Brave Eagle's Account of The Fetterman Fight

Goble, P. & D. (1972). Brave Eagle’s account of the Fetterman Fight: 21 December 1866. USA: Pantheon.

            “The white men have surrounded me and have left me nothing but an island.  When we first had this land we were strong, now our nation is melting away like snow on the hillsides where the sun is warm; while the white people grow like the blades of grass when summer is coming.  I do not want the white people to make any roads through our country.”  (Red Cloud)

            In 1866, the American nation was in a period of reconstruction following the Civil War.  Most of the native Indian tribes had already been driven from their lands onto reservations.  Only a few still held portions of their homelands.  The government wanted a right of way through the Sioux and Cheyenne territories in Wyoming and Montana, leading to the gold mines in Virginia City.  This route, the Bozeman Trail, had been used by white civilians for several years, but with great risk of attacks.  Weary with war, Washington officials decided it would be cheaper to appease the Indians than fight them.  A meeting was arranged between government officials and the tribes at Fort Laramie “to make peace.”  There were wagon loads of gifts for the Indians, which they never accepted after realizing that they had once again been deceived.  Whether negotiations were successful or not, the decision had already been made to use the trail and provide military protection to civilians.  The government did not want peace, it wanted the land—the best ancestral hunting grounds—and it wanted the gold.  The tribes angrily left the gathering, having no interest whatsoever in giving up more of their lands.  Forts were built along the trail and soldiers were stationed there, but at no time was travel safe, sometimes it was impossible.  Knowing they had no choice, the united tribes effectively fought against the soldiers for 6 months prior to the battle with Captain Fetterman and his 82 men, who all were killed.  This book records a first-person account of the events before, during, and after the Fetterman Fight, which was the Army’s worst defeat in the battles for the Bozeman Trail.  The fighting continued until at last the government ordered the forts to be abandoned.  The Bozeman Trail was closed by the Treaty of 1868, and the country was given back to the Indians.  The land was promised to Red Cloud’s people forever.  Red Cloud vowed to fight no more.  Although this treaty was soon forgotten, and soldiers continued to come, Red Cloud, true to his word, never fought them again.

Red Cloud

           “Red Cloud’s War is the only instance in the history of the United States where the government has gone to war and afterwards negotiated a peace conceding everything demanded by the enemy and exacting nothing in return.” (Doane Robinson)

            Republished a decade after the original, this non-fiction book was written for young adults.  Many of its pages are illustrated by colorful paintings depicting scenes described in the text.  The descriptive, chronological, first-person narrative includes explicit accounts of battle scenes and individuals involved.  Leaders like Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, American Horse, and Sitting Bull are part of the story that begins with events leading up to the Fetterman Fight, and continues beyond.  Told from Brave Eagle’s point of view, there are many insights into his culture, philosophies and ways of life.  There are often-contrasting insights into white man culture as well. Red Cloud's first-person accounts were extracted from his recorded speeches.

Question:  How might the fighting have been prevented?

Question:  What would be your reaction if you owned land that you depended on for your livelihood, and someone came to build a road through the best part?

Question:  Is the government always right?

            

Here's Looking at Me: How Artists See Themselves

Raczks, B. (2006). Here’s looking at me: How artists see themselves. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Millbrook Press.

             “If you were going to paint a picture of yourself, how would you do it?  Would you look in the mirror?  Or would you paint yourself from memory?  Would you get all dressed up?  Would you wear your pajamas?  Or would you dress up like somebody else?  Would you paint yourself smiling, or looking very serious?  Would you paint your entire body, or just your head?  These are just some of the questions the artists in this book considered….
Every artist has his or her own way of making a self-portrait….” (p. 3)

              There is much to be learned from studying artists’ self-portraits, including styles of a particular time and place, and artists’ introspection.  This attractive informational book, themed around the self-portrait, is written for ages 8-11 and up.  It is structured to devote one page of conversational style text accompanying each full-page captioned self-portrait by fourteen artists.  The author has chosen artists important to art history from early Renaissance to modern times, including three women.  Several intriguing observations are briefly examined, such as Chagall’s having painted himself with seven fingers, Goya affixing candles to his hat so he could work at night, and why Rockwell’s triple self-portrait contains more than three.  With text printed on faux parchment, this book is a beautifully presented introduction to art history for young and older, whetting appetites for more.  

   

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652)

Self-Portrait as Pittura

                    What does this self-portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi have in common with
                    the Statue of Liberty? If you said that both are women, you’re on the
                    right track. The answer is, both are allegories.

                    
                    An allegory is a symbol, often a person, that stands for something else.
                    For example, the Statue of Liberty is the woman who stands for freedom. In
                    this self-portrait, Artemisia Gentileschi painted herself as Pittura, the woman
                    who stands for the art of painting.

                    According to mythology, Pittura invented painting. And around her neck,
                    on a gold chain, she wore the “mask of imitation”—just as Artemisia is
                    wearing it in this painting. So why did she paint herself as Pittura?

                    Artemisia lived in Italy at a time when women were discouraged from
                    becoming painters. They were expected to stay at home and raise families.
                    But Artemisia’s father was a painter, and he taught her everything he knew.
                    In fact, Artemisia learned to paint before she learned to read. By painting
                    herself as Pittura, Artemisia was telling the people who didn’t think she
                    should be a painter, “No one can keep me from painting. Painting is what
                    I do. Painting is who I am.” (p. 8)

Question: How would (will) you paint your self-portrait, and why?

Reading Log and Wiki Checklist

Reading Log for 30 books

Genre / Titles read

             I.      Non-fiction/Informational (1 reflection* required on blog)

       1)  *Brave Eagle’s Account of The Fetterman Fight by Paul and Dorothy Goble
       2) *Here's Looking at Me: How Artists See Themselves by B. Raczks.

