Amber's Tutu

I just finished with my children’s book. I called it Amber’s tutu. It is about an elderly lady who finds her old tutu while cleaning out her attic. After Amber finds her tutu, she remembers a time whenever she had a recital and she was late. Amber and her mother had to fight traffic, run down the sidewalk just to get to the recital. When they arrive, another child is dancing and Amber thinks she has missed her turn. However, Ambers turn got switched so she arrived just in time. While recalling the memory, the doorbell rings so Amber opens her eyes. Amber’s granddaughter is at the door so amber gives her the tutu.

This story was so much fun to write and illustrate but it took a lot longer than I thought. I illustrated all of the pictures with water colors.
Here is my analysis

I used the Literature for Children book (Russell) a great deal when I started to write my children’s story. On page 123, Russell states that, “Picture-books plots tend to be simple […].Often picture-books rely on repetitive patterns.” In Amber’s Tutu the motivation of Amber to get to her recital is simply to dance. When it comes down to it, the book would not exist if it was not for Amber’s motivation to dance. Although I did not use repetition of a particular phrase, I did however use repatition within the sentence structure. Many of my sentences use the word “and” many times (like on page 15). Russell later states again on page 123 that, “Many [picture-books] rely heavily on dialogue […].” Amber’s Tutu has nine pages with dialogue out of the thirteen pages with actual text on them. Dialogue lets the reader connect with the story easier than a simple passive sentence. In addition, round shapes, curved lines and circular lines show comport, security, and stability (125). In my story I tried to make Amber’s attic have roundish window frames, door borders, and boxes to show the calmness of Amber’s world. Furthermore, Russell states, “Squarish, angular shapes many elicit more excitable responses, agitation, alarm, confusion.” In Amber’s Tutu, whenever the conflict arises that Amber is going to be late for her dance the pictures get angular. On page 10, the stair case picture is very squarish as opposed to the previous illustrations. The car illustrations are also very squarish while the stage illustration with Susie is angular. These are the conflict scenes of the book. Color is another element of children’s books that Russell talks about. I used blues and greens in scenes what were meant to be calm (many of them are with the roundish illustrations) and I used reds and yellows in the exciting action scenes (many of them are with the squarish illustrations).

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett was born on November 24, 1849 in Cheetham Hill, Manchester. Burnett’s father died early in her life and as a result her family stuggled financialy. When Burnett was only eithtenn her mother passed away. Burnett was left with the duty to are for her four younger brothers. Burnettt started to write as a way to support her family. Burnett married Dr. Swan Burnett in 1873. Burnett wrote her first in 1877 called That Lass o' Lowrie's which was a story of Lancashire life. Burnett began to write many novels like: Haworth's (1879), Louisiana (1880), A Fair Barbarian (1881), and Through One Administration (1883), as well as a play, Esmeralda (1881). In 1898 Burnett unfortantly got divorced. But Burnett got remarried to a man named Stephen Townsend. Unfortnatly, this marriage did not last eaither. Burnett soon began writing again and she published: A Little Princess (1905); The Lady of Quality, The Secret Garden (1909). Most children and adults are probably familiar with The Secret Garden. Burnett died on October 29, 1924.

Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren

On day a new boy comes to the school. His name is Warren is he is very handsome. On that same day Grace and Junie B. cannot find Lucille. When Grace and Junie B. finally find Lucille, Warren is chasing after her. Grace and Junie B. shoo Warren away, but Lucille gets upset because Warren is her new boyfriend. All three girls think Warren is very handsome (hey he was even in a commercial). The girls soon begin to fight over Warren. Lucille is worried that Junie B. and Grace will try to steal her new boyfriend away from her. Warren thinks that Lucille is beautiful because of her pretty dresses, he thinks Grace can “run speedy fast” with her new lightning shoes, and he thinks Junie B. is a nut ball because she cannot stop laughing. Junie B. tries to get Warren to love her. He seems to “love” all of them except Junie B. However, one day Warren is sitting in the grass sad and Grace and Lucille say they don’t want to be his friend today so Junie B. stays with Warren to cheer him up. Eventually, Junie B. gets him to laugh by telling knock kock jokes. So now they are friends and as Junie B. says, “it’s happily ever after.”

I can totally relate to this whenever I was in second grade me and all of my friends had a crush on a boy named Wesley. He told his friends that he liked all of us, so we would fight over his attention to make him like one of us more. And come to find out now he is now gay.

By the way, I love the Junie B. Jones books if you have not figured it out yet!!

Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business

Junie B. Jones finds out that her mother is having a baby. Junie is not too excited about having a little brother or sister because they smell like “P.U.” Before long, Junie’s mother is in the hospital giving birth to Junie’s brother. Junie gets to spend the night at her Grandpa Miller’s house. She is very excited about spending the night at Grandpa Miller’s house because she gets to try on her grandma’s clothes and most importantly she gets to eat a pie for dinner and only a pie. In the morning Junie’s grandma arrives and starts talking about the baby. Grandma Miller says, “Your new brother is the cutest little monkey I’ve ever seen!” Junie takes that as if her brother was a real monkey. So Junie goes to school and tells everybody that her brother is a monkey. Junie’s two best friends fight over who gets to see the baby monkey first. So they start to bribe Junie. When the teacher (Mr. as Junie calls her) finds out she sends Junie to the principal’s office to straighten out the little monkey business. The principal calls Grandma Miller and she tells Junie she did not really mean her brother was a monkey only that he was cute. So the principal takes Junie into the class and tells them of Junie’s misunderstanding.

I liked how Junie and a boy smiled at each other and she thought he was her boyfriend. She also said she had another boyfriend. I can totally remember being in second grade and the same boy was dating half the girls in the class.
Junie likes to convert words to their true meanings a lot
She talks of many descriptive things and what she likes and does not like a lot.

Dr. Seuss

First things first, Dr. Seuss’ real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel. Theodor went as Dr. Seuss in his children’s books. Theodor was born on March 2, 1902 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Theodor’s mother’s name was Henrietta Seuss (that is how his name came about) and his father’s name was Theodor Robert Geisel. Theodor had two sisters, named Marnie and Henrietta. Unfortunately, Henrietta died of pneumonia at only eighteen months old. Theodor attended Oxford University and attained his PHD. Also, Theodor met his wife at Oxford. Originally Theordor started out drawing political cartoons from the left-wing New York City daily newspaper; he drew over 400 cartoons in two years. Later, Theodor turned to writing children’s books. Theodor wrote and published over 40 children's books, which very distinctive by the frequent use of rhymes. A few of Theodor’s most his most notable books are: Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

These above are two videos of The Tale of Peter Rabbit story. The videos stayed very close to the original book. The color scheme was the same. And defiantly the story plot was the same too. One thing the video had that the book did not was Peter’s friend Benjamin. Benjamin was not an important character in the videos (he was seen once and mentioned another time). Peter wanted Benjamin to go with him to Mr. McGregor’s garden, but he could not. Another difference was at the end of the book Peter did not turn around or stop until get was home but in the video he stopped in the middle of the woods. I noticed that in both versions Peter was very boy or childlike but during his run in with Mr. McGregor he lost his shoes, lost his jacket, and started to run on all four legs. It seems like Peter turned into a real rabbit when he was being chased and he even acted less boy like. But at the end he turns more boy like. The story has a lesson at the end, just like many Victorian stories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rppig5VYYlQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIwIhSj3t_0&feature=related

Children's Books and their Illustrations

In Children’s books the illustrations are so very important. I never really thought about the illustration as the most important part of the story but they truly are. Once I started to read the chapters from the Literature for Children book, I started to realize how important the pictures are. Thinking back, when I was younger I loved the pictures in all of the books I read. Sometimes, I would not even want to read the book I only wanted to look at the beautiful pictures. It gave me visualization for what the story was about. One thing that I wish I would have paid attention to when I was younger was the colors that were being used in the pictures. The illustrator uses bright colors and dark colors to show mood. Furthermore, the books states that red and yellows are warm colors that show excitement and blue and greens are cool colors that are used to represent calmness or quietness.

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

Junie B. Jones has her first day of afternoon kinder garden. Junie is scared and nervous. Junie is not too happy about riding the bus to school. One she gets on the bus, she does not like it. It is not like the car her father drives. Junie tries to sit with a girl on the bus, but she little girl tells Junie that the seat is saved. Once Junie gets to school, her teacher takes her and the rest of the students on a tour of the school. During the tour, another student tells Junie that they pour milk on your head on the way home in the bus. So Junie does not want to ride the bus. Junie hides at the end of the day. Junie explores the school but soon she has to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, the doors to the bathroom are locked. Junie panics and calls 911. Police officers and firefighters come to the school. As Junie runs out of the building she tells the “man with the trash can” she has to go to the bathroom, so he unlocks the door for her. Junie’s mother shows up and finds out Junie was avoiding the bus. So, Junie’s mother sets up for Junie to sit with her classroom friend, Grace, to sit with her in the bus

Junie miss says many things and sentences. For example she says, “Pasketti and meatballs” and The Wizard of Odds
There is a lot of dialogue in the book.
There are also a lot of descriptive words.
Junie sees many things for the first time (like a boy and girl bathroom) many children can relate and many adults can remember the times.
Junie talks about her Grandma Miller a lot, perhaps she spent her days with her while Junie’s parents worked.
Almost everything is Junie’s favorite but not buses or yellow.

Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry was born March 20, 1937. Lois was born in Hawaii to two loveing parents named Robert and KatherineHammersburg. She has an older sister, Helen, and a younger brother Jon. Lois married Donald Lowry and they had four beautiful children together. After Lois’s children grew oldeR, Lois decided to go back to school and finish her degree. Lois started to write children’s books. Unfortunatly, Lois and Donald divorced in 1977 and many years later their son Grey died in a plane accident. With such tragic events, Lois continued to write. Lois had wriiten over 40 books. Also, Lois has been awarded the Newbery Medal twice. The first Newbery Medal was for her book Number the Stars and her second one is for The Giver.

The Giver

I read The Giver whenever I was in seventh grade, so I especially enjoyed the read for the weekend. I have not finished chapter 13 yet but I have read through chapter ten. As I was reading The Giver, I noticed a few things that I did not remember from reading it years ago. It seemed as if Jonas’s mother was really strict and not too fast to question events of rules; however, Jonas’s father was quicker to let a rule slip. I feel as if Jonas may have picked up on his father’s views. I think it would be amazing to see The Giver turned into a movie. But I could also see myself disappointed with the movie, because I am sure it would not be as great as the movie.

Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892. Tolkien’s father, Arthur Reuel Tolkien, was an English bank manager and his mother, Mabel Tokien, was (well it does not say) probably a house wife. Mabel tutored Tolkien along with his siblings in his early childhood. Later Tolkien attended King Edward's School. Tolkien is most know for many things which include: an English writer, poet, philologist and university professor, best known as the author of the high fantasy classic works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In 1911, Tolkien went to Switzerland and because of that trip he wrote much of Bilbo’s journey across the Misty Mountains. Tolkien asked Edith Mary Bratt to marry him when he was 21 and she was 24. however, she was already engaged to another man but she broke off the engagement to be with Tolkien. Tolkien served as a communications officer during the Battle of the Somme. During his time at Pembroke, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and the first few of the many The Lord of the Rings Tolkien died on September 2, 1973, at the age of eighty-one.

The Hobbit

I absolutely loved The Hobbit. I did not think that I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. I have never seen any of the Lord of The Rings movie nor have I ever had any sort of desire to. The Hobbit did not seem like my kind of book. But man I was wrong. During the first forty pages or so I was like ehh it is okay but as I further and further along I could not put the book down. I ended up finishing the book on Tuesday night. I am now looking forward to watching at least one Lord of The Rings movies. I love Bilbo!! I think that’s a natural because Bilbo is you and me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTw4qepN0Ec
This is the movie trailer to The Hobbit. I can’t wait to see it. I am debating whether to write my paper over The Hobbit or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSHLGnexe-w
This is a clip of a cartoon version of The Hobbit. It is really good. I have not finished watching it yet but I suggest everybody to watch it too!

The Cay

The German Navy attack and Phillip Enright and his mother decide to evacuate the island. However Mr. Enright (Phillip’s father) is forced to stay there. Phillip and his mother take a Dutch Freighter so they can eventually get to Virginia. The ship is torpedoed and Phillip is separated from his mother. Phillip is knocked unconscious but when he wakes up he is on a raft with an African American man and a cat. The African American’s name is Timothy. Timothy rescued Phillip from the attack. Phillip has a horrible headache because of trauma from the attack. So, Timothy takes care of Phillip by catching fish from them and building the much needed shelter. Whenever Phillip wakes up he cannot see at all. Now, Phillip must rely on Timothy for everything. Phillip really struggles with this because for one Timothy is African American and two Phillip feel as if Timothy treats him like a child. Thy soon find a cay to live on. Phillip and Timothy spend a lot of time together and after awhile Phillip begins to change his thoughts about African Americans and him and Timothy become friends. Soon Timothy gets sick and there is a hurricane coming. They tie themselves to a palm tree to keep from being blown away. After it passes, Timothy has many injuries because he shielded Phillip. Eventually, Timothy dies. Phillip buries Timothy. A few weeks later Phillip is rescued from the island. He has surgery and gets his vision back. Phillip wishes to go back to the island to see Timothy.

This book was so sad! It made me cry so much. I really enjoyed reading it though. I read it when I was in the 5th grade and I loved it so much I decided on reading it again for this class. I liked reading it again because I understood certain parts better and the prejudice that went on in the book. Like Phillip didn’t like African Americans because of his mother. I would recommend everybody to read this book.

