Hello, I'm Richard Nicholas Nimz, prospector of the written word. Another Caldecott book this time, the winner for 1963. Like Make Way for Ducklings, this book made quite an impact. However, I'd argue that this book had a bigger one. This is Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day.
Keats, E. J. (1962). The Snowy Day. Scholastic Press: New York.
Summary: One day, a boy named Peter gets out of bed to find that it's snowed. He gets his clothes on and treks out, discovering the fun things he can do with the snow. Finally, he heads home, bathes, and goes to sleep. The next day, though, the snow remains, so he finds a friend and goes off to see what the day has in store.
Thoughts: This is really just an innocuous story. Nothing really big happens in it: it's just a kid enjoying a snow day. The collage artwork makes it stand out, though: it's an odd artform, but it's colorful and perfectly spaced. Furthermore, Peter is just adorable as he goes about the day. The book's just a nice slice of life to show your kids.
Its historical impact, though, lies partially in the collage artwork, and more partially in fact that Peter is black. This was published in 1962, mind. Having a black main character was a rare idea back then. What makes this, in my opinion, a little bit better, is the fact that the black Peter was written very well by the white Ezra Jack Keats. In an age where white, male writers are still nervous about writing a person that is not white or male, it can be reassuring to show that it can be done really well. You don't even have to be political all the time, just show the audience a life. I'd argue this is part of The Snowy Day's charm: showing Peter doing things that cross racial boundaries without making an issue about it. Peter's not a black kid with a million social issues hanging over his head, he's just a black kid a white kid can relate to. Just as P.S. Be Eleven's education about political issues has it's place in the library, so to does this thoroughly apolitical romp. Feel free to give it a try.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Season III, Post 9: "Misty of Chincoteague"
Hello, I'm Richard Nicholas Nimz, prospector of the written word. This next book is actually based on real life events. It spawned a very drawn-out series of books that ended in 1992 with the fourth book, and has probably been mostly forgotten, but it has had a big impact. This, my dear readers, is Misty of Chincoteague.
Henry, M. (1947). Misty of Chincoteague. Scholastic Book Services: New York.
Summary: Centuries ago, a Spanish cargo vessel crashed off the coast of Virginia, stranding a herd of ponies on the island of Assateague. Centuries later, just after World War II, the neighboring island of Chincoteague holds yearly Pony Penning Days, catching and selling ponies in order to maintain population stability. The most famous of ponies in that day was Phantom, who cheated the herders for two years in a row. That year, however, a boy named Paul and his sister Maureen decide that they will capture Phantom, but they are surprised to find that Misty has a foal this year: Misty.
Thoughts: After years of having lived on a diet of fantasy and science fiction, it feels kind of strange going back to mundane fiction. I imagine that's also the case for many people, since fantasy is the 'in' genre right now. The story is really simple and the characters aren't too deep, but they're still quite relatable and even admirable. The book also has an environmental message, but it doesn't take up the entire plot, even though it does impose itself on the story every so often. My favorite part of the book is when the children think that the foals are being separated from their parents too soon and the fire chief explains that they're ready, even admitting that he had the same concerns they did when he was their age. It makes the adults into something other than the unthinking antagonists: these people know what they're doing and they understand where objections are coming from.
The most interesting part of the book, for me, is the fact that it's based so much on real life. There really is a Pony Penning Day in Chincoteague, Virginia and there really was a pony named Misty. In fact, this book helped put the Chincoteague breed of pony into the public consciousness as well as make Chincoteague itself a popular tourist destination. Yes, it is a Caldecott honor book, but that isn't a guarantee of anything. Personally, if you can find it and you're interested in this genre, I think it's worth a look.
Henry, M. (1947). Misty of Chincoteague. Scholastic Book Services: New York.
Summary: Centuries ago, a Spanish cargo vessel crashed off the coast of Virginia, stranding a herd of ponies on the island of Assateague. Centuries later, just after World War II, the neighboring island of Chincoteague holds yearly Pony Penning Days, catching and selling ponies in order to maintain population stability. The most famous of ponies in that day was Phantom, who cheated the herders for two years in a row. That year, however, a boy named Paul and his sister Maureen decide that they will capture Phantom, but they are surprised to find that Misty has a foal this year: Misty.
