What Are Unique Types of Text for Children?

As I have worked with K-12 children throughout my experience at MSU's College of Education program in preparation to become a middle school science teacher, I often reflect on my public school experience for "tips." As I have recently become involved in the MSU Literacy Corps in association with Read to Succeed, I've asked myself, "what types of text did I enjoy reading and writing as a child?"  and "how can I get my students interested in reading and writing?"

I think that unique types of text need to be presented to students. By this I mean pieces that keep their attention and expand their knowledge of text beyond a typical chapter book. What types of reading and writing do you want your students and/or children participating in, in school? Do you see them using electronic reading devices like Nooks or Kindles in the classroom? Do skills like reading the newspaper or New York Times online need to be taught in school? Is there enough poetry and songwriting in language arts classes today? 

Within Read to Succeed this 2011-2012 school year, I will be working with a student at a fourth grade level or younger who is struggling with reading and writing. I hope to practice different varieties of text with him or her, to keep learning to read interesting. Do you know of any interesting types of texts to introduce to children? 

Pure Heart

In my opinion, The Rough Faced Girl was a very good children’s book with a great main point to the story. It is beautifully illustrated and very revealing in the pictures. We discussed this book in class and determined it is folklore with a simple plot, happy ending, and quickly set scenes. The class also mentioned that the theme of the book was supposed to be that beauty is on the inside, but unintended was the message that beauty is still important. The author had the rough faced girl transformed into a beautiful woman before she was married off. Because of this unintentional theme, some people may think this book is a bad lesson for children, but I sort of disagree.

I think the moral of this story is so important because beauty is a big issue in the real world, especially for girls. The need and desire to be beautiful is thrown at us from every aspect of the world, with the biggest culprit being the media. Girls have so much pressure on them to be as beautiful as possible, and some are going as far as plastic surgery and starving themselves. This book, I believe, teaches girls early on in life that beauty is not the most important thing whatsoever. Girls need to be preached to at a younger age about beauty and this book is perfect for completing that task. It sends the message that you do not need to be beautiful on the outside in order to fulfill your dreams; personality and a pure heart are ultimately important. The rough faced girls beat every other girl in her village in the task of marrying the man. Internal beauty beats all.

Can Everyone Be Authentic?

I was intrigued by our discussion on cultural authenticity in class on Tuesday as it related to "The Rough Faced Girl" by Rafe Martin and illustrated by David Shannon. There seemed to be little argument that this picture book was not authentic. But then I got to thinking...could it ever be authentic if it was not written by an Algonquin author?

I'm sure this is not going to be a popular opinion, because no one likes being told what they are and are not able to do. But I think there's a lot of truth to the argument that cultural products cannot represent a culture authentically unless they are produced within that culture. Take a simple example: In Schuler's (my local bookstore of choice), there is an African-American literature section. As a white person, I will never be published in that section, even if I wrote a novel with exclusively African-American characters, themes related to the African-American experience, etc. Now, this does not mean that I cannot incorporate African-Americans or elements of the African-American experience in anything I choose to write. However, I cannot claim to speak for them or presume that I understand what it is like to be Black in America today; I don't, and I never will.

So--what do you think? If David Shannon had just done a little more research about how to depict the Algonquin people, he would have succeeded in creating a culturally authentic work? Or is it simply impossible to successfully represent a culture that you are not a part of?

If You Like It do You Have To Put a Ring On It?

In our society, although 1 out of every 2 marriages fail, marriage still seems to be presented one of the absolute pinnacles of our being. Marriage is the “happy ending” of most of our traditional folklore than, is not surprising. But as our culture is changing, single-parent household and those living as life-long bachelors and bachelorettes are more common, how relevant and reflective of modern societal values are they? I think it is quite obvious that the majority of the members of our society for the most part, positively views marriage. But our traditional folktales and the majority’s opinion are not reflective of the reality.

How many “alternative” fairy tales have you heard of? I have not heard of very many that still do not end “happily ever after” with the bride and groom being whisked off to marital bliss and never being heard from again. I have, however, found a compilation of “Princess Stories with Attitude” called Don’t Kiss the Frog! I have not read it yet but I proceeded to order it on Amazon, just to check it out. But the title intrigues me; Don’t Kiss the Frog?

