The Rescuers (Retro Reads)

The Rescuers
Margery Sharp, author.
Garth Williams, illustrator
1959; re-released 2011

I can sing every word of the songs from the animated Rescuers movie--truly, one of the classics of its genre. So, it was with delight that I discovered a month or so ago that it was a book first!! Imagine my added interest when I realized that Garth Williams was the illustrator (he did Charlotte's Web and The Little House books).

And, yes, the book is about two mice named Bernard and Bianca who rescue someone. And there the similarity ends. Disney's animated version did a good job of portraying Bernard's and Bianca's characters, but they completely made up every last little bit of detail and plot for the movie. You might say that the movie was "suggested" by the book.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Brian Selznik
2007
Caldecott Medal

If you are unfamiliar with The Invention of Hugo Cabret, you might be tempted to reserve this at your local library for your 5 year old. After all, it won a Caldecott and that cover looks intriguing, doesn't it? And there you would be disappointed (for your 5-year-old's sake). Because this is a book the size and heft of a later Harry Potter volume.

And there, the similarities end. Can't judge a book by its cover, can you? The Invention of Hugo Cabret is getting lots of renewed press these days because the author/illustrator has contributed another gigantic words-and-pictures novel to the children's literary scene. Will the next one (Wonderstruck) be a medal contender for Caldecott or Newbery? That is the question.

Retro Reads: Pollyanna

Pollyanna
Eleanor F. Porter
1913

Just the mention of the name "Pollyanna" is liable to create one of two reactions in many readers (some may have both!): an image of a cute, young Hayley Mills and/or the word "glad."

Both are appropriate! I remember the Hayley Mills movie from when I was a kid, but I'd never actually read Pollyanna until just recently. I'm so glad I did! This book has become such a part of our cultural heritage that people even use the term "pollyanna-ish" or "pollyanna spirit."

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jeff Kinney
2007

I'll admit it, folks. I laughed until I cried through the first half of this book--I mean it. I was wiping tears away and just cackling. I couldn't help it. Maybe I haven't progressed much since middle school. I can totally see why middle school boys (and even 4th and 5th graders) are into this series. Kinney has given us a cartoon novel (in which cartoons are interspersed with text) that is a quick read and right on a kid's level. In diary-format (well, the narrator Greg would remind us that this is a journal because diaries are girly), we read about Greg's life in sixth grade. Here's a sample from page 3:

"Let me just say for the record that I think middle school is the dumbest idea ever invented. You got kids like me who haven't hit their growth spurt yet mixed in with these gorillas who need to shave twice a day. [funny cartoon] And then they wonder why bullying is such a big problem in middle school."

See, it's funny!

And yet, by about 2/3 the way through, I was over it. The kid, Greg, is really a bit of a jerk and it stops being funny (at least to me). I'm not sure he learns how to be a true friend by the end. I'm not sure I'll read the rest of the series... at least not right away. Maybe when I need a good laugh after all the heavy young adult fiction.

Will your kids be scarred? No. Will they be exposed to bad stuff? Not really. Bad language? Nope. Sex/drugs/rock and roll? Nope (well, ok, some rock and roll). Good character? Nope.

The moral of the story: just space these out with more edifying fare, but don't bar them from your kids' recreational reading. I'm sure they have lured millions of reluctant male readers into the marvelous world of the book. They have their place, but don't let someone get stuck here.

Speak and Listen

Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson
1999
Printz Honor

This is an important book--one worth knowing. If you have a middle school or high school student who is in school somewhere (as opposed to being homeschooled), chances are high that he or she will know this book--maybe even be required to read it (it's a popular choice for 8th grade classrooms currently). Reading further will expose you to spoilers--but not to more information than you will guess early on in the book.

So, what is this book about? Why are people talking about it, reading it, assigning it? Because it addresses hard topics in a witty, but no less poignant, way. It is narrated by a 9th grade girl named Melinda who has undergone a traumatic experience the summer before. The novel chronicles her effort to find her voice--literally as well as figuratively--and it is exactly her "voice" that we hear when we read that makes this novel so powerful and endearing, all at the same time.

Melinda has/is:

• struggling with loneliness
• offering witty stereotypes of her teachers and fellow students
• wondering where to sit at lunch
• depressed
• unable to talk to her parents or her teachers (literally)
• frustrated with school
• misjudged by her peers
• sarcastic
• cuts school once or twice
• cuts herself once or twice
• has been raped

That lineup may make this book sound dark, but it isn't. It's funny, witty, poignant, tender. There is mention of the rape scene, but it's fairy brief (although no less painful to read). The big reveal of this cause of her isolation/depression doesn't happen until halfway through the book, leaving the reader to identify with her all-too-common 9th grade feelings...they're just amplified by her experience and most readers will guess the truth before she discusses the event. The ending is a bit unrealistic, the art teacher is the good guy (of course!), the metaphors are in your face, but it's worth reading nonetheless.

Kids respond to this book. Anderson has written a moving poem she titled "Listen" in which she compiled fragments of the many letters/emails she's received from people (guys and girls both) who identify with something in Melinda's story. It's worth listening to.

Things to Note/Discuss

• Melinda labels her teachers with easily recognizable stereotypes. People misjudge Melinda. She misjudges her parents. Andy completely objectified her. We all do this: treat other people as objects instead of subjects. What are some ways you or your friends or family objectify other people? (stereotypes, judging by looks, rejecting/accepting people based on outer characteristics, etc.)
• How do we/can we treat other people as subjects? As persons, made in the image of God? How does David Petrakis or the art teacher do this in the book? Does Melinda make strides towards this by the end of the book?
• Melinda is unable to speak at the beginning of the book. Do you think it would have made a difference if her friends had reacted differently to the events at the party? What could they or should they have done?
• Who are the people in your life who you could talk to about something that is traumatic or troubling?

Rapunzel

Isn't every little girl fascinated by Rapunzel and her glorious hair? My 5-year-old daughter hasn't even seen Tangled but she totally knows that it exists and what story it tells. I think she has Rapunzel Radar. She's even got a Tangled nightgown (gift from a friend) and uses any excuse to make Rapunzels:

• drawing them
• making a Rapunzel salad person (a lunch time favorite in which we make "people" with our food; Rapunzel always gets LOTS of Ramen noodle hair...which then gets eaten)
• various crafts

And so forth.

If you aren't a Disney fan (or even if you are), seek out some traditional tellings of Rapunzel's story to read to your kids. Zelinsky's Rapunzel is a nice retelling, complete with a scary-but-not-too-scary witch and the ending in which Rapunzel and the prince are reunited and her tears heal his blindness. In this version, Rapunzel gives birth to twins! The illustrations are rather classical looking; in fact, this book is the Caldecott winner from 1998.

Rapunzel stories also appear in most fairy tale collections, like The Random House Book of Fairy Tales and others. Don't let Tangled be your child's only interpretation of this great story! Didn't we all want Rapunzel hair when we were little?!