Thoughts: After years of having lived on a diet of fantasy and science fiction, it feels kind of strange going back to mundane fiction. I imagine that's also the case for many people, since fantasy is the 'in' genre right now. The story is really simple and the characters aren't too deep, but they're still quite relatable and even admirable. The book also has an environmental message, but it doesn't take up the entire plot, even though it does impose itself on the story every so often. My favorite part of the book is when the children think that the foals are being separated from their parents too soon and the fire chief explains that they're ready, even admitting that he had the same concerns they did when he was their age. It makes the adults into something other than the unthinking antagonists: these people know what they're doing and they understand where objections are coming from.
The most interesting part of the book, for me, is the fact that it's based so much on real life. There really is a Pony Penning Day in Chincoteague, Virginia and there really was a pony named Misty. In fact, this book helped put the Chincoteague breed of pony into the public consciousness as well as make Chincoteague itself a popular tourist destination. Yes, it is a Caldecott honor book, but that isn't a guarantee of anything. Personally, if you can find it and you're interested in this genre, I think it's worth a look.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Season III, post 8: "Make Way for Ducklings"
Hello, I’m Richard Nicholas Nimz, prospector of the written
word. Well, I’ve done the Newbery, now
it’s time for the Caldecott. However,
this book has a greater honor to its name.
Rather dubious given its connection, but I can still roll with it. Ladies and gentleman, this is Robert
McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings,
the official children’s book of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
McCloskey, R.
(1941). Make Way for Ducklings. The
Viking Press: New York.
Summary: Mr. and Mrs. Mallard are travelling the country
searching for a place to raise their young.
Tired, they stop in Boston, where the promise of peanuts makes them
stay. Abandoning the attractive Common
Garden because of pedestrians, they settle on an island in the Charles River,
where they eventually hatch eight ducklings.
Mr. Mallard works his way upstream to explore one day, and soon after,
Mrs. Mallard decides that the ducklings are ready to brave the streets of
Boston.
Thoughts: This is a pretty good book. McCloskey’s illustrations are monochrome, but
they’re still appealing in their caricature and simplicity. The story itself is also good fun, relatable
and not too intense. I especially like when a police officer who has befriended the ducks calls in backup to serve as their crossing guard, to the confusion of the man on the other end of the line. That just amuses me. However, it’s not
the most gripping book in the world, and the landmarks of Boston are presented
without a whole lot to stick them together, relegating them to fantasy unless
you’ve been to Boston. I personally
think it’s above average, like a solid version of your average little kid’s
book with animals.
However, this book actually had a bigger impact than just
winning McCloskey his first Caldecott.
This book is extremely popular in Massachusetts, to the point that
statues of Mrs. Mallard and the ducklings were set up in Common Garden in
1987. In 1989, Massachusettsite by birth
George H. W. Bush was elected president.
Two years later, in 1991, the Soviet Union is about to collapse and the
two countries are coming closer together.
One of the signs of this was the construction of a matching set of
statues in Moscow’s Novodevichy Park, presented from First Lady Barbara Bush to
First Lady Raisa Gorbachev. Speaking as
a Texan, seeing a state treasure get adopted like that by another nation makes
me a little proud for them.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Season III, post 7: "Caddie Woodlawn"
Hello, I'm Richard Nicholas Nimz, prospector of the written word. Well, I suppose I should cover a Newbery Medal recipient somewhere in this season, and I want to do one that most people aren't familiar with. So, the Newbery Medals have just started to get handed out. Winners include Doctor Doolittle (which I think requires more detail), The Cat Who Went to Heaven (which I already covered), and... well, ever heard of Caddie Woodlawn?
Brink, C. R. (1947). Caddie Woodlawn. The Macmillan Company: New York.
Summary: Out in Wisconsin, near the end of the War Between the States, there lived the Woodlawns. In the course of one year, many things happened. Normal things like having to deal with bullies the teacher won't handle, but also having to suffer through the fear of war with the Natives. But through it all, Caddie Woodlawn carries on.
