Tag: family read-aloud

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The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

“Everyone knows a Wanda.” I stole that from a recent Amazon review of The Hundred Dresses. Winner of the 1945 Newbery Honor Award, The Hundred Dresses has never been out of print. Why? Because it’s an ageless story about bullying.

Nineteen-forties America wasn’t familiar with cyber-bullying, but every generation has had to deal with sinful human nature, bullying being one of those sins. In this case, the bullying is among girls.

Wanda is a from a Polish immigrant family, she has a single father who’s doing his best to keep her clothed and clean and fed. But the wealthier girls in class notice Wanda wears the same blue dress every day. Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses in her closet, and of course, everyone laughs. The ringleader never lets her off the hook and baits her constantly.

The book is written from Maddie’s point-of-view. She’s one of the more popular girls in class, and she wants to keep it that way, so she never crosses the bully. But she feels guilty about not standing up for Wanda, especially when Wanda suddenly moves away.

Based on a true story from Eleanor Estes’s childhood, The Hundred Dresses teaches children the world over the painful lesson of causing someone else’s hurt.

Pros

  • The entire story is a lesson in empathy. Our world needs more of it!
  • While targeted for girls seven to ten years old, it’s a great story to read to younger children, or to read aloud in a small group of upper elementary students. And while considered too juvenile, even junior high and high school students will get the universal message of “Love your neighbor.”

Cons

  • Because it was written more than half a century ago, the illustrations and style of language are dated. That’s not a bad thing in and of itself. The language is perfectly understandable to any reader at a third-grade level (unlike Elizabethan English!), but if your child will only read a book with bright colors and high action, The Hundred Dresses is not his or her cup of tea.

Discussion Questions

  • Have you ever known a person like Wanda who was new and different and didn’t fit in with your classmates?
  • Maddie felt badly for Wanda. Why didn’t she do anything to help? Were her reasons good or bad? Why do you think so?
  • What did you think when Wanda sent Maddie one of her dresses?

Final Word

As you may have guessed from the last discussion question, Wanda really did have a hundred dresses! Each one was a beautiful creation.

 

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Stepping Stones, A Refugee Family’s Journey by Margriet Ruurs

Stepping Stones, A Refugee Family’s Journey is a story from a Syrian girl’s perspective about having to flee her country.

Rama loved playing with her dolls and her brother Sami, going to school, drinking tea with her neighbours and buying produce at the market. Life was peaceful and fun in her Syrian village. But her grandfather, Jedo, complained that they were not free to sing their favourite songs, or dance, or to pray the prayers of their choice. Then a few neighbours started to leave. When bombs began to fall near her village, the birds didn’t sing, and there was not enough to eat. More people left, fellow villagers in search of a place where they could be safe from bombs and enjoy life. The day came when Jedo told her family they had to pack up and join the rest leaving their village, their pets, and their life in Syria. They walked for a long time, carrying blankets, food and clothing.

They finally came to the sea and boarded a boat with many others. The ocean tossed and punished their boat and some people didn’t make it. Prayers were said for those they had to leave at sea. When they landed, again they walked, but this time they walked without the fear of war. New friends helped them and gave them food and clothes, and a doll for Rama. She and her family were called the lucky ones, the ones with hopes and dreams of peace.

Pros:

  • Margaret Ruurs has stayed away from politics, and has simply told a story from a child’s perspective. The child neither understands why the conflicts happen or when it will stop.
  • The Syrian illustrator, Nizar Ali Badr, has achieved so much with so little. He gathers stones from the seashore where he lives and creates amazingly powerful and expressive illustrations that are truly inspiring.
  • Children will love the details of the story, and feel for Rama who merely wants the security of having family and friends around and to live in peace.
  • Terrible things happen, but they are written in such a way so as not to scare small children.

Cons:

  • Frankly, I couldn’t think of a single thing to put here! I felt it was a powerful and moving story, and one that should be told.

My Personal Opinion: 

As an artist, I was pulled into the story because of the sincere understated style and the expressive and sensitively portrayed figures. The fact that the illustrator is also a Syrian who used local materials in such an ingenious way was a bonus. I always appreciate artists who think and work outside of the box, and the illustrations in this book showed amazing imagination. I also loved the story from a child’s perspective. Being a parent, her plight hit home. Their predicament will also help children see how lucky they are to live where they live.

Discussion Questions: 

  • Before the war, how did Rama’s lifestyle compare to yours?
  • Rama had to leave her home and bring very little with her. Have you ever been sad to leave a home? If so, what could you not leave behind?
  • The illustrator did not draw or paint the pictures. How do they differ from most of the illustrations you have seen?
  • Have you ever created pictures using something out of the ordinary? If so, what did you use?
  • When Rama and her family landed in a new country, they had to learn a new language. Have you met or played with someone who either didn’t know English at all, or knew only a little? If so, were they shy and scared?
  • If you know of someone who doesn’t know English, what are some ways to help them learn and to feel welcome?

 

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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Three weeks ago, I promised reviews based on my granddaughters’ favorite books. The oldest finally decided she loved Jane Eyre the best. She’s six, so she read the children’s version from the Treasury of Illustrated Classics. Voracious reader that she is, I give her four more years before she tackles Charlotte Brontë’s original text.

If you have never read Jane Eyre, Jane tells her story beginning as a young girl in a Cinderella-type of existence with her stepmother, stepbrother and stepsisters, none of whom have sympathy toward her. They send her to an orphanage claiming she is a terrible child, so the people who run the place don’t trust her either. Jane’s one friend, an older girl and a devout and kind Christian, dies of tuberculosis.