( You can preview it here on Amazon! )

I feel, in our society we are constantly reminded of the "threat" to the foundation of family or the foundation of marriage. As if suggesting that one does not have to find a partner, or one does not have to have children is automatically promoting promiscuity. But I believe it is important for children to develop a sense of independence, a sense that even if they do not end up with a prince or princess charming, they can still end up “happily ever after”. I do not know if it will ever happen, or at least happen in my lifetime, but can we promote, or SHOULD we promote happiness, even if it means being single, over monogamy? Can we even do that through children’s literature? It really makes me wonder.

Book Store Closures.

Recently, many big name bookstores have been shutting down. In my home town, all the Borders are now closed and yesterday when I went to Barnes and Noble, I found out that the local store is going to be closing as well. As I was walking through the store all I could think about was where the movement of books, bookstores and reading in general was moving toward. With all these new devices such as nooks, i pad, etc, we will now get to enjoy books from a screen and not get the enjoyment of flipping the pages of an actual book. It made me kind of upset and curious. I personally have always enjoyed the act of going to a bookstore to find a good read, especially when I was younger. I like being able to look at the book, look inside the book and just hold the book in general, and now with everything going electronic I realize that not only am I not going to be able to search for books for much longer in this manner, but future generations will also be robbed of the experience of bookstores. I wonder how and if this electronic push will affect future generations, will young children be reading more? less? at all for enjoyment? And how do people feel about nooks and these electronic methods of reading books? Personally I could never see myself at the beach with a screen in my hand reading but that could be the future. I also wonder how in particular it will affect children's literature. With picture books being the basis of many children's initial grasp to literacy, how will the (no longer) ease of bookstores affect these children? Needless to say, it was a thought provoking trip to the bookstore...

Thank you, Harry Potter

When I was in elementary school I hated reading. I was in the slower reading group and always saw my friends who were a grade level or two ahead of me while I was still struggling to get through my own grade level. By fourth grade, I remember my mom telling me that I should read this book called Harry Potter. She said it was a part of a series and that they were great books. I really wanted nothing to do with them. I was taking an exploration technology class in fourth grade when of course, Harry Potter was a required reading for that station I was at. So I started reading the book and was hooked. I couldn't put it down. For Christmas that year I got the second book and became addicted to reading. Of course I went on to finish the series by my senior year of high school, but the books couldn't keep up with how fast I (and many others) were reading them. Therefore I had to find other books to read while I waited for the next book to come out.

Although once I reached high school and even now college, I barely read for fun anymore, if at all. However, I will every once and a while get that itch to read like I did when I was younger. I really do attribute a lot of it to Harry Potter. Not only were those books entertaining, but they made me enjoy reading. My next challenge is to keep a fire for reading as an adult and to find time every now and then to actually sit down and read an entire book.

DEAR=DEATH

When I was in elementary school DEAR and at home reading logs were the worst. I dreaded the time of day when my teachers or parents would MAKE me read. I was the kid that forged their take home reading log because I hated reading that much. However, thinking back to my childhood, I can't figure out why. My parents and babysitters read to me and I enjoyed books then, so why when I got to around 2nd grade did I begin to hate books? I've decided that the pressure that teachers put on kids to enjoy reading is so forced that it can have an opposite effect.

Adults always stressed to me how important reading was and I never understood why. I also didn't really care. As a child, I was all about doing what I wanted to do, when I wanted. So how does someone communicate the importance of reading, without ordering the child? The truth is I have no idea. All of my amazing teachers never really explained why I was required to have leisure reading time. They also didn't explain why they assigned my leisurely reading material. Why should a teacher tell me that I can't chose my own book (as long as it is an appropriate reading level)?

I believe that my early education was damaged. I loved all my teachers, but by forcing me to read/ read material I did not want to, made me hate reading and books for most of my early education. Within the last few years I have really started to grasp reading for leisure. I will tell you that when you find a good book, there really is nothing like it. However, to all you future teachers out there, please find better teaching strategies and make reading fun!

Humans and their Literature

 Today I was having a one on one meeting with my boss. I was telling her about TE 348 and about how I have to analyze children’s books. She asked me the question about what my favorite book was as a child. I told her about that it was Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone which starred Grover from Sesame Street. It turns out, even though there is a bigger age difference, we both share a love for the same book. Two people from different areas of the country and different ages grew up reading the same book.