Thoughts: Personally, I wasn't overly fond of it, but everyone else probably might be. The characters are alright and the plots are rather engaging. However, there are some unflattering tropes about Native Americans in play, such as racial slurs and 'Indians they talk much broken syntax' speech. In addition, there is a passage that justifies girls being held to a higher standard than boys. However, those can be forgiven as products of their time. What bugs me is something that seems to have continued to this day.
This author is a seeming feminist (for at least most of the book) and a non-racist (for the time she wrote in). You can tell this by the way she writes. Her eleven-year-old main character is unsubtle about the extinction of the passenger pigeon, even though there are fifty years yet to go before that happens in-story. Native Americans are shown without any kind of blemish, even though the author tries to tell the audience that such blemishes exist. Furthermore, the main character, throughout most of the book, is a tomboy that shuns anything girly (something shared by the writer, who assigns such interests the most disdainful characters in the book), and rarely, if ever, fails at anything, and never fails hard.
My problem isn't children's books containing a political message. However, that message takes a far back seat to everything else. If the least-flawed characters in a work of fiction all fit into one social category (or if all the unforgivably flawed characters fit into one social category, save for a very small or not-fleshed-out minority), the author puts agenda before story. A character who can't fail is not dramatically satisfying, and the implication that some groups of humanity are all good or all bad except maybe a few members is garbage. Even with good intentions, it's simply bad storytelling.
I've seen this done multiple times, in TV shows, films, and books aimed at children, and when writers/producers try to tell 'girls can do anything guys can do' or 'racism is wrong' and do it poorly, the result often comes up 'only white men can be evil and/or stupid and they need different social groups to lead them by the nose'. This message sticks with children, and convinces them that their own race/sex is under unjust attack (remember, white men have a better life by average to use as a baseline, and many just have flat-out bad lives). Thus, any attempt to change their group's genuinely evil practices has to work all the harder to overcome their hostility. Many good ideas have been suggested to fix this, such as having more than one of a given minority or teaching children better messages about race, sex, and privilege, but the writing of stereotypes of any group is a practice that just can't be allowed to stand even if the good ideas don't get adopted right away. Children are blind to social categories, but even they will notice trends and take them down roads the artists couldn't have anticipated.
Again, this is probably something that most people won't mind. It is quite anti-racism and feminist for its time, the story is decent, and I rather like a scene where Caddie's father and the Native liaison to the white people are calmly talking while tensions are mounting, showing that there are moderates on both sides who don't want to fight. I just think that it would have benefited from a more even hand. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic does feminism better by letting female characters be free to do what they want, not just be men in women's bodies. Battle for Terra and, heck, the episode "Over a Barrel" from Friendship is Magic do Native versus Settler conflicts a little more interestingly by making both sides more complex and relatable. Yes, A Christmas Carol works in its unsubtlety, but Scrooge is a fleshed-out character whom the audience wants to see improve rather than yet another enemy to be beaten down. This book, though, reads like a repeat of so many stories that really could have been better.
Brink, C. R. (1947). Caddie Woodlawn. The Macmillan Company: New York.
Summary: Out in Wisconsin, near the end of the War Between the States, there lived the Woodlawns. In the course of one year, many things happened. Normal things like having to deal with bullies the teacher won't handle, but also having to suffer through the fear of war with the Natives. But through it all, Caddie Woodlawn carries on.
Thoughts: Personally, I wasn't overly fond of it, but everyone else probably might be. The characters are alright and the plots are rather engaging. However, there are some unflattering tropes about Native Americans in play, such as racial slurs and 'Indians they talk much broken syntax' speech. In addition, there is a passage that justifies girls being held to a higher standard than boys. However, those can be forgiven as products of their time. What bugs me is something that seems to have continued to this day.
