Frances Hodgson Burnett

I thought before we talk about The Secret Garden, I could review the author to see what her background was like.
Frances Hodgon Burnett was born in 1849 in Manchester, England. Her father died when she was four, forcing her mother to run the family business. They were very poor. When Frances reached her teen years, she felt a responsibility to support her family. So she started writing short stories and selling them for money.
Her romantic life was less successful than her novels. She was married and divorced twice, both husbands treating her badly. One of them, Stephen Townsend blackmailed her into marrying him. He was also her agent, and 10 years younger. After watching her 15-year old son die of teburculosis, she went into a depression. Critics wrote about her messy life and finally went out of the spotlight in her older years. She died at age 74, in 1924.
The three books that she owes her success to are: "Little Lord Fauntleroy", "A little Princess," and "The Secret Garden."
http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/secretgarden.htm

I'm not sure exactly what Burnett's childhood was like, but I am assuming the Secret Garden has something to do with it, or with the high class English society. I have seen the movie but I am excited to read the book. The last book I will read in this class, sad but it feels so good!!

The Stinky Cheese Man

Before we discuss this book in class, I want to say some things about what I noticed in this book...

First, I noticed how the narrator, a small elf looking man, involves the reader through the entire book. For example, with the hen, or forgetting the table of contents, or criticizing the giant's tale for being stupid. I think this helps the reader to really feel a part of the stories as a whole, even if they are all different. And at the end, it also feels like the narrator and the reader are kind of a team, making sure the giant is asleep so he won't know the book is about to finish.

Second, I noticed how the authors used the text. Sometimes the text is normal, then its HUGE, then it is teeny tiny. I think they use the big text to show sarcasm or to be funny. For example, the ugly duckling's text is big. But all it says it that he was just an ugly duckling and The End. Because he is mocking the original tale, I find it amusing. (Or the Title Page) The text on Jack's Bean Problem is getting squished because the giant's foot is coming down. It gives the allusion that the bean stalk is squished. Or the text on Jack's story, where is starts big and gets really small. The repetition is where the text starts getting small. I think the variations with the text also helps the reader stay interested and alert.

Third, and most obvious is how the authors make fun of the original fairy tales, calling them "Faily Stupid Tales." The most obvious is the Stinky Cheese Man as the Gingerbread Man. But instead of wanting the little gingerbread cookie, everyone thinks the cheese man is revolting and wants nothing to do with him. Another is "Little Red Running Shorts" or "Cinderumpelstiltskin." I think these give a funny, new perspective on the fairy tales and what some people think of them. It broadens children's imagination on what could've happend in the original stories. Also the pictures are all dimented versions of animals. LIke the cow, the fox, or the hen.

There are more little things, but these are the biggens that I noticed in this book. I am interested in what Mrs. Robinson says about this book, because I found it rather amusing and stupid, which might be the whole point. =)

Snot Stew

"Snot Stew" was my last outside reading book! This was a very cute book, about cats who leave their momma to live in the world, only some people find them and take them in. A sister and a brother cat end up in the Burke's "barn" and explore the life of these things called "people." The children of the family start playing these games...basically fighting with each other. And the cats want to play too, so they start mimicing the humans. There is a game called "Snot Stew" where the boy and girl start fighting over what is theirs saying ..."Its mine", "is not" "is too" isnot" istoo" "snot" "stew." SO the cats start playing too. But this game goes too far and before long, the game becomes reality for the boy cat. It comes to bit him in the butt when the dogs gets him and it sends him racing for the vets office. In the end, the cats make up and decide never to play "snot stew" ever again.

This book was interesting because it stereotypes male and female roles, even in cats. The male is the proud one of never thinks he can be caught by the dog, so he keeps teasing him, even when his sister warns him. The girl cat is the one who is timid, shy, and cautious. And it is also interesting how the cats wanted to mimic the humans. Or how they understand certain human behavior. It reminds me of my dogs, because I always wonder what they are thinking. Or if they get into mischeif on purpose.
OVerall, this was a very cute book that I would recommend for any cat lover!!

Where the Wild Things Are

I guess this book was more of a boy thing, but I found what the Author DID with the book was pretty amazing. How the pictures got bigger then smaller. And how Max is basically a wild thing, until he comes to the realization that he misses home just being a little boy.