          II.      Poetry (1 reflection* required on blog)

1)      Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? By Mel Glenn. (required for discussion)

2)      *You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You by Mary Ann Hoberman and Michael Emberley

3)      Silly Street by Jeff Foxworthy

4)      Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

5)      My Very Own Name by Maia Haag

       III.      Modern Fantasy (1 reflection* required on blog)      

1)      A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. (required for discussion)

2)      *Starfields by C. Marsden

3)      The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

4)      The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

       IV.      Historical Fiction (1 reflection* required on blog –can be a picture book)   

1)      Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. (required for discussion)

2)      *Titanic; Book One: Unsinkable by Gordon Korman

3)      Titanic; Book Two: Collision Course by Gordon Korman

4)      Titanic; Book Three: S.O.S. by Gordon Korman

          V.      Multicultural/Traditional (2 reflections* required on blog – one can be a picture book)       

                  1)  Dancing with the Indians by Angela Shelf Medearis

                  2)  *Two Brothers by Eugene Schwarz

                  3)  *Starfields by C. Marsden (double entry)

                  4)  Star Boy by Paul Goble

                  5)  Children of the Earth and Sky by Stephen Krensky

                  6)  Cherokee Animal Tales by George F. Scheer

                  7)  The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble

                  8)  Jack and the Beanstalk by E. Nesbit

                  9)  Treasury of Aesop’s Fables Foreword by Oliver Goldsmith

       VI.      Realistic Fiction (1 reflection* required on blog)

1)      Bucking the Sarge by Christopher Paul Curtis. (required for discussion)

2)      *The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

3)      *Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

4)      Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

    VII.      Picture Books (6 reflections* required on blog)

1)      Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young. (required for discussion)

2)      *Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

3)      *Tuesday, by D. Wiesner

4)      *Curious George Goes Camping by Margaret & H. A. Rey’s

5)      Curious George Goes to the Beach by Margaret & H. A. Rey’s

6)      Curious George at the Aquarium by Margaret & H. A. Rey’s

7)      Vincent’s Colors words & pictures by Vincent van Gogh

8)      The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster

9)      Andrew Henry’s Meadow by Doris Burn

10)   Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

11)   The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

12)   *The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (double entry)

13)   *You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You by Mary Ann Hoberman and Michael Emberley (double entry)

14)   *Brave Eagle’s Account of The Fetterman Fight by Paul and Dorothy Goble (double entry)

Wiki Checklist

1__ Social Studies – Star Boy

2__ Science – The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and Titanic; Book One: Unsinkable

1__ Math – A Wrinkle in Time

  __ Music

1__ Art – The Invention of Hugo Cabret

  __ Reading/Language Arts

1__ Physical Education – Dancing with the Indians

1__ Other (Health & Social Awareness) – A Wrinkle in Time

Field Hours Summary

1. How many hours did you complete?

            I completed 6 hours.

2. How did you spend your time?

            I ordinarily visit Toddler Story Time for one hour each week with my granddaughter
at the Whitley County Public Library. I am claiming 4 of these visits as field experience.
For the first 3 visits, I was an observer/participant, as usual. During the fourth visit, I read
aloud two picture books to the children; then distributed kits for the craft project. Two
additional hours were spent at the W.C. Library. For one hour, I cut out paper hands,
hearts, and other shapes that were to be used in an activity with a group of young children.
The second hour was spent wrapping the jackets of new books, which I had not done 
before.

           
3. How did the experience help you to strengthen at least one Kentucky Teacher Standard?

Standard 10: The teacher provides leadership within the profession, school, and community.

            The nature of my field experience activities should probably be categorized more as service than leadership.  However, while cutting many paper shapes, sitting by a window where I could see the top of the Judicial building that houses stained glass windows representing a year of my life’s work, I thought how different this cutting activity is from the (glass and metal) cutting I was doing a year ago, but similarly it would quietly touch some people’s lives.  I reflected on different events from my 38 years of living and participating in the Williamsburg community, events involving the library, the schools, the college, churches, the Art Guild, adult literacy, Scouts, 4-H sewing & shooting sports, etc.  These endeavors have included a variety of leadership roles.  My life and work continue to be somewhat invisibly interwoven with the fabric of the local culture.  Like the children who would glue the papers I was cutting, and the fathers who would receive the cards from those children, most of the people I saw coming and going in the library that day knew nothing of me, what I had done, or what I am doing.  I was just an old woman sitting there in the cool, quiet library, making too much noise cutting with dull scissors, reflecting on the many faces of service.  Punctuating my varied roles, a young, tall, handsome African college student that I had not seen for maybe 2 years, happened in and greeted me with a broad smile and some chit-chat.  How gratifying to realize that my work, my “leadership” roles also invisibly impact the broader community.

4. Talk a little about one thing you learned because of this field experience.

            I think it is interesting that my little one, who adores books and stories in other settings, rarely pays attention to the Story Time book reading.  Play time seems to be the highlight for her and many of the children—it is more a socializing time than book time.  She has on occasion taken a book from the shelves, sat down and looked through it.  I think the reading aspect might be more effective for some children if structured specifically as reading time, separate from play time, although the play time is excellent for what it is.  It is interesting to observe the different interactions among the children.  It seems that their having fun in the library environment establishes that setting in their consciousness as a positive and friendly place.  I have learned that maybe that is the goal.  My little one recognizes the building, knows what it is, and looks forward to going there.

Titanic - Booktalk

Korman, G. (2011). Titanic; Book one: Unsinkable. USA: Scholastic.

            Have you heard about a great ship called Titanic?  A hundred years ago, in the spring of 1912, the Titanic was the largest and most majestic ocean liner on the open seas.  It was the best of the best.  It was called ‘the ship of dreams’.  It was also called ‘unsinkable’.  On its first voyage, all kinds of people were aboard--over 2200--including the richest of the rich, the poorest of the poor, the friendly, and the fearsome.  Imagine what it would have been like to be a passenger, steaming to New York on the magnificent Titanic.

            Now, imagine what it was like to be a fourteen-year-old street orphan in Ireland, who had gotten himself and his best friend, Daniel, into some serious trouble with a ruthless gangster.  While running for their lives, Paddy Burns was forced to leave Daniel behind and become a stowaway on board the Titanic, where he soon found all the secret passageways and good places to hide. 