Once Jane grows up, she finds a position at Thornfield Hall as governess to Rochester’s ward, Adele. Thornfield Hall is an eccentric household but comfortable. Strange laughter from the attic is explained as “Grace Poole, one of the servants, who just goes up there to sew.” When Rochester and Jane fall in love and plan a wedding, a stranger enters the church in the middle of the ceremony declaring Rochester is already married. Jane runs away. If you want to find out the ending, read the book. I don’t want to spoil it!

 

Pros

  1. Children love to read about other children in precarious situations, and Jane Eyre delivers, as orphaned Jane endures many hardships through childhood and must make her way in the world as a young adult.
  2. Children, girls especially, love a good love story, and once again, Jane Eyre delivers. Her love story seems star-crossed, but just when all is lost, Brontë writes a happy ending employing unusual circumstances.
  3. Parents who want their children to appreciate literature will find this story and many other Treasury titles a wonderful way to introduce the classics.
  4. Jane’s character perseveres in every circumstance. She is not perfect, neither in beauty nor in temperament, but she never gives up on worthwhile goals, a quality I tried to instill in my own children.

 

Cons

  1. As an adult, I admit disappointment in the truncation of plot. But this is a review for kids’ satisfaction in reading, so I guess it’s not so much of a negative.
  2. With all the craze for fantasy and fairy princesses, Jane Eyre will not satisfy. But then, I have always promoted variety in the literary diet, so again, not much of a negative.

 

Discussion Questions

  1. If you had been another child at the orphanage, how would you have treated Jane?
  2. What would you have thought of Mr. Brocklehurst?
  3. Was it right or wrong for Rochester to lie about his crazy wife who lived on the top floor?

Conclusion

Modern Publishing has three dozen classic titles under the Treasury of Illustrated Classics logo, all of which boil down the plots to a third/fourth grade vocabulary. Of course, the nuances in the adult versions are missing, but the adaptations remain true to story. In this case, credit goes to Sara Thomson.

 

 

 

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Ed’s Egg, by David Bedford and Karen Sapp: A Picture Book Worth Reading Over and Over

While Scriblerians focus almost exclusively on middle grade and YA fiction, the occasional picture book review adds some extra fun, especially if a personal story is attached.

I’ve been on “Baby Watch” for all of February. Three little granddaughters are waiting for their baby brother’s arrival. In the middle of the month, I received The Call.

“She’s had contractions all day,” my son informed me. “You’d better start driving.”

Since I live five hours away, this has worked well for the three previous births. However, once I arrived, the latest news was disappointing. Everything had stopped. No more labor. Baby Samaritoni was not interested in joining the rest of the family. Not yet. His decision  left ample time to play with his sisters. Ample, as in days, not hours.

I decided to ask my granddaughters to name their favorite books, and I would do my next two posts on their choices. The oldest is a voracious reader. She couldn’t decide what her favorite story was, but her sister next in line immediately handed me her choice.

Ed’s Egg by David Bedford and Karen Sapp. What a delightful picture book.

Ed is a little chick who doesn’t want to hatch. (Can you see the connection with my own family drama?) He’s gotten too big for his egg, so it cracks in more and more places, but he still won’t leave the shell until it finally leaves him.

Once Ed is forced to walk around without his egg, he discovers it’s more fun to play with his brothers and sisters than to stay squashed inside an egg. And when he gets tired, the best place of all is to be tucked safe and warm under his mother.

Of course, small children love the aura of mother love and family fun, and the illustrations contain detailed textures vibrating with color, sure to capture a toddler’s attention.

For older children, the author provides several discussion questions which utilize language skills, science, expressing feelings, and art. Explaining  how a mother hen must incubate her eggs. Asking for children’s reactions when they feel shy and want to hide.

The author question we’ve been asking in our family: why do you think Ed didn’t want to come out of his egg?

Ed’s Egg has a happy ending, and our story does, too. Baby brother was born on February 22nd, healthy and heavy–and just like Ed, his happiest place to be is tucked close against his mommy.

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Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Growing up, I had always heard of the book, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, yet had never read it. I guess a story about penguins just didn’t draw my attention, but since my hometown is stuck in the deep freeze right now, Antarctica and penguins came to mind.

A 1938 Newbery Honor recipient, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwater, is written in a more narrative style than what we’re used to almost eighty years later. Don’t let that stop you. There are several laugh-out-loud moments, and by the end of the tale, I adored the daddy penguin, Captain Cook, as much as Mr. Popper did.

I finished the book in one sitting. The vocabulary is easily handled by fourth grade and above, so this might make a great family read-aloud for younger readers. The plot probably appeals to the seven to ten-year-old age range rather than those bordering on junior high school. That said, since the story entertained me, preteens will also find it amusing.

Pros: 

1. The book educates readers on the topics of penguins and Antarctica’s history and geography with no hint of an academic lecture.

2. You can’t find a more family-friendly story. With cheerful attitudes, Mr. and Mrs. Popper and their two children work together to help keep innocent animals healthy and happy.

Cons: 

As I mentioned before, the narrative style might turn off the modern reader. If that happens, they’ve missed out on a great story. As I’ve mentioned in previous Vintage Reads (see Rickshaw Girl), let your kids try out new flavors of literature.

Discussion points:

  1. Popper created several items to keep the penguins comfortable. If you had a pet penguin, what might you make to keep them cool or to give them a toy to play with?
  2. This book was written a long time ago. What technology do we use in our everyday lives that Mr. and Mrs. Popper never used because it had probably not been invented yet?
  3. Do you think it was a good idea for the penguins to travel all over the country? Why or why not?