This made me think about the reading from The Joy of Children’s Literature, about how popular reading traditional literature. We are reading a story that is the same or very similar to one that people read all over the world. The idea that literature can be used as a way to unite the world is a very powerful one. Even if the story was never read from the book, it may have been told in an oral tradition. An example would be Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. A lot of children have heard this story. Whether it was read or told to them, they heard it because their parents heard it. And their parents heard it from their grandparents. It’s a story that multiple generations and cultures can bond over because the basic themes of the story do not change.

One of the reasons we share traditional literature across cultures is because the common themes. All cultures use love, fear, jealousy, greed, etc. in their stories. These are common human traits that are addressed in all of these stories. These themes are addressed in today’s literature as well as our classics. Literature is a way for humans to connect. Whether it is over a favorite book, or a fairytale, or a fable, they all share some sort of human trait that we can all relate too. It is amazing to think of how we are all connected through literature and the possibilities that this brings for the classroom.

Nature's Newest Endangered Species

The other day, I heard a rumor that the Barnes and Noble across the street from Michigan State University’s campus is closing down at the end of the year.(Barnes & Noble closing East Lansing store) I was shocked and upset. I had to do some research to see if this was the truth and unfortunately, it is. For many students and residents around the community, this is a place to escape. Barnes and Noble offers a wide variety of literary works. They have everything from books to magazines to music. Anyone can go here and find something that they are interested in.

After moving into the dorm and not really knowing anyone or where anything on campus was, I went to Barnes and Noble to read. It was a safe haven for me. I felt comforted when I was there. I can spend hours in the store. Many students feel the same way. They go there to read, study or just sit down and relax with a good book.

So many bookstores are closing down due to the increased popularity of buying books online and e-books. The same situation happened at the beginning of this month in Ann Arbor.(The death and life of a great American bookstore) The popular bookstore Borders declared bankruptcy and closed down after 40 years of being in operation. It is such a shame that bookstores are closing down. The future generations are never going to be able to experience the atmosphere.

Well Snow White started it!!

At first I whole-heartedly supported the article by Linda Christensen “Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us.” Yet when Christensen mentioned the ‘secret education’ given by these fairytales and cartoons, I decided to take the opposing side. I do not agree that fairytales, cartoons, and our most beloved toys in our childhood were part of some ‘secret education.’ I do not think we can go as far as saying we were purposely brainwashed.

The first Disney princess, Snow White, was released on film in 1938. It was a different time back then, with different values, gender roles, and lifestyles. Was it really the intent of Walt Disney to brainwash the population or give children an escape and a place where their imagination could run free? Then, when his venture took off and his creation was a success can we blame him for keeping his business strategy? The Disney Corporation just continued to produce what made them profitable, even to this day. So can we really accuse these fairytales that are thousands of years old (thinking pre Disney) of secretly trying brainwash. Fairytales are a tradition that started long before us where sexism, racism and other prejudices sadly did exist. Its up to us to enjoy the fairytales and create our own healthy mindset, I hope we are not all gullible where our morals came from the TV and books we read.

Also, Fairytales, TV, and movies are not the only things that influence us. And the article did mention that the term media is very broad, I am not ignoring that, but many were upset in the article about being fooled by their bedtime stories. Except what about entering the grocery store, the color and design of a box of cookies draws us to them, the flashy mannequin in the window pulls us into the store, our history books tell us what we need to include in our midterm. We believe what we are told in church, in our homes, and taught in our schools. Is that brainwashing? If so where do we draw the line? It was only a few years ago that we were told Pluto was not a planet and now people believe to have found a particle faster than light, which just last week people and our physics books believed to be impossible.

Childhood Stories: Butterfly Kisses

Today, I was reading the reading assignment from the book Family of Readers. The first page assigned was a story of how a Grandmother read to her Grandchildren the children's book, Honey Bear. She mentions how the book has been her favorite since she was a little girl. She also mentions how when we reads this book to her Grandchildren, she reads it with such emotion and tears because the book means so much to her and has so many memories of her childhood linked to it.

When I was reading this I found it very interesting, but then when I was reflecting on it afterwards I realized that I have a book that is very dear to me as well. My parents, mostly my Dad, would read Butterfly Kisses to me on countless nights of my childhood. At the time it was just a story, words on a page, my Dads voice just reading. I would listen and then eventually be able to recite the book with him, even though I never did because I loved just hearing him read it to me.