Sing Song

I enjoyed reading Christina Rossetti’s Sing Song. The discussion in class was very helpful. I did not notice the cycles that took place in the book but after Professor Robinson pointed them out I started to flip through my book and it became quit obvious that they occurred. I guess it helps to have someone point things out to you. I felt that the death poems were in a way out of text for this particular book but whenever professor Robinson said that many children died not too long after they were married it made sense to me. Another thing I noticed before class was the poem on page 29. The poem uses the names of Minnie, Mattie, and May. I instantly thought of the poem by E.E. Cummings.

Christina Georgina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was born on December 5, 1830 in London. Rossetti was home schooled by her mother. Rossetti’s family had some incredibly hard financial times, which made her suffer from a nervous breakdown. Rossetti nearly married a few times but decided to end them both because of religious differences. Rossetti began to write a awfully early age (7) but she did not publish any of her works until she was 31 years of age (which was Goblin Market and Other Poems). Many people read her poems in unlike ways (as most poems are of course). Some may see her poems are simple but that if false, they are complex and challenging. Many of her poems deal with gender roles in the Victorian period. Rossetti continued to write for most of her life. Most of Rossetti’s poems were devotional writing and poems written for children. At 63 years old, Rossetti developed caner and Grave’s disease and died the following year on December 29, 1894. In the 1970’s Rosstti’s work became widely popular.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Rossetti
I practically summed up the article of the web site above.

Horton Hears a Who

I watched Horton Hears a Who last night and I absolutely loved it. It kept to the book very well and it of course added bits too. Whenever I was watching it I could not help finding many messages or metaphors about Christianity and God. The movie is a HUGE metaphor about faith in something even if you can not see it or hear it. In the movie when the mayor was trying to describe Horton to the whos in Whoville, he makes Horton sounds as if a God that we cannot see. Also, if Horton was a sort of God then he was no doubtable “saving” humanity in two ways. First, he was saving them from death and destruction and also he saved them because they finally believed in God Almighty. I went to Christianitytodaymovies.com and I found this:

The film also acts, equally inadvertently, as a model of religious conviction. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for," says the writer of Hebrews, "the evidence of things not seen." Contrasting the words of Hebrews 11:1, Sour Kangaroo tells Horton, "If you can't hear, see or feel something, it does not exist." But Horton is persuaded. He knows that the Mayor and the Whos of Who-ville are real, despite not being able to see them. In the same way, Horton's immensity actually makes him invisible to the microscopic Mayor. When trying to describe Horton to the rest of the Whos, the Mayor frequently employs the sort of language one uses to describe a God who has yet to make himself visible to us.

Tuck Everlasting

Tuck Everlasting is set in the late 1800’s. Winnie Foster is from a perfect and overprotecting family. Winnie at times fees like a prisoner in her own home because of all of the rules. One day Winnie decides to run away from home into the woods. Winnie runs into Jesse Tuck at the spring (the spring makes you live forever if you drink from it). Winnie decides to go with the Tucks but it could be seen as if they were kidnapping her in other people’s eyes. Winnie instantly loves the freedom she has. Jesse and Winnie start to have romantic feelings for one another. Jesse really wants Winnie to drink water from the spring so they can be together. A man in a yellow suit finds Winnie and is going to take her home when he ends up being killed by Mae. Mae is sentenced to death but if that were to happed the family secret of immorality would be discovered. Winnie helps to free Mae with the Tuck’s. The Tuck’s must flee. Winnie is offered to go with them but she declines. Jesse gives Winnie a bottle of the spring water to drink in a few years and he promises to come back for her. However, Winnie ends up pouring the water on a toad. Years later, the Tuck’s returns to find Winnie grave but they come across the toad!!

I really liked this book.
It dealt with the circle of life and how one thing can change the rest of your life. If I was put in Winnies shoes I would not have drunken the water either. This book really confronts the issue of living forever (because many children think about it… I know I did) and how it might not be all it's cracked up to be.
I thought it was odd the Winnie was only an eleven year old girl when all of this happened to her. At times I forgot how young she truly was. I would think that the story would be for someone a tad bit older.

Cookie Monster and Kermit

I found this clip of Cookie Monster and Kermit the frog off of www.youtube.com. I think it is a cute way to get young children of many ages interested in poetry. Cookie monster is conducting the lesson on poetry and Kermit is the one that is actually pointing out the rhyme scheme. Kermit says, “When a word sounds alike, like frog and log.” Cookie Monster acts irritated with Kermit (but in a funny was) so this makes children laugh and have fun with the lesson. But Cookie Monster is not supposed to say anything about cookies. Of course, Cookie Monster says cookies and the clip ends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uQWvFtGKHU

Poetry Continued

Whenever I was in seventh grade we did a great deal on poetry in my English class. I was not too fond of poetry back then and I never really have been. I guess now that I am getting older and now that I am taking this class I am really starting to appreciate literature. Poetry and I (along with literature in general) are now friends. But anyways back to seventh grade poetry, My English teacher made the whole class memorize various poems like Joyce Kilmer’s Trees, Emily Dickinson’s I’m nobody! Who are you?, and many more. I did not really enjoy it then but now when I was reading them I loved how I could quote them. It makes me think about how you said in Alice in Wonderland, Carroll used many things that the girls would have known but we have lost. So after reading those poems, I was like “oh I remember this” and so on. So I get how it was for the girls to read the book.

