Holes

I’m glad that we started our discussion today by asking ourselves what work reading Holes asked from us. I enjoyed this book the first time I read it, somewhere in the middle school years, and I enjoyed it enough to read it in an afternoon this time around. But I really didn’t really develop any enthusiastic opinions about the text and was sort of at a loss for words when we were asked to consider what the book asked of its readers. I initially wrote that I found it difficult to empathize with Stanley since Sachar’s creates such a strong voice that I attribute to the main character who is a young boy at a correctional camp filled with more young boys. Some people touched on this a bit in class today as well.

But when we continued with the discussions I realized right away the main thing the book asks of me as a reader. The book is laid out so neatly and wraps up pat. It’s something that bothers me all the time with scripts. I guess I approached the book with too much superiority and accepted its convenient coincidences without a second thought. I’d forgot children’s books could ask anything of me as a reader. And when Earthsea was mentioned during our discussion, I immediately saw how Holes, although it writing sucks us in as readers and the book easily entertains, was clearly lacking something Earthsea easily manages; inquiry. The books don’t necessarily leave me pondering life or (in the case of most children’s books) appreciating the lessons learned.

I appreciated Marcus’ comment about the biblical allusions in the book, and I guess this gives the book more depth that was beyond me in my initial readings. But the easiness of the novel (in storyline rather than reading level) are still somewhat bothersome. I understand that book of these kinds are necessary for readers, especially young readers who need to remember that reading is for pleasure as well as for learning and growing.

Drama for Children

What a refreshing leave from the high-fantasy books. Dicey's Song reminds me of reality TV. I'm grateful for a book for children that presents real life situations that real people have to deal with. Similar to Dahl, I belive fantasy is important to children, something that can inspire them to be creative and dream of things outside the bounds of real life, however, I feel that real-life stories teach children about their real life surroundnds and show different perspective of life.

The children in Dicey's Song all have real life qualities, things children may or may not relate to. Either way, children are introduced to people who have different dilemas and introduces children to different issues their peers may be having. It gives children a more well rounded world view and allows for them to be better understanding citizens.

Although Dicey's Song is far from the high-fantasy books we've read, the book still has similar themes, the most apparent is the lost parent theme. Dicey acts as a hero by taking care of her younger siblings and shouldering (along with her grandmother) the responsibilites her sick mother has left behind, something that makes this theme unique.Furthermore, each child within the family is dealing with their own individual problems. Voight gives the children various solutions and provides hope for any child who might identify with the various characters.

The book seems like an important read for children, especially after a high-fantasy binge.

Artistic Responsibility

Today's discussing really helped me develop my understanding of Lowery's intentions as a writer. As someone interested in writing creatively, I'm usually like to consider the writer's intentions. It's especially interesting to think about what messages authors are intending for their children readers. Today I was most struck by our remarks about the main character's roles as artists in Gathering Blue.

When I was thinking about the gifts Lowery gives her characters, I recognized their gifts as something that gave them heroic potential something I now believe to only be half-way true. It was suggested in class that Lowery was presenting an argument about what it really means to be an artist. Kira, Thomas, and Jo were all given artistic abilities that boarder on magical, but these gifts are not the only thing that makes them heroic. Similar to Jonas in The Giver, Kira's personality traits allow her to see the negativity within her community and leave her with a desire to challenge and correct this negativity. While the women in the village treat their own children rather harshly, Kira sees these characteristics as faults. The women think penning their children up with chickens is efficient parenting and are often described yelling, slapping, or neglecting their children. Kira often acts kindly towards the children in her village, offering to tell them stories and nurturing them. Kira especially loves and cares for Mattie, who is as loving and caring a character as Kira herself. Kira mentions that no one in her village would help injured of handicapped people, preferring to take them to the field when they could no longer contribute to the community. She notes that Matt is an exception for saving his dog Branch when he was run over by a cart. Kira also begins to see the selfishness behind the Guardians. She notes that she and her friends Jo and Thomas were not really free. They were required to do specific work for their Guardians who exploit the artists’ talents to write a future beneficial for them.

Kira is heroic because she uses her talents to challenge the institutions that she believes to be unjust. Considering this, we can see how Lowry is arguing that artists have the potential to affect their audiences and create urgency for positive change. She is suggesting that artists have the responsibility to put purpose behind their arts. Kira is responsible for threading the future of her village on the Singer’s robe. Her gift will allow her to make that future something more perfect that what currently exists within her somewhat barbaric community.

Pippi Longstocking is coming into your world! The freckle-faced red-head giiiiiiiirll!!

