

The New Librarian/Media Specialist

"Go paperless," proclaims the computer technician in my school district. I asked him recently if he planned to come by our fall book fair (knowing what kind of answer he would give). "Do you have ebooks?" he, indeed, did ask.

That's a good question to ask a librarian in the 21st Century, for the librarian's role has changed in the last ten years. And either we change with the times or we walk into the deep freezer and join the frozen meat or step into that gummy residue that preserves insects on trees. In plain language, do we remain "librarians" (as I am in my little parochial school location--the library and the one classroom not technology rich) or do we embrace and embolden ourselves to become Media Specialists, as my colleagues call themselves in the public domain?

What finally pulled me out of Fossil Land is this four-day workshop for librarians/media specialists. Previous to this one, I have participated in two other workshops: "Online Resources" and "Thinkfinity," another website-rich educational experience. For the hundredth time in the past five years or so, I wish I were young and starting over now, at this point in time, with all we know about cyberspace and its connective webs and machines, about methods of teaching/collaborating/facilitator of learning. It's a new world in education. (I'm blatantly and blythly ignoring the silliness and waste of NCLB.)

After a day of introductions to mind-boggling lists of websites for media specialists to use in their own instruction and ones to share with their teacher-colleagues, we were given several assignments in preparation for tomorrow's class. One asked us to read an article, now four years old, and respond to it. This blog is my response.

Three Roles for the 21st-Century Teacher-Librarian

"Three Roles for the 21st-Century Teacher-Librarian" by Michael B. Eisenberg (copyright privilege forbids my posting this article or the website from which it is taken) clarifies the role of the librarian in this new age of cyberspace, the clouds, "out there." Is my response paperless? Indeed, it is. As for "out there," for those who are just about clueless about the vastness, think about this. See that little blinking character that sits next to the spot of the page where you type. Well, imagine it offpage, out of sight. How do you get it back on the screen? What I'm asking is that you think of how lost your little blinker can become if you don't know which direction to take it. That becomes a description of patrons in your library who don't know how rich in resources your library really is and the terrible responsibility it is to show them

That responsibility is exactly what Eisenberg writes about. In a sentence, his thesis is that librarians of the 21st century should be instructors, facilitators, advocates, and managers with the direct purpose of ensuring "that students...are effective users of ideas and information" (from page one of his article).

Specifically, the media specialist now has (or should have) three functions: as information literacy instructor, as reading advocate, and as information manager. In providing this information, the media specialist no longer is a lecturer, but a facilitator. The student is an active participant in his/her own acquisition of ideas and information.

So just how does the librarian accomplish these goals? By taking charge of her own library program, making it indispensable to users, and promoting that necessity to one and all.  How do we do this? By rethinking what we do, finding ways to provide what is needed for patrons, and changing perceptions of what a library should be and provide.

The library as a favorite place

Several years ago, I worked part-time at night at my local branch library. I had not much used my local public library since childhood. What I found really was surprising. For example--get ready for this!--on Saturday mornings, at nine a.m., at opening time, people were jammed around the front door, eagerly awaiting those magic doors to be opened to a magic land. When the doors were finally unlocked--gasp!--those people rushed to the computers. People were clamoring to get into the library! Why? They had important missions to accomplish using cyberspace, the clouds, out there! As part of its program, our local public libraries hold regulary scheduled classes to teach patrons how to use word documents, search engines, and valuable websites.

What about my little parochial school library? Six years ago, when I was hired, my library was a dingy, dusty warehouse. I did the first thing any self-respecting librarian would do: I made that place into a magic kingdom--clean, bright, colorful, comfortable, inviting. All it lacked was a serious weeding of ancient books and a generous addition of new books. Six years later I'm still working on both.

But now, today, after one day of this workshop, I have been given a mask of oxygen, a burst of new life, a yearning and burning to  bring my little parochial school library into the 21st century. Even retirement-age librarians can be rejuvenated to become cyber-savy, technologically adept with a deep need to pass on this excitement to teachers and students, to become their partner in becoming effective users of ideas and information.

Eisenberg also points out that the blame game simply won't work here. Tsk, I intended to whine and carry on about how my library has only one computer, that I have no projector or whiteboard to at least show students how to use various websites that they can navigate at home. No, he says, rethink your options. It is the librarian's responsibility to create "active, vibrant, engaged, and meaningful" library programs. I have not done that.

Three roles

First, let's look at the three roles that Eisenberg sees for media specialists. Information literacy is a huge responsibility, encompassing print, non-print, and electronic information. Add to that the types of outcomes found in the standards for the library program. In addition to information literacy, students should know how to pursue independent learning and social responsibility concerning that information.

As a reading advocate, the librarian has a huge role. Eisenberg states that "reading proficiency is ...the number one predictor of student success."  As information instructor and manager, the librarian has the huge responsibility of showing students and teachers alike how to find and access information, then use it effectively. Our future depends upon it.

Where is the justice?

When I "retired" over seven years ago, I thought I would relax and do whatever I wanted. I have in some ways but have worked part-time as a children's librarian in a small Catholic school , now in my sixth year. What kind of retirement is that? I always tell the greeter at my local Wal-Mart: "Better watch out. I may get your job some day!"