Poetry

Out of all the poems that we were supposed to read for Friday’s class, I was particularly drawn to the two by Jack Prelutsky. I have never heard or read any of his poems before. Prelutsky’s The Spaghetti Nut was absolutely fun to read. I really enjoyed the tongue twisters and the puns in The Spaghetti Nut. In Prelutsky’s other poem, Homework! Oh, Homework! I appreciated this one just as much if not more. I enjoyed the rhyme scheme of this work which the second stanza happened to be A, B, C, B, D, E, F, and E. Not only did I read the poems that were assigned in class, but I also went through the book and I came across a few that I already knew; for example, Joyce Kilmer’s Trees, Emily Dickinson’s I’m nobody! Who are you?, and of course Shel Silverstein’s Sick.

The Mitten

The Mitten is a Ukrainian folktale that was adapted and illustrated by Jan Brett

A little boy named Nicki wanted a pair of “snow white mittens”, so he asked his grandmother, Baba, to crochet him a pair. At first Baba told Nicki no because if he dropped on in the snow he would never find it. However, Baba eventually came around and made Nicki his mittens. But of course, Nicki ended up dropping his mitten into the snow. One after another, various animals from the woods packed themselves into the tiny snow whit mitten. Each animal that entered was a little bit bigger than the last. Suddenly, a tiny mouse jumped on the bear’s nose, which tickled him dearly, so the bear sneezed. With the sneeze, all the animals flew out of the mitten. The mitten when flying through the air, and Nicki caught it in his hands. But, Nicki is puzzled at how much larger the mitten now is.

Illustrations:
- The illustrations are beautiful
- They are Ukrainian paintings. I cant tell this because of the clothing of the little boy and his grandmother, by the house structure, the furnishings inside the house, and the borders on each page
- On the left side of the border there is a whole where you can see Nicki looking for his mitten and on the right side you see the animals pilling into the mitten
- The illustrations are in great detail
- I suppose the book is set sometime in the past

The Princess and The Goblin

The Princess and The Goblin was an excellent book. I really enjoyed this book. At first, I was disturbed by the grandmother. However, after talking out how the book was about good viruses evil, I see that the grandmother was not supposed to be creepy in any way what so ever. The goblins are supposed to represent evil and the grandmother is supposed to represent good. MacDonald shows the evil of the goblins by confining them underground, making them ugly, and making their sounds utterly unbearable. Also, the grandmother is visually shown as good because of her beauty, her kindness, and of course her constant need to help Irene. I wonder is good will out shine evil. I haven’t finished the book, but I am almost positive that the goblin’s plan will not work. I guess I will have to read to find out.

Alice

Alice in Wonderland is also recognized as a work of satire—at many levels. As you read the book, make note of places where it satirizes things such as society, politics, and education. Pay attention to who is the subject of satire. Ask yourself how adults, children, authority figures, etc. are presented in the story. We will be considering what the purpose of the satire seems to be, how it functions within the story.

In Alice in Wonderland there are numerous places where Carroll uses satire. There are many parodies in many of the verses (since children were taught didactic, Carroll plays with this), in the turtle’s education, the trial (judicial system), and politics in the caucus race. I thought it was really funny when the mouse goes on telling the driest thing he knows to dry of himself and all of his friends. Most of the characters in Alice in Wonderland appear to be adults, but many of them do not act that way. Adults usually manage order in stories, that that is not clearly the case in Wonderland. Adults seem to be the confusing. Alice has to figure out Wonderland by herself, because the adults make no since.

fantasy

Today in class, we talked about whether or not each of us enjoyed the genre of fantasy. I really enjoy fantasy. I really like how fantasy allows its characters to do the impossible. I love the alternate world and all of the entertaining descriptive words the author creates. I really like reading books like Harry Potter, because I feel like I am in the story too. I become so wrapped up in the alternate world; it makes me want to be like the characters. Once I begin reading Harry Potter, I can not put it down until the book is finished. I love that! I really likes Eleanor Cameron’s paragraph about fantasy (the one you handed out in class). Cameron stated that fantasy has three paradoxes. One on the paradoxes is that fantasy breaks the laws of the world, allows the protagonist the do the impossible, and last but not least it takes the reader to another world. I completely agree with Cameron.