            Have you ever been embarrassed by your parents?  Paddy’s new friends, Sophie and Juliana had been.  American Sophie’s activist mother was arrested in many different places while making speeches for women to have the right to vote.  Julie’s father, of the English nobility class, was much too fond of strong drink and gambling.  Junior ship's steward, Alphie’s father shoveled coal into the blazing furnaces that powered the Titanic.   

   

            As Paddy looked out at the endless, cold, black, Atlantic Ocean, he was thinking….only 10 days ago he had been living on the streets of Belfast, picking pockets to survive.  The great Titanic had been nothing more than an immense form under construction, with four towering smokestacks that cast shadows over him, Daniel, and half the city.  ...Daniel, the best friend a lad could ever have.  Was he dead because of my mistake?  All I have left of him is his beautiful drawing of the great ship, showing a mysterious, long gash along its side...  But the world continued to turn, and the ship continued to sail.  I had to live here and now, not in the past.  If surviving made little sense, the alternative made that much less.  So, to the matter at hand.  He needed somewhere to go—a place where the officers would not find him….

            I think you would find sailing on the Titanic with Paddy Burns especially exciting--exploring every inch of the great ship, getting to know the other passengers, and trying to stay alive.  Find out in three fast-moving historical fiction books by Gordon Korman: Titanic 1; Unsinkable, Titanic 2; Collision Course, and Titanic 3; S.O.S. 

  

Black Beauty

Sewell, A. (1983). Black Beauty. London WI: Cathay Books Limited.

            An autobiographical novel told from the first-person point of view of a horse, Black Beauty was the first of its kind when it was published in 1877, and remains popular throughout the world today.  Black Beauty is a realistic fiction chapter book for young adults.  It surely should be read particularly by any child who has love of or contact with horses.  There is a measure of sadness and cruelty in the story, although not extremely portrayed, and balanced by good.  The author’s purpose was to draw attention to and halt the mistreatment of horses in her time.  Beginning in his happy and free days as a foal on an idyllic farm with his mother, Black Beauty narrates his life experiences alongside other horses and different masters, both kind and cruel, until he is old and once again in a happy situation.  The events could indeed have happened to people and animals in the past as well as in modern settings.  Situational realism is provided by characters of identifiable ages and social classes.  Emotional realism is provided through personification--believable feelings and relationships experienced by Black Beauty, Ginger, and other horse companions.  Insights into social realism are glimpsed through honest portrayals of the different humans whose lives are intertwined with those of the horses, although the horses are explored more pointedly than the humans.  Consequently the book was censored and/or banned by some in its own time because it was considered immoral to attach human traits to animals.

            Initially I found the reading to be slightly bumpy because some of the words and sentence structures are unlike what we are accustomed to reading from modern authors.  It required re-reading some lines, then slowing down for a few pages before adjusting to the graceful flow of the author’s well-crafted narrative.  The 49 chapters are each 3-5 pages in length, helping to move the story along at an interesting pace while providing the necessary scene changes for different times, places, characters and episodes.  The chapters could almost be short stories in themselves.      

  

            Set in England in the nineteenth century, some of the terms and ways of life may seem foreign to readers in the twenty-first century, yet the story is still engaging and its gentle moral and ethical teachings remain relevant for young people of any period.  Children can easily make horse-human and human-human connections, such as receiving and giving respect, kindness, and sympathy.  Although the author’s Quaker roots are evident, the underlying notion of ethical treatment of animals transcends any particular religious doctrine.  The novel was influential in the beginnings of the ongoing movement for animal welfare.  Cruelty is cowardly and the devil’s own trade mark (p. 44).  “….there is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham….” (p. 45).  Black Beauty’s first master thought that God gave animals knowledge that does not depend on reasoning--more prompt and perfect in its way—so that animals understand things humans do not sense before reasoning, or after tragedy. 

            Black Beauty is the embodiment of horse sense, which is also demonstrated in the best of his human companions.  Observed from the horses’ perspectives, there are many insights into the nature of humans--how some are kind, thoughtful and wise; others cruel, foolish, vain, ignorant and careless.  Compassion is named as the defining trait of a true gentleman or woman.  Wrongdoing through ignorance and carelessness is explored particularly in the character of Joe, who as a boy causes unintended great harm to Black Beauty, later reappearing as an older and wiser, excellent caretaker in the climax of the story.  Drunkenness is an evil theme visited more than once with sad or tragic results.  However, Jerry, one of Black Beauty’s kind owners, is revealed to have overcome his destructive craving for alcohol through mutual family love and devotion.  He is a kind man who demonstrates the Golden Rule in his treatment of horses and humans.  Some of the humans are foolishly concerned with fashion at the expense of the horses and others in their service.  The novel influenced the abolition of the bearing rein, which was fashionable but torturous for the horses, and blinkers (blinders) that obstructed the horse’s vision.  Even the dreadful perplexity of war is addressed from the perspective of The Old War Horse.  When asked what the humans fought about, he replied, “….that is more than a horse can understand, but the enemy must have been awfully wicked people, if it was right to go all the way over the sea on purpose to kill them” (p. 109).

            As with humans, the quality of the early lives of the horses shape their adult lives. “Good places make good horses” (p. 31).  Black Beauty’s fine character was molded in a compassionate environment.  Some of the other horses had not been so fortunate.  A human parallel is found in the reference to a little boy who was so traumatized by his older brother’s dressing as a ghost and chasing him that he became an idiot (p. 62).  The necessary ingredients for a happy and healthy horse are the same as for humans: patience, gentleness, firmness, petting, and common sense every day.  In later life, during one terrible night after his having been mistreated, Black Beauty reflected on his time as a foal, beside his mother in a peaceful summer meadow.  As part of his mother’s advice, she told him to always do his best wherever it is, and to keep up his good name—sound advice for any youngster, and admirable aspirations for character education.  Two other thought-provoking quotes concerning moral and social education are: “If a thing is right, it can be done, and if it is wrong, it can be done without; and a good man will find a way….” (p. 118); and, a portrayal of good citizenship in a free society, “…. if we see cruelty and wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt” (p. 124).     

Question to explore following the reading of Black Beauty: 

How has the treatment of horses changed since 1877?

Why are bearing reins bad for horses?

What things make a horse happy?

Are you kind to animals?

