Helen Keller

Well, I know we did this last week in class, but I still had some comments about the Helen Keller article. I wanted to wait through the weekend because I was going home and i wanted to see how much my family knew about Helen Keller. My mom did know she was a socialist, but she did not realize how active Helen Keller was in the political world. I view my mom to be a very educated woman, so when she was still learning new things about Helen Keller and her being much older than me, it struck me even harder as to how society wants people to only learn what they want people to learn. To have her life, not so much kept hidden, but that there are not that many books about her life after her childhood years. It seems that she has accomplished so much more than overcoming her blindness and deafness. She was able to public speak, not knowing what she sounds like at all. Now, just think about that for a second. I think that would be so difficult, especially since its public speaking which happens to be the number one fear among humans, the second being death. She was, as was said in class a lot, "going against the grain" which not a lot of people are doing today, or at least that I know of. I think that in elementary it is a great idea to introduce Helen Keller and show the challenges she has overcome, but after the kids learn about her childhood I think that the education of her life should continue, whether it be in upper elementary or in middle school and even high school. I have known about Helen Keller for most of my life, but I never knew more than half of what she has accomplished in her long life. I wish that schools would further children's knowledge of her, because she fought for what she believed in and for most people, that is a trait that does not happen too often.

Outrage on Helen Keller

The more I think about what we read on Helen Keller the more angry I get at the educational system. Honestly why is it that students learn about powerful men who go against the grain but are denied the opportunity to learn about all the powerful women who did extraordinary things? Every child knows about the power and courage of Martin Luther King, Jr. and FDR, but when it comes to women, they are taught the socially correct version of their lives. Rosa Parks is seen as a poor tired old woman rather than the determined activist that she was. Eleanor Roosevelt is depicted as a good wife of an incredible president who helped him to achieve his goals. In truth, Eleanor spent her husband's four terms in the presidency fighting with him about anything and everything she felt it necessary to fight for. Not only were many of the social programs FDR is credited for her idea, but when he got sick in his last term in the presidency she effectively became the president and made all the decisions with absolutely no recognition. I am both amazed and outraged that our educational system still represents a male orientated view of the world and at the risk of sounding like a crazy feminist, I think its about time things were changed to credit women with the accomplishments they have made.

The Truth about Helen Keller

Not only was Helen Keller a symbol of "hope" for the handicapped, but she was a suffragist and an advocate for many social changes in the United States. I was utterly shocked to hear of the extent of Ms. Keller's life long achievements. I remember learning about her but nothing further than a role model. 

It's interesting to think about, if they have failed to show the hard work that Helen Keller had done for the poor and the suffragists, than what other significant figures in history have they done this too as well. It would be interesting to research even further into this statement and try to find other historical figures who's real personality is shunned out of literature. 

Esperanza Rising

I really enjoyed reading Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. I found it to be a very emotional novel that has the ability to bring out every kind of emotion in the reader ranging from happiness to resentment. I found many different moments that I could relate to. For instance, losing a family member can be one of the most difficult events that a person may experience in their entire life. Esperanza found herself having to deal with one of most difficult deaths, the death of her father. “Esperanza felt her heart drop. A noise came from her mouth and slowly, her first breath of grief grew into a tormented cry” (Ryan 22). When I was in Sixth Grade, I experienced the same event with losing both of my Grandparents with whom I was very close to. Towards the end of the book, Esperanza finds that she can remember her father and deal with her grief through the happy memories that she has of him. On page 38, it states, “She tried to find the dream, the one where Papa was singing the birthday song.” I feel that having good memories of the people you lose, reminds you of the great place that they hold in your heart. The book also can relate to many events and issues that we still experience in our nation today even though there are differences in time. For instance, the way in which corruption leaks into our system through banking corporations, politics, and large corporations. In Esperanza Rising, Alfonso states, “Your uncles are very powerful and corrupt. They can make things difficult for anyone who tries to help you. Remember, they are the banker and the mayor” (Ryan 34). This corruption can be compared to the recent movie, The International, starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts who try to unveil illegal activities that one of the most powerful banks has involved itself in such as money laundering, and destabilization of governments. It is interesting that a children’s book can portray a complicated issue that has occurred in our nation’s history and still occurs today. Overall, the book discussion that I led went very well. All of my group members contributed to the discussion and made it run smoothly. The main topics discussed were: the incorporation of Spanish sentences, the overall theme of the book, adaptation, and overall attitude change. My group as whole agreed that this book is geared towards Fourth Grade through Sixth Grade. However, some of the concepts may be difficult to understand due to the complexity so teachers need to be able to explain the event’s significance. We also agreed that this book would fall under the Historical Fiction genre due to Pam Munoz Ryan’s references towards the Mexican Revolution. It was interesting to see how everyone's life related to an aspect of Esperanza, and I found it enjoyable to listen to their comparisons.

