Tag: classics

Making Readers and Keeping Them

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When I changed schools in fifth grade, the principal asked my parents what I liked to do. They said, “She reads a lot,” and the principal smiled and said, “I could tell.” I was the kid who checked out an armful of books from the library and had a rotating stack of them on my nightstand. It wasn’t all great literature (a glance at the Friday Fifteen would tell you that), but it meant I wasn’t fearful of reading in any way. As a result, I was always a little surprised to hear from friends who weren’t big readers as kids. And these aren’t just people who had trouble in school when they were young. They were bright and talented kids who didn’t find reading that appealing.

So I was interested in a couple of recent blog posts about fostering a child’s love for reading, even if the child in question doesn’t naturally gravitate towards books. The first is by David B. Crowley, who talks about how to spark a child’s interest in books. He suggests making reading time special (I love the idea of reading together in the morning, not just before bed), going to the library, and letting a child get interested in reading things that aren’t books (like manuals). Lots of David’s tips were things my parents did, which I think helped maintain my love of books. A few tips I’d add:

  • Don’t be judgmental of a child’s reading. Maybe The Baby-Sitters Club or Goosebumps isn’t exactly A Wrinkle in Time, but you don’t need to read all the classics all the time to be a good reader.
  • Encourage books as gifts. I love giving/getting books as presents, and it helps foster the idea that books are special.
  • Don’t pit books against the television. Granted, my home was pretty lax in terms of TV rules, but most of the time I wasn’t just watching TV anyway. I’d put on cartoons and then grab a volume of Childcraft to browse through. Making TV totally off-limits can make it more appealing, and as a result reading can seem like a chore.

But what happens when you want an older child or teen to read more? At Co.Exist, Michael Coren looks at the Uprise Books Project, which endeavors to get banned or challenged books in the hands of low-income students. Obviously there are a lot of excellent books that have been banned or challenged, including those by Judy Blume, Sherman Alexie, Chris Crutcher, Toni Morrison, and John Steinbeck. But usually these books are touted with the suggested that kids should read them because they’re classics–while really, these are gritty, real stories that have major potential to connect with teen readers. Justin Stanley, founder of Uprise, says:

“Pushing banned/challenged books provides those kids with a shield to use against that pressure. Instead of reading a great work of literature, they’re breaking the rules and discovering what they (parents, adults, the establishment, etc.) don’t want them to know.”

I’m very curious to see how the Uprise Books Project does. A lot of times, reading is pushed as something teens should do because it’s enriching and educational–which it is. But saying that doesn’t exactly grab the average teen reader. I suspect a lot more teens would be interested if they knew these books were about tough, relevant issues and were subversive in some way. At the very least, I think it will get reluctant readers to think differently about what books can be.

Were you always a reader? Have you had success with a reluctant reader?

The Top 100 Countdown

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Scholastic has put together a list of the 100 Greatest Books for Kids. Obviously lots of favorites are included, and it’s impossible to list all of the children’s books that have meaning for readers. The top ten:

  1. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
  2. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  3. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
  4. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jacks Keats
  5. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
  6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
  7. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
  8. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
  9. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
  10. Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel

No major surprises here, I’d say, although I’m surprised to see Frog and Toad in the top ten. I liked their stories growing up, but I wasn’t emotionally touched by them. And The Giver is only at #25, even though it’s one of the best books ever. That said, I am glad to see Tuck Everlasting so high at  #16; I feel like usually it gets shuffled further down.

What are your thoughts on the list? Does it reflect the best of children’s lit?

A Whole New World

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When I first read The Princess Bride, I thought Florin was a real place, or at least that it had been at some point. (Prussia was real.) Goldman crafted his novel so well that I really wanted it to exist. Also, my copy of the book included a map. It had to be real if some cartographer had written it down!

Okay, so I was a naive little reader. (Um, I still might be waiting for Goldman to finish Buttercup’s Baby–WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME, GOLDMAN?!) But there is something exhilarating about fictional lands. World-building is difficult, but so necessary for novels, particularly in the fantasy realm. The Pevensies are great, but what I love most about Lewis’s books is the possibility of Narnia. As a reader, you want to go to these places.

Part of world-building requires actually knowing where these places might exist. Maps like the the one in The Princess Bride can help a writer figure out how events can unfold and keep the narrative on track.

The Awl has a great collection of some literary maps, including Goldman’s. Others I hadn’t seen, like A.A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood or Baum’s map of Oz. Although it wasn’t included in the actual books, the recent map of Panem also gets a shoutout.

In case that’s not enough map-love for you, make sure to check out this gorgeous post from the Horn Book by Julie Larios. One point I especially enjoyed:

“I ask my writing students at Vermont College of Fine Arts to think long and hard about the setting they develop in their books for children. Kids want to be explorers, too. They don’t always want to identify with a familiar character in a familiar world. Books, says Fran Lebowitz, should be doors, not mirrors. So I ask my students to think of offering the setting of their stories to young readers as a gift that opens doors. By doing so, they turn their readers into explorers, and what child doesn’t want to explore?…We explore, and we come to know the unknown.”

I love the connection between maps and children’s literature in particular. Books are a major way (maybe the only way) children get to freely explore. Why not have fun with it?