This author is a seeming feminist (for at least most of the book) and a non-racist (for the time she wrote in). You can tell this by the way she writes. Her eleven-year-old main character is unsubtle about the extinction of the passenger pigeon, even though there are fifty years yet to go before that happens in-story. Native Americans are shown without any kind of blemish, even though the author tries to tell the audience that such blemishes exist. Furthermore, the main character, throughout most of the book, is a tomboy that shuns anything girly (something shared by the writer, who assigns such interests the most disdainful characters in the book), and rarely, if ever, fails at anything, and never fails hard.
My problem isn't children's books containing a political message. However, that message takes a far back seat to everything else. If the least-flawed characters in a work of fiction all fit into one social category (or if all the unforgivably flawed characters fit into one social category, save for a very small or not-fleshed-out minority), the author puts agenda before story. A character who can't fail is not dramatically satisfying, and the implication that some groups of humanity are all good or all bad except maybe a few members is garbage. Even with good intentions, it's simply bad storytelling.
I've seen this done multiple times, in TV shows, films, and books aimed at children, and when writers/producers try to tell 'girls can do anything guys can do' or 'racism is wrong' and do it poorly, the result often comes up 'only white men can be evil and/or stupid and they need different social groups to lead them by the nose'. This message sticks with children, and convinces them that their own race/sex is under unjust attack (remember, white men have a better life by average to use as a baseline, and many just have flat-out bad lives). Thus, any attempt to change their group's genuinely evil practices has to work all the harder to overcome their hostility. Many good ideas have been suggested to fix this, such as having more than one of a given minority or teaching children better messages about race, sex, and privilege, but the writing of stereotypes of any group is a practice that just can't be allowed to stand even if the good ideas don't get adopted right away. Children are blind to social categories, but even they will notice trends and take them down roads the artists couldn't have anticipated.
Again, this is probably something that most people won't mind. It is quite anti-racism and feminist for its time, the story is decent, and I rather like a scene where Caddie's father and the Native liaison to the white people are calmly talking while tensions are mounting, showing that there are moderates on both sides who don't want to fight. I just think that it would have benefited from a more even hand. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic does feminism better by letting female characters be free to do what they want, not just be men in women's bodies. Battle for Terra and, heck, the episode "Over a Barrel" from Friendship is Magic do Native versus Settler conflicts a little more interestingly by making both sides more complex and relatable. Yes, A Christmas Carol works in its unsubtlety, but Scrooge is a fleshed-out character whom the audience wants to see improve rather than yet another enemy to be beaten down. This book, though, reads like a repeat of so many stories that really could have been better.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Season III, post 6: "Just So Stories"
Hello, I'm Richard Nicholas Nimz, prospector of the written word. It's a sad truism in library science that short stories and poetry don't circulate very well. If I were to guess at the problem based on my own experiences, it's because most readers aren't used to reading them, so they shy away.
Kipling, R. (2002). Just So Stories. New American Library: New York.
Summary: This is a collection of short stories describing how various things came into being. As follows:
"How the Whale Got His Throat": There once was a whale that ate everything in the sea. Finally, it came upon a suspenders-wearing sailor in a raft and ate him, too. But the sailor with suspenders has a plan to come out of this on top.
"How the Camel Got His Hump": In the beginning of the world, all of the animals were domesticated, save one. The camel just went off into the desert to humph instead of anything resembling an honest day's work. Thus, the Djinn of all Deserts is called upon to bring the camel back in line, and his solution is quite the creative one.
"How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin": Once, the rhinoceros had smooth skin. He was also a tremendous jerk, stealing a cake from a man right after he'd finished baking it. The man vowed revenge, and his vengeance would change his foe for all time.
"How the Leopard Got His Spots": Up on the steppe, the animals have grown tired of being hunted by the man and the leopard. Thus they decide one day to leave for the forests. Worried about finding food, the leopard and the man follow them, but the animals have discovered how to hide themselves in their new home. Will the quarry evade the hunt, or can the leopard change his spots?
"The Elephant's Child": Once, there was an elephant child whose curiosity was rewarded with spankings. Thus, when he wondered what a crocodile was, the child decided to venture out in the world to find one. Will his adventure lead to more than he bargained for?
"The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo": Long ago in Australia, the kangaroo wanted to be different. Thus, he pestered the spirits of the land until he found one that acquiesced to his demand. However, the kangaroo might not like the spirit's methods.