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

One day a little boy was sitting outside by his house eating cookies. He saw a friendly little mouse and asked him if he wanted a cookie. But, if you give a mouse a cookie, he will want a glass of milk. After the glass of milk the mouse will want a straw, of course. Then, naturally, the mouse will want to gaze into the mirror for a milk mustache. And the list keeps going on. The consequence of giving the mouse a cook continues to go on and on. Thus, the boy becomes very tired. In the end, the mouse wanted another cookie, which could make the story repeat. The boy falls asleep as the mouse ate the cookie.

Illustrations:
- Every time the mouse wants something he or the boy end up making a huge mess
- In one illustration of the boy and the mouse in the bathroom, the floor in black and white checkered. But, in another illustration (of the same bathroom) the floor in only white.
- The pictures are very appealing and bright

There is no dialogue in the story, but the book is still charming. The book relies on the pictures instead of the dialogue.

Charles Perrault

Charles Perrault was born on January 12, 1628 in Paris. His father, Pierre Perrault, and his mother, Paquette Le Clerc, raised Charles in a upper class family. Charles attended the finest schools and studied law. Perrault eventually landed a career in government. Perrault married Marie Guichon (who was nineteen) in 1672. Guichon died after giving birth to their daughter and their three sons. In 1695, Perrault decided to devote himself to his children and published numerous children’s tales. One of the tales was called Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals. Perrault became an instant sensation. It is said that with this tale Perrault invented a new literary genre, the fairy tale. Many of Perrault’s tales were in fact just tailored from older tales. Perrault’s most famous versions of fairy tales were Blue Beard, Sleeping Beauty on the Woods, Little Red Riding Hood, The Master Cat or Puss in Boots, Cinderella, Little Thumb and Donkey Skin. At the age of 75, Perrault died (it was 1703). I really enjoyed reading Perrault’s tales in class!

Cinderella Variations

I really enjoyed reading Cinderella go from a fairy tale, to a story, to a novel, and to finally a movie. In the expanding of the story, it really gave all of the Cinderella characters dept. All of the versions changed somewhat. My favorite was the novel Ella Enchanted. I loved the plot and the curse. I could not put that book down. In Ever After there was no magic just like in the Ritchie tale. It was unique that they managed to take the magic out of the tale, but without taking the true magic out. All of the versions were set in a non-real reality, but Ever After was based on realism.

Just A Mess

One day, the critter (the little boy…they never gave him a name) could not find his baseball mit. He asked his mother where it could be. His mother said to look in his bedroom. He went into his room and noticed how messy it was. He decided to clean up a bit. Well, actually his mother said, “You made the mess so you can clean the mess.” His younger sister (who also was not given a name) and their infant sibling (who was not given a name or a gender) were of no help. Critter threw everything in his closet, stuffed clothes in his drawers, jammed toys in his toy box, and stuffed everything under his bed. In the end, critter’s room was very unorganized. Then, Critter noticed that his pillow was missing, so of course he looked on the other side of his bed where he found his baseball mit.

This book was made purely to entertain children; there was not really a moral to the story. But he did find the mit that he was looking for so the problem was therefore solved.

Illustrations:
- In every picture there is a tiny spider and grasshopper
- The mother is out in the garden which is kind of typical of stories
- Typical mess little boy
- The rooms in the story are pained pale calm colors
- I liked how one of the illustrations showed Critter scooping up his toys with a shovel. It made me laugh.

Enchanted

I watched the Disney movie Enchanted today. I really liked the movie. It had pretty much a little bit of all of the fairy tales in one but with a twist. The main character, Giselle, is waiting for her true love. He sings in her home in the forest and the prince, Edward, hears her. They fall in love at first sight. The next day they plan to have their wedding; however, Edward’s evil stepmother pushes Giselle into portal where there is “no happily ever after.” And the story continues.

But anyways…Giselle is the typical kind, giving princess that we all know. Later on in the story, Robert gives Giselle some money to go find her prince. Giselle quickly gives the money to an old woman. The story had an evil stepmother (but it was the prince’s instead of the princess’s). Also, there was not mention of a father anywhere. Giselle was at one with nature (like all the princess’s) she sang with them and cleaned and sewed. Which also brings up another point, Giselle didn’t mind cleaning.

I really liked this movie, I would highly recommend everybody to see it!!