Forever Austen

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If you’re a fan of Shannon Hale, you probably know that Midnight in Austenland, her follow-up to adult novel Austenland, was recently released. Over at figment, Hale talks about what Jane Austen meant to her at various points in her life. On different readings, Pride and Prejudice could be a love story, social commentary, or a comic novel. Hale says:

“Many people ask me, why do you think Jane Austen is so enduring? Simple answer: she writes books people want to reread. Books mean different things to different people at different times.”

I entirely agree. A lot of people dismiss Austen as old-fashioned chick lit, but her writing is sharp and funny and she understands very grounded social concerns. Going to a ball isn’t just a fun night out; it means the possibility of meeting someone halfway decent so you’re not left homeless at age twenty. She writes about real family drama and social power struggles. I’d wager that more people can relate to that than they can to the subjects of many other classic novels. And I think this is another reason that Austen can appeal so much to the YA audience.

Make sure to check out Hale’s full post. And if you want more, she and other YA authors–Elizabeth Eulberg and E. Lockhart–are talking about Jane Austen’s continued popularity on Monday, February 13. How cool is that?

It’s Alive!

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Over at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, Liz shares her reactions reading on Frankenstein. I just read this classic novel last November and shared a lot of Liz’s thoughts. (Just not as funny.) It’s a fascinating book, and a great example of Romantic literature, but totally hilarious in parts as well. (Victor, could you pass out once or twice and also never tell anyone anything helpful?)

Make sure to check out Liz’s post, even if you haven’t read the book before. One part I loved:

“The dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished many of my materials.”

Ew, ew, ew. And also, at this point I’m going to assume that the unshared details include what Victor did so that his rooms (and himself) didn’t smell like rotten corpses. Otherwise, the neighbors hated him! And you thought the people next door smoking was bad!

Now I’m wondering what my neighbors are up to. Looking forward to seeing what else she has to say about Frankenstein!

 

The Secret Life of Bankers

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Yesterday I posted about how most writers need employment that’s not based on their poetry/plays/novels. For those of us not doing the freelance thing, having a desk job doesn’t mean the death of creativity. Check out this article about how T.S. Eliot, author of The Waste Land, worked in a bank. Not surprising trivia for most English majors, but Eliot actually enjoyed his job.

I know. The guy who wrote, “A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, / I had not thought death had undone so many,” was totally cool working at a bank.

Still, it’s a relief to know that such a wonderful poet didn’t need to spend his days working at a famous literary journal or writing scandalous news articles to inspire his poetry. It provided a sense of security for him so he didn’t have to stress about money instead of writing:

“Not only was Eliot at the bank, but as the letter above demonstrates, he was happy to be there. A certain pride creeps in to his accounting of his accounting: the salary, the hours, the filing cabinet which is “my province.” To read Eliot’s letters is to get a full picture of the routine demands of this job, which he clung to despite rigorous efforts from his friends and supporters to free him from the shackles of international finance.

Eliot resists the characterization of a writer as willing to forgo the niceties of daily life in order to make art. What he wants are not luxuries—the early letters testify over and over to the Eliots’ impoverishment despite Tom’s bank wages, with thank-you letters to his American relatives for sending checks that fill in the financial gaps so he can have new underwear and pajamas, not brandy and cigars. Rather, Eliot craves security. He writes again and again of trying to free himself from worry, for his own but even more for the nervous and unhealthy Vivien’s sake. Has any writer (Stevens excepted) ever had so much anxious correspondence about life insurance? Eliot is prostrate over what will happen to Vivien if anything should happen to him.”

A lot of writers have to cobble together work–writing articles, teaching intro to writing, etc.–but I think there’s something to be said for the unrelated, secure job. Even though getting paid to write full time would be amazing, it’s also nice not to worry about health benefits at this point. It means you have to balance two careers, but as long as your regular day job isn’t taking away from your ability to write, it might be a good thing to hold onto.

At least until we can all move into JK Rowling’s castle of awesomeness.

(image via The New York Times)

Fifty Years of the Finches

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To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite books and movies. It’s rare that both the original novel and the film adaptation work so well, but each version is fantastic. The movie is celebrating its 50th anniversary–hurray! In honor of the occasion, Movieline has interviewed Mary Badham, who played Scout, and Cecilia Peck, daughter of Gregory Peck. About why To Kill a Mockingbird is so necessary, Badham says:

“To me, the root of all evil is ignorance, and this book speaks directly to the importance of getting an education because ignorance breeds things like bigotry and racism, and all that hatred. We’re still dealing with that, right here in the United States, if we’re talking about Muslims or Mexicans or immigrants, you know, it’s a major deal right now. So we’re still grappling with these issues. It’s just that people have changed their clothes, that’s all. This is not a 1930s black-and-white issue, this is here and now, today.”

Another great example of why literature and film matters, especially if it confronts an uncomfortable subject. Make sure to check out the rest of the interview through the link.

Where the Colberty Things Are

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Maurice Sendak and Stephen Colbert in the same room? It’s a grudge match of hilarity. I’m having issues with the embed codes, so check out part 1 and part 2 of the interview here.

Sneak preview: you get to hear Sendak sing. And swear (or at least the censor bleeps). It makes me love him that much more.