"The Beginning of the Armadillos": The jaguar has learned how to deal with any prey. However, the turtle and the hedgehog manage to trick him into sparing their lives. They know, though, that such a trick will not work again, so they try to find a way to overcome their weaknesses. Their solution, however, leads to something much more creative.
"How the First Letter Was Written": Long ago, at the dawn of man, a man and his daughter went out to fish. Unfortunately, the man's spear breaks, and his replacement is many miles away. When a man from another tribe wanders by, though, his daughter draws up a message. It might not be the clearest, though.
"How the Alphabet Was Made": After the last story, the daughter decides to mark out an alphabet to avoid any more misunderstandings. Inspired by what she sees around her, she begins creating letters. Her father joins in with her and together they create the alphabet.
"The Crab That Played with the Sea": In the beginning, the Creator assigned each animal a role to play. Before he could be assigned his role, though, the Crab ran away to do as he pleased. Not long later, the sea rose and fell, creating both drought and flood. Now the Creator must contend with the chaos the Crab has caused, but how can he undo it?
"The Cat That Walked by Himself": In the days of early man, the animals became curious as to what Man and his wife was doing. First, the dog left, then the horse, then the cow. None of them returned, all agreed to serve the humans. Finally, the cat, who knows no other master but himself, went to see what was going on. Will he be domesticated? Will the humans even want him?
"The Butterfly That Stamped": Solomon, though commanding the mighty djinn, was too humble even to calm his 999 tempestuous wives. One day, though, he agrees to help a butterfly who is arguing with his own wife. Soloman's one gentle wife, though, decides to help the butterfly's wife. Who will emerge victorious?
Thoughts: Quite entertaining, although values dissonance is in effect here. "The Butterfly That Stamped" has men needing to be over their wives. Some versions of "How the Leopard Got His Spots" have the words 'nigger' and 'Sambo' used in them. The alphabet the (African) girl creates in "How the Alphabet Was Made" is the Latin alphabet, which Kipling claims was the first alphabet rediscovered. In addition, some of the depictions of non-white persons are going to be offensive to said minorities, and the others probably will be as well.
However, if you look past that, the stories are gloriously creative. Each of these are creation stories in some way, and I don't want to give anything away. My personal favorite line in the book is the ending to the first story, wherein the suspenders' true purpose is revealed. In addition, while their depictions aren't the most flattering, they are relatively inoffensive and feel like your average myth protagonist (at least to my white perception; non-white people will find tropes and traits that they've grown sick of). In fact, they're almost the only kind of people there, and they always come out either on top or alright in the end without white assistance. This is the same man who wrote "The White Man's Burden", after all; not right, but ahead of his peers. Actually, it actually wouldn't surprise me if he had a goal to gain some form of respect for the people the British Empire was trying to force its ideals on while writing this book. He thought said people were backwards, yes, but also wanted to treat them with some form of dignity. If you're going to read this to kids, you should read through it yourself first and clean it up as you see fit. However, I do feel that kids should get to experience at least some version of this level of sheer, creative, crazy awesomeness. That part of this book, the part with is undeniably good for them.
Kipling, R. (2002). Just So Stories. New American Library: New York.
Summary: This is a collection of short stories describing how various things came into being. As follows:
"How the Whale Got His Throat": There once was a whale that ate everything in the sea. Finally, it came upon a suspenders-wearing sailor in a raft and ate him, too. But the sailor with suspenders has a plan to come out of this on top.
"How the Camel Got His Hump": In the beginning of the world, all of the animals were domesticated, save one. The camel just went off into the desert to humph instead of anything resembling an honest day's work. Thus, the Djinn of all Deserts is called upon to bring the camel back in line, and his solution is quite the creative one.
"How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin": Once, the rhinoceros had smooth skin. He was also a tremendous jerk, stealing a cake from a man right after he'd finished baking it. The man vowed revenge, and his vengeance would change his foe for all time.