Gail Carson Levine

Gail Carson Levine was born September 17, 1947 in New York, New York. Levine is an American author for young adult books. Levine’s father, David, owned a commercial art studio and her mother, Sylvia, was a teacher who wrote plays for her students to perform. Levine credits her parents for her imagination. Early on, Levine loved to draw but as the years went on she knew it was her passion to write. Levine stated that, "… my painting brought me to writing for children in earnest. I took a class in writing and illustrating children's books and found that I was much more interested in the writing than in the illustrating.” Levine’s first published book was Ella Enchanted (which won a Newbery Honor in 1998). Levine has written many fairy tales with a twist; for example, her Princess Tales series is about clever heroes and heroines that go on adventures. Levine's other books include Fairest; Dave at Night, The Wish, The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly, Betsy Who Cried Wolf , and the six Princess Tales books. Levine is married to a man named David and they live in New York.

Discussion Promt to Ella Enchanted

Discussion Prompt: To you, what seemed to be the most significant changes that Levine has made to the Cinderella tale and character in Ella Enchanted? Explain.

Levine made many significant changes to the Cinderella tale and character in Ella Enchanted. In the tale, Ella was strong willed and very independent. In the classical tales of Cinderella, Cinderella was very timid. Ella made things happen as opposed to Cinderella who had horrible things happen to her. I really liked this Ella. Also, in Ella Enchanted, Ella had to be obedient because of her curse; however, in the classic Cinderella tale, Cinderella was an obedient girl on her own. Ella’s fairy godmother, Mandy, did not take care of Ella’s problems like the fairy godmother did in the classic Cinderella. Ella didn’t truly need her fairy. In addition, Ella knew and was in contact with her prince through out the whole story in contrast from the classic tale. Ella’s relationship with the prince was not one based on just beauty; nevertheless, it was a relationship that started with laughter and jokes.

Miss Nelson is Missing

The children in room 207 misbehaved everyday in class. They did not listen to their “good natured” teacher, Miss Nelson. One day Miss Nelson did not come to school, so the children had a substitute teacher named Miss Swamp. Miss Swamp was very ugly and strict. She put the children to work right away. As a result, the children began to miss their teacher. The children wondered what happened to Miss Nelson, so they hired detective Mc Smogg. Unfortunately, Mc Smogg wasn’t too much help. One child thought, “Maybe she was gobbled up by a shark.” The next day, Miss Nelson came back. The children were very excited and well-mannered. The children now appreciated their teacher. Miss Nelson told the children that she was in fact Miss Swamp and the children never told Miss Nelson why they were so well-behaved now.

This story teaches children to appreciate what they have.

The illustrations in this story were very stereotypical. Miss Nelson was beautiful, had blonde hair, and wore a pink dress. However, Miss Swamp had a big nose, multiple moles, long black nails, and a black dress. I thought it was clever that the only drawing of Detective Mc Smogg was of him smoking a pipe. Also, I noticed that at the beginning of the book the children were painted in dark colors (when they were misbehaving) but by the end they were pained in pastel colors (when they learned their lesson).

A 1922 Clip of Cinderella

This Cinderella clip is a Disney 1922 version. It is the same as the classic Cinderella tales we discussed in class. In the clip, Cinderella has a cat as her only friend. In most of the tales, she usually is at one with nature. Even though in this clip Cinderella doesn’t sing and clean with the animals, she clearly gets along with her feline friend instead of her sisters. This brings me to another point; in this clip Cinderella’s father and evil step mother are not mentioned or shown. She does however have two “lazy and homely” step sisters that do not allow her to go to the ball. The prince is shown as “a wonderful fellow” who likes to hunt bears. Whenever Cinderella makes it to the ball, (with help from her fairy godmother of course) everybody is very tall except from Cinderella and the prince. How convenient! And of course, they fall in love and he finds her in the end.

I really liked this clip because it defiantly showed the time period from the following:
- The fact that it was black and white
- There was no spoken dialogue
- Cinderella did not arrive to the ball in a carriage but in an old fashioned car
- Cinderella wore a flapper dress to the ball

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpuxOEN6PV0

Corduroy

Corduroy is a bear in a department store. Everyday, he and all of his toy friends wait to be purchased so they can have a home. Corduroy’s downfall is that he is missing the button on the strap of his overalls. Since Corduroy isn’t perfect (and also Lisa’s mother “spent too much already”), Lisa’s mother tells her not to get him. Corduroy sets out on a journey to find his button in hopes of being accepted and finding a home. Corduroy is unable to find his button, but regardless Lisa comes to the department store to buy him. Once in her room, Lisa sews a button on Corduroy’s overalls and states, “I like you just the way you are…but you’ll be more comfortable with your shoulder strap fastened.”

I never really noticed that Lisa and Corduroy actually speak to each other. Corduroy says, “You must be a friend… I’ve always wanted a friend. Lisa continues the conversation by saying, “Me too!”

The story starts with the main character suffers a downfall (lost button) so then he must set out on a journey to find it. In the end, of course, the story has its happy ending.