Another interesting thing about this book was how the conflict between mother and child was central to the story. I dont know about you, but when I was that little; I knew better than to be mad at my parents. But I did have that imagination that ran rampent sometimes. Unlike Max, I used to invision myself as a polar bear, (you know, like the coca cola bear) or a bird so I could fly around the yard, or in a fairy tale with my barbies!! I know I know, coming back to reality stinks, but I'm glad to come back, because I think that once we really ARE that thing we want to be; its not the same as just being ourselves. And I think that is what Max learns, there is no other place that Momma is gonna take care of you!! But I am really enjoying how these Authors are giving children room for imagination and to think outside the worldly box that adults try to portray. I am getting the idea that in a classroom is the same thing, that as teachers we should give that to our students. We should give them room for imagination, and not condemn them if something is not the way "we pictured it." To just let them have that would probably benefit them more than we know.

Chocolate Fever

Chocolate Fever was another one of my outside reading books! I liked this book very much, because I do'nt know about you, but chocolate is one of my biggest weaknesses. I am a sucker for chocolate! But this little boy, Henry Green, ate chocolate for every meal, and he like it dark, sweet, anything!! But one day he developed brown dots all over his body, which were full of pure chocolate! It made him feel sick and look ugly. So he ran away from the doctors, from his parents, and the mean bully's on the schoolyard. He ended up on a truck with Mac, driving to no where! They came upon a candy shop where the owner taught Henry a lesson. We can't always have what we want. Because too much of something can make us sick, and have Chocolate Fever. When Henry got home and was cured of his disease, Henry had the will power to reject chocolate syrup for his pancakes. It was a new Henry!!
But I also noticed at the end of the book...Henry decides to try cinnoman on his pancakes. He also think about putting the cinnoman on everything else..getting a little carried away. In this thought, he wondered if there was such a thing as Cinnoman Fever? But the last line, the author just says "What do you think?" I loved this because just like "The Cat in the Hat" it leaves this open for children's imagination to take place. They can believe there is such a thing as Cinnoman Fever, or they can choose to say there is no such thing! The important thing is, they have a choice. But we also learn that we can't always have what we want all the time.

The Cat in the Hat

I have always loved Dr. Suess books! Along with every other child in America. There's something he brings to every book that is original, funny, and with life lesson importance. My favorite part about this book "The Cat in the Hat" was the fact that the fish is the voice of authority throughout. And it is totally ironic because fish are those pets who stay in one corner for thier few weeks of life and no one really cares about it...the poor things. And it really is a miracle that his fragile little life is saved at the end of the book. But I liked this aspect because it gives children an "out of the ordinary" experience with creatures that don't do much of anything at all.
I went fishing today on Lake Somerville and we caught 8 fish! And I have to be honest, after watching Finding Nemo, I am alittle pretentious about killing and eating these creatures. It's not like they can fight back, even though they flop around until its too hard to breathe. You know they have no control over the situation, it is so sad and pathetic. But thats why the irony caught me today as we were fishing, that because these fish are so helpless, it makes the authority fish in the book so much more interesting!! And I really like how Suess gives children that imagination factor that anything can happen!

Picture Books

Chapter 4 Definitions of Picture Books
1. Picture Books- They convey message through a series of pictures with only a small amount of text. The Illustrations are as important as the text conveying the message.
2. PIcture Storybooks- Picture books with plot. Text and illustrations equally convey the story line.
3. Illustrated Books- for older children. Illustrations are extensions of the text and may add to the story, but not necessarily to convey its meaning.

Picture Storybooks (chapter 7)

Storytelling Elements

• Plots- simple and fast-paced. Rely on repetitive patterns.
• Characters- identified by clearly outlined traits.
• Character motivation is singular.
• Rely on dialogue
• Comic in tone, and have excitement or suspense.
• Protagonists are usually animals or children.

Conventions of Picture-Book Art

• Line- Used to define features and suggest emotional response. Examples: curves and circles suggest warmth and security, while zigzagging lines suggest excitment and rapid movement.
• Space- This is what draws our attention to objects on the page.
• Shape- Help to elicit emotional reactions such as comfort and security or agitation and confusion.
• Color- One of the most emotional artistic elements. Evokes emotional responses or cultural distinctions. Also, black and white is becoming more popular.
• Texture- Gives a flat surface the characteristics of three-dimensional surfaces.
• Composition and Perspective- Composition is the arrangment of details in the picture, or organization of the shapes. Perspective is the vantage point from which we see the objects on the page.

Design and Meaning in Picture Books

• Rhythm and Movement- There is rhythm as we move from page to page. Movement creates a starting and stopping pattern which the text must accomodate.
• Tension- Tension between what the words say and what the illustrations depict results in our interest.
• Page Layout- Pages that are wider than they are tall give more room for narrative illustration. And books that are narrow focus on character and diminish the setting.