"How the Leopard Got His Spots": Up on the steppe, the animals have grown tired of being hunted by the man and the leopard. Thus they decide one day to leave for the forests. Worried about finding food, the leopard and the man follow them, but the animals have discovered how to hide themselves in their new home. Will the quarry evade the hunt, or can the leopard change his spots?
"The Elephant's Child": Once, there was an elephant child whose curiosity was rewarded with spankings. Thus, when he wondered what a crocodile was, the child decided to venture out in the world to find one. Will his adventure lead to more than he bargained for?
"The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo": Long ago in Australia, the kangaroo wanted to be different. Thus, he pestered the spirits of the land until he found one that acquiesced to his demand. However, the kangaroo might not like the spirit's methods.
"The Beginning of the Armadillos": The jaguar has learned how to deal with any prey. However, the turtle and the hedgehog manage to trick him into sparing their lives. They know, though, that such a trick will not work again, so they try to find a way to overcome their weaknesses. Their solution, however, leads to something much more creative.
"How the First Letter Was Written": Long ago, at the dawn of man, a man and his daughter went out to fish. Unfortunately, the man's spear breaks, and his replacement is many miles away. When a man from another tribe wanders by, though, his daughter draws up a message. It might not be the clearest, though.
"How the Alphabet Was Made": After the last story, the daughter decides to mark out an alphabet to avoid any more misunderstandings. Inspired by what she sees around her, she begins creating letters. Her father joins in with her and together they create the alphabet.
"The Crab That Played with the Sea": In the beginning, the Creator assigned each animal a role to play. Before he could be assigned his role, though, the Crab ran away to do as he pleased. Not long later, the sea rose and fell, creating both drought and flood. Now the Creator must contend with the chaos the Crab has caused, but how can he undo it?
"The Cat That Walked by Himself": In the days of early man, the animals became curious as to what Man and his wife was doing. First, the dog left, then the horse, then the cow. None of them returned, all agreed to serve the humans. Finally, the cat, who knows no other master but himself, went to see what was going on. Will he be domesticated? Will the humans even want him?
"The Butterfly That Stamped": Solomon, though commanding the mighty djinn, was too humble even to calm his 999 tempestuous wives. One day, though, he agrees to help a butterfly who is arguing with his own wife. Soloman's one gentle wife, though, decides to help the butterfly's wife. Who will emerge victorious?
Thoughts: Quite entertaining, although values dissonance is in effect here. "The Butterfly That Stamped" has men needing to be over their wives. Some versions of "How the Leopard Got His Spots" have the words 'nigger' and 'Sambo' used in them. The alphabet the (African) girl creates in "How the Alphabet Was Made" is the Latin alphabet, which Kipling claims was the first alphabet rediscovered. In addition, some of the depictions of non-white persons are going to be offensive to said minorities, and the others probably will be as well.
However, if you look past that, the stories are gloriously creative. Each of these are creation stories in some way, and I don't want to give anything away. My personal favorite line in the book is the ending to the first story, wherein the suspenders' true purpose is revealed. In addition, while their depictions aren't the most flattering, they are relatively inoffensive and feel like your average myth protagonist (at least to my white perception; non-white people will find tropes and traits that they've grown sick of). In fact, they're almost the only kind of people there, and they always come out either on top or alright in the end without white assistance. This is the same man who wrote "The White Man's Burden", after all; not right, but ahead of his peers. Actually, it actually wouldn't surprise me if he had a goal to gain some form of respect for the people the British Empire was trying to force its ideals on while writing this book. He thought said people were backwards, yes, but also wanted to treat them with some form of dignity. If you're going to read this to kids, you should read through it yourself first and clean it up as you see fit. However, I do feel that kids should get to experience at least some version of this level of sheer, creative, crazy awesomeness. That part of this book, the part with is undeniably good for them.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Season III, Post 5: "The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle"
Hello, I'm Richard Nicholas Nimz, prospector of the written word. Beatrix Potter was an amazing woman. She wasn't just an author: she bred sheep, she fought for conservation, and her drawings and studies about plants and fungi are still examined by scientists today, not to mention her twenty-three books for children which constitute part of the Golden Age of Children's Literature. All of them called The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Thus, in the interest of broadening cultural awareness, this is The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.