After looking at the illustrations, I noticed that the night watchman was overweight with jolly red cheeks. In my opinion, this is very stereotypical of a night watchman or police officer.

Hansel and Gretel

Fairy Tale Discussion Prompt: In general terms, between what two groups does the conflict occur in the Hansel and Gretel tales? What is significant about who is victorious in the conflict?

The main conflict in all of the tales of Hansel and Gretel is between the children and the adults. Hansel and Gretel’s step-mother and father decide to abandon their children in the woods in order to save themselves from starving. Obviously, their parents were only thinking of themselves. In the end, the children end up returning home to their father with valuable items regardless of his misconduct. It is ironic that Hansel and Gretel that the young children outsmart the adults (for instance the evil witch) and come out on top.

Whenever I was a child, I never read or maybe yet noticed all that was going on in the story of Hansel and Gretel. I cannot believe that parents could sink as for down and abandon their own children. I have a three year old niece and I think I might warn by brother about this fairy tale.

James Thurber

James Thurber was born on December 8, 1894 in Columbus, Ohio. Thurber lived with his father, who was a clerk, his mother, who was a strong minded woman, and his two brothers. As a child, Thurber was blinded in one of his while playing “William Tell” with his brothers. Thurber soon began to develop a vivid fantasy world. He attended Ohio University from 1913-1917. In 1920, Thurber began his professional writing career as a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch. Seven years later, Thurber began writing for the New Yorker. Not long after taking the job as an editor, Thurber changed his mind and began writing. In 1930, Thurber’s drawings were taken from the trash and secretly published in the New Yorker. Thurber soon started his career as a cartoonist. In the 1950’s, Thurber published many modern fairy tales for children. One of Thurber’s big hits was called 13 Clocks. His eyesight began to worsen over the years and by the 1950’s Thurber was almost totally blind. Thurber wrote numerous types of books ranging from, short stories, fables, and children's stories. He won a Tony Award for his popular Broadway play, A Thurber Carnival. Thurber died from pneumonia on November 2, 1961.

Repetition in children’s Literature

Last summer I worked at a daycare and everyday after the children came inside after playing on the playground me and all of the other daycare teachers would give them their snack. Occasionally, the children would ask one of us to read them one of the stories that were on the shelf. After awhile, I noticed that the children loved hearing the same stories over and over again and they also loved the stories that they could recite along with. Also, I observed in many of the fairy tales do the same thing, for example in Lasair Gheug, the King of Ireland’s Daughter, Lasair repeats “…They made me swear three baptismal oaths, that I would not be on foot, I would not be on horseback, and I would not be on the green earth the day I told on it…” to her three unchristened children three times. Many new and many old folk tales, stories, and novels repeat phrases and sounds and it looks like they will continue to do the same for much longer.

Little Red Riding Hood

After reading all of the different versions of Little Red Riding Hood I was absolutely shocked by what I saw. Whenever I was a child, I never read or maybe yet noticed all of the sexual innuendos that were going on. In The Story of Grandmother by Perrault, Red individually took off each article of clothing and threw them into the fire just as the wolf said to do. In Perrault’s version, Red was very trusting and naive. She never questioned why “Grandma” asked her to undress yet alone throw her clothes into the fire. In addition, when I was younger I did not see the connection of the wolf to a child predator. Also, I really enjoyed reading James Thurber’s The Little Girl and the Wolf. I really liked how in this version, Red and the wolf already knew the story. In most on the versions, Red is perceived as dumb and naive, but in Thurber’s she knew what was going on and the wolf could not trick her into believing that he was her grandmother. Go Red!!!

Outside Reading List

Book 1: Corduroy
Author: Don Freeman
Picture Book: Yes
Posting date : January 31, 2008

Book 2: Miss Nelson is Missing
Author: Harry Allard, James Marshall
Picture Book: Yes
Posting date: February 4, 2008

Book 3: Just A Mess
Author: Mercer Mayer
Picture Book: Yes
Posting date: February 12, 2008

Book 4: If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
Author: Laura Joffe Numeroff
Picture Book: Yes
Posting date: February 18, 2008

Book 5: The Mitten
Author: Jan Brett
Picture Book: Yes
Posting date: March 4, 2008

Book 6: Tuck Everlasting
Author: Natalie Babbitt
Picture Book: No
Posting date: March 21, 2008

Book 7: The Cay
Author: Theodore Taylor
Picture Book: No
Posting date: March 30, 2008

Book 8: Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus
Author: Barbara Park
Picture Book: No
Posting date: April 12, 2008

Book 9: Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business
Author: Barbara Park
Picture Book: No
Posting date: April 20, 2008

Book 10: Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren
Author: Barbara Park
Picture Book: No
Posting date: April 22, 2008