Now that I am older Butterfly Kisses is so much more to me than just a story. It is my childhood, it is a story about my father and I, and the words on the page are very close to my heart. The book stays on my bookshelf, next to my bed, at my house, sometimes pick it up and start reading it. It doesn't last long before I start to tear up. Knowing that I was that little girl in the story, but now I am the girl in the story that is growing up, going off to college, and eventually getting walked down the aisle.

Butterfly Kisses is the book I cannot read without feeling emotional and remembering, and missing, my childhood. It makes me miss my Dad reading to be every single night and, especially now that I am in college, it makes me miss my family a lot. I am glad I got to read Margaret Mahy's story about her childhood book because it made me think of a book of mine that is so dear to my heart as well.

Book to Film Adaptions: A Love Hate Relationship

When I heard that F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," was set to make an appearance on the silver screen I experienced equal parts dread and excited anticipation. I absolutely love "The Great Gatsby" and have read it multiple times. That being said, I'm not quite sure whether or not I want to see it made into a motion picture. I've seen lots of book to film adaptions over the years and overall, they did not live up to my expectations.
When we read, we allow a picture to form in our mind. A book provides us with so many details that we feel as if we know a character, that they could be our best friend (or enemy). It's practically like we have a movie playing in our mind as we read. So I couldn't help but feel a little let down when the characters from books that I had imagined in my head didn't totally match what I was seeing on screen. The Dumbledore from my mind is entirely different then the on screen character, and even though I do love Leonardo DiCaprio, I was envisioning someone else entirely when I thought of Gatsby (James Gatz).
In book to film movies, details such as characters, settings, and heck, even whole plot-lines are sometimes cut out so that we aren't sitting in our seats for hours and hours. Often, we get so much more information from a book, like a character's background and inner most thoughts, that when it is adapted to become a film it feels like it is missing... something.
The thing is, I love movies. And I love books. I appreciate and acknowledge them both as valued types of art, and entertainment (just some of their many forms). Of course I want people out there to keep writing literature and making movies, I just wish they didn't collaborate so often. Because even the best book can lead to a mediocre motion picture.

Ditch Disney? I Think Not.

After reading “Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us” by Linda Christensen, I found that it had some conflicting statements with Chapter 5 in The Joy of Children’s Literature. Chapter 5 seems to glorify the folktale, which quite often puts certain people in certain unflattering roles. Christensen emphasizes heavily the use of stereotypical roles in literally all of society, including traditional stories like Cinderella and Peter Pan. So should we be teaching our children, and for us teachers our students, to love and know these classic stories…or to never encounter them at all?

This topic has always left me wondering what side of the spectrum I should agree with, and as a future teacher and even-more-in-the-future mother, some would think that I should be deciding which side to choose. But I choose neither; instead, I choose to read these stories to my children and students but to also recognize the somewhat damaging stereotypes sometimes found in classic stories and fairytales.

As Chapter Five said, folklore can be a very important piece of any culture and to discontinue the teaching of them in schools would be disabling a piece of culture. I realize that Christensen was not exactly suggesting this, but she does say, “…I hope to move [my students] into action” (7). What action is she suggesting? How far does she want us to go? I’m certainly not prepared to never watch Disney movies again, nor am I ready to give up on the magic that is in every fairytale and folklore I’ve ever read. I can much more easily relate to the chapter in The Joy of Children’s Literature; I think these old classic stories are virtually harmless and a vital piece of many cultures.

Book Worm

When I was in elementary school, I LOVED reading; I couldn’t get enough of it! I remember having to keep track of reading logs through each month and turn them in to my teacher on the first day of the following month. We were required to read 20 minutes each night before going to bed, which I did religiously. My twin brother, Tyler, on the other hand, was very much the opposite of me when it came to reading. Tyler would set and alarm for 20 minutes just to make sure he did not read one second longer then he had to; not to mention he also made numerous trips to the bathroom during those dreadful 20 minutes of reading. Because of my love of reading early on in my life, my parents and I believed I would be a great and consistent reader throughout my life, which would be a great benefactor towards school, as I grew older. I wish this was the case now, but sadly my reading habits changed as I went on to high school.

High school was very much a social scene and that is how I looked at it. Of course I cared about my grades and did the best I could, but I did it with putting forth the least amount of effort possible that would still get me a good grade. This being said, I resorted to using spark notes and relying on my friends to tell me what happened in novels that were assigned in class. I lost my love for reading because it took so much time and effort. I kept myself really busy in high school by playing sports, participating in other school activities, and hanging out with my friends. My friends and sports were very important to me so I would often put of reading in order to go to a friend’s house or watch a sports game on television. This definitely did not help me develop good habits for college.