Potter, B. (2005). The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15137/15137-h/15137-h.htm
Summary: One day, a girl named Lucie looses three pocket handkerchiefs and her pinafore. In the process of looking for them, she stumbles on the home of a hedgehog named Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, a laundress and the finder of Lucie's missing items. Lucie decides to stay and help Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle with the washing, including items from several other characters from Mrs. Potter's stories. Finally, Lucie makes her way home, reunited with her pocket handkerchiefs and her pinafore, now all clean.
Thoughts: I'll admit, I mainly did this due to J.K. Rowling. In her expanded Harry Potter universe, there's a witch by the name of Beatrix Bloxam, author of the Toadstool Tales, a swipe at over-sanitized children's stories (a sample of which can be found in The Tales of Beedle the Bard). I'll be honest, I'm not really fond of when an author uses their podium to take a potshot at something, something I try to enforce even when it's my own side and in my own writing. However, this potshot at Beatrix Potter seems to have been unintentional, since Rowling recommends Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Two Bad Mice as one of ten kids should read (Higgins, 2006).
If I were to continue with this nonexistent association, I could argue that Beatrix Potter's stories are hardly sanitized with the tales of Peter Rabbit and Squirrel Nutkin. However, this story doesn't have anything that remotely looks like violence. It's just a girl who loses her handkerchiefs and stumbles on a friendly laundress who has them. It can be a little unengaging if you're not that interested. And yes, it can seem a little overly sweet at one or two points.
The illustrations, however, are gorgeous. They're bright, colorful, and adorable. This fits the book as a sweet little story about ultimately nothing, which feels like a nice counterpoint to entertainment getting darker and more didactic. What really interested me, though, is this sentence:
"And she hung up all sorts and sizes of clothes—small brown coats of mice; and one velvety black moleskin waist-coat; and a red tailcoat with no tail belonging to Squirrel Nutkin; and a very much shrunk blue jacket belonging to Peter Rabbit; and a petticoat, not marked, that had gone lost in the washing—and at last the basket was empty!"
I'm a nerd. I love continuity, especially in this age of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And I love the idea that all of Beatrix Potter's stories share a universe. Admittedly, if you're going to get started on her stories, you'll want to start with something like The Tailor of Gloucester. However, this is still a good story.
Sources:
Higgins, C. (2006, January 31). From Beatrix Potter to Ulysses: What the top writers say every child should read. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jan/31/buildingachildrenslibrary.guardianchildrensfictionprize2005
Potter, B. (2005). The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15137/15137-h/15137-h.htm
Summary: One day, a girl named Lucie looses three pocket handkerchiefs and her pinafore. In the process of looking for them, she stumbles on the home of a hedgehog named Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, a laundress and the finder of Lucie's missing items. Lucie decides to stay and help Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle with the washing, including items from several other characters from Mrs. Potter's stories. Finally, Lucie makes her way home, reunited with her pocket handkerchiefs and her pinafore, now all clean.
Thoughts: I'll admit, I mainly did this due to J.K. Rowling. In her expanded Harry Potter universe, there's a witch by the name of Beatrix Bloxam, author of the Toadstool Tales, a swipe at over-sanitized children's stories (a sample of which can be found in The Tales of Beedle the Bard). I'll be honest, I'm not really fond of when an author uses their podium to take a potshot at something, something I try to enforce even when it's my own side and in my own writing. However, this potshot at Beatrix Potter seems to have been unintentional, since Rowling recommends Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Two Bad Mice as one of ten kids should read (Higgins, 2006).
If I were to continue with this nonexistent association, I could argue that Beatrix Potter's stories are hardly sanitized with the tales of Peter Rabbit and Squirrel Nutkin. However, this story doesn't have anything that remotely looks like violence. It's just a girl who loses her handkerchiefs and stumbles on a friendly laundress who has them. It can be a little unengaging if you're not that interested. And yes, it can seem a little overly sweet at one or two points.
