Hugo Cabret

I also really enjoyed Hugo Cabret, and I had the same feeling before I started reading the book. I would agree with the post below that it would be a good transition of a picture book to a chapter book. After talking with my group, I found new thoughts about the book that I never really considered. I had not thought about the thief impression that it would give to the younger kids. But thinking more closely about it, I agree with the fact that the author does not do a good job of showing that being a thief and liar are bad attributes to have. He kind of shows that if you are a thief and a liar, you will be able to achieve your dreams. I really enjoyed having the pictures in the book. It does take away from the imagination a little bit, but I really like how they were in black and white. They still allow the reader to imagine color in the picture and it also corresponds with the fact that the first movies shown were in black and white.

Hugo Cabret= a fun read!

I really liked The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I thought it would be a fun book for young kids who have yet to make the leap into more in depth chapter books to start with Hugo Cabret. When I first encountered the book I thought it was going to take forever to read and I was not very excited about it but once I started it,  I could not put it down. I truly enjoyed the pictures in the book and I thought it made for a fun book to read. I was the intertextual person for our discussion group and the research I found really helped me see the book in another way. I learned the book was meant to be like a silent movie film strip and, also the author and illustrator Brian Selznick of Hugo Cabret has only personally written four books but has illustrated countless books for other authors. I also learned in an interview that he tends to write about things that he is interested in, for example, Selznick originally graduated college with the intent of designing stage displays for the theaters. After he had worked in a children's book store in Manhattan, New York for about three years, he decided he wanted to write his own children's books. Selznick said he had and always will be interested in the film industry and that was how he first decided to write Hugo Cabret. 

Hugo Cabret

This book was thick but it was easy to read. It is a historical fiction and I liked the pictures a lot. I think the author drew them black and white in order to make the old time mood in Paris. When the each picture gets closer and closer, It feels like as if I am watching a video. My favorite picture was when he was confused with all stories going around him and dreamed about his dad, automanton and Isabelle. I thought Hugo is quite matured even at his age when he said, “Sometimes I come up here at night, even when I’, not fixing the clocks, just to look at the city. I like to imagine that the world is one big machine…So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.” He thinks that there is always a reason for everyone to exist in the world. I would recommend to read it for 4~5th grade.

Encouraging Reading in Children and Teens article

I recently found an article about ways to get kids excited about reading. This is an issue that I've thought a lot about since being in this class. I know that it's often difficult to get kids reading for fun and in their spare time, so this article had some good ideas for what parents can do to encourage their children to read and facilitate a good reading atmosphere at home.
The first part of the article focused on young children. The "10 Ways to Help You Raise Kids Who Love Reading" are:
1. Read aloud to your children every day.
2. Get a library card.
3. Take your children to the library once a week.
4. Discuss children's books with your child.
5. Take your children to storytimes, author visits, and other public programs.
6. Buy books that you know will interest your child.
7. Create a comfortable reading space for your child.
8. Visit the Web sites of favorite authors and illustrators.
9. Once a week, cook together using a children's cookbook.
10.Buy your children a good dictionary and use it regularly.

I thought a lot of these suggestions were good and would definitely help kids start to enjoy reading. I like the idea of parents getting a library card for the kids and making trips to the library once a week. I remember my mom taking me to the library and I was always so excited when I could pick out my very own book. I also like the idea of parents dicussing books they read with their kids and obviously, reading together will make reading fun and a quality time as a family. I thought that the idea to cook from a children's cookbook once a week was a little bit of a stretch, but other than that these 10 ideas for raising a reader seemed like they would really work!
The potentially more different thing to do is encourage your teen to be a reader. Teens are often busy and can become less engaged by books as they grow up but these tips for encouraging a teen (or "tween") to read sounded pretty good to me. The tips for Motivating Your Tween To Read are:
1. Read What's Popular
2. Consider Magazines
3. Start a Club
4. Enlist Their Help
5. Prioritize
6. Set an Example

I really liked these suggestions because they seemed realistic (except for maybe the starting your own book club idea). Tip number one encourages parents to show children books that are popular, like books from a movie that they like or one that a lot of their friends might be reading to make reading "cool". I liked that the author of this article encouraged reading of magazines if the teens aren't into reading books, reading is reading so any source or topic is still beneficial. The tip about enlisting teens help discussed having the teen help younger siblings, neighbors, or younger kids they babysit for to learn to read. This will allow the teen to work on their reading skills and be able to help a younger child enjoy reading. The one tip I didn't really like was the prioritize one. This said that parents should set aside time for reading by turning off all games, phones, and the TV and making their teen read. Part of the reasons teens may not enjoy reading is because it becomes mandantory so I didn't think this would help them enjoy reading. Lastly, the best tip may be to set an example. For both children and teens, if they see adults that they look up to reading and enjoying books, they will most likely want to try it and may even encourage reading together.
Overall these were interesting articles with good tips that definitely apply to what we talk about in class!

Behind Hugo Cabret

At first i wasn't sure about Hugo, i just didn't think the topic really interested me, but I actually really enjoyed it. I took a film class last year and we watched several of the old movies mentioned in this book, and i also learned a bit about Georges Melies, and how movies were first made... it was interesting in that class, but it was also really cool the way it was incorporated into a children's book. I thought it was amazing how Brian Selznick took a true story of Georges Melies and the film industry, and added in a fictional story to go along with it. Because i knew the true parts of it , it was really cool to read this, and the way he wrote it made it really believable, and i had to check and look which parts were real and which weren't. I'm not sure how other people thought of the book if they hadn't had the background info about the films and Georges, but i thought it was awesome. Check out the website for Hugo : www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/ It gives alot of extra information i thought was really cool, and there's other links on the page for more information about all of the old movies mentioned, and Georges Melies, etc... check it out, this author put a lot of work into this book and it's cool to see where it all came from. ( there is also some extra info in the back of the book itself)

Library and Bookstore

I went to the East Lansing Public Library and Barnes and Nobles. I liked the bookstore more than the library. I don't know if it is because "library" makes me feel like to study while "bookstore" entertains with lots of interesting things. For example, I loved the storytelling stage that was places on a side of the children's book section. There was the picture of forest with animals on the wall and some chairs in front of the stage. By acting or storytelling, children can enjoy reading books and become close to the literature. But I would recommend to change the stage design season by season because when I went to the Barnes and Nobles 2 years ago, it was the same background. Since there are young kids aged around 4~5, I would put the books lower so the kids can reach easier. I liked the round tables where children can study and the toys.

Library Assignment

The Library/Bookstore Assignment opened my eyes a lot more to how children are perceiving books now. Most students spend time in their school libraries now a days, but I don't feel like a good amount spend that much time at the public libraries compared to the bookstore. Personally, I feel as though the bookstore is a complete market spot. There are good reading books that you can find there. However, I feel as though if a child and parent go to the bookstore, they will probably find a book or two, but then they will also find a toy or game to go with it. To me, this takes away from the learning and adventurous aspects of books. I have always loved going to bookstores with my parents when I was younger. Yet, when I look back on it I was always choosing a book last minute because I was looking at all of the other things in the bookstore. I think it is important, as a teacher, to promote libraries more often in order for students to expand their imaginations in a good book.