Now that I am in my second year of college, I am kicking myself over losing my love of reading. Reading is such an important aspect of succeeding in college and now I am struggling to the maximum. I have gotten better at forcing myself to read and hardly ever resort to spark notes anymore, which was a big step for me. Instead I do everything I can to finish novels from cover to cover, no matter how long it takes me. This semester is definitely going to be a challenge for me though, because I am taking an English class along with TE 348.

My English class requires me to read 11 novels and all in a very short period of time. I was very excited for this TE class until I realized that I will be reading roughly 15 novels all in one semester, along with readings for my other classes. I think I would enjoy this class much more if I was not taking these two classes at the same time, but I hope I still get the same enjoyment out of it as I think I would if I were taking it solo. I am also hoping to use this semester to enhance my reading skills and hopefully get back into the groove of at least, “liking” reading.

A Whole New Light

The nostalgia of re-visiting a memory from your childhood is not limited to those that are concrete, such as photo albums or home videos. There is a sense of familiarity that comes with pulling out an old book, or even popping in an old movie that you could recite line for line, because you watched it so many times when you were 7 years old. However I always find myself laughing at a joke I never understood before, or re-reading lines that never even registered on my radar as a child.

This idea is reflective of the fact that as we grow up, the world changes our view on almost everything. Even a book, which is written in ink, which unchanging words, and messages can have different meanings to different people at different points in life. A Family of Readers explains this idea through a term called accumulated power, meaning that a books meaning grows and changes with time even though the book itself never actually changes (page 74). The book also includes a story of a mother describing her experience with a book she reads to her children. While they are reading the same book, she and her children have much different experiences with it. Her children are seeing it from the perspective of a person with little worldly experience, and she is reading it from the point of view of a woman who was a child and now has children of her own, therefore changing how she relates to the characters (page 75).

This idea is one that dawned on me a few years ago, when I decided to re-watch the old Mary-Kate and Ashley movies that I loved so much as a little girl. However after the credits rolled, I almost immediately regretted my decision. I had such fond memories of what good movies they were, and how entertained I was by them. But now my perspective is tainted. The jokes I once found so funny no longer amuse me, and I have been forced to second guess my outlook on the books, movies, and TV shows alike. I now question re-visiting old, nostalgic materials in fear of ruining what once meant so much to me.

Your Book, My View

No two people read a book the same way. As I was reading Voices in the Park for our assignment, I read it a second and third time, reading it different each time. I noticed things in the pictures that I missed the first time I read it. As we have been discussing in class, no two people read a book the same excat way. To go along with this, even the same person never reads the same story the same way. We can relate to the characters in different ways because of our experiences. As the days go by, we gain more and more experiences and we realize things we may not have before; therefore, when we read a book for a second or third time, we can relate to the story in ways we did not before.
I think this is a key element to our class and for people to remember, especially future teachers. Students can read a book one day and the next day, they will read it differently. One student may notice something another student did not, each one reading it in a different way.
I'm working with a second grade child for my TE 301 class for our field placement. We just met today and we read two picture books. As we were going through these books, I was asking questions about what she thought about a picture or about the story in general. Again, I realized that we read these books in different ways. She saw pictures differently than I did and since I'm older than her, I have had expereinces that allow me to read the story differently.
As we learn more throughout our class, I feel as if it is important to keep in mind that no two people read a story the excat same way.

My Genius Little Cousin

For TE301, I have to do a field placement and work with a child on their literacy. I chose to work with my cousin, who is six. I've always known that she was smart for her age, but I never was able to come close to realizing just how smart she really is until I started this field placement with her.

Last week was our first week together, and we worked on "Concept of Print." We did an assessment where she had to show me the correct way to hold a book, show the different components of the book (front, back, author, illustrator, etc.), show in which direction to read print (left to right) and the concept of return sweep (when we get to the end of a line, we start back at the left side), show knowledge of words, letters, lower-case letters, upper-case letters, punctuation (periods, commas, question marks, exclamation marks), and so on. I am so proud and amazed to say that my cousin got every single one of these concepts right.