Book Review--Midterm

I forgot to post my Midterm Book Review--So here it is, sorry for the late post.

Willy the Wizard is set over a course of a few days and occurs both at night and during the day. It is about a chimpanzee named Willy who loves soccer, but no-one will include him in the game. He meets a stranger one night on the way home from soccer, who was wearing old fashioned soccer gear and he was very, very good. The stranger gave Willy his soccer shoes. The next day at practice, he wore his new boots, played fantastic, and earned a spot on the roster. However, when he got to the game, he had forgotten his boots because he was too excited. He still played great, even without his shoes by setting up an assist and scoring a goal as well. The book is told in third person point of view. It is specifically in third person omniscient because the narrator is describing what is happening throughout the story to the reader. The underlying theme of this book is that “confidence is the key, practice makes perfect”.
The media and technique used in the illustrations are a combination between colored pencils, pastels, paint, and various acrylic material, to create highly emotional and vibrant pictures that take up the majority of the page. The eye is forced from one point to another due to colors and placement of the page. However, different pictures portray different meanings because of the use of colors, shapes, and textures. The style of art that this book uses represents is cartoon art. The characters are 2-dimensional, and the illustrations focus especially on the aspect of line. Since there are interesting actions and expressions shown by all the characters throughout the story, there are “exaggerated expressions [that] communicate directly and can be understood without words” (43). Such has his expression when he is too excited to go to sleep or when he forgets his shoes. Most of the lines shown in the pictures are thick lines, which represent stability. This book uses mostly geometric shapes but also includes abstract shapes to illustrate action being portrayed within the book that make it seem like the shape has volume or is three-dimensional such as a soccer ball. Browne uses many colors within his book ranging from purple to red but focuses on making them bright on the page. There is also a “range of value, the amount of light and dark, which creates drama and movement” (p. 34).
This book is targeted to First through Third Grade, due to the length of text and complexity of the relationship between the pictures and the text. There was a major overt message in the book which was to never give up and to always have confidence in yourself; to always persevere. It is easy for children to relate this book to their everyday lives and learn a valuable lesson. This children’s picture book is relevant to many social situations that kids face, such as feeling not in the group or that you are not good enough to play

Babushka Baba Yaga

The book I chose to use was Patricia Polacco’s Babushka Baba Yaga. It is a book about the terrible Russian “Baba Yaga,” a legendary creature feared throughout the land. The villagers whisper about the dreaded Baba Yaga who lives in the forest and eats children. Polacco illuminates a different side to the Baba Yaga, the true side where she is a loving being who just wants to be accepted and care for others. One day the Baba Yaga decides she will dress up like a Babushka (a Russian grandmother) and go into the village. She falls in love with a young mother and her son, Victor, and the two become inseparable. She treats the pair as if they were her own family until one day, a woman tells Victor the tale of the Baba Yaga. He gets so upset that the she goes back to the forest in order to spare him any future heartache. When Victor is threatened by a pack of wolves in the forest, the Baba Yaga comes to his rescue. The town realizes their mistake and accepts the Baba Yaga for what she really is—a loving, caring creature who should have never been judged so harshly.
I love this book because it has such a morally sound message and is very well written. My grandma used to read this to me as a child and warn me to never judge someone before I knew their story. Polacco’s intricate illustrations that directly correlate with the text illuminate this age old virtue of not judging a book by its cover. The story is told from the third person point of view, which allows Polacco to give insight details that a reader would lose if it was told from Victor or the Baba Yaga’s perspective. Each illustration has beautiful detail that brings the story to life and practically jumps off the page. While the story is meant to inspire young readers to have good moral judgment, the illustrations enhance the message so much more because they depict such a loving woman who is so misunderstood, it is hard not to fall in love with her.
As a young girl, I used to ask my grandma to read this book to me whenever I went over to her house. I think it has an excellent message and would definitely read it to a class of kindergarten or first graders. Even though they might not know what a Baba Yaga or Babushka is, it would be a good outlet to introduce a culture’s different use of language and belief system in a positive, neutral light. Bringing in literature that incorporates other cultures, has excellent illustrations and has a quality message is crucial in the schools and I think this particular book would be a good one to use.

The picture book, "Julius, The Baby of the World," is an animal fantasy story about a family of mice.  Told as a third person narrative, it details the life of a little girl named Lilly and her hatred for her new born brother Julius.  The story follows a chronological time line like most picture books for children and the plot simply reveals the theme that the author and illustrator, Kevin Henkes, is trying to express.  Throughout the story Lilly is fighting for the attention of her parents and is constantly being punished for bad behavior.  The book ends with LIlly defending her baby brother when he is made fun of by another mouse.  In the end Lilly learns to appreciate and love her family.  The book is for younger children ranging from preschool to second grade levels.  The illustrations are engaging for this age group with vibrant colors and strong correlation between text and images.  It is also a subject area that children may find applicable to their family lives if they have a younger sibling.