Are you kind to other people?

Why is kindness important?

           

             

             

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You

Hoberman, M. A., Emberley, M. (2005). You read to me, I’ll read to you; Very short Mother Goose Tales to read together. New York: Little, Brown and Company-Time Warner book Group.

            This children’s picture poetry book is the third in a series of three read-aloud volumes that readers of any age may enjoy.  Written in short verses that are color coded and arranged so that it is easy to distinguish parts for the different readers, each poem is complete on a single or double-spread page.  There is no need to turn pages once a particular reading has begun.  This volume uses common nursery rhymes as the point of departure for verses with a playful twist.  The author recommends that the original versions of the rhymes be read first to contrast with the new versions.  As Humpty Dumpty tries to persuade a doctor to fix his broken shell, Baa Baa Black Sheep sheds his wool, Little Miss Muffet befriends the spider beside her, and Old Mother Hubbard’s dog phones the butcher, the author’s use of alliteration, rhyme, and repetition serve to make the stories interesting and fun for reading aloud.  Choral reading is encouraged.  The silly illustrations are paintings of cartoon-like characters that mirror the text content.

   

We read each page

To one another.

You’ll read one side,

I the other.

            After reading the rhymes together, students may be encouraged to write and illustrate their own imaginative versions of these and other common rhymes.  They could act out the parts.

            Question:  What if...?

Starfields

Marsden, C. (2011). Starfields. Crawfordsville, IN: Candlewick Press.

            Starfields is a multicultural modern fantasy chapter book for young adults.  Told from the third-person-sympathetic point of view, its integral setting is rural Chiapas, Mexico, where the main character, a nine year old Mayan girl, Rosalba, lives with her family in a small village.  The progressive plot is structured with chapters alternating between the story of Rosalba and Xunko, a young Mayan shaman living in a much earlier time.  Xunko’s mythical dream diary parallels, then merges through time-warp with Rosalba’s contemporary story.  Having a long fascination for the Mayan culture, the author themed the story around the Mayan prophecy concerning the perceived December 21, 2012 “end of the world.”  She tells the story in an easy to read, smoothly flowing style.  The chapters are brief, weaving the tale gracefully as Rosalba weaves her traditional narrative blouses—the same as her grandmothers.  Many terms and concepts are in Rosalba’s language, with a useful glossary provided at the end of the book.  Rosalba and her unique environment are well described so that the reader may experience distinct mental impressions of sights, smells, sounds, touch, and tastes.  It is more than a glimpse into Rosalba’s world-- a very different world from the one known by many young English language readers-- rich in tradition for readers of her own heritage.  Rosalba’s conflicts with self, others, and society; the underlying themes of the power of friendship, morality, courage; and quiet reverence for Spirit and the Earth (or lack thereof), are universal.

            Rosalba is portrayed as a thoughtful, dutiful girl.  She exhibits a respectful affinity with the natural and spiritual world.  In her remote village she and her people carry on the traditions of the ancestors in their daily toils and celebrations.  Their lives are fruitful and fulfilling.  Rosalba’s life changes after meeting Alicia, a wealthy white girl from Mexico City, who came as part of her scientist father’s expedition to study the mass dying-off of native frogs (simile to canaries in the mines).  The girls instantly become friends in spite of their many differences.  Foreshadowing their common protest against a road being built into Rosalba’s village, on their first meeting together they built a “frog palace” of sticks beside the river.  Both girls gain greater insight into each others’ ways of life as they become allied in the battle to save the frogs, along with all they represent.  When Rosalba discovers men with a bulldozer slashing the forest and cutting a road from the highway toward her village (and perhaps even beyond to the sacred mountain that houses the benevolent spirit of god), she is horrified.  Foreseeing the changes that the road would bring to their way of life, including destruction of the natural environment, she desperately seeks a way to halt it. 

            Xunko was groomed as a shaman from the time he was in his mother’s womb.  During his first several years his eyes were wrapped in bandages so that he may not see the outer world.  Instead, he was taught to see the inner spiritual world.  He became a visionary prophet, foreseeing, among other visions, Rosalba and the magnitude of the impact of her actions on the lives of the people in a distant future.  Deeply disturbed by these visions, Xunko appears to Rosalba in a series of dreams, guiding her in the path she should take against malevolence, never doubting her power.  As shamans may do, he further transforms and travels through time, appearing in Rosalba’s world as an atypical crow that plucks the colorful yarn from her weaving, thus instructing her to weave instead the intensely controversial, non-traditional dream-representation of dead cornfields in blacks and browns.  Rosalba fears that to do so would ostracize her not only from the people, but from god as well.  Because her dream visions are so compelling, her sense of anxiety for the health of her environment so intense, and with no other solution in sight, she faces her fears and weaves the forbidden narrative, bravely leading the way to resolution and prolongation of a good life—at least for now.

            The author leaves the reader with a sense of hope.  Because the majority of the ancient Mayan codices have been lost or destroyed, the modern world is left without access to their whole insight.  “On December 21, 2012, our solar system is again due to pass through the heart of the Milky Way.  On this date, the Mayan calendar mysteriously ends….Today, recent books like Apocalypse 2012, by Lawrence E. Joseph, have made an explicit connection between the Mayan prophecy and environmental destruction…. Mayan scholars agree that the prophesy merely speaks to the closing of a natural cycle.  According to the Mayan calendar, the Solar System has visited the center of the Milky Way four times previously and has survived.  Why would this time be any different?  The story of Starfields explores a little of both perspectives, trying to imagine how two young girls from very different backgrounds might interpret the prophesy in relation to their own lives….” (Author’s Note, p. 207-8).    