After this assessment, we read the picture book "I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me," written by Jonathan London and illustrated by Peter Fiore. We started off discussing the illustrations on the front cover and how the pictures throughout the book help to understand the meaning of the text. So on the first page of the book, I read the text and then prompted how the illustration on that page helped the reader understand what was going on. My cousin was able to do this, and she continued to do this for every page without me even having to prompt her.

It is really important for readers to use the pictures given to them to fully understand what the author is saying, so for every time I meet with my cousin and we read a picture book, we are going to analyze all the pictures in relation to the text. I believe that if we continue to do this the entire semester, she will learn to do this on her own every time she reads a story that includes illustrations.

Is Scholastic scrammbling our childrens brains?

Simply put, Yes. Scholastic is slowing scrambling the brains of grade school children with corporate sponsored material in their classrooms. Thankfully, released in early August, Scholastic said that they will be cutting the corporate sponsored material by 40%. One of the biggest programs that was sponsored by the Egg Industry and was a lesson plan about the benefits of eating eggs.

I understand where Scholastic can see these as beneficial to students. Many of the programs do teach the students something valuable, like eating eggs. But unfortunately Scholastic is getting kick backs and so if the companies that help support these programs.With the egg program, it teaches kids to want eggs. They then go and tell their parents to purchase more eggs. In other words, it's like going to a store where the employees are solely paid on commission. They will tell you anything (how great you look in that flannel shirt, even though plaid is never flattering) just to get you to buy it. Also in these programs they are only showing the benefits and disregard any of the negatives. For example, another program is about Coal, where they teach children on how efficient coal is for energy, yet fail to talk about the negatives "like toxic waste, mining or greenhouse gases".

Children are already bombarded with enough advertisements on every thing else in their life (TV, Internet, radio), why force more on them during school?

New York Times: Children's Publisher Backing Off Its Corporate Ties.

Technology Craze

In today's world, do kids really know how to communicate? Or has technology created a barrier for kids today to learn how to formally communicate? This topic comes up in almost every teaching class I have taken so far, and the answer is still not clear.
People go both ways on this subject and I can see good points in both sides, but in the end who is right? Children now a days, do not call their friends if they have a question, they just text or Facebook message them. Kids do not like to walk up to their friends house and knock but rather text their friends to open the door. Even when it come to reading, kids do not have to go buy a book they just have to upload one on their Kindel or iPad. Then when it comes time for the children to go off to college and give their first classroom presentation, most of them have fear of speaking in public because they have never had to formally talk in front of people before.
Now, this shocked me when I found out but some of my friends are able to text their bosses. I was outraged by this because once again technology has taken over. You are supposed to be formal at work and not have your phones out texting people. But to be able to text your boss and be like, "hey I am sick, I do not think I will be able to make it to work today" is taking the easy way out. I know for my job that my employers gave me their cell phone numbers in case I do get sick I can call them immediately to notify them. Not to text them.
This just goes to show you what the world is coming to and how technology is taking over. No one is going to have to have a conversation anymore. It is just going to be reading text over and over again for minutes that could easily only take 20 seconds if you were to just have a conversation.

Can you Cuddle with a Kindle?

Over the summer I took a trip to Vancouver, Canada. Plane rides, for a huge reader like me, are the perfect setting to get some solid reading done. But as I made my way to my seat with my book in hand I began noticing the large amount of people using Kindles and Ipads to read. For me there is nothing better than cuddling up with an actual book, a cup of tea, and sitting down to enjoy a good read. However, with the release of new technology for reading such as Kindles and Ipads, book stores are losing business and more people are turning to technology to do their reading. In my opinion Kindles take away book stores' business and they don't give the full effect of enjoying and connecting with a good book.

Over the summer Border Books announced it was going out of business, so Borders Books everywhere began having sales and putting up closing signs. The closing of Borders makes me wonder if it's at all related to the rise in popularity of Kindles or if Borders just demonstrated bad business. I think that their closing is somewhat related to the popularity of Kindles. Kindles have grown in their technology standards, they can bookmark pages, look up the definition of words, highlight specific passages, and have a special screen that makes it look like an actual book page. All of these new improvements make people rush to the stores to purchase them so they can have the newest technology and the latest trend. As much as I love technology I just don't think that Kindles can ever replace the feeling of making a crease in the corner of my book to save my spot and getting out my pen to highlight a passage that is significant. Another reason people are drawn to Kindles is the amount of books that they can "hold". On every channel I see the infamous Kindle commercial, the one where the woman has her big purse and is talking about how many different books it can hold. The guy with the Kindle looks at her in dismay and brags about the 1,000s of books his small little Kindle can hold. Honestly though who really needs to have that many books in their back pocket? Unless your going on a super long vacation where carrying five or so books would weigh your luggage down, the average reader doesn't need to have that many books at the touch of their hands. If I had that many books available to me at one time I would get anxious about what book to read next and would spend all my time scrolling through my lists of books instead of beginning to read one.