Pippi Longstocking! Finally a book that I would love to read with or to children, especially little girls. Pippi could be called the female Peter Pan. Except that she remembers and loves her parents and can be quite mature in some chapters. Her charming imagination and strong willed personality make for quite a role model.

Her games and stories are imaginative yet worldly. Obviously the daughter of a Sea Captain had seen and heard many things. Pippi has no parents and no one to tell her not to have fun, yet she takes care of herself rather well. Cooking, keeping and caring for animals, sometimes cleaning, are all things Pippi enjoys doing with her own spin.

The best details in the book are Pippi’s ability to fight with police officers (and win) as well as her success in turning bad robbers into nice dancing men who earn money fairly. These were my favorite chapters in the book. The serialized organization of the book make reading and re-reading chapters in no particular order easy to do and I’ve begun daydreaming about reading this book to my niece so that she can pick out some chapters we can read and re-read together.

Another interesting aspect of the book is that although Pippi has some magical qualities, the most fantastical thing about her is her super-strength. Also it’s not very likely that she could live without any sort of guardian. However, most of the adventures and fun Pippy has with Annika and Tommy seem like plausible adventures.

Pippy Longstocking provides little girl readers with a strong, imaginative, quirky role-model. I want to write children’s books like this one.


I remember the Pippi song from the movie that came out when I was a kid. Check my blog title. Or listen here:

Harry Potter Hype

I won't lie and say that I was excited to blog about Harry Potter. When the books came out I read and enjoyed them. I tried to keep up but the third book was actually the last one I read. My mom continued to make an event out of each new book release, standing in line at midnight at the Barns and Noble to buy each new one. But something about the fourth book, I can't really recall what it was exactly, turned me off to the series. Then the movies started...and I was done. Those first two really didn't look like the world of Harry looked in my head. While I appreciate what J.K. Rowling has painted for me, my mother, and my niece and nephew, I'm way over the Harry hype.

I just needed that off my chest.

So, I've decided to blog about what I appreciated about Harry Potter this go round:

1. character- Rowling is always introducing interesting characters, my favorites in this book are Aunt Marge, mostly due to the way Rowling describes her as looking like Harry's Uncle Vernon-fat with a mustache, and Professor Trelawney who is described as, "a large glittering insect." Rowling's characters are extreme caricatures with hilariously fitting names.
2. Names of persons, places, things. "The Knight Bus," "Dementors," "Levitating Sherbet Balls,"Buckbeat."
3. Honeydukes and everything described inside of it.
4. The Weasley family-each of their specific personalities and their relationships with one another as well as with Harry.

To me, what makes this book better than The Wizard of Earthsea, is the world Rowling has created. It's full of cleaver details all of which enchant children and adults alike. Each time Hogwarts main dining hall is described, I feel inspired to host a huge party with floating candles. I need those floating candles!!! Le Guin's overall tone seems very solemn and serious compared to that of Harry Potter. After refreshing my Harry knowledge, Earthsea seems dull, lonely and far less magical than the Harry world. That being said, Le Guin's messages ring loud and clear at the end of the book, whereas Rowling seems to be more concerned with creating adventure for her readers. I put done the Earthsea book with a full understanding of the argument Le Guin was making, appreciating the moral of the story and understanding it's merit for children. I put down Harry Potter and immediately want to eat sherbet and play make-belive. I'm not too happy with the primary world and am grabbing my wand and heading back to a secondary one.

This makes me realize that as an adult reader, I can push through Earthsea and easily find something meaningful. But after our discussion with Sarah, it was apparent that children may not make those connections based on their dissatisfaction with the secondary world presented. Harry Potter, on the other hand, gives children a wonderfully imaginative and creative world that they are continusly drawn back into. The themes are more easily understood and more reading is encouraged.

So I'll back off on the Harry Hype.

Book Bloggin'

Hello Children's Lit class. Welcome! I'm excited to jump into the imaginative world of children's books. I've read several of the books on our reading list but not since I've stopped frequenting the children's section of libraries and bookstores.

I'm wondering what I thought of the books back then when I read them for the first time. I've been flipping though Pipi Longstocking and I'm shocked that I wasn't as pumped about the story as I am now. I love her imagination and her quirkiness. I love how she can beat up police officers. But I can't remember feeling that sort of satisfaction from the book when I read it as a kid.

I think my favorite children's books used to be the Babysitters Club books. I found something exciting about visiting a world where older girls dealt with things like boys, school, friendships, their parents, and their babysitting jobs. I couldn't wait to be a big girl. I never got into babysitting though and my hunger for books about things that I was still too young to experience stayed with me.