            This story has many underlying themes that may be explored, such as courage and conviction, loyalty, friendship, paying attention, and overcoming obstacles.  The greatest theme (posing the biggest questions) seems to be recognizing what is truly of value, and striving to preserve what is left of our natural sustainable environment from “progress.”  Unborn generations will not benefit from inheriting a ruined planet.  Rosalba demonstrates that individuals can have a positive impact, small to massive, through their thoughts and actions.  A text-to-self connection reflects upon my participation in a concerted but unsuccessful effort to prevent mining near my ancestral lands.  Everything right was on “our side,” including but not limited to scientific documentation that there was not enough coal present to be mined profitably, the presence of rare and fragile flora and fauna, and family histories of resource stewardship dating from the American Revolution and earlier Native generations.  Unlike Rosalba, Alicia, and Xunco’s outcome, our outcome lies there still, two years later: hideous open wounds in the earth apparently having legal pardon from “reclamation” due to unprofitability.  No jobs were created.  The local economy did not benefit.  Neighbors were placed at odds with one another.  The land is ruined.  The water table is affected.  Once-natural habitats are destroyed forever.  The last “unspoiled” tributary in the Kentucky River system is in peril if not already changed. 

            All teachers, regardless to whether or not there is sentimental or economic loyalty toward coal miners, or loggers, or bankers, or railroads, or factory farms, or industry, or whatever the local and global cultures espouse, should lead students at every level to seek the deeper truths, to observe, to question, and to entertain alternative, better ways of thinking, doing, and being.

            Questions:  What is the Zapatista uprising?  How are hot dogs made?  What do bees do?  What is the path of the water you drink?  Are electric cars better for the environment?  Do all fish of the same species have identical faces?  What is the age of California redwood trees and why do they still live?  Which forest plants have medicinal qualities?  How many years does it take for tuna to mature?  ...on and on.

AWARDS:
Bank Street College of Education Best Books of 2012

REVIEWS:
School Library Journal: "...Rosalba’s story of self-realization is a strong one, and the juxtaposition of traditional and new ideas delivers considerable food for thought. A burgeoning environmental crisis is timely, as well."

Booklist: "...the story is so dripping with myth and mystery that kids will be intrigued, and as always, Marsden’s writing is beautiful and her knowledge about children’s hearts is immense."

http://www.carolynmarsden.com/starfields__candlewick_2011__93222.htm

                

Two Brothers

Schwarz, E., (1896-1958). Two brothers. English language translation: Hapgood, E. R. (1973). New York: Harper & Row.

            Retold in English from the original Russian, Two Brothers is an example of translated international literature that was included in the Weekly Reader Children's Book Club.  This children’s picture book is written in the third-person-omniscient point of view.  It is illustrated with realistic black and white etchings that authentically preserve cultural details in the characters’ appearance, clothing, homes, means of transportation, and items appropriate to the time and place of its unique setting.  The illustrations serve to enrich the meaning and mood of the story, especially since detailed descriptions of the same imagery are not always part of the text.  Two Brothers may be categorized as modern fantasy.  It is set in rural Russia at the home of a forester and his family, moves beyond the realistic into an imagined place with unusual characters and very strange situations, then back again, emphasizing the power of the universal values of kindness, friendship, and love.

            “….Now, once upon a time a forester lived in a great forest and his name was Blackbeard….” (p. 7).  Blackbeard walked every day back and forth through his forest where he knew every tree by name.  While in the forest he was happy.  At home he was troubled by his two sons, Big Brother, 12, and Little Brother, 7, because they quarreled every day.  In the middle of winter the parents had to go away for three days, leaving the brothers alone.  Big Brother promised not to mistreat Little Brother.  One evening Little Brother wanted Big Brother to play with him, but Big Brother wanted to finish reading his book.  He yelled, “Leave me alone!” and pushed Little Brother outside, closing the door—only for a little while.  Too much time elapsed before Big Brother remembered.  He opened the door to cold pitch darkness and no Little Brother.  Just then the parents returned.  Blackbeard sent Big Brother to find Little Brother, not to return without him.  He wandered remorsefully beyond his known land into a strange frozen place where he encountered the fearsome and unkind Great Grandfather Frost, who had imprisoned Little Brother.  In order to find his dear little brother, Big Brother went with the frightening old man into his terrible frozen world, where he was forced to daily freeze small forest creatures over icy black flames.  He began hiding animals and birds in his sleeve to save them.  The grateful animals repaid his kindness by helping to eventually free both the brothers.  Big Brother was so happy to have his little brother back that he never again was mean to him.  They lived together in true friendship.

            Tweet: Kindness melts the ice. 

            The theme of kindness is one most worthy of children’s attention.  Children should be taught that unkind words and deeds can have strong, sometimes unintended effects--usually not good ones--while kindness is uplifting for both its giver and receiver.

 

            Questions: Can you recall a time when someone was unkind to you?  How did it make you feel?  Can you recall a time when someone was kind to you?  How did it make you feel?  How could Big Brother have responded differently to Little Brother when he wanted to play?  What do you think Big Brother was thinking while he was wandering through the cold forests searching for his little brother?  How did the family feel when everyone was reunited?

A Wrinkle in Time

 L’Engle, M. (1962). A wrinkle in time. USA: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

(Copy of Lit Circle post for this title, part 1, first 6 chapters)

            A Wrinkle in Time is a chapter book of the modern fantasy genre.  Its events, settings, and characters are outside the realm of (known) possibility.  It is both science fantasy and a monomythic quest in which the beginning setting is a backdrop, establishing the at-first seemingly ordinary characters in an environment of home, family, neighbors, work and school, with real-world joys and problems.  Later, as the characters and story become more developed and involved, the settings change to unique fantastic locations integral to the plot, as the meaning of the foreshadowing tesseract term is revealed.  The story is told from the third-person-sympathetic point of view of Meg Murry, an awkward and “different” girl with a mouthful of braces who does not fit in with the herd.  She thinks of herself as ugly and unintelligent, and she is often at odds with herself and others because she is misunderstood for who she really is—a brilliant, caring individual who has beautiful eyes hidden behind her glasses.  Meg learns of real evil, The Black Thing, as she, along with her unusually intuitive little brother, Charles Wallace, and their friend, Calvin, are led by three mysterious space-and-time-traveling individuals, Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which, on the quest to overcome IT, thus saving the world from the darkness of having everyone be the same as everyone else—and finding Meg’s father.