At the end of the day the main reason I'm against Kindles is that they don't provide the attachment and feeling of connection with a book as an actual book does. When I open a book I become engrossed in the pages and get a thrill whenever I turn to the next page, wondering whats going to happen next. I feel connected with my book and love opening to the place I bookmarked and becoming enthralled in the story again. Sitting on my bed and getting cozy while I read adds to the overall enjoyment of reading a book. And as much as people say Kindles are read just like real books and have the same "feel", I don't think you can cuddle up with a Kindle.

Animals Are People, Too.

A few class sessions ago, we were given Scholastic Book Club catalogs aimed at certain age groups from toddlers to middle schoolers and were told to look for similarities between the featured books. The similarity we as a group noticed that I found to be the most interesting was in the catalog geared towards children in the toddler/preschool age group.
Many of the books featured had animals as the main characters, but they did not possess animal-like qualities. They walked on two legs, spoke English to each other, went to school, drove cars, lived in houses, etc. In essence, they were human beings. Apparently, the reason behind this choice was to avoid issues of diversity. None of the animals belonged to any specific race, they were just animals. For example, all the characters in The Berenstain Bears are bears, and all of the characters in Olivia are pigs. There is no need to wonder who is supposed to be depicted as white and who is supposed to be depicted as black, and so on.
If books are published like this in hopes of avoiding controversy from older readers, such as parents, I don't think it is doing the kids much justice. Kids most likely will not be terribly offended if there are more white children than Asian American children drawn as characters in a book. They may not even notice the races of the children in the book at all. However, if they do notice a slight unbalanced representation of one race over another, that would be an excellent time to give the child a small lesson as to why everyone is equal, regardless of race.
I personally think that, while it seems benign to avoid issues of race and diversity by drawing animals in the place of people, it is actually doing a disservice to the children reading these books. Being exposed to diversity at a young age is a good thing. It makes children more aware of their surroundings and more likely to be compassionate and kind towards others, regardless of race. Basically, I think that in children's books, animals should be animals, and people should be people. Plain and simple.

Promoting Social Equality Through Children’s Literature

Children can learn a great deal from literature. They can learn proper language use, vocabulary, manners, and morals. Literature can also be used to expose children to a way of life different from their own. Many books are written for and about White, Middle-class society. Not only is this unfair for children who are not a member of this “in-group” but it also fortifies the idea that this culture is superior.

Books from and about different cultures can help children learn and understand the different traditions that other people may have. Literature can also be used to promote racial and socioeconomic equality through characters and plots in children’s books. I believe that parents and teachers should search for literature that introduces different cultures, races, and religions and discusses them with children.

But why stop there? What about sexual orientation? Is it appropriate for teachers to have their students read books about same sex parents or is that a topic that should be avoided? I believe that teachers should be able to select books that contain same sex couples and should use them to start discussions about sexual orientation; however, I feel that this would be strongly opposed by various parents. Some people who believe that homosexuality is morally wrong would not want to have their children learn about it in school. I believe that equality should not end with race, culture, religion, and class but should include sexual orientation and introducing students to the idea through literature is a good start.

The Twilight Craze

The infamous Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer have affected more than just girls between the ages of 10 - 18. In fact, you are the odd man out if you don't know who Edward Cullen is. Pop culture has blown up Twilight. MTV, VH1, and ABC promote the false fantasy of everlasting teen love even more with clips and references of Twilight at commercial breaks.

Not only are commercials being shown but actual television shows are being created off this billion dollar empire. Shows such as: True Blood, Vampire Diaries, and remake of Teen Wolf all popped up after the craze began. Outside of television, stores across America are selling clothes, ipod covers, pillow cases and cardboard cutouts to every Edward/Jacob fan out there.