The illustrations, however, are gorgeous. They're bright, colorful, and adorable. This fits the book as a sweet little story about ultimately nothing, which feels like a nice counterpoint to entertainment getting darker and more didactic. What really interested me, though, is this sentence:
"And she hung up all sorts and sizes of clothes—small brown coats of mice; and one velvety black moleskin waist-coat; and a red tailcoat with no tail belonging to Squirrel Nutkin; and a very much shrunk blue jacket belonging to Peter Rabbit; and a petticoat, not marked, that had gone lost in the washing—and at last the basket was empty!"
I'm a nerd. I love continuity, especially in this age of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And I love the idea that all of Beatrix Potter's stories share a universe. Admittedly, if you're going to get started on her stories, you'll want to start with something like The Tailor of Gloucester. However, this is still a good story.
Sources:
Higgins, C. (2006, January 31). From Beatrix Potter to Ulysses: What the top writers say every child should read. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jan/31/buildingachildrenslibrary.guardianchildrensfictionprize2005
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Season III: Post 4: At the Back of the North Wind
Hello, I'm Richard Nicholas Nimz, prospector of the written word. Well, back to fiction again, and this one's another oldie, from an author named George MacDonald. MacDonald was a big fantasy author and in fact is the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. You can really see this in today's book: At the Back of the North Wind
MacDonald, G. (2008). At the Back of the North Wind. Retrieved from: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/225/225-h/225-h.htm
Summary: In Victorian London lived a young boy named Diamond, the son of a poor cabbie. Then, one night, he is taken along by the North Wind, and finds a way to the land behind her back, which is simply perfect. He comes back, finding that he's been in a fever for a week. Regardless, he lives his life as an ideal lad, a help to his family and friends.
Thoughts: In a simple phrase, it reads like a Miyazaki movie. There isn't an over-arching story, just a series of events in a world with fantasy in it. Diamond as a main character is one of those saintly children with very few flaws, but such a character type was often used in that time. The main tension is in the situations of the characters around him, and I was interested in seeing how everything played out.
In addition, the poetry and fairy tale in the book are quite good. A lot of the prose is rather nice as well. In particular, I found one passage in chapter six, starting with "It's not like you" and continuing to the second-to-last paragraph in the chapter, quite interesting. It deals with the North Wind being so nice to Diamond, but about to sink a ship full of people, likely drowning most of them. It's an interesting passage about how people can be so full of apparent contradictions, but still be the same person due to their own reasons.
This book illustrates a change between the past and the future. Prior to this point in time, children's books were more-or-less treatises on how to live a life by Christian principals. However, at this point, message and religion took a back step to plot and character. In addition, fantasy became more popular. This book is sort of a crossing between the time of story-for-morals and story-for-story's-sake. And it's still pretty good today.
MacDonald, G. (2008). At the Back of the North Wind. Retrieved from: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/225/225-h/225-h.htm
Summary: In Victorian London lived a young boy named Diamond, the son of a poor cabbie. Then, one night, he is taken along by the North Wind, and finds a way to the land behind her back, which is simply perfect. He comes back, finding that he's been in a fever for a week. Regardless, he lives his life as an ideal lad, a help to his family and friends.
Thoughts: In a simple phrase, it reads like a Miyazaki movie. There isn't an over-arching story, just a series of events in a world with fantasy in it. Diamond as a main character is one of those saintly children with very few flaws, but such a character type was often used in that time. The main tension is in the situations of the characters around him, and I was interested in seeing how everything played out.
In addition, the poetry and fairy tale in the book are quite good. A lot of the prose is rather nice as well. In particular, I found one passage in chapter six, starting with "It's not like you" and continuing to the second-to-last paragraph in the chapter, quite interesting. It deals with the North Wind being so nice to Diamond, but about to sink a ship full of people, likely drowning most of them. It's an interesting passage about how people can be so full of apparent contradictions, but still be the same person due to their own reasons.
This book illustrates a change between the past and the future. Prior to this point in time, children's books were more-or-less treatises on how to live a life by Christian principals. However, at this point, message and religion took a back step to plot and character. In addition, fantasy became more popular. This book is sort of a crossing between the time of story-for-morals and story-for-story's-sake. And it's still pretty good today.
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