            I had not heard of this book before now, or if I had, I had forgotten.  Because the version I am reading was published in 2007 and 2011 by Square Fish, I did not notice until writing the reference note that it was originally published in 1962.  Ah!  That is why, being of a certain age, I felt a distinct familiarity beyond identifying with Meg’s adolescent angst: the fifth dimension (the dawning of the age of Aquarius, when peace will guide the planet and love will steer the stars), possibilities, non conformity, gender equality, rage against the machine, etc., and of course, ultimately saving the world from its own darkness.  (Where are my tie-dyes and flowered headband?)  It reaffirms that despite certain advances, young and old still face the same struggles compounded by new ones, and that the insight and wisdom--the spirit of the highest ideals in the radical paradigm shift that took place in the 1960s--still resonate.  I look forward to the rest of Meg’s journey through the coming chapters.

            Tweet for the end of Chapter 5: “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (p. 100)

(Copy of Lit Circle post for this title, part 2, final 6 chapters)

            In the concluding half of A Wrinkle in Time, the action escalates through the frightening encounters of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin, on the strange and dark planet of Camezotz.  Their conflicts are multiplied, culminating in the ultimate universal conflict of good versus evil—evil in the forms of the strange robot-like sameness of the people, the man with red eyes, and ultimately the terrifying antagonist IT at CENTRAL central intelligence, where they finally find Meg’s father.  Using their respective gifts, all are able to tesser away from Camezotz except for Charles Wallace, who was left behind for his own immediate well being.  Meg is nearly killed by the blackness while tessering.  With her consciousness recovering sooner than her body, she is in a horrifying state of hearing and feeling but being unable to respond in any effective way, which seems analogous to adolescent anxieties arising from the desperately painful need to interact and be “normal,” but being unable to graciously do so.

            As are all of the main characters, the strange creatures that inhabit the new planet of Ixchel are described in detail so that their physical appearance can be imagined by the reader.  Interestingly, these creatures are sightless.  They embody wisdom, warmth and love.  One in particular, Aunt Beast, nurtures Meg as she regains her strength.  For Meg, the experience of being cradled in love flashes back to when she was a baby being rocked in her mother’s arms.  Meg often comes across as a brat who compounds problems with her rude and hurtful outbursts.  Luckily for her, she is surrounded by others who understand and are more or less patient.  She is overjoyed at finding her father, but she is angry with him because he does not live up to her unrealistic, childish superhero expectations.  A text-to-self connection is that there comes a time when children usually grow to accept their parents, however wonderful or not, as fellow human beings with strengths, gifts, flaws, and limitations.  Meg is beginning that transformation, alongside her realization that being the same and being equal are two different things, and that evil articulates our fears and doubts and tells us lies. She is finding her happy medium.  At the end of this story, the reluctant heroine Meg is able to rescue her little brother, and eventually all the travelers return safely home with the exception of the Mrs Ws, who are immediately off to the next (book?) quest.  Do you suppose IT is angry and vengefully bellowing for having been successfully defied?

            Not being a fan of “scary” stories, and well beyond my time of intrigue with monsters (if ever I had one), the second half of A Wrinkle in Time, with the menacing red-eyed man-creature and the terribly repulsive IT, almost lost me—even though stories need contrastingly dreadful characters to motivate and illuminate the good.  One of the things that helped to maintain my perseverance was that the possessed, sinister Charles was embodied in the lovable Charles.  I trusted that Meg’s special little brother was still there and would eventually prevail.  This realization also enabled Meg to demonstrate her love of Charles’s essence to the degree that she overcame self-conflicts, mustered courage, and risked her life to save him, knowing he was an unwilling medium for the evil force--and if she did not save him, no one could.  She knew Charles, beyond his appearance when he exhibited strange-eyed evil.  I suspect that Calvin, who became more and more quiet in this part of the story, will realize a similar knowledge of Meg, if he hasn’t already, with his assigned task of taking care of her.

            Another text-to-self connection was that the Bible quotes throughout the story not only were profound but comforting.  They resonate with the story’s overarching theme of the power of Love.  For believers, the essence of our Biblical God is Love.  Biblical inclusions foreshadow that evil will not triumph.  It might be ironic that we are reading this book together with multicultural themes.  Non Christians would perhaps not appreciate and relate to Biblical references, in some instances exhibiting extremism to the point of having the book blacklisted in a “free” and multicultural (or totalitarian) society.  I feel certain that IT would do exactly that.  Contrastingly, if non Christian readers are open-mindedly seeking to understand things different from themselves, the resounding wisdom and beauty of Biblical (as well as other literary) quotes might lead to further investigation.         

            Some text-to-text connections are: 1) The dark planet of Camezotz reflects a more sinister revisiting of 1984, the adult novel written by George Orwell in 1949, in which the main character resists being controlled by the “mind police,” the totalitarian government and Big Brother, 2) Camezotz is an ironic name for the dark planet, a contrasting play on Camelot, the home base of Britain’s beloved King Arthur, who won loyalty from his subjects by loving and protecting them from evil rather than by controlling them with fear, and, 3) On a lighter note, a text-to-movie connection is that Camezotz inhabitants are not unlike those in The Truman Show, where all the people in Truman’s community except for himself are actors with scripts.   

            The big idea in this story might be Mrs Whatsit’s similie that human life is like the iambic pentameter of a sonnet, having strict form but complete freedom of choice regarding the content within the structure.  Question: What will you write in your life’s sonnet?

            Mark My Words: anticlimax, myopic, precipitously, propitious, talisman, pedantic, ominous, inexorable, omnipotent, miasma, periodic table, trepidation, despondency, permeating, reiterating.

            

            

Titanic; Book One; Unsinkable

Korman, G. (2011). Titanic; Book one: Unsinkable. USA: Scholastic.