There have been arguments made that because of this series, that teens have become even more obsessed with relationships and sexual activity. Some say that this influences younger generations to become sexually active earlier than the generation before. I personally don't believe that. I read all of the books and have seen the movies. I'm not Twilight crazy but I don't hate the series. I just believe that the entire craze is overrated and blown out of proportion. The series isn't about a protagonist conquering evil, it's about a teen girl falling hopelessly in love with an undead 109 year old man that is frozen in a 19 year olds body forever. Our media should be promoting more books about overcoming obstacles in life - not fantasy love.

Are photographs considered picture books?

I am currently taking TE 301 and part of the class is getting field experience and tutoring a child once a week. This week I read a book with my student, Blaize, on cats. The book was a textual book rather than a storybook; it started off discussing the history of cats becoming pets then the anatomy of cats and how cats think. On each set of pages there was text on one side and a photograph on the other side.

What I am wondering is; is this considered a picture book? Technically yes this is considered a picture books because we learned they can be fiction or non-fiction, but the pictures did not enhance the text at all. If the book was re-printed without any pictures the reader would not loose or gain anything because the pictures were just portraits of cats. Some of them were close ups of their face others just of their bodies. I guess the book would be considered an illustrative book but the way that I interpret illustrations is that the pictures would be drawn rather than photographs. For example in encyclopedias there are sometimes small pictures and although a picture book is not a genre, how could the book be a encyclopedia and a picture book?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Blow to My Creative Psyche

Everyone talked about how they cried at the end of the last installment of the Harry Potter movie series. But I shed no tears at the end. I said “Good riddance.”

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. How dare she! How dare she slander the amazing, unforgettable cinematic experience that is (was?) Harry Potter! And I do apologize. But not for my opinion. I apologize that you feel that way.

True, the movies are full of beautiful imagery. The acting is impeccable. And the story ain't half bad. But more than half of its missing and I believe that is a true injustice to such an amazing work of literature.

How many of us have read the books? Cover to cover, again and again? How many of us grew up with the series, learned about unconditional love and its triumphs over evil? How many of us dreamed that we’d wake up one morning to a snowy white owl perched outside our window, scroll in hand, our ticket to Hogwarts? I don’t have to tell you I am a total Potterhead.

But I am not a fan of the movies. I loved the world that I built in my head. J.K. Rowling’s amazing way of describing a world I had never imagined, her imagery, had formed this concrete picture in my mind’s eye. I believed Hogwarts, the wizarding world and all within it existed as they did in my head, and that was enough for me.

And then the first movie was released. I remember going to see it for my 11^th or 12^th birthday.

Worst. Present. Ever.

It was ruined. Harry Potter was ruined for me. The somewhat frumpy, not in the slightest bit attractive vision of Hermione Granger I had in my mind, was replaced by the quite classically beautiful movie substitute. Draco Malfoy’s appalling white hair was burned into my imagination. My psyche was wrought by the image of a Severus Snape who looked more like my mom than the sinister, looming figure of my past mental images. All of what I had imagined, what I had perceived through hearing the stories and reading them on my own was gone.

I believe that one of the BEST parts of reading are the images reading invokes. The imagination it stirs and the stories that readers themselves can create when expanding upon a work.

So, no, I don’t like the movies. And as I think about the other movies based on books, I do not really understand why, except for monetary gains, books are constantly being made into movies.

What do you all think? What about those of you who have only seen the movies? What about other literature that you have read that has been made into movies?

Walt Disney Sexism

This summer I took an IAH class focused on fairy tales and gender. Needless to say, there was a lot of discussion about the Disney Princesses, and how they may not be the best role models for girls. I am sure many of us grew up reading Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, not realizing how sexist these tales might be. Take Cinderella for example, a woman who cooks and cleans and whose happiness is confirmed at the end only when she finally is chosen by the prince to be his wife. She gets made up into a well-dressed beauty, and only after that, when she is presentable, can she seek the male's attention.

Not only do these Disney stories cast girls with unreachable expectations, boys also have a lot to amount up to. Most of the Princes are strong, good looking and fearless, some characteristics that are difficult to measure up to at times.

As close to our hearts as these stories might be, I think as educators we should be aware of the subliminal messages within them before we bring them to the classroom. We may think that a child won't interpret the story in the way that points towards the sexism, but that doesn't mean that those messages are not there and do not somehow get imprinted in our students minds. Thoughts??

My first post

I am not exactly sure how blogging works, I have never written in a blog or even read a blog before this class, so please help me if I am doing this wrong. How do we know when we are to post and what we are to post about?
Sincerely,
Confused