As for blogging, when I began, I thought--At last a vehicle for my rants. Yet--look at the time between entries. It is now October 8 and I last published a blog on September 4. That's over a month ago!! I have not had anything to say--or say publicly--in a month.  I could continue to rant about this particular crazy woman, chronic liar, and general wacko I met on Amazon, but I won't. Said enough, didn't make any difference. I could rant about my mean-spirited great-niece who bites all the hands who feed her, but she's still just a child at twelve. Maybe she will learn kindness and fair play one day. I just hope it won't be too late. Or I could rant about--well, any number of things, but just don't have it in me.

What I will write about is the unfairness of life. Case in point: My sister and her husband--all those years ago--decided mutually that she would quit working at her job after she had children and be a stay-home mom. She loved it, threw herself over 100% into it, was gung-ho, finding things for them to do, places to go, activities for participation. She was one of those moms you always see around school, helping here, then there, always of great use.

Her husband is a control freak, my sister is an independent thinker--clashes began at once. He wanted the dishes arranged on the shelves in the cabinets in a certain way--What?! declared my sister. It's a kitchen, I'm a woman, now let me be! Nope, no deal. His way or well, no other way. Nothing on the cabinet tops, nothing on the walls, not one decorative thing, not even pictures of their children, nothing. One rare visitor (he didn't like to have company because he began drinking as soon as he hit the threshhold) asked where they had just moved from. His mother was a dirty housekeeper and clutter nut, so he allowed nothing to look like his childhood home. Thus the bare bones, unlived-in look.

His power of persuasion extended to his kids. They, too, came to believe that, since he worked and made the money, everything was his, not their mom's. In the current, ongoing divorce, they think it unfair that he is not getting everything. So, what kind of impression did she make on them? Neither child, both adults, one married with two children, respects their mother and are just as rude to her as the husband was. He is currently living with another woman, awaiting divorce to marry her. He never needed Viagra with my sister, but he does now. Guilt? Older body?

At least he moved on with his life and is not stuck in the past, harboring resentment. He was not generous in the settlement but agreed to more than I imagined possible. My sister is in poor health now, way overweight with bad knees, intestines, headaches, shortness of breath, chest pain, and heartache. The heartache is not from losing her husband--she was glad when he moved out a number of years ago, but from mistreatment by her family who are supposed to love and cherish her, especially now in her need.

I just wanted to write this, not that I have any great point to make. I don't. My life isn't much better, but at least I don't have to worry about mistreatment by people who are supposed to love me. (I don't have children.)

I will say that breaking the bonds of childhood, of home treatment, of parental influence are almost impossible....

A slant of poetry...

As a 30-year veteran teacher of English at the high school level, I was genuinely surprised to learn that middle school students think a poem must rhyme to be called a poem. We all had a meeting of the minds this week in discovering types of poetry together and that a library class can feature poetry.

It was not even necessary for me to explain a poetry lesson in a library class. As one girl pointed out to the dismayed boy who considers poetry somewhere between Sasquatch and Jaws (it's gonna getcha!!) that the library has ALL kinds of books, including poetry! Good girl, Coco!

Actually, I have an ulterior motive (or several) in offering three poems for discussion on this second library lesson of the year. I'm going to do some oral reading to the middle school students, in fact, "Hate That Cat,"

Hate That Cat: A Novel

To do it justice, I needed to introduce some of the poetry as integral units of the novel. Creech's novel is completely written in journal form by a young boy, possible fifth or sixth grade, very bright and utterly creative. Part of the assignments are his responses to poetry his teacher introduces. This happens to be one of the most joyous books I have ever read for many reasons: the character, the style, the content, the creativity, and the deep compassion and love the boy reveals toward his mother. 

Anyway, the poems are printed in the back of the book. However, in my oral reading, I wanted the students to have prior knowledge of those poems. (Note: Prior knowledge is one of the keystones for comprehension of what one reads.  And according to Mem Fox in "Reading Magic," reading aloud to students should continue all through school. Our ancestors listened to the tribal storyteller; such storytelling is ingrained and needs to be revitalized.  

Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever

Here's the first one: "The Red Wheelbarrow"

(Note: Many learned that the word is "barrow," not "barrel"-an interesting factoid.)

"The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

Standard response: "That's not a poet--a poem is supposed to rhyme!"

Look at that red wheelbarrow! What does it look like? This:

or this:

It's that simple! "So much depends" upon how you see things, your imagination, your viewpoint  of simple things. Students came away with a new understanding of poetry, I think.

Or: "The Eagle" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.


The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls;
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Fascinating observations on this traditional, but intense poem: An eagle is hunting; Zeus on his throne, throwing a thunderbolt; an old eagle dying and falling, and so on.

And the last, which is explanatory:

"Love That Boy" by Walter Dean Myers

Love that boy,

like a rabbit loves to run
I said I love that boy
like a rabbit loves to run
Love to call him in the morning
love to call him
“Hey there, son!”

This one was a given for middle school students.
Great discussions! Fun classes!

Next week: "Hate That Cat" by Sharon Creech--