            A modern historical fiction chapter book for readers in the middle grades, Titanic is the first in a series of three.  The primary character is Paddy Burns, a 14 year-old orphan in Belfast, Ireland, where the Titanic was built in 1912.  Paddy and his best friend, Daniel, are street smart pickpockets and thieves of food who make their home in an abandoned building.  Their adventures and misadventures lead to their lives becoming entwined with those of Mr. Andrews, the Titanic’s builder, Gilhooley, a notoriously ruthless gangster, Sophie, the daughter of an American suffragist, Julie, the daughter of an English Earl, and Alphie, who claimed to be older in order to become a junior steward aboard the Titanic.  Paddy’s conflict is multifaceted with his fighting for survival against others, against society, and at times against himself.  Believing that Daniel has been murdered by the gangster because of something he did, Paddy escapes as a stowaway aboard the Titanic, where he progressively encounters the other characters, including the gangster who boards the ship at its stop in Queenstown.  Paddy’s only possession is one of Daniel’s drawings, from when Daniel had been challenged by Mr. Andrews to think of a way the Titanic could be sunk.  Daniel’s drawing shows the ship with a long gash down its side, foreshadowing the actual event.  Paddy often flashes back to memories of Daniel and he carries the drawing next to his heart.  In the integral setting of the magnificent ship, which is described in detail, there is great suspense at every turn, including the discovery of a scrapbook that leads to the prospect that Jack the Ripper is aboard.  Managing many narrow escapes, through luck, his wits, and help from others, Paddy eludes the authorities (and stays alive) through this first book.  The final chapter leaves the reader in hopeful anticipation for the next volume.

            The third-person-sympathetic writing style is fast-paced, with 24 chapters averaging about six pages each.  In the Prologue, there is foreshadowing of coming events as Titanic survivors, now passengers aboard the Carpathia, stare out at the dark water.  The Epilog has the ship’s captain carelessly slipping into his pocket the note from the wireless operator containing the message that ice had been reported ahead. 

            Some terms that might merit further examination are: cravat, klaxons, cacophony, suffragist, truncheon, shillelagh, and Marconi room.  An ongoing theme of the story is friendship--relying on others, while simultaneously being resourceful, self-confident and capable.  The story provides many glimpses into contrasting social classes through scenarios that reveal the characters’ humanity, often transcending their differences.  This engaging book is recommended for readers of both genders around the ages of its main characters, 13-15 years.  Sample question: Can you recall a situation in your life when a friend (or a stranger) made all the difference for a positive outcome?    

            

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Selznick, B. (2007). The invention of Hugo Cabret. New York: Scholastic Press.

            This intriguing hardcover trade book blends several genres: picture book, graphic novel, flip book, comic book, and movie. It is realistic fiction brimming with mystery and suspense, based on actual personalities and historic events. Appropriate for readers from grade 4 and up, its 526 pages have nearly 300 pages of doublespread pictures, including 3 early movie stills, with several drawings and film stills by pioneer French film maker, Georges Melies, whose life and work inspired the author to write the novel. The illustrations develop the plot through imagery, frame by frame, page by page, much like a silent movie, with the third person text revealing intricacies. It is literally a “page-turner” whose words flow as easily as the pictures.

            Except for red endpaper and flyleaf, front and back, the pages are black with black and white illustrations, creating the imaginative effect of the reader sitting in darkness watching a black and white movie. Each page of text is bordered in black, like a movie screen. The author’s realistic drawings were executed in graphite pencil crosshatching on Fabriano watercolor paper. Real people were his models, including Remy Charlip, writer and illustrator of children's books, dancer and choreographer.  His likeness is the central character, Georges. Typefaces used throughout are modern adaptations of attractive historical fonts and styles of handwriting.

            The story’s integral setting is Paris in the 1930s. Twelve-year-old Hugo Cabret, whose mother had already passed, lived with his father, a clockmaker, horologist, who worked part time in a museum. Hugo and his father spent happy times together going to the movies, reading, working on clocks, and talking about the connection between horology and magic. Hugo’s father had found a broken automaton (aw-TOM-ah-tan), a mechanical man, stored in the attic of the museum, and was trying to restore it, creating a detailed notebook in the process. One night while he was working after hours, there was a fire at the museum, in which Hugo’s father died. Hugo was taken in by his only living relative, a gruff alcoholic uncle whose job was to keep all the clocks in the large Paris train station wound and running smoothly. He taught Hugo the necessary skills, including how to steal food, then progressively abandoned the tasks to Hugo, until one night he didn’t come home at all. Hugo secretly continued to tend the clocks, collecting his uncle’s unopened paychecks so no one might miss him. He feared that if anyone found out, he would be forced to leave the small room at the station where he lived, be moved to an orphanage or locked in prison. Hugo had his father’s notebook, and the automaton that he salvaged from the ruins of the museum fire. For survival, Hugo had become a thief of food, then of other items, particularly from the toy stand in the station, where an unpleasant old man made and sold mechanical toys. Mystery after mystery unfolds as Hugo works to survive, keep his secrets, and restore the automaton, believing it will eventually write or draw an important message from his father. He befriends Isabelle, goddaughter of Papa Georges, the fearsome old toy maker, and others, in his never dull drama of unraveling the questions.

            Hugo imagines the world as one big machine. “Machines never have extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. 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.” (p 378) The author explained that he chose the book’s title, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, because it refers to something that Hugo builds, and also to the fact that Hugo invents himself. In a way, we all invent ourselves, making ourselves into the person we want to be. Hugo invents a life for himself, and he even invents himself a family. Those concepts could be the big ideas of Hugo’s story. Other ideas include creativity and imagination and overcoming obstacles. Sample question: How might you overcome a particular obstacle that interferes with something you want to accomplish?

            The Invention of Hugo Cabret has earned high accolades, and is highly recommended.

            There has evolved a surrounding culture including its having been made into a 3-D major motion picture by Martin Scorsese in 2011: http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/video-martin-scorsese-introduces-hugo-tonights-nyff-surprise-entry/.

            A picture book about the making of the movie is also available: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/about-hugo-movie-companion.

            Several excellent curriculum connections and lesson plans are provided in links from the author’s web site: http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/index.htm; http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/invention-hugo-cabret; http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collection/vitural-field-trip-teaching-resources; http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/internet-field-trip-simple-machines.

            Another main inspiration for The Invention of Hugo Cabret was a book called Edison’s Eve: A Magical Quest for Mechanical Life, by an author named Gaby Wood, about the history of automata.

Tuesday

       

Wiesner, D. (1991). Tuesday. New York: Clarion.

        When at first I quickly flipped through the pages of the children's picturebook entitled Tuesday, I was intrigued by the beautiful illustrations, so I borrowed the book.  After a closer look, I realized there was very little text, which only occasionally told the time of day and day of the week--and pictures, lots of pictures.  On the way to “read” the story to an almost-3-year-old, I thought this book might be a challenge or a let-down.  I was wrong.  At her request, we read the book 4 or 5 times, eventually with her telling the story to me, including dialogue.  She loved the book, and it was a delightful visit.

        Tuesday’s illustrations are printed from meticulously detailed watercolor paintings on Arches paper.  The style is realistic with a touch of whimsy and imagination, particularly in the human-like expressions on the faces of the animal characters.  Through his use of value, intensity and choice of hues, the artist achieves appropriate atmospheric effects for different times of the day and night, setting the stage for the action.  

        Fittingly described as a visual burlesque of the improbable, the plot opens with an expressive turtle observing something astonishing above its perch on a hollow log in a pond as the sun sets and the full moon rises.  We and the pond fish soon see an incredibly unusual sight: The frogs are sailing through the air on lily pad leaves!  They look like they are having a very good time.  The night air is filled with flying frogs floating over top of the town and houses.  Birds perched on the wires are not amused as they are frightened and chased by flying frogs.  At 11:21 P.M., a man sees frogs on lily pad leaves outside his kitchen window while he eats a sandwich.  The frogs' adventures include floating through an open window and down a chimney (luckily no fire) into the living room where a grandma, lap blanket, fuzzy slippers and all, has nodded off to sleep in her overstuffed chair while watching television.  A frog operates her remote control with its long tongue.  The frogs continue with their adventures until the morning sun’s light begins to show.  Then they leap from their lily pad leaves high in the treetops, letting the leaves fall where they will.  The frogs hop back to the pond and into the water.  Back in town, people and various officials gather to apparently try and solve the mystery of the pond leaves and water droplets scattered around on the streets.  The sandwich-eating man in his pajamas and robe gestures to the sky while talking to reporters. Then, “NEXT TUESDAY, 7:58 P.M.,” a different, no less incredible event takes place.   

     

        I recommend Tuesday for young children and early readers--and this adult thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful illustrations.  A big question from this story might be, “What if…?”  In addition to providing playful aesthetic entertainment, this book can encourage imaginative thinking, to ponder distinctions between what is improbable and what is not.  Another big question can be, “What program was the frog turning to with the remote control--or do you think it was turning the TV off?”
  

Curious George Goes Camping

Rey’s, M. & H.A. (1999). Curious george goes camping. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

        Many of us are already familiar with Curious George, the precocious little monkey, and his friend, the man with the yellow hat.  George’s stories have survived decades alongside many other wonderful children’s books, and remain as popular as ever.

        One of the Curious George series of picture books, the plot of Curious George Goes Camping follows George’s adventures at a campsite and in the woods, after he naturally gets distracted from his assigned task.  He finds himself lost and all alone, far from camp.  Distracted once again, he tries to pet a black and white kitty…  Next, he must try to get rid of the awful perfume the “kitty” left with him, which evolves into his being in a treetop where he spots smoke that is not from the campfires.  Once again, George emerges as an unlikely hero.

        The delightful pictures, line drawings colored in, illustrate the narrative on every page, and include many details not mentioned in the text, for example, an array of forest animals and scenery.

        An ongoing question for the George stories could be: What if he had asked permission first?  Of course then he probably would not have so many adventures, or they would be of a different kind, but it merits discussion.

        Based on my experience as a mother and grandmother, I recommend any of the Curious George books for babies, preschoolers, and young readers.  Not only are the stories informative and humorously entertaining, each one includes a related activity. 

Good Night, Gorilla

Rathmann, P. (1994). Good night, gorilla. USA: Putnam Juvenile.

        Good Night, Gorilla, is a picture storybook full of brightly colored painted illustrations. Appropriate for the very young, it is available as a board book. It has been one of my granddaughter's favorites.

        The mode of delivery is primarily visual--every page is covered edge-to-edge with delightful illustrations. There is very little dialogue. The pictures not only have aesthetic appeal, they have cognitive value as well. They tell the story, providing opportunity for description, questions, explanation, imaginative conversation, original dialogue, and playful additions--or more quiet contemplation.

        The plot opens with an unobservant, tired zookeeper checking on the animals, telling them good night as he is preparing to leave for home. Good night, Gorilla... Good night, Elephant... Good night, Giraffe... Good night, Hyena... Good night, Lion... Good night, Armadillo... He does not notice that the rather small and friendly gorilla has taken his keys and is unlocking cages, creating an entertaining subplot. The animals follow the zookeeper to his house, inside to his bedroom where his wife is sleeping...

        The several recognizable animal characters appear and reappear throughout the story. The animals have toys in their cages, and apparently are not keen on being left alone at bedtime. Curiously, the animal that is not actually mentioned in words, the faithful little mouse, can be as interesting and amusing as the star gorilla. What is he doing? And why?

        I highly recommend this book for babies and preschoolers--and further recommend that the adult reader audibly “walks” with fingertips across the board-pages when the animals are marching single file behind the zookeeper through the neighborhood. That has been a special feature of this storybook for at least one little girl, who now does the same as she “reads” it to others. Sweet.

Awards

• ALA Notable Children's Book for 1994
• Bulletin Blue Ribbon 1994
• Horn Book Fanfare 1995 selection
• Parenting Magazine "Best Children's Books of 1994"
• New York Public Library 1995 "Children's Books 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing"


Reviews

"The many amusing, small details...as well as the tranquil tone of the story make this an outstanding picture book."
- Horn Book, starred review

"A clever, comforting bedtime story."
- School Library Journal, starred review

"The amiable cartoon characters, vibrant palette, and affectionate tone of the author's art recall Thatcher Hurd's cheerful illustrations. Delightful."
- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Is Good Night, Moon too sedate for you? Well, here's a livelier bedtime goodnight."
- BCCB, starred review

http://www.peggyrathmann.com/goodnightgorilla.html

Mia telling good night gorilla:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVpGyBYelF8&feature=related